Your comfort zone might be lovely and comfortable, but it's not the place to do your best design work – the world's best logos (opens in new tab) and packaging design (opens in new tab) were certainly not created by playing it safe. if you want to take things to the next level, you're going to have to shake things up a bit.
- 10 ways to transform your creative thinking (opens in new tab)
The team at Taxi Studio (opens in new tab) have their own mantra – Fearless Creativity – that they've used this as the basis for an educational short film, produced with D&AD New Blood, in which leading creatives give their take on how they've been fearlessly creative in their careers.
"Fearless Creativity is a our mantra but moreover it's our mindset, a commitment to kick mediocrity to the kerb and produce stunning communications that break the mould." says Taxi co-founder Spencer Buck, who also co-directed the short. "Sadly roughly 90 per cent of all creative work produced is shit. Students need to get themselves into the 10 per cent if they want to have a truly fulfilling and distinguished creative career."
So following on from a series of lunchtime talks at Taxi Studio, where top industry names would come to share their wisdom and supply their thoughts on the idea of fearless creativity, the team had the idea of turning it into an animated film.
Two years later the result is Creative Discomforts, in which a collection of design legends including Laura Jordan-Bambach, Jim Sutherland and Jack Renwick, are recreated as adorable animated characters to illustrate their own tales of fearless creativity.
The whole five-minute film is available now; Taxi will also be producing a series of bite-sized clips to distribute in September, just in time for when the latest crop of design students are arriving at university. Buck hopes that students gets something out of the film and that it'll help instil a bit of creative courage in the next generation of designers; but what's been his big moment of fearless creativity?
"Well, it takes some balls to invite legends of our industry to take part in an educational film – and then treat them so badly," he says. "But I'm not ashamed to say that we took great delight in breaking James Hilton's bones; stripping Marina Willer bare and chopping Jim Sutherland's leg off."
Related articles:
- 11 of the best creative resumes (opens in new tab)
- 8 up-and-coming designers to watch from D&AD New Blood (opens in new tab)
- Why designers should face a fear every day (opens in new tab)
