Creativity Squared: Roshmond ‘Sum’ Patten on How Humanity Thrives on Constant Creativity

Creative, hip-hop artist, activist and decorated writer Roshmond 'Sum' Patten is a creative director at creative agency GLOW and is known for trailblazing spaces years before they enter mainstream conversations. 

Throughout his more than 20 year career spanning the advertising, music, and publicity industries, Patten has worked at companies such as Stampede Management, Cashmere, loftSEVEN, Passenger, Earbits, and Precious Metals Creative. 

Person

I’m of the opinion that all people are creative. Humanity thrives on constant creativity, because we have to solve problems, survive, communicate and thrive, which are all creative processes. In my opinion, good parenting and clear communication (of love, especially) are the ultimate creative expressions. Everyday people who can communicate their true intentions clearly should be as celebrated as Frida Kahlo. Culturally, our everyday human creativity is undervalued. The type of creative I have chosen to be is an artist. Art functions to hold up a mirror, expand consciousness, heal, or pose questions and challenges. It lacks the applied functionality of creativity that has an “end goal”, but applied creativity and the arts frequently overlap. 

I can be an introvert or an extrovert depending on the energy of the moment, so I’m fluid. I’m not sure that binary works for us anymore. It might be dangerous because people are feeling compelled to label themselves a certain way and live up to that label, when their nature may possibly be more nuanced. Like, I’m an introvert in certain situations, and an extrovert in others. I never know which person I’m going to be until I’m IN the situation. I love routine, it’s helped me free up time and mindspace to be creative. A predictable schedule can be liberating for the way I’m wired. The creative things I enjoy, I receive them with gratitude whichever direction they may come from. I try not to lock myself into any one type of expression. But I am also careful not to spend too much time exploring and wandering for exploration’s sake. Knowing when it’s time to do one or the other is part of maturing as an artist.

Product 

I try not to judge creativity at all. If it is a genuine expression, it’s good enough for me. If it’s disingenuous, it will not resonate. If it’s creativity built solely for the purpose of supporting commerce and capitalism, I take it with the grain of salt it deserves, and on a case-by-case basis. It’s that simple. I’m not an “arts elitist”, because I think great art can come out of doing business. I don’t assume that art made for art’s sake is by default more pure or sacred. So basically, if something resonates within me, that’s the only criteria I have for whether I will form a connection with it or not.

I think I’m proudest of the social campaigns I helped shape for Donald Glover’s Atlanta, because at a pretty vital time in Black Twitter history, I was able to write things that instantly fed the culture en masse and interact with the people in community management. That work changed me, and gave me a POV deep into this generation that sometimes I feel like only I have. 

In terms of the industry’s creative output, at large it is very frustrating. Things feel derivative and opportunistic. We’re at a pivotal point in the history of humankind, and it still feels like the industry’s priorities are being cool, being “first” and making easy money, as opposed to using its massive reach and platform to elevate the human experience in the best ways possible. That feels very young to me, as if we don’t have decades of experience behind us telling us that we can and should do better. Our industry in particular has great reach and penetration into the minds and hearts of people, and the things we do with that access….. Sometimes it feels like we have the keys to the kingdom but still opt to rob it.

Process

I don’t have any one way to start a campaign or project. Every approach is custom, as it would be for any relationship. The majority of the work happens between projects. That’s where I’m out in the world, taking in art, having conversations, sharpening my skillset, staying aware of what’s happening culturally and cataloging my finds…. That’s really where everything starts, is in living. When it’s time to officially start a new thing, I anchor in how the project is making me feel, and then start pulling from lived experience to inform the creative direction for the ask. I don’t have a preference for collaboration or working alone, but I can express a preference depending on the moment and the nature of the work. But I typically do my best work and brainstorming alone. I’m an only child so I sometimes need quiet and solitude for my imagination to connect as many dots as possible. 

When I’m stumped I typically try to push through it in the first phase. If pushing through the block doesn’t work, I walk away from the work and put my mind on something else. Sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for a few days… I have stepped away from things for years. But I always come back.

Knowing when a project is done is similar to knowing when a conversation is done. You just have to read the energy and wrap it up. Some projects are also better left feeling “unfinished”.

Press

I grew up between North Carolina, Illinois, Georgia and California. The early experiences that shaped my creativity sprung from being in a family of educators that picked up on my gifts early. They reinforced and challenged my natural aptitude for the language arts early on, in very creative ways. When I did dumb sh*t, my mother would make me write essays about my thought process, and then send detailed letters to my grandparents about it. In that same era of life I started journaling. This all helped me create a strong pipeline from my heart, through my mind and onto a page. External factors that inspire optimal creativity are usually the things that I avoid most, like a full night’s rest and simplifying my life, ha! Other than that, I get charged up by seeing live music, dancing, discovering new music, socializing and direct contact with the wilderness. Clutter, and too much zeitgeist-driven input from people (i.e. influencers, social media, thought leaders) are all creative poison for me. I also don’t do well with unsolicited feedback.

For clients to get the best out of the teams and agencies they work with, I think they should practice the art of clear and concise feedback. That process begins with asking themselves, “How would I want this communicated to me, and would I understand it on the receiving end?”. Also, clients who are not expert creatives should steer clear from the weeds of the creative process as much as possible. 

Agencies can best facilitate creativity by giving the artists in their ranks lots of room to breathe and create during business hours. This means lots of uninterrupted time to let the mind relax and for them take in life as a part of the business model. The unfettered artist mind is far more productive and efficient than one that is overbooked with unnecessary meetings, notifications and admin tasks. Everything begins with empathy.