A Creative Director’s Favorite Resources for Creativity
A couple months ago, one of our clients reached out to us asking how they could get more creative in their job. The message read:
“Hey, I have been putting some thinking into learning something new in the future, and maybe you can help me (please!). I say a lot that I am in love with Marketing because I am in love with communication and storytelling. But sadly, the marketing I do is 99% about excel sheets and only 1% about telling a really good story, or adding value through the message.
Performance marketers like me seem to be convinced that an algorithm will always be so powerful in doing its magic that being creative will add no extra value. Or will it? That's what I am trying to discover in 2023.
My question for you is, can you help me find books, fields of knowledge, courses, interesting people to follow... anything that allows me to learn more about the creative and storytelling component of a good campaign? Thank you!”
Since this person works in a company that deals with a lot of data and numbers, it felt like creativity wasn’t going to be a huge part of that. We love creativity and we love storytelling, believing it to be essential to any workplace, so we were happy to help find some resources for creativity.
Our founder, Natascha, reached out to Stu Hallybone who she deems a creative genius.
Our founder, Natascha, reached out to Stu Hallybone who she deems a creative genius. Stu works at Creators With Purpose who we at Rupp PR occasionally partner with for full-service client accounts. We share the approach to work with brands and creators that make a positive global impact! Stu is the Creative Director at Creators with Purpose and he loves creativity, culture, and diversity believing in three important rules: make interesting things, be honest, work hard, have fun, and collaborate with the best people in the world.
Stu has the ultimate qualifications to be our guide on all things creativity, so we were so excited when he gave us an awesome list full of books, podcasts, shows, and more!
Stu has the ultimate qualifications to be our guide on all things creativity, so we were so excited when he gave us an awesome list full of books, podcasts, shows, and more! We hope you find something wonderful to inspire you, and remember: no matter your job, we believe creativity can be a huge part of your day! Enjoy these resources for creativity and let us know what your go to dose of inspiration is.
Book: Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan
“It’s a book that loves marketing as much as we do.”
In this eye opening exploration of advertising history, Luke Sullivan helps his readers navigate both traditional and new forms of media by examining the science behind what makes ads so enticing.
Stu tells us that this book taught him how to “break free of rules”. He describes it as “brilliantly written” and states that: Although initially for creative teams (old school) it also inspires by celebrating some of the best campaigns and seeing the world differently. It’s a book that loves marketing as much as we do. And the lessons inside are all keepers.
Book: The Creativity Challenge by Tanner Christensen
The byline for The Creativity Challenge is “Design, Experiment, Test, Innovate, Build, Create, Inspire, and Unleash Your Genius” with reviewers describing it as an “‘Aha’ moment” for creativity! Christensen uses different exercises and props to guide you to becoming more creative. Learn to think outside the box and harness your creativity for good.
Stu says that he uses this book to help “free up his thinking”. By “flicking to a random page” the book can help you “turn a problem on its head.”
Podcast: The Creative Pep-Talk
Andy J Pizza, who has the coolest name ever, hosts this Creative Pep Talk podcast where he shares funny stories, awesome tips to help get your creativity flowing, and an all around good time for you and your coworkers. Stu calls him a great help on “your creative journey”.
Check out his YouTube Channel here!
Article: How to Be Creative
Matt makes creativity sound easy and fun!
Written by Matt Richtel, this article guides you through the creative process and teaches you how to open yourself up to being creative. Matt promises that by following the steps laid out in the article, you will unlock your inner “writer, composer, finger painter, chef, lyricist, entrepreneur, filmmaker, comedian, politician or professional Tweeter” – sounds promising, right? From giving permission to being imperfect, Matt makes creativity sound easy and fun!
Netflix: Abstract: The Art of Design
Finally, for the people that prefer to watch things, here is an awesome Netflix documentary about the concept of design.
In the first episode, we follow Christoph Niemann who is an expert illustrator and graphic designer. The Netflix series allows you to “step inside the minds of the most innovative designers” in the world.
Our Inspo & Tips
Before you go get some inspiration, here are a couple of our own tips that we like to use when trying to get into the creative mode.
Music – specifically Spotify
For us, a Spotify subscription is essential. We love to put together playlists for our different creative moods. We think music is one of the most important aspects to creation.
The reason we recommend Spotify is that if you don’t feel like making a playlist, they’ll do it for you. Not only do they have hundreds of different playlists for different moods, but they also are able to recommend different songs based on your listening history and build you your own personalized playlists. Our Discover Weekly playlists have inspired some of our best work!
2. Pinterest
Making Pinterest boards is so efficient when it comes to creating anything. They can help you envision different ideas, colors, moods, and so much more. With thousands of different creators with different content, Pinterest is also a very personalized experience that will generate content for you based on what you like and pin.
3. Notebooks – carry one at all times
We know that the world is trying to go paperless but sometimes nothing beats the old pen and paper. One thing we’ve learned is that you don't know when inspiration will hit, so always and we mean always carry a notepad or notebook to jot down any ideas you may think of at that time. The world is full of fun and inspiring things, you never know what will help you get creative!
We’ve been ordering Sloane Stationery notebooks since 2016 - their colors and covers trigger so much creativity, and their pocket size series make it easy to always have a notebook nearby.
We hope this helps you get into your own creative zone and bring a bit of creativity to the workplace with you. Now stop reading and start creating. A big thank you to Stu for sharing these awesome recommendations.