What makes a great Creative Director?
Alex Normanton, Independent Creative Director, Amsterdam
About Alex
Alex has been working in the creative industry for over two decades.
From humble beginnings at Saatchi & Saatchi, London through to running his own design company, he is a highly motivated, strategic and ideas-led Creative Director. He offers a wealth of experience, creativity and aptitude combined with a passion for detail, craft and aesthetic.
During his career he has been fortunate to pick up numerous industry accolades (that need dusting from time to time) including Graphis, D&AD, Clios, Campaign, Cannes Lions, Creative Circle and The One Show (to name just a few).
Previous clients have included Bols, Rainforest Alliance, AccuWeather, ING, Randstad, Heineken, Sony Music, The Macallan, Emaar and Johnnie Walker.
So, that’s the standard bio information out of the way.
Alex also plays four instruments, enjoys road cycling/getting lost in the Dutch countryside and is a one-man DIY disaster zone.
Alex Normanton, Independent Creative Director.
Ex. Creative Director of Design Bridge and Massive Music, Amsterdam.
Founder, Creator & Podcast Host of DOPA (The Department of Pro-Activeness).
Tell us your own path from Designer to Creative Director.
My own personal path actually came out of having worked for various agencies in the UK under various designer roles both perm and freelance. After a while I wanted to be master of my own destiny — so I launched my own design company and ran this for 6 years as Creative Director (Anoo Design Consultancy). Whilst in this position, I was able to learn a mixture of skills required to really understand business vs. Creative Director responsibilities. I started my own agency to really get back to strategic and a more puristic graphic design led approach to branding. This gave me a great body of work to enter back into the industry as a Creative Director having proved myself and whilst winning some awards in the process.
From there it was straight into various Creative Director roles for different agencies in London and eventually, Amsterdam. I believe that by having a varied ‘pic ’n’ mix’ career, it has given me a wider set of skills that enables me to think bigger and wider as a CD. We do after all live in a multi-faceted world where brands are communicating across different channels and platforms.
What was the hardest part of the transition from Designer to Creative Director?
1. Letting go of day to day hands-on “designing”:
It’s very tempting to jump on the mac and into the process by ‘designing by showing’, rather than stepping back and letting the designer/creative bring their thoughts and skills to the table. More often, it’s so much more about getting out of the way, asking the right questions, dropping those inspiration cues and actually directing, rather than dictating.
2. Sitting in more meetings:
Initially these can be seen as a step away from what you originally fell in love with doing. However, these are opportunities to influence, challenge and question everything before you get into the design phase. I have learnt to embrace this phase the most as it will become the guiding force of the project. It’s often through these conversations that you get ‘little nuggets of joy’ (otherwise known as insights) that inform your thinking which leads to better creative direction for the team.
Lastly, there isn’t a guidebook on how to be a great Creative Director.
So, there can be a quick switch from celebratory mode to ‘Help me, I’m a little lost’!
What specific qualities are essential to become a great Creative Director?Again, I think you have to be a multitude of different things. You have to be a master at spinning lots of different plates at any given time. Part motivator, cheer-leader, challenger, empathaciser, diplomat.. Etc… Building trust quickly can often go a long way both with internal and external parties alike.
Knowing when to push for something greater and when to adjust expectations due to time, budget and commercial restraints. The more experience I’ve had in this role has enabled me to be more open to being challenged. It’s less about the work and output and more about getting the best out of people which in turn creates better work.
Tell us about some of the pros and cons of being a Creative Director.
Pros
The kudos of the role title, brings a certain level of respect (but don’t let it inflate your ego). It is viewed as a position of influence and inspiration. You have the ability to shape things and build your dream team around a project.
Cons
You have to learn to have a poker face, don’t wear your heart on your sleeve. Albeit sometimes it can be good to be seen as a ‘real’ human being. This helps build trust and communication. You can’t be everyone’s friend. Especially in the role of managing people.
It’s a role that comes with a lot of pressure to always deliver, on-time and on budget. As you hold the ultimate strings of final approval, or being held accountable — this can sometimes cause sleepless nights. Often because you want the best for the project, but mainly for the team to thrive and ultimately for the client to be happy.
In your view what are the primary responsibilities of the Creative Director in an agency setting?
Understanding the brief, the client and using compelling insights to collectively define a strategy that will come alive in the creative process. To question everything until you arrive at a point of clarity. Defining creative territories for the team to investigate, interrogate and dissect. To be commercially astute to overall project timings, budget and creative resources available. Assigning the best talent to the job in hand. Steering the ship through a creative process and bringing it back on course if it wanders off. To inspire people (daily), to be a voice in the industry and be the creative representative of the agency. To create work that becomes talked about, award-winning and to promote a culture where people turn up to work with an attitude of ‘What can I contribute today’. To create and maintain a creative culture that constantly pushes, inspires and encourages.
Describe your management style.
Pretty hands on. This comes from the passion from what I do and an attitude of creative directing from a relational place. For certain designers this can be really helpful, for others it can be a little overbearing. I have learnt over time to know how to work with people in a way that gets the best out of them. I like to empower people and enable them to reach their personal career ambitions. So I view the time I invest on the ground as learning experiences for those individuals. It’s a constant see-saw to get right, but good to be acutely aware of.
How long did it take you to feel completely comfortable in your role?
I don’t think I like the idea of being comfortable in my role. In fact, through-out my career, I have purposely chosen roles that have scared me, challenged me in order to keep evolving and learning new things. I think if you reach the point of being comfortable, then formulaic thinking and behaviour can be tempting to fall into. I’d probably like to re-term ‘comfortable’ to ‘confident’ or ‘self-assured’. Confidence can take a while to build and is often built upon a track record, seeing a team come together and thrive and clients being open to your direction.
Did you ever suffer from what’s known as ‘imposter syndrome’?
If so, how did you deal with this?
I think it’s really easy to suffer from imposter syndrome if you have entered a company that is different to how you’ve worked previously or there is focus on a particular discipline that you know you are lacking in. This can help to fuel the imposter syndrome or feelings of inadequacy, out of your depth etc…
The best way to break through those thoughts is to read up, get fully immersed in the area you feel lacking in and gain some practical skills — talk to someone who can help you develop in those areas. Consider getting a creative mentor to share their wisdom and this will help to build your own self-confidence.
What has been your biggest learning experience as a Creative Director?
Don’t be a creative d**k or diva! Don’t always assume the worst. Get to the heart of the issue by talking and communicating freely. Always give people the benefit of the doubt until you have the correct information to inform proper decisions. Be open, honest and leave the arrogance at the door.
Treat people how you would like to be treated yourself. Don’t forget how to get your hands dirty now and again — occasionally get in the trenches and stay late with the team, jump in and take some of the work-load, order those late night pizzas and beers! It’s in these moments that people often open up and share information that helps you to understand their motivations and builds relationship.
Is it important to set and adhere to a creative vision for the agency? If so, why?
Yes I believe that a creative vision/playbook for the agency is really important. Or at least, a shared ambition or guiding principle(s). It helps people to get out of bed in the morning and know why they come to work everyday. It also helps create and maintain a shared ethos which directs the type of work the agency wants to be known for and ultimately why people want to work there.
Whether the vision is upheld however is another matter. However, we know that vision can change and flex as agencies go through different life-cycles. I know that R/GA for example changes their vision every 3–5 years, which I believe has been the success of that agency.
Should a Creative Director be hands on or hands off?
A really good question and a really challenging one too. I think a bit of both, depending on the situation. Certain projects are a lot more involved which could be due to a number of reasons.
You need to be hands on when required to steer the ship back on course or when a tight timeline is in place. You can afford to be more hands off when there is trust in the individuals to deliver to the creative direction that has been set. I think this can be a sliding scale, but can easily fluctuate especially if you are juggling various projects at the same time. To be completely hands-off can be dangerous, especially as you are the one ultimately held accountable for the work.
What tips do you have for building and nurturing a healthy and vibrant creative culture within an agency?
Learn how to have fun together both in and out of the studio. Get to know your team not only for what they only bring to the table creatively, but who they are as people. Be real, open and honest. Be critical of the work but be champions of your people. Celebrate the successes as equally as the failures. Promote curiosity, get off the computers, walk around and talk to people or call someone if not in an office. Share more, it unlocks different creative avenues of exploration.
What tips do you have to continuously inspire creative teams?
Share things that inspire you — open up. Be available. Read a lot of useful and useless information — be a sponge!
Design knowledge is great — but be interested in wider things; as inspiration can come from anywhere. Open up an email/WhatsApp group just for sharing creative inspiration. Hold a monthly Creative Share meeting where people can bring inspiring stimulus.
Attend online/offline talks, go to a gallery (virtual or physical), invite interesting speakers to share their journey. Spend time with your teams to understand what motivates them and gets them energised. Finally, learn how to play and have fun. We sometimes take our day to day roles far too seriously. We aren’t rocket scientists!
How do you maintain your own creativity to ensure you remain on top of your game?
Staying up to date with the latest design trends and award-winning work (comes as standard). Being aware of what’s going on in the world. Reading and immersing yourself in other subjects besides design. Learning how to have downtime that enables you to completely switch off and unwind.
Doing different things to create variety in your day to day routine (ie. never travel the same way to work, or change your routines if at home). Work in different environments, moving around the studio/home/different locations so you don’t become stagnant. Familiarity can breed formulaic work.
Experience different cultures. Travel to different places — as this opens up your viewpoint. You can still travel virtually you know :)
How do you create a balance between giving your team creative space while maintaining overall responsibility for the creative output?
A constant battle for sure. However, it’s part of being a good CD. It’s easy to observe when the team is fully immersed, struggling, thriving or requires some direction. The temperature and trajectory around a project can be in constant flux. Again, if you really know your team well — you will know when to give space and when to step in. It can be a bit of a sea-saw but one to be mindful of.
If you’re too overbearing you’ll know from people’s reactions. Often, team members may say, “I haven’t quite got there yet, can you give me more time”, or, “Can you leave me alone to explore this further”. By having one eye on the day-to-day and one eye on the bigger picture it helps to know when to give space and when things need to be given a little boost. Never use “I have ultimate creative responsibility for this project” as a line to get your own way.
In your opinion what is the best way to give feedback on creative work?Encourage first, critique second. Know when to challenge, listen and know when to shut up. Try and create time and space so every contributor feels heard in and out of reviews.
Give advice on where to focus next — never say ‘I don’t like it’ or ‘I like it’ or ‘that’s nice’. Make sure people are coming out of a feedback review with clear direction. Have justified reasons behind your comments.
Try to be diplomatic, and certainly don’t get too personal! Read the room and adjust accordingly.
How do you defend creative ideas to stop bad things happening to the work?
Always measure back to the strategic set-up and use that as a tool to qualify your position. Do independent research amongst people outside of the project too. Many opinions are good.
Hold onto the vision you have collectively aligned on as a team. Have direct contact with the key decision makers where possible. Believe in the work, inject passion and creativity to bring other stakeholders along the journey. There’s a reason clients use creative agencies. We are paid to offer our expertise, experience and opinion. We are not meant to be fully subservient.
What has been your biggest success as a Creative Director and why?
Leading a team of multi-faceted creatives both internal and external to deliver an all consuming cross-platform global campaign with Bear Grylls. From concept to final delivery in 6 weeks.
Comes back to vision and leadership really. If there is a vision and good leadership then people will follow. To see everyone on the team from juniors to seasoned professionals bring their A-Game on a daily basis was truly inspiring. It brought the best out of people and we were able to share the highs and lows through a shared belief in the core idea.
To sum up: my biggest success. Seeing other people thrive in the gifts and skills they have.
What was the best piece of advice ever given to you as a Creative Director?
Speak with conviction. Don’t be afraid to speak out and defend the work — just have a solid rationale behind your viewpoint.
And finally, what advice would you give to anyone who has recently been promoted to the role of Creative Director?
Keep calm. Breathe and be yourself. Get a mentor — be willing to keep learning — you haven’t arrived just because you are now a CD! Seniority can often be a lonely place — so stay connected and be humble. Don’t let all that power go to your head.
Keep talking to your peers or friends in similar positions to give advice, knowledge and inspiration.
In other words — find your professional “inner circle of trust”.
Be part of a shared learning community so you don’t feel alone.
About the author
Graham Sturt is Creative Director / Partner at strategic creative agency, D8.
Originally from England, he lived and worked in London for more than a decade before relocating to Amsterdam to follow his passion for Dutch design.
