This creative director loves the ideation process at the start of a project when anything is possible, and saving some of those ideas for future use.
COMPANY: LA’s Chapeau Studios
CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR COMPANY?
Chapeau provides visual effects, editorial, design, photography and story development fluidly with experience in design, web development, and software and app engineering.
WHAT’S YOUR JOB TITLE?
Creative Director
WHAT DOES THAT ENTAIL?
It often entails seeing a job through from start to finish. I look at it like making a painting or a sculpture.
WHAT WOULD SURPRISE PEOPLE THE MOST ABOUT WHAT FALLS UNDER THAT TITLE?
Perhaps just how hands-on the process actually is. And how analog I am, considering we work in such a tech-driven environment.
Beats
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE JOB?
Thinking. I’m always thinking big picture to small details. I love the ideation process at the start of a project when anything is possible. Saving some of those ideas for future use, learning about what you want to do through that process. I always learn more about myself through every ideation session.
WHAT’S YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?
Letting go of the details that didn’t get addressed. Not everything is going to be perfect, so since it’s a learning process there is inevitably something that will catch your eye.
IF YOU DIDN’T HAVE THIS JOB, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING INSTEAD?
My mind goes to so many buckets. A published children’s book author with a kick-ass coffee shop. A coffee bean buyer so I could travel the world.
HOW EARLY ON DID YOU KNOW THIS WOULD BE YOUR PATH?
I always skewed in this direction. My thinking has always been in the mindset of idea coaxer and gatherer. I was put in that position in my mid-20s and realized I liked it (with lots to learn, of course), and I’ve run with it ever since.
IS THERE A PROJECT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF?
That’s hard to say. Every project is really so different. A lot of what I’m most proud of is behind the scenes… the process that will go into what I see as bigger things. With Chapeau, I will always love the Facebook projects, all the pieces that came together — both on the engineering side and the fun creative elements.
What I’m most excited about is our future stuff. There’s a ton on the sticky board that we aim to accomplish in the very near future. Thinking about how much is actually being set in motion is mind-blowing, humbling and — dare I say — makes me outright giddy. That is why I’m here, to tell these new stories — stories that take part in forming the new landscape of narrative.
WHAT TOOLS DO YOU USE DAY TO DAY?
Anything Adobe. My most effective tool is the good-old pen to paper. That works clearly in conveying ideas and working out the knots.
WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION?
I’m always looking for inspiration and find it everywhere, as many other creatives do. However, nature is where I’ve always found my greatest inspiration. I’m constantly taking photos of interesting moments to save for later. Oftentimes I will refer back to those moments in my work. When I need a reset I hike, run or bike. Movement helps.
I’m always going outside to look at how the light interacts with the environment. Something I’ve become known for at work is going out of my way to see a sunset (or sunrise). They know me to be the first one on the roof for a particularly enchanting magic hour. I’m always staring at the clouds — the subtle color combinations and my fascination with how colors look the way they do only by context. All that said, I often have my nose in a graphic design book.
The overall mood realized from gathering and creating the ever-popular Pinterest board is so helpful. Seeing the mood color wise and texturally never gets old. Suddenly, you have a fully formed example of where your mind is at. Something you could never have talked your way through.
Then, of course, there are people. People/peers and what they are capable of will always amaze me.
