I am often asked about the type of clients I work with - who I choose to work with and how I get the projects, especially when they are usually either very large businesses or celebrities in the entertainment industry. There are two parts to te answer. One is that I establish the credibility to deliver what they need. The other part of the equation is that I choose to work with them. Let me explain.
Normally I work more directly with the management of these high profile clients. If you ask almost anyone I work with on a regular basis, the first question out of my mouth about the people they want me to develop and design for is "Will I like them?" "Are they nice people?"
This may seem odd at first, but it is critical for me to not only appreciate their work on some level, but have a positive, quality relationship with them. If they are a well-known musician for example and are the type of person that is more interested in their persona than the music they produce or more famous for their antics than their latest release, I am likely not the person they are looking for.
As a creative professional, I am passionate about the work I do - whether for personal or commercial purposes. That passion is what drives my creative thinking and approach to the project. I need to be 'into' the challenge at hand and excited by it. I need the client to be as interested and passionate about the project, whether it is a photoshoot, their website, music video, whatever it is. If they are not, I won't be either.
Here's my dirty little secret... I am just not into the whole celebrity thing. Your status and the fact you are #1 on the charts or selling out auditoriums isn't going to get you any different treatment than any other human on the planet. I don't care. You won't find a groupie here. That said, there are great advantages working with successful clientele. Their name associated with my work lends a level of credibility that doing projects for "Joe's Body Repair" just doesn't bring. The other aspect to that is that Joe's shop is not going to have the resources or budget allowing me to produce the level of work I am interested in. Joe should absolutely get the attention he deserves, but creating the kind of work I am comfortable with requires time and intense effort. I have a utility bill to cover like everyone else :)
A big part of why these type of people are comfortable working with me is for that very reason. They aren't dealing with a fan-boy wrapped up in their hype. If you are a creative professional, I strongly suggest that you follow the same path in that regard. Don't get focused on personalities - it will show... trust me. Clients will smell that a hundred miles a way. They don't need nor do they want your obsession - they need your passion and creativity to produce world-class work.
It is not all fun and games either. There are always layers of people, management, representatives, labels, blah blah to deal with. It can be wildly frustrating. Do you have any idea how many sign-offs and approvals have to take place before the simplest things happen? It is amazing. You may have awesome ideas that you feel will work, but if it is not an item on the agenda of anyone in that food chain, it probably is not going to happen. Someone along the line has decided on a certain approach, a timeline, a focus - and your incredible idea just doesn't fit in. That's ok. Use the idea for another project, but don't push something until they are sick of hearing about it. If it is not important to them, then move on from it.
Even I need a creative outlet from these projects. It has been a few years now since I have done any gallery shows, largely because the type of work I was doing doesn't interest me like it used to. Creativity for me also means growth and change. In the early 2000's I was producing a television show and was asked to create a photo gallery around the spokemodels on the show. Other than a brief set of shoots in the high-fashion arena when I had a studio in New York City, I had very little interest in working with models as subject-matter in my work. The work I did on the show was fairly well received I suppose, but more importantly it sparked an interest in story-telling using photography as a found object to create some elaborate pieces I would eventuially show in galleries. It was a fun experience, and productive for me to refine my compositing skills. The drama and social aspects of doing that type of work was not something I was used to nor ready for. Between 2004-2006 I immersed myself into that work, but afterwards, found that it became stagnant for me. Just as with my client projects, if I am not as passionate about the work, the results will simply not be the same. I needed to find inspiration in another direction. That has been a half decade ago now, and I have only done one or two experiments along those lines since. The moral of the story is don't lose your excitement about your work. Stay passionate. If you can keep it fresh, you can go out and crush it. Stay in perpetual learning mode - it will be worth the effort.
