What does it mean to be ‘a creative?’
The ‘a’ is important as it means that you are defined by that role. It’s who you are. The word creative can be broken down and defined in two ways. Firstly ‘create’. This is something that we can all do. We can all create something new, something unique, something that only you with your unique set of skills and experiences can do.
If you gave the same brief to a hundred different people to draw a smiley face, everyone would do it differently. There will be similarities but you still have a hundred different smiley faces… smiling back at you.
The ahhh moment
Next we are left with two letters ‘IV’. Now that’s the really interesting bit. IV are the roman numerals for four. Four is a homonym of for. Still with me? So, being creative can be defined as ‘create for’. This is what a successful Creative Director does. They create for clients campaigns that people respond to, brands that connect, messages that resonate. It is about making connections between abstract connections. Providing that ‘Ahhh’ moment. Solving the Rubix and drinking coffee. It’s about communication. Keeping it simple.
As Happy’s Creative Director, I’ve been doing this for 10 years, providing thousands of different ‘ahh moments’. When you understand the creative requirements from a client you can provide a unique creative solution that is right for them.
The Happy three
Happy work makes clients happy and in turn it makes you happy. We call this the Happy Three. This is a fundamental philosophy of happy creative and has underpinned my tens years as creative director. If you draw these three points on a piece of paper in a loose triangle and then connect them with a curve it creates a smile.
James Chantler is Creative Director at Happy Creative, a full service marketing and creative agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
