Plus a Change
Looking back on the creative industry with Nick Stevenson
It seems like ancient history, but when I began my career in the creative industry back then, training in graphic design consisted of 50% theory and 50% practical skills. Alongside learning how to use markers to visualise photographic and 3D concepts, we were taught how to render fonts accurately at 10 point - that’s about 3.6mm.
Most of these practical skills were quickly dismissed by the birth and rapid proliferation of digital means. What has remained invaluable to me over my almost 40 years in the industry have been the teachings in creative thinking and problem-solving.
But have things changed so much? Back then, jobs were segregated by agency role. Traditionally, copywriters and art directors would work as a team to create a concept aligned with the advertising or design brief, often working from data supplied by account directors from the agency’s own research and focus groups.
While these roles still exist in some form, most are more rounded and holistic, relying on closer collaboration between all disciplines both within agency staff and also their clients. The myriad of media channels in an increasingly noisy background demands more versatility of concepts, but in turn, they can provide more opportunities for precision targeting of marketing communications.
Even though the phrase wasn’t around at the time, the business was - and remains - about content creation. The quality of that content is measured by the ability to communicate clear and memorable messaging by the most appropriate means. It’s these skills that successful agencies rely upon today and continue to lie at the heart of what creatives do.
As clients continue their quests to build brand allegiance and drive sales, perhaps we should focus on our creative thinking as the most valuable asset that we can offer them.
Methods and media will undoubtedly continue to evolve, so we should protect and build on this core skill. It’s part of our job to integrate new media, harnessing it when and where appropriate. I was fortunate to have been taught by some greats in the world of Graphic Design, people like FHK Henrion – widely regarded as the founding father of modern European corporate identity. Though he – and others of his generation – demonstrated physical skills that now belong to a different time, their thought processes remain today the template for designers everywhere.