Creativity Squared: Seeing the World Like a Camera Lens with Kelly McCullough

Kelly is a creative director with over 20 years of integrated experience. Her multi-disciplinary background in storytelling, art direction, design, writing and strategy comes from both ad agency and client side experience. She’s created award-winning campaigns for some of the most loved brands at some of the most beloved agencies, working with icons of the industry from Goodby & Silverstein to Chester Cheetah, Flo, and Smokey Bear. Accolades range from Cannes Lions and Clio Awards to AdAge’s Funniest Viral Ad of the Year.

Kelly’s strength is being fiercely dedicated to her craft with hardcore standards and an insane attention to detail (just try to get a footmark past her). She leads work with a strong point of view, wit, keen music supervision, and a love for all things design and art direction. 

In her current role at Duncan Channon (DC), she leads teams across multiple agencies for clients in health equity, software, education, and CPG to create breakthrough work with purpose, honesty, interest and laughter - all rooted in human truth and strategy. 

In addition, she’s taught at Miami Ad School as another means to lift up younger creatives and create a safe space for learning to take risks. 

Person

Creativity is ingrained in every aspect of my life and it also runs in my family. My Grandma Judy is my biggest inspiration. She was a commercial artist, talented illustrator and prolific painter. Her imagination graced every birthday card with hand lettering and delightful drawings, and her global adventures unfolded on her canvas. I inherited her creative heart and sense of humour, both driving forces in my career and life. My Grandma Claire’s primary medium was sewing, from clothing to beautiful handmade dolls. I later learned that she was enrolled in art school, but had to drop out due to the war. I feel deeply connected to both of them and feel lucky to carry on their creative spirit. And I believe that is a primary reason art and creativity are so intrinsic in me.

Art and music are my two biggest passions. As a kid I was primarily into art, until I joined the school band to play clarinet. At my school you couldn’t do both. But I loved concert and marching band because I was able to share my music passion with others and experiment with performance. In high school, I was able to get back into art by taking college classes early. Art and music have always been intertwined for me. I follow a lot of artists and I get a lot of inspiration and energy from live music and the production value of shows.

So I am the kind of creative person that grew up influenced and encouraged by family and school. And now I continue to express my creativity daily. I love having a professional creative career, and my practice outside of work offers a meaningful balance. My other creative outlets are ceramics, watercolour, crafting, fashion and beauty. I have a long list of projects and there’s never enough time, but what I do know is that when I am “making” I am at my happiest. 

Always drawing or painting (four years old)

Fun fact - I used this photo in my college grad invitations that I made. As part of the invitation, I scanned a worksheet from elementary school that asked the question: What do you want to be when you grow up? My answer: artist movie dancerstar

I would describe my personality as warm, funny, intuitive, curious, empathetic, ambitious, extroverted, mellow, adventurous and inclusive. I like to see the world like I am a camera. I get in close, and zoom out wide. I am so drawn to texture, colour, pattern and light. My brain is always looking for compositions. In people, too. I have always had a love for capturing the world around me in photos. 

I believe creativity is innate. It’s intuitive. It’s a natural pull or state of being. It’s also something that needs nourishment and encouragement. Without that, many might not believe in their creativity or recognise it - or worse, doubt it. 

As I think back on moments where my 'art direction' tendencies pushed through when I didn’t even realise it, a funny memory comes to light. For my senior photos, I worked with a local photographer. In the studio, I was inspired by various props and I got all these ideas that complemented the looks I brought. I was really excited and worked with the photographer to achieve my vision. I thought it all went very well. The next day, he called my parents to complain that I was 'bossing him around' and I got grounded LOL. Later in my career, I reflected back on that day, realising I was just art directing my first shoot. 

One of the senior portraits that I art directed

I would consider myself a bit of a introvert/extravert hybrid. 

As a kid, I was very shy and quiet. In high school, I gained confidence, became more social and found my voice. Instead of whispering a joke to my bestie, I found the confidence and timing to deliver it live in conversations, getting the laugh. I practiced leadership, speaking in front of groups and networking as Spanish club president. As an adult, I’m comfortable in my extroverted self. I am energised by people, love making people laugh and enjoy talking to strangers. However, I have to remember to recharge and retreat. I have learned to cherish my alone time at home with my kitties, in the ceramics studio or walking around my neighbourhood. That balance is key. 

A big part of Spanish club was hand-drawing the newsletter and posters for events and activities. We made everything by hand. Here’s a photo when we made our club shirts.

I naturally rebel against routine. It’s too rigid for my personality. Also, creativity is messy and doesn’t always fit into a schedule. I’m very organic and like to allow my work, activities, and projects to expand and contract as needed. This flexibility allows me to think, work through things, or be spontaneous–whatever brings in.

Earlier in my career, I spent more of my free time taking on projects more related to my work, like designing my boyfriend’s album art and trying to market the band, or taking on freelance logo projects and web design. 

Nowadays, I am tapping more into my authentic self by making art an everyday thing. About seven years ago, I rediscovered ceramics. As a complement to my professional creative career, it’s the perfect tactile multimedia canvas. I prefer hand building with a focus on surface design. I experiment with shapes, forms, patterns and glaze combinations. My style is wild and untamed. I fully embrace the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which finds beauty in irregularity and imperfection. Art is my peace, my zen. It makes me so happy. 

Me in the ceramic studio

A collection of my work over the years

Product

So often in this biz, work is held up as creative for being “the first this” or “AI that” or starring a celebrity. Or simply for being big budget. 

For me, creativity is in the storytelling, details and the craft. The thoughtfulness and depth of thinking comes through in truly creative work. It’s evident in not just the idea, but in the execution - the collaboration of the team and production. 

When assess if work is truly creative, my criteria is simplicity and high level of craft. Is the idea immediately understandable? Is it rooted in human truths or culture? Did it make you feel something? And then, is it thoughtfully executed, from casting to production design and more - all the way to post. Did anyone care to catch those footmarks in the supers?

Or, is it relying on dusty tropes, latching onto a trend without purpose, or just an expensive boondoggle?

Over the years, criteria hasn't really shifted or evolved. It still holds true and is more important than ever as the market is saturated with mediocrity. There’s a real lack of concept and storytelling and craft despite the expansion of media placements and opportunities. Some campaigns are just over complicated or the “first” to do “xyz”, which is more of a PR play than an idea. And some ideas are blindly following “best practices” more than creative instinct. 

Simplicity and a high level of craft are still key. 

Also, client expectations have grown, while budgets have shrunk, so protecting simplicity and achieving craft are harder than ever. 

I am proud of my work for various reasons, but I am most proud of the campaign I worked on recently at Duncan Channon for Rosetta Stone, “There’s a Word for That,” because it best represents my creative values. The idea is simple and rooted in human truth, the production is the most magical and exceptional detail-oriented collaboration of my career, and the finished spots are works of art. 

To help Rosetta Stone reclaim its title as the most respected name in language learning, we scoured the internet for words with no English equivalent and cast them as the stars in delectably bizarre short stories that remind us how satisfying learning a language can be - even if it’s just a single, perfect word. In 'Turf War' a group of buskers show off to defend their plaza corners, only to band together and bring on the biggest crowd. In 'The Appointment' an eccentric stylist creates what he believes to be his masterpiece. The spots were shot on film in Barcelona, feature a global cast of voices for the roster of foreign words, and even have original music. I’m most proud of how the words show up in the spots: embroidered, stamped, hand-painted - all practical and shot in-camera, an exceptional level of craft. 

An example from further back in my career that still stands out to me as a favourite is my TV spot for Liquid Plumr. Thinking about the product, our minds went to the obvious: the age-old fantasy of a housewife calling a plumber. But to reach the female audience, we had to make it truly from a woman’s perspective, not the male gaze. Which also made it fresh. We showed what she was thinking through awkward reactions, comedic timing and all the little details. And let’s not forget the cuties that we cast. It raised a lot of eyebrows, but also garnered recognition from Cannes, Clios and AdAge’s Funniest Viral Ad of the Year. My clients loved it so much we reprised it the next year, complete with a light hearted calendar. 

It has become increasingly difficult to sell and make work nowadays. And that’s just getting the work across the line, not even factoring in whether or not it is award-winning. Clients are slashing budgets, discounting creative recommendations and deprioritizing brand work in favour of performance marketing and DR. Meanwhile, big brands and tech companies have deep pockets and bigger resources to create and compete. It’s almost impossible to keep up. But these challenges are shared across the industry. So what’s exciting is that like-minded collaborators will rally when a great idea is on the table. 

Process

First, my leadership style is to not compete with my teams. I’ve been in the biz a long time, and it’s my privilege to lift up creatives, support their growth, and elevate their voices and ideas. 

Next, I allow space to take risks. This means asking my teams to share ideas with me in varying stages of finish, because sometimes an odd little thought might inspire the big idea. And laugh a lot. We should be having fun solving these creative problems, no matter the brief. 

Finally, my favourite part of making creative work is the collaboration. It’s also the most critical. Everyone on the team from account to client must be invested. Once an idea has been sold in, it’s really just the beginning. The magic really happens with the right director partner. Everyone in production is an extension of the team. The collaboration that elevates every detail of a campaign in production is really my favourite part, as there’s an opportunity with each detail to thoughtfully expand on the idea and make it bigger, better, faster and stronger. That magic is exponential - think of all the new ideas that come to light in production.

On set with director Zac Ella for our CDPH production 

I like to start a campaign with a really good strategy, rabbit-hole research, and no judgment brainstorming. I also like to hear both baked and non-baked ideas from my teams. 

I love Pinterest, TikTok, thesaurus.com, and more. But nothing beats stepping away from the computer. Go for a walk. Take your notebook to the beach. Work on a project with your hands. Take a shower (which is surprisingly effective–maybe because there’s no pen, paper or keyboard). Sometimes I even brainstorm right before bed in hopes of dreaming of ideas. 

When it comes to techniques that I just can't work with, large group, on demand brainstorm sessions are more about posturing and tend to reward people more for speaking loudly than innovative or creative thinking.

I always start a project with a blank sheet. I’m not the type to keep previous concepts dog-eared or idea seeds handy for the next thing. I also enjoy the possibilities of a fresh start, but I am open if my team wants to reprise an idea and it makes sense. 

I prefer to work collaboratively - which is one of the reasons why I love being a creative director! The magic of working with a team is unmatched. It’s my drug of choice. 

When it comes to the hard bits of a project, or when I'm stumped, I imagine the client feedback coming in and creating a real challenge that stumps the team. My process is not to solve for them, but to inspire them so they can find a solution that is theirs. I will offer suggestions to help get them thinking, and usually this works. While this may not sound ground breaking, it is almost always effective at getting past those 'blocks' and most importantly, helps the team keep owning their ideas and grow.

When the intuitive questions that come up when reviewing an idea are answered within the writeup/ presentation, then it’s done. And if changes don’t improve, just ‘change for changes’ sake’, it can be considered done. It’s similar for post-production. Helping someone deliver a project means meaningful polish and refinements, additive versus change for changes sake. 

Press

I grew up in a small town, but I am lucky that my creativity was always encouraged. I was always exploring or creating. From a young age I was immersed in music, and MTV/Comedy Central and SNL were big influences. My life really expanded after college when I started traveling internationally. My travels bring up gratitude for me.

I grew up in East Texas, outside of a small city called Tyler. My parents nourished my creativity from a tender age. I always remember drawing, painting and building stuff. I was the shy art kid in my GT classes- the kid in a group project that would volunteer to draw and create the poster for the presentation. I loved art class in school and my mom put me in extracurricular studio classes. 

My Dad once told me a story of taking me out fishing with a colleague when I was very little. He was worried I would get bored but was surprised and relieved to see my immediate fascination with the tackle box full of textures, neon colours, and shiny glitter in the lures. I love this story because it reminds me of how I am now - in awe of my greater surroundings, but quick to zero in on the little bright moss on a walk in Land’s End or selecting a perfectly twisted driftwood twig while rockhounding for unique specimens on the beach. All of which points back to my eye for detail.  

I honed my craft by taking the long road. I studied design and advertising in college. I didn’t go to portfolio school - I jumped right into the job. I would say I honed my craft by putting in the work. Putting in the hours. Trial and error. Observing. Asking questions. Hustling. Raising my hand. Being curious and ambitious. And collaborating beyond the traditional creative team. 

I really found a sweet spot when I worked at an interactive agency. Basically PepsiCo and Frito Lay would create big traditional ad campaigns or movie partnerships, and then throw us assets or IP to make something 'digital.' Creatives and devs collaborated and we came up with some wild stuff from multi-level flash games with original characters to widgets that would translate English to Star Wars languages. We shot a lot on green screen and built websites from scratch. I loved sitting with my devs and problem solving together. That job is where I saw the runway for my career. 

The pace of advertising can be intoxicating and productive. It’s easy to get lost in the work. However, time to be creative while still being a human being is so important in order to create great work. It sounds obvious, but so often our calendars are jam packed leaving no time for life or client demands impede on critical time off. I call it the 'ok that’s fine' syndrome. We are conditioned to say ok, and then it becomes a domino effect. 

Advice I would give to clients, in no particular order are:

• Get clear on who you are and what you are trying to say. Keep it simple.
• Let strategy work to your advantage. Lean into their smarts.
• It’s important to let people do what they are best at.
• Be open to possibilities. Keep an open mind.
• Remember that the agency and client are on the same team/ have the same goals/ are partners.
• Collaboration makes magic.

The most important thing that agencies can do to best facilitate creativity in terms of culture and design is to keep bringing in young/new talent. Emerging voices invigorate agencies and help foster two-way learning. I learn so much from listening to, observing and creating space for my teams, candidates, and creatives I meet at events or portfolio shows. And seasoned professionals have much to share with young professionals.