[Photo by lumierefl ]
My wife has always said I’m oblivious to the world around me. Secretly, I’ve always thought that was a compliment, because it meant I was doing my own thing, being original and all that.
Got jolted out of my obliviousness recently though. Had beers with some new friends last week – much younger, cooler, designer and advertising friends. During the course of our conversation, it was pointed out to me that Phoenix isn’t as well respected a creative community anymore.
What?
Have I been locked up in my dark office for so long, oblivious to the world around me, that I missed a big shift? This was disappointing to hear. I expressed my surprise and asked what the indicators were that Phoenix isn’t well respected.
Talented students coming out of our universities aren’t staying here. Talented designers aren’t looking to come to Phoenix vs. other markets. Membership in accredited groups (Like AIGA) is way down.
So I spent the weekend thinking.
If Phoenix creative suffers from anything, it’s a lack of confidence. With our proximity to LA and the expanse of creative talent to be found there, Phoenix has always had the impression of being a second tier market at best. A good number of the fortune 500 companies that have their bases here (and benefit from our state/city/county tax breaks, etc.) don’t do their advertising here. They do it in LA, Chicago or NY. We’re left to feel like we’re not good enough to do it here, or the talent level isn’t the same.
Disagree. Completely.
I’ve seen enough brilliant work done here to know the talent level is extremely high. I know of talented people in Phoenix that can stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone in the country when it comes to creative ability. Tom Ortega. Stewart West. Janette Eusebio. Jon Zapf. Charlene McMurtrie – just a few examples (with apologies to the many others that could have been mentioned here – including the people I’m privileged to work with, left off so I wouldn’t seem like a homer).
No. All we lack is swagger. The outward expression that what we do is pretty special. Worthy of respect. Admiration. Maybe we need some group therapy. Or just a chance to pat each other on the back and say good job. Isn’t there an event coming up soon where we can all do that (and show we’re committed to our creative culture)?
Hmm.
Good points, but the biggest differentiator from Phoenix to everywhere else is that Phoenix creatives seem unable to handle criticism. This “we’re all in this together” stuff doesn’t work when you want to be the best, at least based on the criteria we now have.
You ever criticized anyone in the PR, Marketing or creative industry around here? The good ones, few that there are, fire back. The bad ones bitch and moan about supporting each other and doing it for the good of the group.
I’m all for teamwork and collaboration, but dammit, if you want to be the best, you have to have competition and that ain’t always friendly.
I agree with Tyler’s point regarding criticism. If Phoenix creative types are going to learn and grow, then they should take points given to them objectively. I have noticed, first hand, that “friends” are put off by critique and that’s frustrating. Their egos are hurt. Awww.
Being “the best” can be thought of in many different ways, and yes, a competitor may often consider their own work the best. Regardless, we should strive to create stunning stories/words, websites, packaging, advertising and everything else in between. Hell, give a nod to someone else’s work too!
I assure you, the confidence is there, but It’s time to put the egos away.
There will always be creatives who are ready to lay the blame for inferior work at the feet of someone or something else.
Maybe it’s the city’s / market’s fault. Or the client’s. (Educating clients is an ongoing process in every market – big and small – around the world.)
Or it’s the account director’s fault – he or she couldn’t sell great creative work on his or her best day ever. (Quite probably you’re not at that difficult-to-reach point just yet where you have a trusting relationship with the client AND your account team that makes you the golden solution-provider.)
Could it be the fault of one of your fellow creatives? (If all the talented designers coming out of the local university are going elsewhere or all the talent elsewhere doesn’t want to come here, what does that make you?)
Wait, wait. I know. It’s the creative director’s fault. He or she doesn’t inspire you. Doesn’t lead the team to greatness. Right? (That is, indeed, part of the creative director’s job. But if individual creatives of any age and experience level can’t get the juice up to CREATE, to wave away the cobwebs, look at a project from a 38 degree angle one second and a 181 degree angle the next and come up with something, well, it’s my own feeling they might be better off doing something else.
Well meant though it might be, a pat on the back isn’t going to do any good. They need to be pointed in a different direction altogether. Creating is tough. We are judged every day. But the process and the result are reward enough.
Tyler (and Jason) let’s see more honest criticism based on the work someone produces, and fewer ad-hominem attacks. Then we can talk about people’s inability to be criticized being the cause of Phoenix’s problems.
The PROBLEM with Phoenix is the lack of good critics. No one will ever know what’s missing or what’s wrong in our community because we can’t figure it out from the inside, and we can’t get outsiders to care enough to investigate.
Hey Bob, I’m a little curious as to why you picked the picture for this article that you did. To me it illustrates perfectly a lot of what’s going on in Phoenix as a whole but I wanted to get your take.
Maybe I was too literal about the patting each other on the back. My point is that there’s all kinds of talent in Phoenix. Our self impression (at least mine) is always that there’s someone doing it WAY better. That’s the beauty of competition. If someone’s doing it better, then you try harder to make sure you’re relevant. Whether you’re competitive and friendly, or fiery and confrontational is just personality.
As for the criticism sensibilities – who cares? If it’s a peer beating you up, then listen to it, discern what you will and make your own decisions. If it’s a supervisor or client, then either overcome the objections, embrace the input, or choose to do something else. We’re not powerless in what we do, it’s just very hard to effect change.
Sunny – I’m usually pretty sketchy in adding visuals to my posts – so the moderators do it for me when I fail to – that’s what this one is. Agreed about the complexities of the Orpheum as a metaphor – manufactured authenticity – could be it’s own movement.
Thanks for all the feedback everyone – you make me nervous – like that.
I’m torn on the Phoenix scene every day. Unemployment gives us time to be introspective I guess.
In the absence of real data or good ideas, I guess a good fallback position would be to do great work, and let it do the talking.
I don’t intend to sound mean, but I have realized that (it seems to me) the vast proportion of ‘community types’ are not in it for community but themselves. So if we keep at this ‘unity thing’ we do get far too soft. I’d like to think that if either myself or another member of our community dropped a loaf, we could address it critically without the diapers filling up.
The best I can do in helping Phoenix is beat the crap out of anyone who is willing to compete with me, kill anyone else’s efforts by overwhelming them with my own awesomeness, and take it on the chin when I do crappy work.
if we do enough crap and awesome, critics will surely arrive. I’d love to have my work torn apart…
The work means more than the intelligentsia, at least, anyway, to the markets we wish we were associated with.
oh, i forgot to say
phoenix has some of the best talent on earth! I’d lock arms with most of them and see how far we could go.
one day, we might even have as many job postings on craiglist as LA or Boise!!!