I am a Creative Director with a copy background based in New York City.
The longer I work, the more complicated things tend to get. I’ve gone from writing TV spots with accompanying static banners to fully-integrated digitally-led campaigns with technology that didn’t even exist two years ago. I’ll be honest, it’s getting harder.
But my mantra as a creative and as a mentor is simple: Make cool things. At the end of the day, nobody is going to care about what you have to say unless it’s worth talking about.
I have a weird love/hate relationship with this industry. I believe the only way to stay sane in such a weird professional world is to have fun, treat your work like art, and be nice to people. Sure, this all might sound like the price of entry for any job but it’s actually surprising how unusual this approach seems to be sometimes.
Do I like Cannes Lions? Of course. Who wouldn’t want a free trip to the South of France where you can hobnob with other people suffering from impostor syndrome and/or crippling egomania?
But awards will never the be-all end-all to me. We’re going to do our best. We’re going to put our work in the world and hopefully get people to laugh or smile or feel something. Then we’re going to move to the next brief.