Multi-disciplined Creatives

I’d like to start off with a brief introduction, my name is Charlie and I’m the founder and creative lead of Charlie Garrod Studio. Throughout my life, I’ve always had a passion for all forms of creativity, and this led me to a career in Graphic Design. My education at Norwich University of the Arts was very packaging-focused and it quickly became my heartland when I started my career.

At University, each project would be a piece of multi-disciplined creativity. Bold packaging designs with grandiose out-of-home campaigns, online presence and merchandising. This practice gave me such satisfaction and allowed my creativity to flourish.

In the industry, there can be a desire for creatives to develop a specialism and hone those skills. Often this mindset can make you an expert in that field but other times it can be limiting to your creative output. There have been many times when a thought has come to me and at the time, it didn’t fit the output I was trying to fit it into. Trying desperately to get that thought to work on a crisp packet design when it was destined to fail.

If the idea you have would work best as an animation or an illustration, then give it a go! Sometimes your ideas will align perfectly with the project you’re currently working on, other times it might be something to save for later or undertake as a passion project. I believe we have a responsibility to evolve, keep learning and develop our skillsets with the times we’re living in and the tools that become available. I’ve always been a person who likes to shake things up when I start to feel settled and try something new out of my comfort zone.

The argument against this way of working is that if someone tries to do too many different things they will become spread too thin and the quality will be diminished. To quote William Shakespeare, “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” What I believe is that the ideas are key and that the medium should merely be the canvas to express the idea and not a restriction. As creatives, we are inherently problem solvers who solve our client's issues with creative thinking. We shouldn’t be afraid of failure, if we try something and it doesn’t work, this is the best way to learn and grow.

As creatives, we must embrace the freedom to explore and innovate, for it is in those moments of experimentation that we often discover our greatest strengths.