On Awards Judging: 5 Things I’ve Re-Learned About Creativity (and myself)

This year, I was lucky enough to be invited to join The FAB Awards jury.

This was a first for me. Despite being the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Brandon for almost 14 years, I’ve always shied away from the limelight, letting others step in and take centre stage. It’s just not my natural way.

Going to the in-person judging day with more than a little trepidation, I promised my team that I’d share my experiences from debating the very best in food and beverage branding and packaging design. But what I got from the experience was much more than just design inspiration...

5 things I’ve re-learned about creativity (and myself)

1. Stretch beyond your edges

My perception of being on an awards jury was, quite honestly, that it would be intimidating, cliquey, full of big egos, and that I'd definitely say the wrong thing and look stupid.

The reality was the exact opposite.

The FAB team created a warm, inspiring, inclusive environment. Combined with my absolutely lovely co-judges, I came away feeling rejuvenated about the design industry and what we do every day. If I had said no, made an excuse, and not pushed beyond my edges, then I would never have experienced this.

The lesson? Push yourself, continuously. Whether in the work you do, your personal career development, or generally in life.

I can’t believe I’m committing to this because it is SO out of my comfort zone, but my next push is to do an industry talk – wish me luck, any pointers gladly received!

2. Find your people (and lean on them)

Being in a room with creative leaders from other agencies reminded me what an amazing industry we work in.

While we agencies often think that we’re in competition with each other, we’re actually all in it together. Swapping stories with other business founders and creatives was a bit like therapy. We’re all experiencing the same challenges, and we need to club together.

This whole experience reminded me that we should all draw on the people we look up to or know within the industry when times are tough, or when we need a soundboard, second opinion, or just a chance to chat. Stay connected, reach out, and use your people as mentors (and do the same right back).

3. You don’t need to be the loudest person in the room 

Going into the judging room, I admit that I was concerned about having my voice heard because I am rarely, if ever, the loudest in the room. But being amongst this amazing bunch of people talking about our favourite thing made me realise that being the loudest and taking up the most space definitely isn’t the right way. To be a great creative leader, it’s far more important to listen and give others the space to share their opinions than to dominate conversation, then be clear, concise, thoughtful, and well-timed when sharing yours.

4. Interrogating creativity is invaluable

Being an awards judge is all about interrogating design and spending a whole day doing just that reminded me of the value of this process.

I'm a perfectionist, so having people interrogate my work is uncomfortable at best, but we all need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Get the work up on the wall, ask questions, push back. It all leads to better outputs.

We don’t all have the have same opinions or like the same things. Healthy debate is good. What’s important is having conviction and clarity of thought, and sticking by it.

5. Thou shalt not copy thy neighbour's Pinterest board

One thing I hadn’t considered before judging is that, when looking at a lot of creative work all at the same time, it becomes very obvious very quickly who’s been influenced by general trends. And, by contrast, who’s thinking differently and genuinely standing out from the crowd.

Seeing a lot of same-same alongside a handful of real standout pieces of work was a great reminder of the importance of starting with a strong POV and a clear idea, then executing it with skill and craft. And not to default to what’s currently trending. 

6. Go with your gut

I know, I know, I said I had five things, but I couldn’t leave this one out.

Experience and intuition really did kick in when faced with such a large volume of work to judge, and all of us lead with a gut feel.

The same is true in the creative process. The first idea is often the best, so even if you’ve come up with 5, 10, 100 more and you still think the first one is the right one, go with your gut; it probably is.

Great ideas feel effortless, so if you find yourself overthinking or over-sweating it, it’s probably not right. Trust your instincts and listen to what feels true.

A note on creative excellence

The main takeout from my FAB Awards judging experience is that it has renewed my passion for creative excellence. I’ve got so many ideas for how we can continuously raise the bar at Brandon alongside our client partners. I’m excited.

Finally, I want to say a huge “thank you” to Neeraj at FAB and to my co-judges Zoe, Ellen, Adam, Sam and Agatha for such a wonderfully inspiring day, for re-energising my creative spirit, and for reminding me why I have the best job around. I’ll see you at the bar at the awards ceremony...