Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 20 - Index

Everything But The Kitchen Sink:
Concept To Completion And Fostering Creativity At
KC-Based Sullivan Higdon & Sink
SCREEN: What tools or tricks of the trade do SHS art
directors use during the concepting and pre-vis
stages of a project?
P. Scott Flemming: In the early stages of a project, our
ADs use a number of tricks to help clear their minds
for concepting. Often, we’ll check out YouTube
videos, illustrators online or read industry pubs –
anything that gets our creative juices flowing.
One Web site we use that works well is FFFFound.
com, which is similar to a visual version of those
“Choose Your Own Adventure” books you read as
a kid. Those books let you pick what page you want
to turn to next based on a decision you make. The
site shows an image, and allows you to pick the next one based
on recommendations of similar images. It really helps to clear your
head before sitting down to concept.
Once we get started concepting, we tend to rely on the
markerboard more than anything else. We like to get a look at a
concept as an idea with a basic representation before we dress it
up with photo manipulation or cake decoration.
SCREEN: What do these ADs do to make sure the ideas they are
coming up with are fresh and creative and are not concepts that
have been played out in the vast sea of advertising?
PSF: It all comes down to our agency’s philosophy. Our mantra
is “We Hate Sheep.” Sheep remind us of marketing that follows
instead of leads. Anything that follows the flock, like a rehash or a
copycat, will never make it at SHS.
To make this happen, we have to stay current on what the industry
is doing. Our art directors work hard to follow industry publications,
blogs and sites to make sure that we really are creating fresh ideas
Compiled By Amy Wilschke
����������������������Visit www.screenmag.tv for more daily news than ever before!
For SCREEN’s agency-centered issue, we caught up with P. Scott Flemming, Vice
President - Director Brand Voice at Sullivan Higdon & Sink in Kansas City. Flemming
disclosed to our staff some of the tricks of developing concepts and how the agency
fosters creativity and keeps ideas fresh and compelling in our constantly ad-riddled
world.
that are relevant and steeped in audience insights.
SCREEN: How does SHS help to foster creativity among its staff?
PSF: We really have a number of methods to generate a creative
atmosphere at the agency, but one of the main ones is through
friendly, internal competition.
We have a monthly contest called the First Friday Awards which
honors the best work from that month. The monthly winners are
then entered into the yearly competition. We bring in art directors
from other nationally-recognized agencies to act as judges, and
the team that created the best piece or campaign for the year
shares a cash prize.
We also have HEADCHEEZ, which is a group made up of the
agency’s creative staff. We meet monthly to discuss great work
we’ve seen, do a group project and share a few beverages. It
gives us the opportunity to learn from each other and become
stronger as a team.
//www.wehatesheep.com