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When these intersections happen, from all around our concentric set of interest, skills and passions, it allows us to create connections and more truly represent our unique expertise and personal story. Add to it another layer that goes beyond your job or career, simply your everyday interests, hobbies and identity. The connections begin to light up. Not only making the original T boring by comparison, but creating a unique fingerprint that is impossible to recreate.

This realization, that Creative Directors enter through a specific skill, but rely on their unique identity to become who they are has led to several questions I’ve been exploring. Over the coming months I intend to continue to fomalize the essays and experiments I've begun to develop. I’d love to collaborate with anyone in any industry who sees this exploration as way to break down any barriers of entry into the world of Creative Direction.

A Three-Part Exploration

When I was in school, I purchased “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants”, a collection of interviews by Hermann Vaske. In addition to being an accomplished film director, Vaske built a body of work interviewing the 20th Century’s most highly-lauded creative directors within advertising. The cover of the book depicts a hand holding a recording device up to Michelangelo’s depiction of God (creating the sun no less). The cover image is just a preview of the hubris inside as Vaske interviews 35 men (34 of whom are white). Subdivided into three categories (copywriters, art directors, and directors) these men share at length their story of how they made such great work. There’s no mention of their mental state while creating these works, their collaborations, their process, simply the seemingly insurmountable tasks they had before them and their ability to prevail. There’s no wisdom shared, no tips, no humility.

In reality the myth-like stature of these men is due to their great work and their perceived stoicism. Admitting fear, sadness or even a hint of imposteur syndrome would connect these great craftsmen to their millions of fans. Vulnerability has only recently come into the public consciousness as a potential strength and creative practitioners can continue to express it if not to connect to others, to be true to themselves. Generosity was a realatively new Creative Director trait when Virgil Abloh paved one of the most profound and inspirational careers on his ability to inspire and empower.

In order to explore this role more fully I believe we need to look at it through a new lens that's been blatently avoided thus far. First through the interior of the person (their identity, thoughts, dreams, emotions) and how it has influenced their work. Secondly through their unique way of working, not their inborn talents but their process and how they created it. And finally through their connection to others, the collaboration and the connections to audiences that has historically been replaced by a sense of “magic”. These are three areas of study:

Interior

Creative leaders have historically avoided personal stories and unique internal make-up as key to their success. The result is an accepted existence of an individual who has mastered a particular role. The truth is that the most creative individuals are an absolute result of their interior selves, their lived experiences, and their personality.

Synthesis

Naturally, every student wants to learn “the tricks” the “how” the proper “way” of working. And just as naturally, every practitioner that has found success seeks to “guard” their tricks due to a deep lack of confidence — a confusion between their “ability” and their “tricks.” The result is an accepted existence of an established “way of thinking.” In truth, successful creative practitioners have established their own unique way of working that could hardly be repeated. They’ve come to their place through trial and error.

Output

Great creative work doesn’t just exist. It does something. It connects and improves the human experience. But the history of creative commercial work ignores this connection for a sense of magic. The result is an assumption that the work has come from somewhere else and is handed down to an audience to bring them to a higher place. The truth is that the the answers are all around us.

Help!

If you are a Creative Director, teacher, or someone pursuing a career in any direction give me a shout, would love to talk more about these areas of inquiry!