In honor of our 25th anniversary, we’re going to pull some of our old favorite guest posts out of the archive and take a fresh look at them this month. Our field is evolving more quickly than most, but there are some things (like creativity, transparency and resonance) that will never die. We hope you’ll enjoy our look back at these posts throughout the month. Have another favorite you’d like to see featured? Let us know in the comments!
Today’s archive post comes from Angela Costanzi, our Vice President of Creative Services. We’ve chosen to feature it because it seems that, as marketing evolves, “dual brain” thinkers like Angela are in more demand than ever. It seems that the days of the right-brained creative being brought down to reality by the left-brained account manager are long gone. In today’s integrated and fluid media environment, creatives need to be analytical and more rational thinkers also need to be capable of abstract thinking. Here’s what Angela had to say about her creative brain a few years ago:
Most people would agree that creative, pie-in-the-sky types are
right-brained individuals, while left-brainers make fantastic
number-crunchers. I’ve always been on board with that, too. In a somewhat
pensive state I put two and two together and realized that a person with a
dominant right brain is actually left-handed. I had never questioned my
right-handed status until now. For all practical purposes I should be using
my left hand…after all, I’m a CREATIVE Director, not an accountant.
The right brain is intuitive, holistic, subjective, random (a person capable
of dreaming up some really outlandish stuff). “My side” is logical,
sequential, rational and probably spends a great deal of time over analyzing
things (guilty). In thinking it over, I’ve settled on this; the right brain
doesn’t work alone to generate creative.
After looking into some scientific studies, it turns out that I’ve actually
been putting the right side of my brain through strength training for a
number of years. The creative process itself (holding attention span,
visualizing spaces, exploring color, etc) is like high-impact aerobics for
the brain’s right hemisphere. So I get the best of both worlds–my whole
brain.
I’m a right-handed Creative Director! I’m time-conscious, budget-conscious
and rarely unconscious because my left-brain positive emotions dominate. I
over-analyze to be sure that a good idea truly is a good idea and because
I’m so rational, I can usually determine the most efficient ways to get
things done. And because I’ve worked the right side hard, it rewards me time
to time with some wild ideas.
Featured image via: David Lightfoot
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