[Illustration by Adam R Garcia]
At today’s CreativeMornings Sydney the guest speaker was Jess Scully, who was talking about this month’s topic, Rebel.
Jess gave a very inspiring talk and showed us some great examples of how creatives: artists, illustrators, designers, marketers etc can use their creativity to create change.
For example, in Yekaterinburg, Russia local blog URA.RU hired ad agency Voskhod to do something about the pothole situation in their town. Voskhod came up with a brilliant campaign where they painted the faces of local politicians around the potholes. Not only did this embarrass politicians into action, which made the people of Yekaterinburg very happy, but the campaign also won four Golden Lions at Cannes.
As recently as last week, one of my colleagues shared with us A Guard’s Story, a collaboration between The Global Mail, and illustrators Sam Wallman and Pat Grant.
[Illustration by Sam Wallman]
This story really moved us and while the words themselves were indeed powerful, it was Wallman’s illustrations that drove the point home.
More information on this truly moving story can be found at Behind the Global Mail Serco Detention Centre Cartoon.
Finally, probably the most famous example of the power of creatives was in Chile, 1988. The Pinochet goverment launched a referendum to effectively keep Pinochet in power indefinitely. Those who opposed this, hired a creative to help them with their No campaign. The result, against the odds they won the vote.
A film about this campaign, called No, starring Gael Garcia Bernal was released in 2012 to critical acclaim. If you’re wondering how you can use your creative skills to change the world, watch this film.
There are so many stories like these that show how creative executions are inspiring change. So think about what makes you angry, what you’re passionate about and go out there and start creating. As Jess pointed out today, “creative people can change the world and they should .”
