The Future of Creativity
On Tuesday 11th November Mark Wickens, Chairman & Creative Partner at Brandhouse, shared his vision for the Future of Creativity. Mark focused on answering the question ‘What effect is our changed relationship with technology having on the way we go about the creative act?’
Mark identified three threats:
1. Our brains have been googled (the internet) – If you start looking at the same thing you end up with recipe based thinking, we start to pull the same strands together to get the creative idea.
2. The kids are playing all wrong – The ubiquitous use of technology amongst the younger generation has some concerns for those in the creative industries. With ‘generation Z’ having entertainment at the click of a button, kids are losing the ability to invent and play which could impact on the creative industry in the future.
3. The tools are cheap – Our creative industries used to be protected by the availability and complexity of the tools that we had. Computers were expensive, picture libraries charged a fortune, professional photographers were very costly. The barriers have now come down. Computers, digital cameras and software have become more cost effective so ordinary people now have the tools and desire to produce some really great quality creative work.
And two opportunities:
1. Learn from The Swiffer – crowd sourcing. To quote internet guru Tim O’Reilly ‘Winning an innovation is no longer about who has got the best talent in-house, it’s about who has got the best architecture of participation’. Mark believes the crowd, if used correctly, can add value to our ideas in ways that we could never do because they have a different perspective.
2. Ideas with a life of their own – a no constraints narrative. The core central execution is now no more important than the minor executions around the edges and this requires a new approach to creativity.
Mark was then joined on stage for a Q&A session by Alan Bell, Managing Director at Bell Design, Jim Northover, Co-Founder of Lloyd Northover and Dave Brown, UK Chairman, The Brand Union.
Synopsis
Q&A Session
Formal written thoughts on the topics put forward by Mark Wickens of Brandhouse
Our brains have been googled
I can agree with Mark on some aspects of his contention that the internet has affected the way we disseminate information. He refers to leading experts on the subject and of course uses studies to prove his point but overall I disagree that ultimately ability to be ‘creative’ will be impaired. I think we need to have faith in humanity and remember we are looking at a snapshot in time. We are becoming no less creative and no more creative, our children are just different in their creativity. In my experience there always have been thinkers and doers and creatives are the thinkers of this world. Yes we now have a generation that has grown up with the internet and their play is different from our perceived healthy ideal. But mostly through time hasn’t this been so? Victorian England had the workhouse, young children in factories and we were creative then? In some countries right now, children’s lives will be governed by education straight from the cradle. The perfect balanced childhood is an ideal rarely matched.
Anecdotally and in my experience since the 70’s, change has been the one constant for our industry. We have moved from a creativity reliant on craft to an industry where changing technology has created a new creative dimension that is science led. The world of the creative thinker has expanded exponentially and it is necessary for today’s designer to plan, research, evidence and understand all the growing communication techniques and channels or at the very least know who to talk to. There is no mystery about creativity. We use it to fulfil a need and communicate effectively and the old adage remains true, necessity is the mother of invention. If we flip this thought, I have complete faith that creative people will continue to meet our world’s changing needs.
Dangerous experiments and cheap apparatus
The very low cost of technology does present clear opportunities and make the creative campaign strategists stop and think. We operate in a world where a simple viral used as a tactical communication can suddenly create an unimaginable impact and change the whole strategy of a brand campaign. Today’s creative is alert to this and the prize for getting it right is huge but like everything offering such great rewards, we will reach saturation easily. Virals, spoof ads, social media, applications etc. are all exciting developments and surely examples of our inherent and changing creativity. They are a lottery that can bring success for the lucky amateur or the professional and whilst by nature they are hit and miss they must be worth attempting. We don’t have a crystal ball but conceivably creativity will make the internet as we know it now, unrecognisable over a very short period.
Ideas with a life of their own
I wholeheartedly agree with this proposition. Brainstorming, collaboration and pooling the right mix of knowledge, skills and creativity are key. Therefore to expand this collaboration, to benefit from different ideas via internet technology, is a natural evolution. Providing there is some kind of structure and process, I think the potential for closer engagement across disparate but relevant user groups will allow ideas to grow and to allow creatives to add to already successful propositions.
Something I have noticed that does not fit so easily with this evolving creative model is the way in which the administration and procurement of large organisations often control the relationship with creative suppliers. This can result in a real lack of engagement at the procurement stage and a tendency to keep the supplier at arms length, thereby potentially damaging the creative exchange. Creativity that makes a difference and has the ability to grow business usually needs close cooperation and a true partnership approach and not one of distant buyer and supplier.
The point here is there should be greater collaboration and a greater role for creatives in business and this needs addressing. On a very positive note, I understand the Design Council in cooperation with key industry figures, are now looking at the needs of the creative industry going forward and how this will inform the courses and qualifications offered by our education system. This is a great start that I applaud. I would also support further workshops designed to reduce the unnecessary procurement red tape and spread greater innovation and collaboration throughout the creative procurement process. Do I have any agreement here?
Alan Bell, http://www.belldesign.co.uk
on November 17th, 2008 at 2:03 pm | Report this as an innapropriate comment.The subject, ‘The Future of Creativity’ has proven to be extremely thought provoking for agencies within the design and branding remit. I believe we have at times pawned off the task of imagination to commercial manufacturers of marketing/entertainment and the likes of technology. They can feed us an endless stream of stock imagery and flashy distractions whereby the content often becomes distorted, and does little or nothing in the way of encouraging us to form our own mental images, ideas, or stories. Though it’s fascinating how creativity has evolved in the past 20 years, given the rise and applaud of technology within our environment I personally believe it is crucial to sustain consistency and a high standard of creativity which stems from ideas and innovation and is not prefabricated or masked by technology.
on November 26th, 2008 at 1:07 pm | Report this as an innapropriate comment.Title: ARE WE CREATIVE OR ARE WE PROGRAMMERS?
In a bid to keep changing technology the topic here. I have recently been made redundant from a studio in my home town. It is now that after twenty years “hard labour” I feel unsure what potential recruiters are looking for.
For many years they were happy that your skill set concentrated on print based software from our friends Adobe and Quark. However, there seems to be a wish of many these days, that you must also possess programming skills (HTML, ASP, PHP etc etc.). Call me a stickler but surely that’s two roles. The programmers I know cannot design for toffee, likewise, longstanding designers have concentrated on their skills as . . . designers. I am a strong believer in mastery and am convinced that this wish of companies must surely be diluting peoples major skills.
OK I have picked up the guantlet and started to get my head round Dreamweaver and Flash with the hopes of finding myself back in the market as it were. Personally I’d like to continue with my weapon of choice Indesign but hey ho.
I would love to meet this master race of programmers who just by the off chance are fantastic designers too.
on January 23rd, 2009 at 4:19 pm | Report this as an innapropriate comment.