Getting your brilliant idea rejected – or worse, diluted – by a client again and again is soul destroying. Alex Ward, art director at Ogilvy Sydney, has solved the problem. [Hint: it’s not rage.]
It’s 6.30am on a cold Sydney morning. The doors don’t open until 9am, but the queue is already snaking through the backstreets of Surry Hills. We’re all here for the Incognito Art Show – a gallery event where every work of art is sold for $100, with proceeds going to charity. The twist is that no buyer knows who created it until it’s been purchased. Whether they’re an established artist or not, anyone can submit up to three A5 pieces. Which means someone gets to take home my dad-joke inspired illustrations of animals as famous personalities – including Ruth Gator Binsburg, Vin Weasel and Vincent Van Goat.
Recognising the long wait ahead, I start chatting to my fellow queue buddies. One man is a lawyer by day and avid art collector on the side. One woman is an artist herself, her daughter there for emotional support (and to up her purchase limit).
We discuss which pieces we’re looking to buy. The woman shows a painting depicting a horse, while the man shares an understated abstract piece. My first choice was an ethereal line drawing (which I later found to be made by the talented Angus Martin). Interestingly, none of our top picks are alike.
Art is subjective, and we all respond differently to different creative expressions. And never had this been more evident to me than in this very moment. The very nature of the show removes bias. There is no price tag to articulate that one piece is more valuable than the next. No names to create status. No job titles. This is art for the sake of art.
Briefed creativity is very different. We’re constantly analysing what’s right or wrong to solve a business problem as opposed to making art in its rawest form. In that sense, creatives in adland are less like artists, and more akin to architects, helping clients to construct their dream brand. It’s a small distinction, but an important one.
By the very nature of our roles, business is personal. We offer up our individual creative expression as part of the solution to a brief. That’s why it’s easy to get disheartened when a creative decision is shot down, or a when a piece of work made with blood sweat and tears never sees the light of day. We have to train ourselves not to take feedback personally, no matter how much of our own creative flair we infuse. Ultimately, the brand belongs to the client.
This is why it’s important to ensure client work isn’t your only creative outlet. That doesn’t necessarily mean come up with more proactive ideas, but rather give yourself the time to draw, paint, dance, write, whatever it is you do, without the guardrails of right or wrong.
As creatives, we need the space to be our own creative directors, removing all briefs (unless you set one for yourself), and experimenting with new mediums, new approaches, and new styles. Investing in your own creative expression and extra-curricular activity allows you to explore undiscovered avenues, without brand guidelines weighing on your mind. By playing in new spaces, you gain fresh perspectives, which in turn betters all of the work that you do, whether that be for yourself or your clients.
When I have the time, I attend life drawing sessions where I experiment with how I put pen to paper. I attend aerial circus classes to explore my physicality (and to compensate for my love of Tim Tams). I create illustrations infused with animal puns for art shows and queue up at 6.30am to see others.
Creatives are architects. But at the end of the day, the client owns the house. We can work with them to make the value skyrocket, or they can choose to put a toilet in the kitchen. Ultimately that’s their call, so make sure you’re just as invested in your own property. Even if that investment is simply a drawing of Van Gogh as a farm animal.
