A piece of creative is shaped by a million different forces. A combination of the people who put it together, the people it has to please and the processes it goes through on its way to completion. For example, at Savvy something as simple as a social post can have roots and a history invisible to the unsuspecting Twitter follower, and even on-brand designs take cues from their creator.
In a previous life where I moonlighted as a graphic design student, and ‘copy’ was a term I only recognised when paired with ‘paste’, I struggled with this idea of influence. University interviews with the inevitable questioning over inspirations baffled me. As far as I was aware, I didn’t have any. I didn’t pour over print or follow the latest design blogs; I tended to put pen straight to paper and hope for the best. But my pre-Googled and practiced responses must have fooled somebody, for I made it through to a world of concepts and crits where I would again be quizzed over influences and inspiration for work I’d dreamt up in a haze of crumpled paper and hangovers.
Fortunately, as time went on and I was habitually exposed to celebrated film-makers or designers and illustrators, I began to get it a little more, and my work changed to reflect my learnings. But with 50 or so other students absorbing the same information, our output was unsurprisingly uniform. My classmates and I did our best to take inspiration from all the elements we’d encounter on a daily basis and channel them (hopefully) into something new and exciting. Occasionally, one or two of us would succeed, but more often than not we’d be a little late to the party and our half-formed ideas would be brought to the table by somebody else; somebody whose own set of influences had led them down the same road we’d been walking, albeit slightly sooner.
A bit disheartening, yes. But if we were all following the same trends, if we were all at the same universities studying the same subjects, in the same lectures listening to the same lecturers, talking to the same people and doing the same things, how would we, or our ideas, be different? Is it not to be expected that if we were all reading from the same hymn sheet we’d all end up singing the same tune?
So what’s changed? How have I learnt to stand out at Savvy? Firstly, (and admittedly a realisation that should’ve occurred years earlier, but didn’t because headspace was inevitably taken up by boys and £1 shots at the union) by branching out from the curriculum; by looking further than my own industry. By broadening my horizons, so to speak.
Ad great John Webster had it right when he said ‘I try not to be influenced by advertising. I think that’s a mistake.’ By which he meant be influenced by music, painting, theatre, poetry, comedy, anything – just not advertising. Ray Bradbury, science fiction writer and novelist, recommended that anyone aspiring to his profession read one short story, one poem, and one essay each night before bed. This way, after a thousand nights “Jesus-God you’ll be full of stuff!” He believed that as a result you’d be so full of ideas and metaphors along with your own perceptions of life and your own personal experiences, that this could be channelled into brilliantly creative writing different from anyone else’s. In essence, it pays to be curious. Influence starts with interest, and once you’re interested, there’s so much to discover.
Secondly, and perhaps what our creative success ultimately hangs on, our ideas are defined by the targets they hit. One of the most important things I’ve learnt at Savvy is that the best idea you’ve ever had can easily become the worst if it doesn’t do it for the client. If it doesn’t engage your audience, if it doesn’t get the job done then it isn’t a big idea at all. To quote George Lois, “You never did the job if you didn’t sell it to your client.”
Ideas are introduced to our clients by an ‘inspiration’, which allows them to understand the root of the concept and the thinking behind it. And that inspiration could be anything from a scribble on the page of an old library book to a piece of insight picked up from our monthly shopper panels. Because as well as the experience and perceptions we bring to the table, we’re influenced internally by agency processes and the tools we have at our disposal. With shopper panels and regular focus groups we can form an understanding of our audience and develop a strategy on how best to approach them. We can collect insight strong enough and relevant enough to influence the creative. For example, knowing that 78% of UK shoppers are on track to own a smartphone by the end of 2014, we can tailor an idea to target shoppers in-store with communications that make sense to them in that moment.
The most powerful influences are the ones that have the last word. The clients we aim to please, the audiences we need to reach, existing brand DNA, guidelines and tone of voice; our final idea is influenced by the context it has to work in. But that said, without our initial influences, those we learnt long before we were ever seated at the boardroom table, and those we’ve newly acquired since, how far would we get? Could we honestly push any creative boundaries if our ideas were only inspired by existing brand guidelines and the initial creative brief?
I don’t think it’s either/or in this instance. Our own experiences and learnings are the basis of our creative output – from our understanding of iconic periods of design to a conversation overheard at the bus stop 6 months ago, we can draw on anything and everything. But the barriers (or opportunities, depending on the type of day you’re having) we face in the industry give our ideas focus and shape; they might make us work a little harder and get home a little later, but ultimately they force us to refine our ideas to the point where they’re much stronger and more effective for the client than our original concepts.
If there’s anything I’ve learnt in the years since I stood reciting my carefully-crafted answers to straight-faced heads of departments, willing them to let me onto their courses, it’s that influence isn’t what you know, it’s how you react. It’s dealing with those barriers and turning problems into positives. It’s seeing something in the street that sets your brain in motion and your hand itching for a piece of paper and pencil. There’s no pre-agreed checklist of industry influences to work your way through, and no way to predict at the initial briefing session what the sum of influences will equate to in terms of creative output. So whilst I’m not suggesting you file away every crack in the pavement or suspiciously-shaped cloud as the makings of your next big idea, there’s definitely something to be said for keeping your eyes, and your mind, open.