On Friday, I will be presenting my new thoughts on the emerging Creator Class. It’s a focus on multi-skilled creative minds who feel they can turn their hand to multiple product and service offerings, often challenging they way established industries operate.
Some of the people that I’d put in this category are featured in a new book called Design Entrepreneur: Turning Graphic Design Into Goods That Sell. This book features folks like Paul Budnitz of KidRobot and other graphic designers turned product developers.
I think these design entrepreneurs fit within a larger group I’m calling Creator Class. I want to make sure it includes creative minds that may not use graphic design as the center of their work - folks like Jay Parkinson, the “Web 2.0 doctor” (see our video on him here).
BUT…. I NEED YOUR HELP - I haven’t completed the presentation and with my travel to the opposite time zone, my head is fuddled and I can’t think of these individuals (and sometimes duos) who are making change. I’d love some help - could you make some suggestions in the comment box below?
THANKS!
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Hello Piers, I wasn’t quite sure what the parameters are exactly in terms of topic or industry, but one person I consider in the “creative class” is Heidi Swanson, who writes the very popular 101 Cookbooks blog - http://www.101cookbooks.com/
October 6th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik of http://www.penny-arcade.com/
They have created:
- The most popular video game webcomic/blog
- Child’s Play, a charity that gives video games and systems to hospitals all over the world ($1.3 million raised in 2007)
-Penny Arcade Expo, a video game convention that has been running for 4 years (58,500 tickets sold for PAX 2008)
Look them up on wikipedia for more details if you’re not familiar.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of http://www.penny-arcade.com
They’ve built what can only be called an empire out of a web comic they started in 1998. They have created and currently run:
-The most popular video game comic/blog (~2 million page views a day)
-Child’s Play, a charity that gives games and systems to hospitals around the world ($1.3 million raised in 2007)
-Penny Arcade Expo, a gaming convention that has been going on for 4 years (58,500 tickets sold for PAX2008)
- Plus merchandising, books, a video game, etc, etc
Check out wikipedia for more details.
October 6th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Hi, Piers. Not sure if this is too far down the line if what you’re seeking but with CareFlash (another member of the Health 2.0 space along with Jay Parkinson) we’ve done something along these lines and had fantastic success via “Leatherman”… a lighter view of what CareFlash does. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfA3a3iYJ2E
October 7th, 2008 at 12:25 am
Hey, that’s me! Not that I am successful at it or anything, but I much prefer to be a jack of all trades instead of specializing in “vector illustration”, “interactive flash”, or “band posters”.
In the past week I’ve designed flyers, banners, screenprinted shirts, welded a homemade bakfiets (dutch cargo bike), organized a scavenger hunt, planned a freakbike booth at the Oregon Manifest, and applied for a bunch of design jobs.
None of which I got.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:38 am
debs at http://thinkpublic.com/news/
she might be what you are looking for, but quite interesting if you are unaware of what theyve been up to
October 7th, 2008 at 2:51 am
I think you should check out the guys over at Swedish Acne. The company started out in 1997 (96?) with four guys from different diciplines (graphic design, film and interior design) who wanted to do “stuff” (and prove that great brand work can fill anythig with value, even hiddeous skin problem…). The ambition to make “stuff” has resulted in international succes fashion brand Acne Jeans, film production company Acne Film (represented by RSA world wide, making both commercials and own formats for both tv and the big screen), advertising agency Acne Creative, Acne Jr that creates toys and characters, the bi-anual publication Acne Paper and award winning web prod. company Acne Digital. Plus much more.
http://www.acne.se
Good luck!
October 7th, 2008 at 4:53 am
Nice post.
Thanks for sharing.
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October 7th, 2008 at 6:43 am
My South African example would be What If The World http://www.whatiftheworld.com/
who amongst other things run a gallery, a design studio, a ridiculously popular local goods market as well as fashion and design events.
There are lots of examples in fashion often being driven by brands looking for high profile creative collaborators. Fashion designers these days are being asked to design laptops, phones, furniture, cars, bags, perfume, shoes… Sometimes this is a bit opportunistic but fashion designers seem to be the ultimate creative chameleons… Julien Macdonald for example seem to have done just about everything… Although thinking about it the designers are mostly just asked to provide the “vision” and a team of minions then goes off and actually makes it happen for them…
October 7th, 2008 at 7:04 am
Hey Piers,
First, there’s my friend Matthew Waldman, a graphic designer who patented a new watch design gave birth to the Nooka Watch (nooka.com).
Then there’s me (ahem). I published my first book, Stoked, in 2006 which sold well (and won awards) and am now working on 3 new books. Also I patented a magnetic binding system for photo albums, portfolios, etc. which is going to market next year. Also we have about 5 other consumer products in the making…we’re moving to creator class! (starkdesignny.com)
Good luck in Singapore, sorry I can’t be there!
October 7th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Hello Piers-
My wife and I are the collaborative art/design team of wowhaus (http://www.thewowhaus.com). We have realized a huge range of public, often ’socially-engaged’ projects nationally and in the UK, have been key-note speakers at conferences and symposia including the AIGA ‘Power of Design’ in Vancouver, and have consulted on creative problem solving with major corporations. I also have a site/blog you might enjoy, http://www.deepcraft.org for which I am developing a product line and social networking component.
October 7th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Check out mass.com
October 7th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Jason Kintzler
-created Pitch Engine, a social media site that clients can use for free distribution of press releases to clients
http://www.pitchengine.com
John Winsor
-author of Beyond the Brand and Spark, currently heads up “cultural radar” department at ad firm Crispin, Porter, Bogusky… co-created medai and brand building visionary http://www.johnwinsor.com
- Kristen Ulmer
one of the top, most influential female extreme skiers, now runs clinics that incorporate Zen-inpsired “Big Mind sessions that “blends western psychology and ancient non-dual wisdom traditions” with intense sessions on the hill.
http://www.skitolive.com
October 7th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Piers -
Along more ‘obvious’ lines, it’s perhaps also worth considering the role of the multi-disciplinary design superstars, such as Marc Newson, among the broader group.
He seems an interesting example, particularly given the role he now plays with a company such as Qantas, while still maintaining independence to work on a diverse range of client projects (e.g. the Jaeger Le Coultre Atmos 561 & G-Star Raw clothing ranges) but also his private work (as exhibited in the Gagosian shows).
October 7th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Not to be a naysayer, but after going to liberal arts undergrad and believing that I would take any job that came down the line, I learned that no jobs, “come down the line” in NYC.
For instance, a job posting:
Design Intern
The internship will require packaging, identity, interactive and product design experience…
Who exactly is qualified for this? To have anything that qualifies you as having experience in all of these fields, would you really be looking for an internship?
I think creative people will be happy doing creative things. Of course everyone has preferences, but these days the range of opportunities for “visual thinkers” is vast.
I think there is something to be learned from all sorts of creative things, Just like I learned a lot from you all. But I think you want to make it seem like the designer is the hub of a wheel of all sorts of products, and while I think there is a sense that this will add all sorts of creativity to each of your products, I really think that a good designer will study subjects which surround their primary target, which makes the designer and their inspirations the wheel, and the final product the hub.
But really, that analogy does not hold up. To me its more of a venn diagram. Today’s designer must study all sorts of things so they can talk about, and advertise their products to all sorts of people who speak different languages; I am not talking about Chinese. I am talking about venture capitalists AND interior designers. So you can talk about the the light output and the volts, AND what makes people love objects. Then a strong idea of what their one product is, will emerge from a large field of knowledge, instead of a lot of products emerging from a small field of knowledge.
Does that help?
k.
October 7th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
We are a design agency that’s created a number of products, here’s one: http://www.beckersf.com/work-tableaux.html
David Becker | President
PhilippeBecker
San Francisco, CA 94105
October 8th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Piers - I suggest you take a look at Chase Jarvis (http://www.chasejarvis.com) He started as a pro photographer and has leveraged this into a very successful photo, video, publishing, product development, underground event, merchandising and branding entity. Based in Seattle and Paris.
At the extreme would be folks like: Frank Gehry, Marc Newson, Philippe Starck, Paul Frank.
Cheers, Alex
October 9th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Hi Piers, loved your lecture in Stockholm, thanks for coming, really.
Everything you said… Made sense and touched me. I count on a degree - Telecommunications Engineering - that I hate. I don’t like the people working around me while feel inspired and attracted to the creative sphere - if I could turn back in time, I’d definitely go into Architecture.
I’m half depressed, being 24 without knowing how could I change this situation, this job, this 1/3 of my life where I don’t feel happy, where I don’t fit. Tried to learn branding, CS3, whatever… But nobody seems to give me the opportunity I crave for, sorry for spreading so much negativity but I just wanted to highlight the extent to which your talk enlightened my path.
I’m determined to fight, though I don’t know how.
October 13th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Realize that you may have finished your presentation by now, but this concept really resonated with me. I am just now launching http://propercloth.com. This is a company I have built with next to nothing with the idea of (as you say) challenging the way the established industry operates. Proper Cloth is a custom clothing label offering premium quality, tailor-fit dress shirts that are designed by customers online. Please have a look.
October 13th, 2008 at 7:02 pm