Behind The Pixel: Closing The Animation Communication Gap · 2024-07-10 · 18 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
34 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
This POV episode examines a detailed framework for improving client-creator partnerships in animation and creative work. The post emphasizes that creative output is inherently collaborative - a reflection of both parties' contributions - and lays out five practical rules for better outcomes. Will and Catherine explore the nuance of power dynamics in creative relationships, arguing that everyone holds power in different contexts but must exercise it responsibly. They discuss how clients unfamiliar with creative processes can feel powerless, leading to anxiety that manifests as controlling behavior, while creatives must learn to voice expertise diplomatically. The conversation touches on the emotional labor often overlooked in business relationships, the importance of clear scope before signing contracts, and how partnerships feel different from transactional arrangements. For animation studios and clients considering creative partnerships, the episode offers grounded perspective on vetting partners by intuition, avoiding rushed decisions, and recognizing that finding the right fit requires more than visual style assessment - it demands understanding the people behind the work.
The five rules are: (1) Don't rush into contracts with vague scope, (2) Communicate extensively about schedules, expectations, assumptions, and feedback, (3) Provide guided and specific feedback rather than vague notes, (4) Be reasonable about creatives' time and not ask them to work for free, and (5) Don't assume power or make decisions outside your authority without establishing a clear decision chain with team members.
Creatives have power even when they don't feel they do - they can exercise it by asking questions about subject matter, offering expertise lovingly, and voicing concerns in a collaborative manner. The key is expressing expertise responsibly rather than either staying silent or forcing your way; it's about finding common ground in a partnership.
Rushing leads to outcomes where no one is happy because corners are cut, scope becomes unclear, and the relationship becomes transactional rather than collaborative. Even with expert teams, rushing without proper concept work and clear briefs causes tension and misalignment.
Clients need to recognize when they feel powerless or anxious due to unfamiliarity with a creative process, understand that this is an internal issue to work through rather than something to 'fix' by controlling the relationship, and be willing to let go of their own internal vision to give the creative partner freedom to do their work.
Trust your gut and intuition - watch for red flags in initial meetings, listen to how potential partners communicate, and consider ways to understand the people behind the work, such as through conversations or podcasts, rather than only evaluating visual style and past work.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
The episode rehashes a 5-point checklist on client-creative collaboration (don't rush, communicate, give specific feedback, be reasonable, don't assume power) with modest elaboration. While the hosts add personal reflections on emotional labor and power dynamics in creative work, the core ideas are broadly familiar to anyone who has managed vendor relationships. Limited novel frameworks or unexpected claims per minute.
Creative is a participation product, whether you like it or not.
The absolute worst thing you can do is assume power and make decisions you don't have the right to
The reacting-to-an-anonymous-post format is derivative, and the substance drawn from that post consists mainly of conventional professional advice. The tangent about creatives feeling powerless due to anxiety and the invocation of emotional development in business add some personality, but the core argument - clear scope, good communication, shared decision-making, respectful partnerships - is well-worn ground in agency and creative services discourse.
Don't rush into things.
if you yourself aren't ready to let go of that, you know, of your internal thing that you have in your head, I'm going to let that go and then give this person the freedom to do what they need to do.
No external guest. The two co-founders of Open Pixel Studios (Will and Catherine) are discussing an anonymous post. While they run a production company, this is a self-interview with no outside expert, practitioner, or contrarian voice brought in. The credibility is moderate - they've run a studio and encountered these issues - but the lack of external validation or opposing viewpoint weakens caliber significantly for a B2B learning podcast.
We are the co-founders of Open Pixel Studios.
We are an animation production company in Massachusetts.
The episode is almost entirely abstract discussion of principles. The anonymous post itself provides no named examples, companies, or metrics. Hosts mention they've 'worked with really large businesses that have several departments' and allude to internal challenges ('after having some challenges'), but offer no specifics: no client names, budget figures, timeline data, or concrete case studies that would anchor the advice in reality.
We've worked with really large businesses that have several departments and they'll pull from, Hey, you know, the department did something like this, can we do something like that?
after having some challenges and having to look back at our own like processes
The hosts take turns responding thoughtfully to the post and build on each other's points - e.g., Catherine's elaboration on power dynamics in creative relationships, Will's linking of powerlessness to internal anxiety. However, questions are mostly soft follow-ups ('Can you run it back for a second?') rather than incisive challenges. No productive disagreement or pushback on claims. The conversation meanders (brief tangent about a plane overhead) and lacks sharp interrogation of the advice being discussed.
Can you run it back for a second?
There was something about after the be reasonable.
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
In this episode of Behind the Pixel, Will and Kathryn dive into a thought-provoking discussion inspired by a well-composed anonymous post on LinkedIn. The episode centers on key principles for improving collaboration and creativity between clients and creators. They both reflect on their own experiences at Open Pixel Studios, emphasizing the importance of mutual respect and effective communication in creative partnerships. They also discuss the dynamics of power within creative collaborations and how both clients and creators can navigate these challenges to achieve successful outcomes. If you have a topic or question you’d like us to cover, you can submit it to Learn more about this podcast here: EMedia produces the podcast in Easthampton, MA.
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
00;00;02;28 - 00;00;17;20 It. Welcome back to Behind the Pixel. 00;00;17;21 - 00;00;19;06 My name is Will. 00;00;19;06 - 00;00;22;06 My name is Catherine.
00;00;22;13 - 00;00;25;03 And this is an Open Pixel Studios podcast. 00;00;25;03 - 00;00;27;09 We are the co-founders of Open Pixel Studios. 00;00;27;09 - 00;00;31;13 We are an animation production company in Massachusetts. 00;00;31;15 - 00;00;34;15 But today we are in Los Angeles 00;00;34;20 - 00;00;40;10 and we are recording live from Live from L.
A.. 00;00;40;13 - 00;00;40;24 I don't know. 00;00;40;24 - 00;00;44;29 We'll have to share our prices, right story, but for another day. 00;00;45;01 - 00;00;49;09 So in this episode, we have another sort of reaction.
00;00;49;10 - 00;00;50;11 What did we call it? 00;00;50;11 - 00;00;53;14 It was like. POV. An episode.
A POV episode? 00;00;53;18 - 00;00;53;26 Mm hmm. 00;00;53;26 - 00;00;57;24 We were talking about something specific that we've seen or heard or read 00;00;57;24 - 00;00;58;26 anything like that. 00;00;58;26 - 00;01;03;03 And today it's it's on me to present something.
00;01;03;10 - 00;01;06;10 Kathryn is not seen this particular thing. 00;01;06;11 - 00;01;08;27 And it is a post. 00;01;08;27 - 00;01;10;14 It is a post that someone wrote. 00;01;10;14 - 00;01;12;06 Again, we keep all these anonymous 00;01;12;06 - 00;01;15;25 because we don't want you don't want to highlight anyone or.
00;01;15;28 - 00;01;17;27 Yeah, yeah we're more talking about, 00;01;17;27 - 00;01;20;26 I think the situation rather than the situation. 00;01;20;27 - 00;01;22;07 Yeah. Yeah. 00;01;22;07 - 00;01;24;19 And this came across and I thought it was really well composed.
00;01;24;19 - 00;01;26;23 But we'll see what you think and we'll. 00;01;26;23 - 00;01;27;21 We'll talk about it. 00;01;27;21 - 00;01;30;26 I do love a good, composed piece. 00;01;30;29 - 00;01;31;21 And I composed.
00;01;31;21 - 00;01;36;06 Post the compose. Here we go. I'll start with this 00;01;36;09 - 00;01;37;13 quote. 00;01;37;13 - 00;01;43;05 Creative is a participation product, whether you like it or not.
00;01;43;07 - 00;01;46;07 The end result is a direct reflection 00;01;46;14 - 00;01;49;07 of both parties, 00;01;49;07 - 00;01;51;04 and then they jump into. 00;01;51;04 - 00;01;56;14 Here are a few things that clients and creators can do to improve the output. 00;01;56;16 - 00;02;00;06 Now, each one of these has been 00;02;00;08 - 00;02;01;11 described. 00;02;01;11 - 00;02;01;19 Okay.
00;02;01;19 - 00;02;04;00 I will just read the sort of the first sentence. 00;02;04;00 - 00;02;05;07 Sure. 00;02;05;07 - 00;02;08;02 Of each one of these because there's five big ones. 00;02;08;02 - 00;02;09;27 Don't rush into things.
00;02;09;27 - 00;02;10;25 Who are. 00;02;10;25 - 00;02;15;02 Getting excited and signing contracts with a vague scope of work is tempting. 00;02;15;05 - 00;02;17;12 Hmm. I'll leave it there.
00;02;17;12 - 00;02;19;05 Communicate your ass off. 00;02;19;05 - 00;02;20;27 Schedules, expectations. 00;02;20;27 - 00;02;22;24 Times. People will be out of the office.
00;02;22;24 - 00;02;23;27 Assumptions. You name it. 00;02;23;27 - 00;02;26;15 Talk about it. Yeah.
00;02;26;15 - 00;02;27;16 Feedback. 00;02;27;16 - 00;02;30;22 Feedback should be guided and specific. 00;02;30;24 - 00;02;32;01 Leave it there. 00;02;32;01 - 00;02;33;21 Be reasonable.
00;02;33;21 - 00;02;35;07 And that one's kind of weird. 00;02;35;07 - 00;02;38;21 Creatives aren't in the business of giving away ideas or working for free. 00;02;38;24 - 00;02;41;07 Time is money. 00;02;41;09 - 00;02;42;01 Five.
00;02;42;01 - 00;02;43;09 And the last one. 00;02;43;09 - 00;02;46;18 Don't be someone you are not. 00;02;46;20 - 00;02;49;29 The absolute worst thing you can do is to empower and make decisions. 00;02;50;02 - 00;02;52;20 You don't have the right to, 00;02;52;20 - 00;02;53;18 and it ends with this.
00;02;53;18 - 00;02;56;00 Creative is one of the best bespoke products out there. 00;02;56;00 - 00;02;59;00 It can insanely be fulfilling for both parties, but 00;02;59;00 - 00;03;02;27 it can also turn sour and become a source of tremendous stress. 00;03;02;29 - 00;03;07;02 Just make sure you have the basics covered before your next project. 00;03;07;04 - 00;03;09;22 I mean, no notes, really.
00;03;09;22 - 00;03;12;05 That's no, 00;03;12;05 - 00;03;14;04 I think it's pretty solid. 00;03;14;04 - 00;03;16;27 Yeah, there's a lot that I agree with there. 00;03;16;27 - 00;03;19;21 I mean, I think this is prevalent to us 00;03;19;21 - 00;03;23;04 in this moment in time after having some challenges 00;03;23;06 - 00;03;26;25 and having to look back at our own like processes and say, 00;03;26;25 - 00;03;30;06 if could we do something differently or in different ways? 00;03;30;08 - 00;03;31;23 Yeah.
Okay. 00;03;31;25 - 00;03;34;09 Can you run it back for a second? 00;03;34;09 - 00;03;38;10 There was something about after the be reasonable. 00;03;38;13 - 00;03;39;15 After the.
Be reasonable. 00;03;39;15 - 00;03;41;23 Yeah. Don't be someone you are not. 00;03;41;23 - 00;03;45;10 And I can read the full thing here, which is it's interesting.
00;03;45;16 - 00;03;48;15 The absolute worst thing you can do is assume power and make decisions. 00;03;48;15 - 00;03;49;22 You don't have the right to 00;03;49;22 - 00;03;53;13 if you aren't clear on your decision chain and haven't spent time introducing 00;03;53;14 - 00;03;57;19 teams to executives, you are in for a rude awakening later. 00;03;57;22 - 00;04;00;18 Yeah, I think there's something for me about this 00;04;00;18 - 00;04;03;09 assuming power. 00;04;03;09 - 00;04;05;23 I do believe that 00;04;05;23 - 00;04;09;01 everyone has power in different situations.
00;04;09;04 - 00;04;11;23 There are times where, you know, 00;04;11;23 - 00;04;17;08 if you're the creative expert in the room but you don't know the subject matter. 00;04;17;08 - 00;04;22;17 For example, you still have power, but you can you can use your power 00;04;22;17 - 00;04;26;24 to lead effectively, like asking questions about the subject 00;04;26;24 - 00;04;28;04 matter if you don't know it. 00;04;28;04 - 00;04;31;26 Or times where a client 00;04;31;26 - 00;04;38;19 might want to go in a specific direction and you are trying to lovingly 00;04;38;19 - 00;04;42;14 explain why that might not be the best way to go with your expertise.
00;04;42;16 - 00;04;46;22 You might not feel like you have power in those moments, depending on the 00;04;46;22 - 00;04;51;12 like hierarchy or the dynamic, but I truly believe that you do. 00;04;51;14 - 00;04;54;22 It's just a matter of how you express that 00;04;54;22 - 00;04;59;24 and how you voice it and how you make sure that your 00;04;59;27 - 00;05;02;12 your voice is heard in a collaborative manner. 00;05;02;12 - 00;05;03;06 Right. 00;05;03;06 - 00;05;06;29 Going back to that idea of like that, it's a partnership 00;05;06;29 - 00;05;11;22 and it's a result of everything that you're doing together collectively, 00;05;11;25 - 00;05;17;18 then that means you have to be on both sides willing to take and give feedback.
00;05;17;18 - 00;05;22;16 You have to be willing to share whatever the power dynamic is 00;05;22;19 - 00;05;27;00 and know that in certain times, like, yes, that person might have a 00;05;27;05 - 00;05;29;21 I don't want to say control because I don't think that's the right word. 00;05;29;21 - 00;05;33;28 But there is there are power dynamics there that can come into play. 00;05;34;00 - 00;05;37;25 But I always think that creatives should feel 00;05;37;27 - 00;05;42;23 that they have power and say in the work that they're doing.
00;05;42;25 - 00;05;43;21 Yeah, definitely. 00;05;43;21 - 00;05;48;05 Yeah, I think it reminds me of there are people who feel powerless 00;05;48;05 - 00;05;52;00 in times of not understanding something. 00;05;52;01 - 00;05;56;07 I think when you come into a situation where it feels very new or very different, 00;05;56;07 - 00;06;00;11 even if you've done it in the past as someone else, and it just hasn't 00;06;00;11 - 00;06;05;14 been done this way before, that can make you feel powerless 00;06;05;16 - 00;06;09;01 as a client, as a person who is sort of supposed to be in charge.
00;06;09;03 - 00;06;12;09 And I think that that can cause some anxiety, it can cause some stresses, 00;06;12;09 - 00;06;13;16 it can cause some tension 00;06;13;16 - 00;06;17;27 even between and among teams within on one side or the other. 00;06;17;29 - 00;06;20;06 And I think that that's something to be mindful of. 00;06;20;06 - 00;06;22;11 I don't think necessarily it's something to fix 00;06;22;11 - 00;06;24;20 because feeling powerless is kind of natural. 00;06;24;20 - 00;06;27;01 Sometimes we just do feel that way.
00;06;27;01 - 00;06;30;21 But I think having control over that particular feeling 00;06;30;21 - 00;06;36;18 or that particular situation comes, I think with some responsibility, 00;06;36;20 - 00;06;40;00 like assigns and responsibilities to yourself about what you're supposed 00;06;40;00 - 00;06;44;13 to be looking out for rather than saying, Well, I need to, 00;06;44;15 - 00;06;48;14 you know, sort of force this particular way or change 00;06;48;14 - 00;06;51;29 the way you work in order for it to suit my needs or whatever.
00;06;52;02 - 00;06;55;02 Like, there are different ways you can react to that powerlessness. 00;06;55;08 - 00;06;58;04 Right. And I think that that is 00;06;58;07 - 00;06;59;00 is problematic. 00;06;59;00 - 00;06;59;20 Could be.
Problematic. 00;06;59;20 - 00;07;03;03 Yeah, I think you can always I do think you can always assume 00;07;03;03 - 00;07;06;11 you have power, but it's just how you choose to use it. 00;07;06;13 - 00;07;06;22 Right. 00;07;06;22 - 00;07;11;28 With great power comes great responsibility.
00;07;12;01 - 00;07;13;11 We were getting there, weren't we? 00;07;13;11 - 00;07;14;24 We were getting there. We were. Going.
00;07;14;24 - 00;07;16;05 Yeah, I agree. 00;07;16;05 - 00;07;19;02 I think, you know, there are certain. 00;07;19;02 - 00;07;19;14 I don't know. 00;07;19;14 - 00;07;22;25 I just think, you know, it's also a sign of the times when folks feel 00;07;22;25 - 00;07;25;27 anxious for just feeling powerless.
00;07;25;27 - 00;07;27;09 I think, 00;07;27;09 - 00;07;30;06 you know, there are certain times when you feel powerless that 00;07;30;06 - 00;07;32;11 that might be actually life threatening like that. 00;07;32;11 - 00;07;35;08 The stakes are very, very, very high. 00;07;35;08 - 00;07;39;22 You know, you're a hostage in a hostage situation that you feel powerless. 00;07;39;24 - 00;07;42;24 And that's a different situation when you're in a creative project, 00;07;42;26 - 00;07;45;17 then you feel powerless because of of not knowing something.
00;07;45;17 - 00;07;47;18 Of not experiencing something. 00;07;47;18 - 00;07;49;09 Of doing something differently. 00;07;49;09 - 00;07;53;09 I think that level of powerlessness, if it is coming off 00;07;53;09 - 00;07;57;17 that way, is is more internal. 00;07;57;19 - 00;08;00;17 It feels more like something that you're 00;08;00;17 - 00;08;04;15 you haven't worked through internally for yourself.
00;08;04;18 - 00;08;09;11 I, I do think it's maybe in there is some degree of truth in that. 00;08;09;18 - 00;08;12;05 I think the 00;08;12;07 - 00;08;13;20 yeah, every situation is different. 00;08;13;20 - 00;08;19;12 But we also as people and I think especially as artists, we all like 00;08;19;15 - 00;08;24;22 have different almost like levels of weight of severity to different issues. 00;08;24;22 - 00;08;28;13 Like for me, like I'm because I'm an anxious person, like 00;08;28;15 - 00;08;32;14 everything has like this equal level of weight And so it feels, 00;08;32;14 - 00;08;36;16 it can totally feel like, oh, you know, a client wasn't happy with this.
00;08;36;16 - 00;08;39;25 So now it's the end of the world, like the company 00;08;39;26 - 00;08;44;03 shutting down and like the sky is falling and whatever this might be, 00;08;44;06 - 00;08;46;10 as opposed to just something being not aligned. 00;08;46;10 - 00;08;47;23 And that's okay. 00;08;47;23 - 00;08;52;26 So that I agree that that's like that is a process that I've had to personally 00;08;52;28 - 00;08;58;24 internalize first understand, recognize my own patterns, and then 00;08;58;26 - 00;09;03;05 change up the way in which I respond to it.
00;09;03;08 - 00;09;04;17 Again, because it takes. A lot of work. 00;09;04;17 - 00;09;05;27 I feel like it takes a lot of work. 00;09;05;27 - 00;09;09;20 Oh, is it exhausting?
00;09;09;23 - 00;09;10;22 It's exhausting. 00;09;10;22 - 00;09;12;24 But, you know, it's very real. 00;09;12;24 - 00;09;14;10 It's very like. 00;09;14;10 - 00;09;18;20 I mean, like, I agree with a lot of this post that a lot of this is just about 00;09;18;22 - 00;09;23;28 like showing up as who you are, but also being understanding 00;09;23;28 - 00;09;26;28 of where everyone else's and being able to meet them, where they're at.
00;09;26;28 - 00;09;30;26 So yeah, I do agree that I think there's 00;09;30;28 - 00;09;33;12 there's a thing that the difference 00;09;33;12 - 00;09;37;22 between companies where like the client 00;09;37;22 - 00;09;41;23 feels like a transaction rather than a partnership. 00;09;41;26 - 00;09;45;23 I think every studio on a really needs to define what a partnership looks like 00;09;45;23 - 00;09;50;01 in their, in their perspective because then it 00;09;50;03 - 00;09;53;03 if it feels transactional, then it's going to be transactional.
00;09;53;06 - 00;09;55;07 If it feels more like a collaborative thing, 00;09;55;07 - 00;09;58;18 then yes, you're going to come out with this product feeling like 00;09;58;20 - 00;10;01;15 it wasn't just, Oh, open pixel made this thing. 00;10;01;15 - 00;10;04;19 It's like, Oh no, we we collectively as a unit 00;10;04;19 - 00;10;07;04 made this thing together with our great partners 00;10;07;04 - 00;10;09;13 and with people that we love to work with and all that good stuff. 00;10;09;13 - 00;10;11;21 So yeah.
00;10;11;23 - 00;10;12;16 Yeah. 00;10;12;16 - 00;10;15;05 Another big one at least that spoke to me. 00;10;15;05 - 00;10;17;20 And the reason I kept reading was, number one, don't rush things. 00;10;17;20 - 00;10;20;20 I think you know, some day.
00;10;20;25 - 00;10;23;06 Are you waiting for this plane to go away? 00;10;23;06 - 00;10;24;20 No, I love the plane. 00;10;24;20 - 00;10;27;20 I know that it might be 00;10;27;21 - 00;10;30;14 someone's private jet flying for us or something. 00;10;30;14 - 00;10;32;03 It's Taylor Swift's.
00;10;32;03 - 00;10;33;21 There's this jet. 00;10;33;21 - 00;10;36;13 Yeah, she's on her way. 00;10;36;13 - 00;10;38;03 Don't rush into things. I think.
00;10;38;03 - 00;10;42;08 I think that speaks to a lot of what is happening these days, 00;10;42;08 - 00;10;46;12 which is, you know, with AI or tech or whatever, getting faster 00;10;46;14 - 00;10;48;27 every one is saying, well, why can't we do it faster? 00;10;48;27 - 00;10;50;05 Why can't we write it faster? 00;10;50;05 - 00;10;55;16 Why can't we do you know, and rushing things does get you to a place where 00;10;55;18 - 00;10;57;21 no one's going to be happy with that. 00;10;57;21 - 00;10;59;24 No, be happy with the result.
00;10;59;24 - 00;11;01;26 I mean, someone might be 00;11;01;26 - 00;11;05;23 if you have the right team and they're experts in, they're getting it 00;11;05;25 - 00;11;10;00 like precisely right at every stage of the process. 00;11;10;00 - 00;11;12;08 But, you know, and I can read the rest of it. 00;11;12;08 - 00;11;14;11 So it says, you know, 00;11;14;11 - 00;11;17;25 getting excited and signing contracts with a vague scope of work is tempting. 00;11;17;25 - 00;11;19;03 However, it will always bite 00;11;19;03 - 00;11;23;03 someone in the ass later and lead to tension in the relationship.
00;11;23;06 - 00;11;27;04 If your team isn't ready to provide a specific brief or has a solid direction, 00;11;27;04 - 00;11;31;04 you should invest in some concept in time with your partner. 00;11;31;07 - 00;11;35;05 And if you can't get clear on answers on scope, then don't write the contract. 00;11;35;07 - 00;11;36;03 Right? Right.
00;11;36;03 - 00;11;36;25 Don't take the job. 00;11;36;25 - 00;11;39;10 Yeah, I've taken taken our own advice here. 00;11;39;10 - 00;11;41;05 I totally feel that. Yeah.
Yeah. 00;11;41;05 - 00;11;44;05 Is it like if the direction can come from 00;11;44;05 - 00;11;47;29 multiple places, it can come from the partnership in conversation. 00;11;48;01 - 00;11;51;07 It can also come from one person that says, Look, you're the right person 00;11;51;07 - 00;11;54;01 to direct this thing because we like your vision 00;11;54;01 - 00;11;56;19 or we like your message or we like the way you work. 00;11;56;19 - 00;12;00;07 It could be any number of reasons or a combination of reasons, 00;12;00;09 - 00;12;03;09 but if you yourself aren't ready to let go of that, you know, 00;12;03;11 - 00;12;08;08 of your internal thing that you have in your head, I'm going to let that go 00;12;08;14 - 00;12;12;13 and then give this person the freedom to do what they need to do.
00;12;12;16 - 00;12;13;21 If you're not ready to do that, 00;12;13;21 - 00;12;17;21 I don't think you're ready to work with a creative partner in the first place. 00;12;17;23 - 00;12;18;22 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00;12;18;22 - 00;12;22;07 There's a lot of letting go. It's, 00;12;22;09 - 00;12;23;12 you know, 00;12;23;12 - 00;12;28;06 it's always more emotional work than we ever talk about in business.
00;12;28;09 - 00;12;32;26 We don't talk about how businesses require 00;12;32;28 - 00;12;36;19 a pretty intense level of emotional development. 00;12;36;22 - 00;12;41;24 If you don't have that, then yeah, you're going to make it really hard on yourself. 00;12;41;29 - 00;12;46;06 It's it may it's not to say you're not you can't be successful. 00;12;46;06 - 00;12;50;09 I guess if you're thinking about it from a pure, you know, monetary standpoint.
00;12;50;09 - 00;12;54;09 But yeah, there's, there's just different levels to it. 00;12;54;09 - 00;12;58;19 So yeah, or if you have a team behind you, like if you had like 50 people 00;12;58;19 - 00;13;02;25 working on creative direction on different parts of the company, 00;13;02;26 - 00;13;04;15 you know, you can always pull from that. 00;13;04;15 - 00;13;06;10 There's something to hang your hat on. 00;13;06;10 - 00;13;09;25 We've worked with really large businesses that have several departments 00;13;09;25 - 00;13;12;25 and they'll pull from, Hey, you know, the department 00;13;12;25 - 00;13;15;27 did something like this, can we do something like that?
00;13;15;27 - 00;13;18;27 And that's not necessarily the direction that they're giving us 00;13;18;29 - 00;13;20;06 or that they even created. 00;13;20;06 - 00;13;21;08 Someone else created that, 00;13;21;08 - 00;13;25;17 but they're at least having a place of starting like a starting point. 00;13;25;19 - 00;13;26;18 And when you have, you 00;13;26;18 - 00;13;30;25 know, different people trying to be that person who's directing it, 00;13;30;25 - 00;13;35;09 it becomes very hard for sure, sure to find some common ground.
00;13;35;11 - 00;13;36;17 Yeah, Yeah. 00;13;36;17 - 00;13;39;16 This is an well, there you go. Crafted post. 00;13;39;16 - 00;13;42;01 I appreciate your composition.
00;13;42;01 - 00;13;44;06 I agree. It's 00;13;44;06 - 00;13;45;04 thoughtfulness. 00;13;45;04 - 00;13;46;27 And, uh. 00;13;46;27 - 00;13;49;27 Yeah.
Kudos to the person who wrote it. 00;13;50;01 - 00;13;51;14 Yeah, I feel like the. 00;13;51;14 - 00;13;54;04 Person I've been following for a. While.
Yeah. Nice. Nice. 00;13;54;04 - 00;13;55;07 Good for them.
00;13;55;07 - 00;13;58;03 Yeah, good for them. Very, very much so. 00;13;58;03 - 00;14;01;11 Glad that they're on that sort of thought pattern. 00;14;01;14 - 00;14;02;11 Yeah, I'm glad.
00;14;02;11 - 00;14;06;08 Like, I'm glad that we're starting to see more and more studios 00;14;06;08 - 00;14;10;11 get to the point of like, hey, we can we can think about this differently. 00;14;10;18 - 00;14;13;07 We can approach creative differently. 00;14;13;07 - 00;14;14;21 That's the place we want to see. 00;14;14;21 - 00;14;18;03 You love to see that.
You love to see it. 00;14;18;05 - 00;14;20;00 Well, thank you so much for listening 00;14;20;00 - 00;14;23;08 and just letting us ramble on for some 15 minutes. 00;14;23;14 - 00;14;27;10 Yeah, I mean, feel free to, like, let us know that we're horribly wrong 00;14;27;10 - 00;14;30;24 and we should feel bad about it and whatever. 00;14;30;25 - 00;14;34;26 Whatever, you know, social media shaming, you guys need to do it.
00;14;35;01 - 00;14;37;02 You need to vent about something. Well, this. 00;14;37;02 - 00;14;39;12 Thank you for listening. Thanks for the ramble.
00;14;39;12 - 00;14;43;14 I hope this I don't know if it helped, but maybe it's just nice to hear 00;14;43;14 - 00;14;44;09 if you're a creative. 00;14;44;09 - 00;14;49;00 That's like thinking similarly that you're not alone in your thinking. 00;14;49;06 - 00;14;50;09 Yeah. 00;14;50;09 - 00;14;50;15 Yeah.
00;14;50;15 - 00;14;54;01 And, and if you're as client or potential client or future client, 00;14;54;01 - 00;14;57;01 whatever you want to call it, if you're buying creative content, 00;14;57;01 - 00;14;58;07 it's something to think about. 00;14;58;07 - 00;15;00;22 Just to just be on the same page as the creative. 00;15;00;22 - 00;15;05;12 You know, oftentimes creatives crave direction in some capacity, 00;15;05;12 - 00;15;08;19 maybe not creative direction, but but other kinds of direction.
00;15;08;19 - 00;15;12;00 And I think those are those that kind of direction is good, too. 00;15;12;02 - 00;15;12;11 Yeah. 00;15;12;11 - 00;15;16;15 Well, I think it's also a point of like for potential clients, it's 00;15;16;15 - 00;15;19;29 all about trying to find the right partner that you will kind. 00;15;19;29 - 00;15;21;07 Of find the right.
Fit. Yeah. 00;15;21;07 - 00;15;25;11 And I would say on that front, like really trust your gut. 00;15;25;13 - 00;15;28;24 Like your intuition is going to tell you if, 00;15;28;24 - 00;15;33;23 if you're running into a meeting and you with your like potential creative team, 00;15;33;23 - 00;15;38;08 you immediately see the red flags, then, you know, you might feel it.
00;15;38;08 - 00;15;41;10 You might know that you have power in that situation. 00;15;41;10 - 00;15;45;22 And to find another partner if if that's the way you need to go 00;15;45;24 - 00;15;46;25 and that's okay, 00;15;46;25 - 00;15;50;24 it's totally fine to find the right fit and to take the time to do that. 00;15;50;29 - 00;15;52;08 So yeah, yeah. 00;15;52;08 - 00;15;54;29 And there's not a lot of like window shopping, you know what I mean?
00;15;54;29 - 00;15;56;01 Like, you're back in the day. 00;15;56;01 - 00;15;59;19 If you're talking about consumerism and consumers like window shopping 00;15;59;19 - 00;16;04;10 or browsing, there's not a lot of that with creative partners, right? 00;16;04;11 - 00;16;07;18 Like you come across a creative partner and there's a lot more 00;16;07;18 - 00;16;10;23 vetting that has to go into figuring out if it's going to work. 00;16;10;25 - 00;16;12;07 I think, yeah, you're window 00;16;12;07 - 00;16;15;29 shopping based on just the style that you're seeing, right?
00;16;15;29 - 00;16;16;25 You're like, exactly that. 00;16;16;25 - 00;16;21;01 That video looks interesting, but you're not window shopping based on 00;16;21;04 - 00;16;23;14 the people behind that. 00;16;23;17 - 00;16;24;21 And maybe maybe that's 00;16;24;21 - 00;16;27;22 there's a way there's got to be a better way to change. 00;16;27;22 - 00;16;32;12 Maybe maybe listening to a podcast where they talk to you for a bit.
00;16;32;17 - 00;16;32;26 Tell me. 00;16;32;26 - 00;16;38;07 More might be a way in to understanding who they are. 00;16;38;09 - 00;16;42;06 Could be, could be perhaps you could learn that they really 00;16;42;06 - 00;16;45;23 so you could, you know, 00;16;45;26 - 00;16;46;21 or the the great who. 00;16;46;21 - 00;16;47;20 Knows they could suck.
00;16;47;20 - 00;16;48;25 They get. Sucked. 00;16;48;25 - 00;16;50;06 Yeah, it's it's true. 00;16;50;06 - 00;16;50;24 That's true.
00;16;50;24 - 00;16;53;21 Yeah. Well, thank you. Yeah, this is fun. 00;16;53;21 - 00;16;58;24 I enjoy listening to other perspectives on things, too, so I agree.
00;16;58;25 - 00;17;00;04 It's. Yeah. All right. 00;17;00;04 - 00;17;04;04 We'll have a good one, everyone, And we will see you in the next episode.
00;17;04;06 - 00;17;05;16 Okay. 00;17;05;16 - 00;17;11;23 Bye. Hey, 00;17;11;25 - 00;17;14;29 a big thank you, as always, to Emilia for producing this podcast. 00;17;15;00 - 00;17;16;28 Our producer is Jackson Foote.
00;17;16;28 - 00;17;20;28 Our music is created by hidden and licensed through Premium Boots.com. 00;17;20;28 - 00;17;24;02 And as always, stay honest, stay creative. 00;17;24;03 - 00;17;25;03 Stay open.
00;17;25;03 - 00;17;27;03 Open Pixel Studios, Thanks. 00;17;27;03 - 00;17;28;03 We'll see you in the next episode.
054 - SLAE - Lindsay Knowler at Eat Your Peas58 / 100053 - Jennie & Kaci at Mothers of Mograph62 / 100050 - BYB - Using Templates in Your Work53 / 100048 - SLAE - Mike Morris at BlueOwl63 / 100051 - SLAE - Julian Curi at Righteous Robot