Propel’s Creative Snapshot: The Changing Role of Creative Talent – Laura Jordan Bambach

To celebrate the expansion of Propel London’s Creative department, we’re talking to some of the industry’s most influential figures to discuss how the role of creativity is changing in the tech and digital sectors, how companies can make themselves more attractive to the top creative talent, and how creatives themselves should be approaching the hiring process.

Laura Jordan Bambach is Chief Creative Officer at Mr President, D&AD President and co-founder of SheSays. Her book Creative Superpowers has just been published.

How should creatives approach the hiring process? Is the standard CV and portfolio still the best way to show prospective employers their talents and what makes a portfolio stand out for you?

The first thing I look at is the work, before a CV or anything else.

A clear portfolio that shows off your strengths is key.

How are new technologies such as VR and AI affecting the way people hire creatives. Is there now more demand for specialists or should the best creatives be able to work in all mediums?

There is more demand for specialists for sure.

We look for creatives that are able to concept across all mediums but who have a clear focus in a particular area of expertise that adds to the team’s breadth of skills.

There is a battle for the best creative talent, so how can employers make themselves more appealing to attract the best?

Allowing creatives to be creative at work – fostering a culture that supports great ideas and helps make them happen.

You need to show you have fluidity and a genuine sense of development and care.

What one technology will have the biggest impact on the future of design?

The commodification of communication has already had such a huge impact on creative and design and I think it will continue.

There are fewer places for digital innovation, budgets are going to Google and Facebook, which are creative platforms of course but have overtaken some of the more experimental work on the edges of our industry.

The genuinely creative are looking further up the river for opportunities now on how to creatively impact a brand and make them sing.