02 Dec The Doodles-to-Ads Pipeline: Key Pieces of a Successful Creative Team
Creative teams typically have a reputation for being the beautiful mess. If the account team is making spreadsheets, the creative team is doodling in the margins. But it’s not just cluttering desks, blasting mixtapes, and hiring art majors. If you asked our Creative Director, he’d probably tell you a successful creative team is all about collaboration, passion for the job, and a healthy dose of having a good time. But why guess? Let’s ask him.
“Passion is the key, along with being a good collaborator,” Dubra Castiñeiras says. Called it. “You need to know how to partner with a copywriter, partner with an art director, coordinate with clients and with the account team. We’re each a piece of the puzzle.”
“In order to think outside the box, you need to start with a box.“
Finding the right team members aside, where does the beautiful meet the mess? “Processes and structures are needed to set the path, and then everything will flow from there,” Dubra says. “In order to think outside the box, you need to start with a box. You need to understand what the client needs – creativity comes after. You can only know what’s ‘outside the box’ by knowing where the limits are.”
According to Forbes, “[Creatives] need to be able to balance their creativity with analytical thinking, understanding the needs of the [client], the brand positioning, and what will resonate with users.”
Thinking outside the box and coloring outside the lines expand beyond just creating a good campaign – it’s built into the team dynamic. The idea of staying in your lane doesn’t always apply. “A copywriter should have an opinion about design, and a designer should have an opinion about the copy. Good collaboration in creative means understanding your peers’ responsibilities.”
“Some of the best ideas don’t come from sitting at your desk.”
The success of our creative team isn’t always attributed to diligent 9-5 brainstorming within the four walls of an office space. “You need to let your brain decompress somehow – get out there, go to concerts, go to museums, talk with your friends, go to the beach, take a walk in the forest, anything. Some of the best ideas don’t come from sitting at your desk.”
And of course, our Creative Director has some of the same advice when sending the writers and designers into concepting as a coach would sending the team onto the field: “It’s important to have fun.”
By the way – the cluttered desks are a myth… most of the time.