Working in a creative team is in my mind a little bit like the feeling a younger me had of working in a toy shop when I’m older. Its everything you ever wanted as a kid, it’s a dream that had no consequences and although I’m not working in a toy shop now, this is what I really wanted and its the best job in the world now.
That is until your customers walk in. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s still the best job in the world but customers can be demanding. They ask you to reach up to the top shelves, and they demand rubbish girls dolls you don’t care about, but you have to care about them. And you should because that’s your job. Keeping with the toy shop analogy, customers get easier to work with when you get used to them and know how to meet their expectations whilst sneaking in a quick build of Lego pirates.
Managers, directors and clients all have a built in perspective on things, everyone is a marketeer. A trick to learn early on is that they are most likely your audience, and your judge and your jury… And to begin with, you are an excitable child at Christmas. That ultimately leads to lots of compromise but remember, they know their product, they are your audience and you are learning. After that initial phase however, as you get better and more knowledgeable at what you do, you may find you’re hitting the mark more. Those around you trust your judgement and you can start convincing people that Lego Pirates really are better than Sylvanian Families.
And I suppose what’s really happening in the real world, is that you are getting to know the products and the campaigns more. When you understand what it is about dolls that makes them happy, you can add a pirate inspired cruise ship to transport them. Perhaps I’m getting too deep into the toy shop thing, but what I mean is, take their ideas and their concepts and add a bit of your fun in and your ideas in. Doing great work in your own opinion for things you like and poor work for things you don’t will probably create bad work for both.
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