CAREERS FOR CREATIVES IN DIGITAL

Summing up the general pointers from the discussion between the panelists: James from Streaker, Jessie from Miss J Creative, Chris from Host, Paolo from With Collective, and, of course, the audience.

Digital is just another platform, a channel to communicate with. Understand the channels, how they work and what they can do. Be relevant and aware. Which channel is most relevant to the product? Find out what's new and happening. Strategy is huge – think when, why and how.

No one really likes advertising and seeks it out so be smart and engage cleverly. Everything needs a good idea.

Being a hybrid or generalist in advertising is really important. Most successful creatives can do a bit of everything. Having a diverse skill set is helpful in pushing you to stand out from the pack. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t have a specialty, you just need to have other skills that compliment your lead.

You can learn a lot about user behaviour by putting things out there and testing the market. That's what's great about digital. Everything can be measured and data plays a big part. Use this data to influence your creativity and make things shine.

There are many roles in the digital space and many that specialise. These specialties come from all kinds of different roles, however creativity is always at their heart.

Remember that emotion evoking work is still the best way to engage and talk to people.

Experimenting with new programs can keep you engaged but is not always necessary. This depends on the role. Learning new programs takes time and can put everything out of sync. You end up knowing a little about a lot of things. It's better to spend time thinking and creating rather than tripping yourself up by trying to keep on top of everything that's going on. You need to be able to get a great creative product out, people don't really care how you get to the end result of a great idea.

Focusing on tech for techs sake can lead to really bad ideas. Your focus always needs to come down to the idea and catch people's attention. And it doesn't have to be the latest & greatest technology either - for example Clever Buoy, a hugely awarded idea and fully functioning product, uses sonar technology that is 40 to 50 years old. You can't use great technology and expect it to help a bad idea.

For Juniors, get some intern experience. Even if it's only a week. Meeting the right people and doing it the right way. Make the most of your time, show what you can do in different ways. Get in to meet people and show you have the right attitude. It's all about meeting the right people. You need to be valued for your design thinking not just because you've worked on digital projects, this will let your creativity grow.

And one of the most important points of the evening that everyone agreed on: you always have to look outside your scope to learn and grow. Have other creative outlets. What drives and motivates you really interests others. Have a look at the responses from Senior Creatives in the industry to our Three Questions posted weekly on a Thursday on our News page - they are in agreement too.

Photo Credit: www.ait.nsw.edu.au