Creative Chops: Where's the Beef?

The most rewarding outcome from our global economic crisis, is that authentic brands will survive, those with a vision and ability to take risks, will secure a new path. The people with true creative talent will surface above all the posers and "professionals" who look the part and talk a great game. 

In the go-go years of unbridled growth, industries became bloated with people who 'handle" creatives, those who managed more their careers than anything else. They often offered no real opinion, except their boss'; their creative skill was to "manage up" and they had no real experience other than case-studies from the success of others.

The computer has given us instant knowledge, but it didn't make us all smart. It teaches new skills but it doesn't make everyone equal as a creator of ideas, art or communications...
The new democracy of creativity offered by technology has unleashed a wonderful spirit of self-expression, young people can make their ideas become a reality without the barriers of corporations and institutions. Open source alliances, consumer created designs, a new generation which thrives on collaboration has given the creative process a deep well of ideas and the creative community has grown in both size and relevance. 

However, it also dramatizes the need, more than ever, for strong leadership as we yearn for the visionary with cultural acuity. In this global sea of opinion and ideas; the art of craft, uniqueness and originality fueled by a passionate personal point of view is paramount. It is time for all creative people to step up their game. Being truly "creative" today demands a greater depth and breadth of skills.

Recently, I had dinner with a marketing executive of a top global brand, he complained that in his company, some people who had his marketing job claimed a Creative Director title in other parts of the world. He objected vehemently, while his associates were talented professionals who deal with creative issues, he felt they were clearly not Creative Directors, nor did they have the specific skills or experience to serve that role. I replied that when I lived in New York, I knew many fashion aficionados, people who dressed with great taste and incredible flair...but having taste alone didn't make them a fashion designer. 

There are so many wonderful aspects to our new creative democracy and we all benefit from a culture of openness. However, the ability to make something of the highest quality and originality takes talent and a passionate devotion to the skills of "making". Having the ability to execute, to make an idea into reality changes your thinking, concepting power and approach to ideas. This skill is what separates the truly creative and those with ideas. It doesn't matter if we are dealing with old media or new media...skill and talent still rules.

Case in point, I write a blog....but that clearly doesn't make me a Writer.

- John C Jay

創(chuàng)意的手段：真實(shí)的內(nèi)容在哪里？

在目前這個(gè)全球經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)里，我們最大的收獲就是一些最原版，最具有真實(shí)感的廠牌，能夠藉著這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)來(lái)冒險(xiǎn)，來(lái)發(fā)展出一個(gè)全新的方向。

一些真正有才華的人將會(huì)超越一些只會(huì)說(shuō)大話而不做事，裝作自己很了不起的“專業(yè)家”。

一些大型的連鎖公司在經(jīng)過(guò)一段過(guò)度成長(zhǎng)的階段之后，這些公司里到處都是只懂得“管理”創(chuàng)意者的人，他們除了有管理別人的經(jīng)驗(yàn)之外，其他有關(guān)創(chuàng)意的技巧幾乎都沒(méi)有。他們無(wú)法表達(dá)他們真正的意見(jiàn)，只能代表老板傳達(dá)意見(jiàn)，他們創(chuàng)意的技巧除了能夠向上司報(bào)告以外，除了能夠從別人的市場(chǎng)研究來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)以外，完全沒(méi)有親手創(chuàng)作的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

電腦給我們快速的常識(shí)，電腦并沒(méi)有把我們變得更聰明。電腦教我們新的技巧，電腦也無(wú)法讓每個(gè)人都能夠創(chuàng)造新主意，藝術(shù)，新的溝通方式。高科技給創(chuàng)意帶來(lái)了一層新的民主主義，高科技給年輕的一代帶來(lái)了一種自我表達(dá)的精神，年輕的一代能夠完全不受到大公司或者是學(xué)校的限制，來(lái)把他們的夢(mèng)想與主意變成創(chuàng)作。這種完全公開(kāi)，彼此分享的知識(shí)來(lái)源，以及消費(fèi)者的設(shè)計(jì)，栽培了一群新生代的創(chuàng)意者，如此自我創(chuàng)意的集團(tuán)已經(jīng)越來(lái)越大，他們能夠與當(dāng)?shù)匚幕?dòng)的能力也增高了。

但是我們同時(shí)也發(fā)現(xiàn)我們現(xiàn)在更需要有遠(yuǎn)見(jiàn)，有敏銳文化領(lǐng)導(dǎo)能力的人的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。在這一個(gè)到處充滿了一望無(wú)盡的意見(jiàn)與創(chuàng)意里，能夠把個(gè)人熱情加入藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作的精巧，獨(dú)特性以及原版度， 是非常重要的。現(xiàn)在正是我們創(chuàng)意者應(yīng)該一起努力的時(shí)刻。以今天的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來(lái)講，要成為真正的“創(chuàng)意者”，需要比以前更深，更多的技巧。

最近，我與一位在一個(gè)全球名牌的市場(chǎng)總裁一起用晚餐，他抱怨一個(gè)以前在他公司的市場(chǎng)部門里工作的員工最近成為另一個(gè)公司的創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)。他非常生氣，他認(rèn)為在他公司里有很多有才華的專業(yè)者，他們經(jīng)常需要處理有關(guān)創(chuàng)意的問(wèn)題，但是他認(rèn)為他們很顯然地不是藝術(shù)總監(jiān)，因?yàn)樗麄內(nèi)狈?dān)任藝術(shù)總監(jiān)所需要的技巧與經(jīng)驗(yàn)。我和他有同感，我說(shuō)我以前住在紐約，我認(rèn)識(shí)很多對(duì)時(shí)裝設(shè)計(jì)很有興趣的人，他們的穿著非常有格調(diào)，但是單單有格調(diào)并不足夠讓他們成為時(shí)裝設(shè)計(jì)家。

在我們目前的全新創(chuàng)意全民主義里，我們能從這種完全開(kāi)放的文化里得到很多好處，但是能夠有能力創(chuàng)造出高品質(zhì)以及完全原版的作品，需要有才華，同時(shí)也需要對(duì)“親手做”的技巧有完全的熱誠(chéng)。 當(dāng)你有能力來(lái)把主意變成創(chuàng)作時(shí)，你的思想會(huì)開(kāi)始改變，你把創(chuàng)意變成創(chuàng)作的手法會(huì)改變。  這個(gè)技巧能夠把真正有創(chuàng)意的人與其他只有創(chuàng)意但是沒(méi)有熱心來(lái)親手創(chuàng)作的人分開(kāi)。不管我們是處于舊的或者是新的媒體里，技巧與才華還是非常重要的。

所以，我會(huì)寫博客，并不表示我是一個(gè)作家。

-John C Jay

via  John C Jay‘s Blog