Over the years I’ve asked myself the question: What makes a good creative? 

Before I even get into that, I just want to point out that I have a massive issue with the word creative, how it’s used and perceived. It jars me when people who don’t see themselves as “creatives” say “oh, I’m not creative….”. Like, come on man what does that even mean? Personally, I repeat PERSONALLY as in, “IN MY OPINION!!!” I think it’s literally impossible to be a human being and not be “creative”. And if I’m super honest, I think the way we even use the word is dumb and lazy but I really don’t care enough to try and change it so I’ll reserve my energy for more important things like using capital letters to fight for my right to have an opinion. 

For the sake of this piece and the industry I’m in, let’s just use the term “creative” in the way we’ve all chosen to understand it. 

For me, a good creative is someone who approaches his/her work with care. You have to care, otherwise, what’s the point. In my experience, there are those who care and there are those who I refer to as ‘operators’. Operators are people who are more interested in volume over substance, people who 9 times out of 10 couldn’t answer the question of why they really do what they do. Don’t get me wrong, everything and every one has its or their place and purpose in this world and I guess not every piece of “creative” work has to have some deep and meaningful meaning behind it. Although I do admit that I am definitely a WHY person, I like to know the reason, behind the reason, behind the reason, that’s my bias. I try to be as honest as I possibly can be when it comes to examining why I’ve chosen to do something. And no it’s not because I’m some righteous soul who wants to make the world a better place, not that there’s anything wrong with wanting to make the world a better place. The reason I choose to explicate the why behind my work is so I can create MORE!!!! Yep that’s right, I want more. Me, yes me, I want more. I want more for myself, I want more for my family/friends/colleagues, I want more for people who come from the same environments I came from, I want more for the environments we all have to live in now and in the future. 

The wreath used in the United Nations logo and the Soviet Union logo (which by the way is creepily identical), symbolizes abundance. As a “creative” I’m able to create more when the reasons behind my work are positively examinable. I find more seeds, plant more ideas and grow more opportunities. It’s hard to replant positive seeds when you’re constantly creating work you don’t care about and if it isn’t positive, chances are it’s either negative or just a complete waste of everyone’s time and adding to the toxic waste build up on this planet. Or it’s just a bunch of unrealistic horse crap that you’ve cooked up because you know it will pass the smell test of whoever’s in charge of reviewing your work.

One of the main things I’ve learned from term 1 at the SCA is to always be you no matter what the cost. I’ve found it actually costs more when you’re not being true to yourself. There’s been times in the term when I’ve delivered work that simply wasn’t me, I was being an ‘Operator’. Creating work or allowing my name to be put next to work that I didn’t actually ‘CARE’ about, doing what I felt was required either to appease my partner or to appease a mentor, that stops in term 2. I think it is also important to point out that there’s been times when an idea that I have cared about wasn’t well received, my attitude to that is maybe the idea was wrong or maybe I just didn’t do a good enough job of translating the idea. Nevertheless, going forward, if the reason behind the work is flat and lifeless and I can’t produce MORE adjacent ideas from it, then it’s just not for me regardless of how it might be received. Positive reusable energy only from now on. I’m here to learn and to become a better version of MYSELF so I can create beneficial work in the future, I am not here to fit in.