The ups and downs of being a hybrid creative

In today’s complex media landscape, creatives are often expected to work across multiple mediums. CR speaks to those who’ve broadened their practice to understand the benefits and challenges of the multi-disciplinary life

In Wayne Deakin’s recent piece for CR, he talked about the need for agencies to adopt a hybrid approach in terms of broadening the skillsets of their creatives to solve problems more effectively. “We must end the longstanding practice of recruiting discipline specialists to siloed roles. And we must start recruiting those with a broader education,” he wrote. “Then, once they are in place, help them evolve a number of different skills…. The time is now for agency creatives to be more like free range chickens, less like battery hens.” 

While this may be a problem at advertising agencies and networks, there are a plethora of independent creatives who’ve already adopted that very approach and are regularly commissioned across different roles or placed on projects where they utilise multiple skills. So what are the benefits of this? More work? More freedom? And what about the pitfalls? Can you spread yourself too thinly, and do clients just expect more for the same budget? 

To find out what the practicality of being multi-disciplinary means, CR speaks to Dan Woodger, Mahaneela, and Erik Carter to get an understanding of what’s involved in broadening your practice, the advantages of being a jack of all trades, and the challenges of not being a specialist creative. 

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