Creative direction begins with listening.
CREATIVE DIRECTION / BRAND SYSTEMS / STORYTELLING
ABOUT / THE SHORT STORY
My career spans art direction, curation and brand leadership. At Society6, I helped shape the artist community and visual culture. At Pace, I worked on integrated campaigns for AAA, Acura and Honda. At Dr. Frederick’s Original, I built an evolving brand system across products and touchpoints.
Across those roles, I’ve learned to spend time understanding the problem before deciding what to make.
HOW I WORK
Listen first.
I start by asking what the business needs and what the audience already understands. I also want to hear where the team is struggling, including anything that hasn’t come up in the brief.
Make the problem smaller.
I help teams identify what matters most and turn it into a clear creative direction.
Build something others can carry forward.
I explain why we’ve chosen a direction and give the team tools they can use as new questions come up.
ART + LEADERSHIP
Taste matters. So does structure.
Being an artist taught me to look closely at proportion, tension, emotion, material and composition. Some of what makes an image work is difficult to measure.
Design taught me that ideas also have to work. They need to communicate, scale, survive production and make sense to people who weren't in the room when they were created.
My job is to set a clear standard and give people room to work. That includes making room for an idea that’s better than mine.
WHAT COMES NEXT.
I’m most useful when a brand is growing or changing and the team needs help deciding what comes next. I work with them to develop the direction and put it into practice.
NATHAN SPOOR
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
