A Delicate Balance
Idea, Creativity, Reality
You're a creative professional like me and you're often asked what you "do." What's our purpose? Maybe there isn't one. We grease the mill of marketing, adding a veneer of thought to come-and-get-it ads. We entice customers out of their money. We do cool work. Deep within us, there's more - a need to create that comes before any paycheck.
In my teenage years, I discovered my childhood drawings and writings could metamorphose into “Something Greater.” No longer mere doodles of turtles and dragons, they became invested with new context as fledgling works of art, creative expressions, and yes, even advertising. This realization was electric - a lightning bolt illuminating the path to a career in the creative industries.
And times were changing. Art class embraced graphic design. English class flirted with the exotic lingo of copy and headlines. I fell under the spell. I devoured slogans and ads as cultural phenomena, not just marketing. "Be Like Mike." "Pizza, Pizza." Cross Colours. These totems of my youth would shape my professional journey.
Today, the reality is we're in an industry awash with chatter, often closed to truly original ideas. We iterate more than we innovate, building on the already proven, which itself was built on what came before.
The big, bold concepts that defined my youth have given way to a fragmented media landscape demanding an endless stream of micro-messages. They still add up to something - our job is to make sure they do. But the "Big Idea" is an endangered species.
We try to balance commercial demands with personal creative instincts. At its core, our industry is this dance between raw inspiration and honed craft. And we're expected to dance for 40, 50, 60 hours a week. Ideating, judging, honing, embellishing. Meetings and presentations. Hustling and rehustling. But also goofing around online, grazing for inspiration. Through it all, the mandate remains: be creative on cue.
Is it even possible to be creative on demand, day in and day out? Yes, no, maybe. We must be doing something right if we're consistently meeting client needs, moving the needle, and keeping the myth of Super Bowl ad supremacy alive (spoiler: they're overrated). In this business, we traffic in ideas unlike any seen before. And we produce them at a staggering rate.
Creativity (n.) - A dynamic, non-linear process of generating novel ideas, solutions, and expressions. Far from the straightforward act of making, doing, designing, writing, or forming, creativity is a multifaceted exploration of possibilities. It challenges the notion of singular paths, rejecting the limitations of maps that lead only in one direction, failing to reveal the full expanse of the landscape and the myriad destinations one could explore given the time and courage.
At its core, creativity is the art of map-making, charting not just a single course but a tapestry of routes that breathe life into an idea, giving it room to flourish. It is akin to crafting a sanctuary for a captured beetle in a hive of leaves, only to watch it break free and venture into the unknown. Creativity thrives when ideas run wild and the process itself is unconstrained, lest the outcome become another mere rendition of the familiar, the safe, and the confining.
While the demands of a brief, a request, or a product may loom, there is always an opportunity to infuse the creative process with vitality and curiosity, even if only for a fleeting moment when guards are lowered, and light infiltrates the space, transforming the desk into a canvas of infinite potential. True creative allegiance lies not with the end product, but with the spark that ignited the desire to design, write, think, and see beyond the present moment, envisioning what could be. The end product is a vehicle.
Everything we make matters. Every pitch, every concept - they all land somewhere. And the hit-rate is astounding. Most of what we produce - not just the cherry-picked portfolio pieces - but most of it works. Directly or indirectly, it all pushes the project, and the craft, forward.
But at the heart of it all lies a delicate balance between crafts person and output. Idea, creative, reality. Three celestial bodies locked in a cosmic dance, with orbits erratic and colliding. Stable for eons, until they're suddenly not. The forces governing this trinity are our greatest puzzle and our greatest muse. Not as tidy as physics, but no less profound. The genesis of an idea, the artist's instinct, and the commercial applications - there's no formula. It's organic, messy, visible but not predictable.
These concepts demand to be unpacked. Examined as components of a whole, not just ricocheting off one another into oblivion. Together, they form the matrix of our professional experience - one part love, one part hate, all parts creative. Their edges need to be blurred, their distinctions erased. I want them nebulous and unmoored, as fluid and mutable as the universe they mirror.
The tensions between them have to be surfaced, then released. Because it's not in perfect balance but in the imperfections that true creative potential lies. When it all syncs up in a wonderful mess, the results are celestial. Pure energy. Light. Motion. Meaning. Isn't that what we're really trying to create?
So let's embrace the beautiful mess. Dive headlong into the cosmic dance of idea, creativity and reality. Ride the imbalance and instability to heights of inspiration. Here's to keeping the madness alive, one delicate balance at a time.
Reality (n.) - The unyielding force that inevitably intervenes in the creative process, its fingers like knives, slicing the idea and its creative manifestation to the core. It is the metaphorical lawn mower or trimmer that razes the delicate house of Mr. Shell, or the large, unforgiving foot of an adult who has lost the ability to see and think with the unbridled imagination of a child.
Reality imposes specifications, limitations, budgets, and the influence of project managers and clients who may not fully grasp the depth and potential of the idea. It is the point at which the combined entity of the idea and its creative execution struggles to take root and blossom into the once-envisioned daisy.
In the face of this harsh reality, we turn to the intangible, asking that our ideas find a place, ay place. It is through this act of relinquishment, of letting go of attachment and ceasing to create, that we paradoxically ensure the survival of our creative spirit.
The decision to stop caring is a necessary step in preserving the resilience needed to move forward, to embrace the next idea, and to navigate the endless meetings and critiques. It is a passing of the torch, allowing another mind to breathe new life into what remains.
Crucial note: guard against the intrusion of cynicism and skepticism. Callousness must not be permitted to taint the process. One must strive to let go with a sense of peace, knowing that the demands of the next day, the inexorable search for the next profit margin, and the progression of another project will inevitably pull one forward. The end product is a vehicle.
Thoughts may drift to lunch, career advancement, achievements, and the applause both received and anticipated. While seemingly disconnected from the idea and its creation, these musings serve a purpose. They provide the blank space, the clearing of the slate, and the tilling of the garden necessary for the next idea emerge. Reality is the transcendental ground.
Idea (n.) - A concept or thought brought into existence, laden with inherent risks, imperfections, and potential for failure. Transcends mere contemplation, crossing the threshold into the realm of the expressed, the communicated, and the understood. It gains life through its uniqueness, invested with an energy that permeates the shared space it inhabits, whether manifested as the written word, visual direction, strategic statement, or creative concept.
Ideas demand to be woven into the fabric of human experience, partaking in the mundane and the extraordinary alike. They must be seated at the dinner table, present in the groggy waking moments, the bad days, the opening of mail, the washing of dishes, the embrace of a hug, and the making of mistakes. Only through this immersion can an idea rise above the tragically flat, aspiring to a higher standard and making a difference. Ideas lead to different ideas.
This difference surpasses the confines of a client's brief, reaching for something greater, something enduring. It transcends the mere buying and selling of goods and services, striving for the creation of a memorable moment, an indelible mark on the human experience. The messiness of this process is what allows an idea to take hold, to stick in the minds and hearts of those it touches.
In essence, an idea is a force of creation, a spark of potential that, when properly nurtured and fearlessly unleashed, has the power to shape reality and leave a lasting impact on the world.