Making the ‘creative maze’ easier to navigate
The creative industries thrive when those within them are from a diverse mix of backgrounds, but entry can be impossible if you don't even know where the door is. Lizzy Cooney, Provocation Manager at Born Ugly, argues the case for a more open and accessible industry in a bid to benefit all.
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It’s fair to say that everyone is creative. From your neighbour’s impressively placed paving stones, to that Sunday league coach’s unconventional formation, everyone expresses creativity in one way or another.
That’s why it’s so great that the creative industry enables people to employ their unique perspectives to produce inspiring and impactful work. However, it’s no secret that the industry is more accessible to some than to others. Not due to innate talent or intelligence, but because of more access, opportunity, connections, and belief.
It’s no secret that the industry is more accessible to some than to others.
For people from underrepresented backgrounds, it can be extremely difficult to gain access. The path into the industry can look like a winding maze that only a lucky few can navigate.
Above: Getting your foot in the door is key to unlocking your career, discovering what you want to do, and building connections.
A whole host of alternative routes are attempting to address this. Initiatives like Channel 4’s Content Creatives programme (through Sharp Futures), Wieden+Kennedy’s The Kennedys initiative, and M&C Saatchi’s Open House scheme, to name a few, are vital for their work supporting the next generation of creatives into the industry. These schemes open doors to opportunities many candidates didn’t even know existed.
These schemes allow people to try things out, fail and learn, which is a luxury not always afforded to everyone.
Before starting my career, I had no idea ‘strategy’ was a job. Thanks to Channel 4 and SharpFutures’ scheme, I now work in a role and industry I’m extremely passionate about, and which feels like the perfect fit.
There were people in my cohort in the same position, with some now working in niché areas like Roblox, which they would’ve unlikely been able to access without the initiative. At their core, these schemes allow people to try things out, fail and learn, which is a luxury not always afforded to everyone.
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Above: Nowadays, it takes relevant degrees and qualifications, years of interning, and awards to be considered for most roles in the industry.
Trying things and getting your foot in the door is key to unlocking your career, discovering what you want to do and building connections. Born Ugly practices what it preaches with this, evidenced by the fact our CEO, Sarah Dear, started as a receptionist and worked her way up through the business.
Even getting into the industry can be tough, especially if you don’t have the knowledge and connections.
Despite the myths which circle on LinkedIn of the “good ol’ days” of the industry, when you’d get hired for offering blood, sweat, tears and a whacky creative idea, it usually isn’t feasible to hire for pure creative potential. Instead, a relevant degree, years of interning and a D&AD award or two by the time you’ve left university is what it takes to even be considered.
That means that even getting into the industry can be tough, especially if you don’t have the knowledge and connections necessary to gain experience. So how, through schemes such as the Content Creatives programme, can we help carve paths for people looking to enter the creative industry?
Above: A lack of visibility surrounding potential opportunities and careers can be the first hurdle for less privileged candidates.
If you can’t see it, you can’t be it
The creative potential out there is huge. But it’s all well and good being the most creative paving-stone placer and amateur Mourinho the world has ever seen, but if you don’t know how to translate these skills into a creative career, you’ll never be able to use them at the core of your profession.
This is one of the primary issues when it comes to accessing the creative industry. The awareness surrounding potential opportunities and careers just isn’t there, with the emphasis currently on internships as the main path into the industry. As great as internships can be, to secure one in the first place you often need to have connections in the industry, which is something most candidates don’t have.
As great as internships can be, to secure one in the first place you often need to have connections in the industry, which is something most candidates don’t have.
This is compounded by many internships being unpaid, putting further pressure on less privileged candidates. With rent prices spiralling and 62% of the creative industry based in the ever-more expensive city of London, completing an unpaid internships is a privilege for the few. The industry is therefore flooded with the same types of people; those who know it exists, and have the tools to get in.
Above: The traditional internship model offers young creatives a limited career direction.
Not to forget that even if you do get the internship, it only covers a specific topic. That means you’re unable to try your hand at other areas of the industry which you may be better suited to. Consequently, if you don’t flourish during the internship, you may get the feeling that the creative industry isn’t for you, despite there being endless other roles out there.
Engaging in an active effort to pull new and diverse people into the industry comes with countless benefits for us all.
Therefore, it’s up to creative professionals to shout a little louder about their roles to help demystify the landscape. It’s also up to creative agencies to offer more opportunities (and spread awareness of those that do) to allow prospective employees to experience all that the creative industry has to offer.
By doing so, even if it’s something as simple as free networking events, agencies are giving underprivileged candidates opportunities they traditionally wouldn’t have access to. And, look, this isn’t an exercise in philanthropy or charity. Engaging in an active effort to pull new and diverse people into the industry comes with countless benefits for us all.
Above: Reducing inclusion to a box-ticking exercise negates the genuine benefits gained by bringing different voices into the industry.
Stop ticking boxes
If we want to increase accessibility, we need to do it authentically. Reducing inclusion to a box-ticking exercise negates the genuine benefits gained by agencies, colleagues, the creative work and the industry itself that different perspectives can bring. By not increasing accessibility, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot if we actually want to make ground-breaking, impactful work. You don’t get that by putting five people with the same life experience in a room and asking them to create something. By not improving accessibility, the industry is limiting its input (and indeed, output) to a very select few.
To fulfil its potential, the creative industry needs an array of different perspectives, something which improving accessibility would achieve. The best creative work stems from a unique insight or perspective, so bringing together people with different ways of thinking is integral to reaching that lightbulb moment where brilliant, inspirational work can be born.
By not improving accessibility, the industry is limiting its input (and indeed, output) to a very select few.
And, even better, by bringing in people who can use their own experiences to address structural concerns and drive employee-led change, we can transform the industry into a more equitable landscape for us all to be proud of.
In a perfect industry, I’d like to see our paving pal realise his potential as a creative and our football manager friend unlock his passion for strategy. Only by understanding the real benefits of increased accessibility to the creative industry, as opposed to viewing it as a box ticking activity, can the path to a creative career truly transform from a winding maze to a straight road with equal access for all.
