New Blood Festival: DEFINE>REFLECT
Day 3: A round up of career advice for emerging creatives
Should the commercial creative industry be innovating and defining culture, or is it our role to reflect and comment on the world around us?
We've collated some of our favourite pieces of advice from Day 3 of New Blood Festival and our stellar line up of industry experts including Play Nice LDN, No Signal, Aurélia Durand, Craig Oldham, The Yarza Twins, Burhana Islam, Alex Bennett Grant, Sherry Collins, Sophie McGovern, Stu Outhwaite-Noel, CCO & Co-Founder, Creature.
Each session explored Define vs Reflect and what the creative industry's responsibility is within society. Should we be starting trends, showing people something they've never seen before and taking creative expression in fresh directions – or embracing macro trends and holding up a mirror to society? How can we avoid the echo-chambers this can create? In our post-pandemic society, is our role to distract and entertain or empathise and react?
Read on for our key takeaways...
Here's a round up of our favourite quotes...
It's not just about creating innovation through a message but through the behaviour and mind behind it.
Eva & Marta Yarza
If you try and innovate and be original in isolation and not connect to anyone it's useless. No one will use it or understand it. Reflecting on where you are and the audience you are connecting is so important.
Craig Oldham, Founder, Office of Craig Oldham
Reseach is a creative practice - be creative about where you look for things.
Craig Oldham, Founder, Office of Craig Oldham
We always start by thinking first, then designing.
Eva & Marta Yarza
Don't indulge too much in your own personal experiences. Use them as a foot in the door, but then expand your expertise, skillset and perspective.
Alex Bennett Grant, CEO & Founder, We are Pi
Always consider your identity, Who are you? Where did you come from? How does that shape who you are?
Burhana Islam, WriteNow mentee and author of Amazing Muslims Who Changed the World
Find your niche and let your audience grow organically.
Sherry Collins, Founder, Editor & Creative Director, The Pitch Fanzine
There is a wild variety of illustrators out there. Right now people are interested in the story of the illustrator also. Who are you? Why do you do it and what do you bring to the table?
Aurélia Durand, Illustrator
I think it's key for us all to actually understand what our role is to pay in this sort of change ecosystem. And once you work out what that is or what multiple of them are you take that forward to make sure that you can make the change you want to see in the world.
Play Nice LDN x No Signal
Don't live in the past, but do look to it. You have to understand it to move forwards
Sir John Hegarty, Founder of New Blood, Co-Founder of BBH, Founder The Garage Soho.
Bring the world you live in into your work. Do interesting things and you'll do more interesting work.
Sir John Hegarty, Founder of New Blood, Co-Founder of BBH, Founder The Garage Soho.
For more creative career inspiration and creative industry advice for emerging talent head to our Inspiration for emerging creatives landing page. We'll also be releasing some of the New Blood Festival 2020 talks in full in the coming weeks, so keep an eye on the New Blood channels for more info.
