Episode 88: riCardo Crespo, Chief Creative Officer, Th13teen (LA)

"It's a right of passage to know that you're good at executing, but also challenge yourself to understand that at the very root of what we do as designers—whether our medium is physical, digital, websites, billboards or t-shirts—at the end of the day, design is a method of communication, and the design is a manifestation of that communication."

riCardo Crespo is a world-class creative director and he is very secretive online. In fact, you won't find much on him at all and he prefers it that way.

Referring to himself as a "creative ninja" (he is an MMA fighter), riCardo has worked at global agencies Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann Erickson, Chiat/Day; and he was the global chief creative for Mattel and 20th Century Fox before starting his own shop, Th13teen.

riCardo enightens us in this episode with his incredible experience on the differences between branding, marketing & advertising and where they fit together as a part of a venn diagram; as well as why it all starts with brand & purpose.

Crespo has an interesting take on portfolios and he doesn't put much weight in them as he touches on subjectivity, explaining & communicating your work.

He also discusses being courageous as a creative and how sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone, making a decision on your environment and whether you can find a diplomatic, respectful voice with marketing execs or if you need to find a new environment to collaborate & thrive.

Lastly, we discuss the democratic culture of design today, why change for change's sake is bad and why if change is a good strategy then the brands need to suffer through the online criticism.

Truthfully, this episode is so jam-packed with value it's hard to find quotes for. Get out your notepad & pen.

Mentions Include:

riCardo on Twitter
Avatar movie
Juventus FC rebrand by Interbrand
"Designing Brand Identity"
University of Cal logo controversy
Miami Ad School talks
"1000 True Fans" by Kevin Kelly
EP45: MLC Panel '15

My next guest is Alex Center. Alex is a design director at Coca-Cola Co. working on Powerade, Vitamin Water & Smart Water. Checkout of some of Alex's work.

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