Where Did All the Brave Art Directors Go?

With the meme-able advent of every fashion house logo rebranded to look identical, a Super Bowl season of celebrity sameness, and the biggest names in music licensing their songs to detergent brands and pharmaceuticals, what is going on with advertising? In a recent meeting, one of my colleagues put it plainly: “where did all the brave art directors go?”

If you happen to still have cable (or subscribe to one of the Big Streaming Services that now have commercial options available), then you’ve seen this too. Every advertisement has the same look and feel. There’s the 3-point Hollywood lighting, a veneer-filled celebrity smile, maybe a slowed down version of your favorite ‘90s pop song. It’s a formula that’s easy to sell, easy to get a client excited about, and probably, relatively easy to execute.

This is not to say that I hate celebrity endorsements or a well-placed bop. But! It has to make sense. Featuring William Shatner (emphasis on the shat) for Raisin Bran Cereal? Genius. Or how about Coinbase’s recent Back Street Boys karaoke Superbowl moment? It didn’t reveal itself too soon, and highlighted a shared experience that everyone has had, utilizing a generation’s go-to karaoke song. Just a true chef’s kiss. (But what does Ben Stiller have to do with groceries? What does Matthew McConaughey have to do with delivery apps?

So, is it AI’s fault? Maybe. Perhaps AI has led us to a little…laziness. Instead of doing the research and scouring through hundreds of artists or the handful of artist agencies, we’re plopping a half baked idea into AI and calling it a day. The image is polished-ish. We know clients love to see a “finished” image, so why not? Why not make your job a teeny tiny bit easier?

Maybe working with illustrators for the past 6 years has made me biased, but we have to acknowledge that choosing to commission illustration in today’s market is a brave choice. In order to truly make an impact, you’ve got to know your stuff and have an artist in mind from the start of the idea, maybe even bringing that artist in to creatively ideate and come up with the idea. And then you have to pitch the idea to the higher ups. You have to get your boss (and later your client) excited about illustration. You have to convince them that an animated commercial featuring a freaky little mascot or a painterly fantastical scene is more interesting, better, smarter, and has award-winning potential over a celebrity endorsement or a straight forward narrative.

But isn’t that the point? Didn’t we all get into this business to build a volcano full of tabasco vodka or be on set with a company’s logo actually made of glass? Isn’t the best part of this job getting to collaborate with real people? I got into this business because I love being around creatives. I love that when I’m on set or in a meeting, everyone in the room has a purpose. Each person there is a specialist, the very best at what they do. Together we can make something way more interesting and special and mind-blowing than we can alone. When we put our all into our craft, that’s when the magic happens.

And so here’s my challenge to art directors, creative directors, in-house brand marketers, to people making stuff: Be brave. Choose craft. Choose illustration. Human connection and collaboration is irreplaceable.

Or! If you’re going to pitch a celebrity, make it make sense. And if you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, put down the ChatGPT, and reach out to the Artists. We’ll be here, waiting for your call. And hey, who knows, maybe you’ll even get to fly to London and hang on set with us…