Next Results for articles with tag 'creativity' (19 total)
12/18/2010 11:20:46 AM 
This is a nice presentation from "Account Planning Guru", Paul Feldwick, from a London TEDx conference, where he provides an interesting perspective on the problems surrounding the definition of creativity.
He touches on the obvious problem of its very intangibility making it a tough concept for business to grasp, but goes on to explain how he thinks its been wrongly pigeon-holed in the "innovation" space, which implies breakthrough thinking.
Using Elvis as an example, he shows how he wasn't especially original, but there was something about his "presence" that made him interesting.
Feldwick believes the knock-on impact, for advertising, of poorly defined "creativity" is to always push for originality. Instead, creative needs to be thinking about "artistry", rather than originality as the way to develop ideas that generate a strong emotional response.
Posted by Ed Cotton
10/22/2010 07:09:55 AM
For many, this was the chance to bask in the headlights of fame as advertising brought your brand and your job to a national audience. If you got it right, you would be noticed and talked about, not just your brand, but you the marketer.
In this world ,there was an uneven distribution of creative talent, the advertising got all the attention and some areas got nothing at all. In such a world, those other areas of the business that lacked the creative magic dust, could and would look dull and uninteresting to those with it. At an extreme, the scientists in the R&D labs rarely got to hire a top flight agency creative team to present their meeting findings, similarly the Accounting Department couldn't do the same at their financial meetings with the board. Meanwhile, the marketing and advertising department could look way better than anyone else and bask in the glory that was their advertising, providing it was good!
Since there's been a democratization of creative technology and costs have come down rapidly, other departments have been elevating their game and making their stuff sexier. Data is the talk of the town right now, it's the thing that agencies are looking to provide and clients want to showcase their ROI, but it's not sexy and it's very hard to bring creativity into it, unless you have a data visualization wizard on your team.
That said, I found this video from Gatorade really interesting, it's all about one facet of their marketing department- the social media measurement team, this could be presented in a really dry and boring way and have nothing to do with the energy of the brand. However, in this little film where they explain in a topline way what they do, they brand themselves "Mission Control" is way more interesting than "Social Media Monitoring" and importantly, they show not just how they're essential for the business, but how they connect to the brand.
Data is obviously the area where creativity can have a huge impact, but there are so many other areas of business that are going to benefit from and will need to have creative firepower, to bring their skills and stories to life. This is not just a story about democratization of creativity, but in an era of fading and faded attention spans, everyone, irrespective of department, needs a creative way to bring their stories to life.
Posted by Ed Cotton
09/29/2010 07:39:17 AM
The Social Network will likely emerge together with Inception as a contender for movie of the year. While the later uses fantasy to take us to a future world that's built from an understanding of present realities, The Social Network is very much about "the now" and the changes we've seen going around us over the last five years.
While Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher explore many themes in the film- one that's central to the film is the difference between those who make and create and those who merely have ideas. It's been said multiple times that ideas are the easy things, and that execution is the tough part, this movie is very much about that.
Zuckerberg may suffer from limited social skills and again, that's another big theme of the movie, a guy who can't socialize, setting up the ultimate social tool, but he makes up for it with an incredible ability to build.
The movie shows the dramatic socio-cultural shift, that's been described by many historians as the move away from industrial production and into knowledge work, but there are many movies have gone there in some way, usually negatively by showing the de-humanization of the cubicle worker. Sorkin and Fincher show us something else all together; the new being, the supreme knowledge worker, who isn't the boss of old who commands a legion of white shirts and has power merely because of his experience, but someone who's there because of their skill.
Meritocracy is the force that flattens everything and in the case of The Social Network, it smashes and pushes aside the supposed power of venerable institutions, like Harvard.
We are now going through a moment of time that just simply doesn't conform to the past. Business always required ideas, but they were often based on assembling the right combination of people and things to do something new. It took time to grow and scale and needed lots of capital and people to do anything significant.
It's a new world when someone can take an idea, even if it did come from someone else, and bring it to life using their brainpower. We've always regarded the object as a totem with the most emotional power, but the movie shows it's possible to make something in the digital world that can play with our core emotions in an even more powerful way than any physical object.
To bring an idea to market and achieve success has always been dependent on a unique combination of factors and this hasn't changed.
What's very different now is that it's really possible for someone who has the right skills, to change the world from their bedroom. The shift is significant because it means the power base has shifted to those who not just imagine the future, but importantly, build it themselves.
Posted by Ed Cotton
08/10/2024 02:23:05 PM
Just because it's the norm, doesn't mean there isn't room for experimentation and the opportunity to transform the experience.
That's what the Danish designers of Limbo have done with a game that defies the current category stereotypes. Instead of being hyper-colored, fast- paced with intensely realistic graphics, it's minimal, low-fi and black and white.
Despite it's lack of expected category charms, it's getting rave reviews- a series of consistent 100 scores on Metacritic, for example.
More of the game can be seen here.
It's a great example of creators who take a risk go with their intuition and create something truly original. Sure, it might not sell in Madden like quantities, but it contributes to the genre and judging from the review, leaves players wanting more.
Posted by Ed Cotton
01/23/2009 01:39:04 PM
Of course, this is a constant topic of debate especially as every creative idea appears to be under the microscope these days and someone usually digs up a similar idea.
The Jarmusch quote came from an interview he did with Moviemaker Magazine back in 2004, the visual is from Rule#5.
Here it is in it's complete form- expletives and all..(apologies!!)
Rule #1: There are no rules. There are as many ways to make a film as there are potential filmmakers. It’s an open form. Anyway, I would personally never presume to tell anyone else what to do or how to do anything. To me that’s like telling someone else what their religious beliefs should be. Fuck that. That’s against my personal philosophy—more of a code than a set of “rules.” Therefore, disregard the “rules” you are presently reading, and instead consider them to be merely notes to myself. One should make one’s own “notes” because there is no one way to do anything. If anyone tells you there is only one way, their way, get as far away from them as possible, both physically and philosophically.
Rule #2: Don’t let the fuckers get ya. They can either help you, or not help you, but they can’t stop you. People who finance films, distribute films, promote films and exhibit films are not filmmakers. They are not interested in letting filmmakers define and dictate the way they do their business, so filmmakers should have no interest in allowing them to dictate the way a film is made. Carry a gun if necessary.
Also, avoid sycophants at all costs. There are always people around who only want to be involved in filmmaking to get rich, get famous, or get laid. Generally, they know as much about filmmaking as George W. Bush knows about hand-to-hand combat.
Rule #3: The production is there to serve the film. The film is not there to serve the production. Unfortunately, in the world of filmmaking this is almost universally backwards. The film is not being made to serve the budget, the schedule, or the resumes of those involved. Filmmakers who don’t understand this should be hung from their ankles and asked why the sky appears to be upside down.
Rule #4: Filmmaking is a collaborative process. You get the chance to work with others whose minds and ideas may be stronger than your own. Make sure they remain focused on their own function and not someone else’s job, or you’ll have a big mess. But treat all collaborators as equals and with respect. A production assistant who is holding back traffic so the crew can get a shot is no less important than the actors in the scene, the director of photography, the production designer or the director. Hierarchy is for those whose egos are inflated or out of control, or for people in the military. Those with whom you choose to collaborate, if you make good choices, can elevate the quality and content of your film to a much higher plane than any one mind could imagine on its own. If you don’t want to work with other people, go paint a painting or write a book. (And if you want to be a fucking dictator, I guess these days you just have to go into politics...).
Rule #5: Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.”
Posted by Ed Cotton
02/25/2008 05:48:29 PM
I spent some time with Scott Belsky, the founder of Behance, to learn a little more.
1. What inspired you to make the leap from Wall Street to the creative world?
My work on Wall Street involved organizational and leadership development. I specialized in helping new, rapidly growing teams deal with the challenges that come along with growth. At night, I would try to leverage some of these skills for my friends in more creative and entrepreneurial roles. I found that, more than anyone else, creative leaders and teams struggle to push ideas forward. I became very interested in the leadership and organizational struggles of the creative world. I also believe that life is interesting because of the creative achievements around us. The music, art, design, and new businesses that start as ideas and ACTUALLY happen are the source of society's advancement.
2. Briefly describe what Behance is all about?
Behance is relentlessly focused on developing knowledge, products, and services that help creative professionals make ideas happen. We believe that creative leaders and team are never short of ideas, but often lack the organizational skills, leadership capability, networks, and platform to push ideas forward.
Our model is very simple: Over the past two years, we have interviewed hundreds of especially productive creative teams. In each interview, we ask "how do you make ideas happen?" We zoom in on methods and tips for productivity, networking, leadership, and strategy.
Behance is NOT about idea generation or stimulating innovation. Rather, we are focused on boosting productivity and access to opportunity in the creative world.
Here are a few examples of how our products and services accomplish our mission:
Behance Network
The Behance Network was developed as a platform for efficient dissemination of creative work. If a member posts a new project that is "appreciated" by the community, then it is likely that tens of thousands of people will see the work. We've had nearly a million visitors in the past month or so, and many of the visitors come from top agencies, galleries, and other companies seeking creative talent. Members use the network as a tool for self-marketing, exchanging feedback with peers, staying accountable to goals, and building professional networks.
Action Method
There is a great, self-proclaimed shortage of productivity in the creative world. We have noticed that "office-centric" or lingo-intensive systems for productivity, including GTD, are not easily adopted among creatives. Rather, we discovered that creatives need a simple, design-centric system method for creative project management. We developed the Action Method in response to the best practices we observed. The Action Method has spawned an entire product line that is sold around the US and the Museum of Modern Art stores, including the critically acclaimed "Action Book."
Behance Magazine
As we conduct interviews, we write up articles and also generate new "tips" for creative professionals. We have gathered them together in an online magazine.
Advisory Services
Our team is starting to do a lot of consulting work for creative teams within large companies. Surprisingly, creative teams suffer from many of the same inefficiencies as a designer or artist. We think that every creative company, agency, and project needs to consider a path to what we call "productive creativity."
3. How do you see the Behance growing and developing in the future?
Our team hopes to continue developing products and services that address the needs of creative professionals. We are starting to develop some interesting web-based applications in response to suggestions we have received. We are also developing a whole pipeline of knowledge, mostly "tips," that will help boost productivity in the creative workspace. The Behance Network is also an ongoing project that we believe is only in the "first inning." Ultimately, we will feel successful if more ideas actually happen as a result of our work.
4. What are some of the biggest trends you see out there in the world of creative professionals?
There are two trends we talk about quite often:
(1) More than ever before, we are seeing "creative" as a trait actively sought by recruiters across industries. We're also seeing the more self-described "creative" folks on teams getting promoted on the basis of their creative contributions. Of course, once creative people are empowered within a company/team, there is a great need for increased leadership capability and productivity.
(2) Creative professionals are feeling more empowered to represent themselves professionally, rather than depend on being found by a headhunter or working full-time for an agency. The "freelancer" is starting to act more like a business than an individual. We see the amount of work and opportunities that Behance Network members are getting.
5. What will it take for America to compete in the battle for creative talent?
It is really interesting to consider America's "competitive advantages" over the past decades. Remember that big American companies like GE and Hewlett Packard used to compete on "efficiency." GE's development of Six Sigma and HP's advances in plant efficiency were big selling points.
However, now GE has changed their tag line to "imagination at work" and HP is all about innovation. The change in brand is evidence of the fact that efficiency is now accomplished through off-shoring and is no longer a competitive advantage.
Our team believes that innovation is the grounds for competition going forward. We also believe that innovation is the result of PRODUCTIVE creativity. As companies hire more creative professionals to fuel innovation, they will recognize the need to design teams and workflow to achieve Productive Creativity.
To stay competitive, we think American business needs to bridge the gap between creative and other departments. There must be an emphasis on the components of "Productive Creativity," and we're hoping that Behance plays a critical role in this trend.
6. Where do you find your inspiration?
Most or our team's inspirations come from our own frustrations as creative professionals. We're in a unique business where the greatest "breakthroughs" are a response to the greatest frustrations we observe in our work and when we consult for others.
Posted by Ed Cotton
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Articles for tag creativity (19 total).