A Day in the Life of a Creative Director at EY
A Creative Director's workday is highly variable; some days involve "shooting days," on location directing film crews, while others are dedicated to brainstorming sessions and concept development, or even solitary writing, ideally "on an airplane" to maximize focus. The common thread is the consistent need for creativity to energize both colleagues and clients.
Communication, Teamwork, Creativity, Project Management, Leadership
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Jarred Raissen
Creative Director
EY
The University of Michigan, Ross School of Business - 2015
N/A
Business Management & Admin
Consulting & Related Professional Services
Communication and Marketing
First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. A day in the life of a creative director is highly variable, encompassing shooting days on location, creative brainstorming sessions with the team, and focused writing sessions.
2. The role demands diverse skill sets, including directing photoshoots, collaborating on creative concepts, and independently developing written content.
3. A creative director needs strong creative energy to inspire clients and team members, requiring adaptability and the ability to work effectively in various settings and conditions.
Transcript
What does the day in the life of a creative director look like?
This is a good question. There is no such thing as a normal day in the life of a creative director.
The closest I could get is there are different days in the life, right? There are shooting days, when you're out on location with a team, holding a camera, standing behind it, literally directing the process. You're identifying what the best idea is going to be that comes out on camera or on film or on tape that day.
That could look like waking up early, having as many cups of coffee as I physically can, getting to location, getting to set, and sitting down to storyboard with the team. We walk through what we're going to be shooting, capturing, capturing, capturing until we basically can't stand anymore.
There's also just a creative day when we'll get together as a team. We wake up, get to our office, get on Teams, get on Zoom, get on Google Meet, and just start throwing ideas at the wall, depending on the brief that we have, to see what sticks. From there, we continue to develop and tease out the concept that we want to produce.
Then there are also writing days, and for me, writing days are my favorite. The ideal day in life for a writing day for me is to actually be on an airplane because I don't connect to Wi-Fi, and I get to just put my headphones in and be undisturbed for as long as possible.
Sometimes they're long flights, sometimes they're short flights, to write and think about my own ideas and put them on paper. But regardless, every day when you're a creative director, it's just about being, as no, you know, joke intended, you're creative as possible. Because the people around you, your clients, your team members, are going to rely on you for that creative energy.
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