Shaping Creativity: The Role of Creative Directors

They asked our own Creative Director, Maikel Botterman, what creativity means to him, how we build a culture of innovation at ODB, how we deal with rejected ideas and concepts, and more. So Maikel, the stage is yours!

1. How do you foster a culture of innovation and creativity within your team?

‍An important question we ask ourselves at ON A DAILY BASIS is: “are we still having fun?”. The aspect of playing, acting crazy, creating nonsense helps to stimulate our creativity. I believe in taking yourself and your work very seriously, but at the same time not taking it too seriously.

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2. How do you deal with a creative proposal/idea where you really believe it's great but is rejected by a customer? How do you pivot to take customer concerns into account while remaining true to your vision?

‍We always try to work with customers from a collaborative perspective, bouncing ideas back and forth until we arrive at a concept that we want to develop. In this process, you can get a good sense of the limits of how far you can push your creativity. Of course, there are times when you jettison all caution and try something completely unexpected. This can either hit the jackpot and the customer loves it, or they like it but too risky. In this case, you end up in a kind of tightrope, where you try to find the balance of not watering down the concept too much so that it doesn't lose its soul but does address the customer's concerns. In this process, we usually meet with the customer, talk about what their concerns are and how we can address them through minor design changes. In the worst case that we can't figure it out and walk the tightrope fails, we'll always have our “Golden Trash Bin”; a great collection of ideas, concepts or designs that, unfortunately, will never see the light of day, but will continue to inspire us for future projects.

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3. How do you create a coherent vision for a multi-platform campaign that spans across channels, including all the different social media platforms, print, and experiential activities?

‍All the work we make is based on a strategic foundation that translates to the core essence of a story you're trying to tell. Once you have that story, it's all about seeing what audience you're trying to tell, where to find them, and what's the best way to tell the story for those specific channels. From one social media platform to another, TV or out of home, the way to deliver a story is often completely different. What's important is that you change the way you tell the story, just the format, not the story itself.

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4. How do you find the balance between creativity and practical feasibility in a project? For example, budget restrictions, technical restrictions, etc.‍

Anyone can come up with the most extravagant ideas and visions for a project, but finding practical solutions to bring these ideas to life is what creativity is all about. Personally, I always enjoy this challenge, but the limitation I have the most difficulty with is time. We've all experienced that a customer wants you to come up with something new, but should have finished it yesterday. The challenge can be fun, but I always find that when you have the time to work in separate sprints so that the work can rest and settle, better ideas come out of your subconscious mind. So I'm always trying to find the space to let that process of settling happen for me and my team.

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5. It looks like the term “Creative Director” has become a buzzword lately. Everyone is a Creative Director these days. But what sets a true Creative Director apart?

‍I don't think there's anything wrong with a lot of people being a Creative Director, it just means there are a lot of people bringing their ideas to life. Whether you're working alone or in a large company, everyone can have their own definition of what it means to them to be a Creative Director. For me personally, this means that I lead my team in an open and equal environment, but am central to protecting the vision and steering our creativity in the right direction. I'm really a people-person, so for me, being a Creative Director is about collaborating with talented people, making them feel free to create and innovate, and working together towards the goals we've set for our work.

Read the full article here.

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