Creativity Squared: John Weir on the Notion That Creativity Is 80% Idea and 80% Execution
John Weir started his career as a graduate from Enmore Design Centre. After many previous design jobs, he found himself in London as the senior designer at Antidote, before advancing to associate partner and head of design.
John then spent some time working as the creative director at Fabric/Ogilvy & Mather before securing his role at Optus. In 2017, he worked at a freelance creative director for Emotive and Octagon. In 2018, his freelance days were over when he was appointed creative director at Octagon.
Today he is the creative director at Gemba where he works with brands such as Toyota, Transport For NSW and Westpac. He describes himself as a sport, entertainment and culture creative, who loves a challenge and getting to know clients during the creative process.
Person
I would describe myself as analytical, technical, inspired by clever things. I consider myself an optimist and I like to see the world as an adventure. Creativity stems from curiosity, fun, and play, so it's innate in everyone. Crafting it is something learned through experience. I really believe in routine in all aspects of life. The discipline of sticking to a routine builds self-confidence and prepares you to take on challenges as they come.
I find creative enjoyment in everything. Creativity, for me, is about taking notice of all things around you. It's more often not related to my work. I do however bring all my interests into my work. I think it's a great way to bring an enthusiastic perspective and motivation to projects. So, for me, it's mostly influenced by the audiobooks and podcasts I’m listening to (mainly about health and comedy), my exercise routine, and recently, my kids, too.
Product
I judge the creativity of a piece of work based on the following: does it grab my attention? is it clever? is it beautiful? do I wish I had done it? – basically does it make me extremely jealous its wasn’t mine!
Truly creative work must have an original idea behind it. However, with my background in design, it must also be executed beautifully. My rule of thumb is that great creative must be at least 80% idea AND 80% execution!
I started in design, and for a long time, my focus was heavily on craft and aesthetics. The challenge of ‘great ideas executed beautifully’ became more important as I gained more experience. Nothing should start without a great idea. I find that ideas are the hardest part, while the craft and execution are more learnable skills, although they also take time to master.
There are a few campaigns I'm particularly proud of:
Tight Knickers Website: This was my first ever paid job in 2003, done as freelance work while at TAFE, it went on to won a Silver Pencil (beating Nike), and through making it I learned how to action script in Flash – I also learned that to create great you often must spend way too much time making them!
Team Sky Brand Identity: This was the first branding job I did that made me realise branding could be so much more than just logos and business cards.
Toyota 'Keeping Cricket Ticking Over': This project reminded me that finding your own creative interest in a brief allows you to be passionate about something you're otherwise not. I may not be a super-fan cricket, but I do love old signs, scoreboards, architecture and typography.
What excites me is the potential of AI and what it will bring to the industry. What frustrates me is the prevalence of virtue signalling and vacuous 'woke-washing’' or social commentary work that doesn't really achieve anything for a cause but uses it for self-attention.
Process
I always start a project in notes. I’m not a copywriter but I always start by just writing. I find that the first thoughts captured are often the best, especially right after the briefing. I also learned from my design background that it's easy to make things look good before you've properly evaluated if they are even good and worth pursuing. I'm also a list maker.
I use Evernote, a simple notes and to-do list app that works seamlessly across my phone and laptop, so it's always at hand. Then pen & paper + iPhone photo for idea scamps (still perfecting my procreate & stylus skills, not great yet).
I do collect references and inspiration to find homes for in work. I also think we can’t help but bring all our experience to everything so it’s never really a blank sheet even if you try. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it can hold back fresh thinking.
I value alone time for deep work, something reinforced in the last few years with more and more remote work. I also value team work to rapidly come up with ideas, improve ideas with builds through different perspectives etc.
The best technique for me is to deliberately think about the problem right before bed. With the right amount of stress and pressure many creative problems can get solved overnight – I just have to remember to have my phone + Evernote to hand in case I wake up with an idea. Other helpful methods include changing my work setting, going for a walk, and discussing the project with a team to gain a different perspective.
In all honesty, I don't always know when work is done. I tend to want to do more, and it often it’s just when the budget has run out or when deadlines dictate.
I was into arty things, music etc when I was young. Always drawing as a kid. I was a bit of a geek, I painted toy soldiers and made model airplanes, Tamiya RC cars with decals etc. However, a pivotal thing that made me decide to go study graphic design was in a Bachelor of Arts degree studying anthropology. In the course we were looking at M.C.Escher’s work and how the illusions are perceived through culture. It made me think ‘dam this course is wrong for me, but maybe I should be a graphic designer because I love M.C.Escher’s work’.
I honed my craft during early experiences with branding projects which opened my eyes to seeing creative (at the time design) beyond the screen. Branding cycling teams for e.g. expanded my context of branding (to bikes & uniforms & busses and everything in between) and ultimately broke me into advertising. But I honed my craft by focusing on my ideas. Writing before doing. Being brutal in the upfront work vs jumping to the execution.
A great creative brief is always key. But to talk to stress. I get stressed. I’ve come to realise that my factors for ‘fly’ and ‘frustrate’ are almost one and the same. I find my creative process requires the stress, pressure, and discomfort of not having a solution straight away. This creates urgency. As frustrating as it is, it always has to happen. Then the ‘fly’ is the great satisfaction of getting there through the depths of despair! The best work only comes with work.
Client trust is key for great work. Trust in their agencies’ skill sets. And trust in knowing that most creatives are keen to go above and beyond to make something great.
Agency culture is a big part of facilitating creativity. A principle I believe in, and I feel applies to me well, is that creativity isn’t a competitive reward process for many creatives. Doing the work well is the (personal) reward and the motivation. So ‘competition between teams’ isn’t always a good model. The work opportunity will always have the most appeal if there is autonomy, mastery, and purpose for individuals, and, if the pay is enough so that it isn’t a distraction (the lack of it). Here’s a film I watched that I’m parroting this from this video below
