SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- October 22, 2007
Envisioning the new creative workforce Just as the desktop revolution totally changed the nature of publishing two decades ago, the digital design landscape is undergoing another metamorphosis today. Creative professionals who populated traditional agencies and design shops of yesterday are facing new career challenges in terms of training, skills, and the ability to produce engaging, integrated media solutions. And while students about to enter the workforce now are well-versed in exceedingly cross-functional disciplines, the question remains: what does the future of the creative marketplace hold for young professionals-even just five years down the road? Adam Kleinberg, CEO of the San Francisco ad agency Traction, has been at the heart of the design industry for the past decade. He's seen the role of the traditional designer morph into one that demands a blending of increasingly sophisticated technical and artistic skills, many of which revolve around Adobe solutions. "Graduates who are just entering the workforce should come prepared with cross-discipline training in a broad array of solutions as well as a solid business background," Kleinberg advises. "Today's designers need to be great brand marketers, and at the same time be capable of providing a fulfilling, interactive user experience." Benefits - Provide engaging user experience - Engage with customers - Teach students the value of interactive marketing A shared passion for interactivity It was innovation that brought Kleinberg and his partners together in the first place. In 1997 he and his colleagues worked together at various design agencies before establishing Traction in 2001. "We were passionate about integrating the traditional with the interactive side of the house," he notes. "We had been such an incredible team for so long, that we knew we could build something tremendous together. So we started Traction." Kleinberg knew that Adobe solutions would play a key role in Traction's success. Before the agency's inception, he found himself devoted to Adobe Flash Professional and went on to become one of the San Francisco Bay Area's original Flash gurus. "There are still a lot of lucrative careers out there for Flash developers," he says. "Those who can create animations in Flash and then add interactivity are increasingly in great demand. Flash has become a critical tool for bridging the gap between programming and design." It's the other multimedia classes offered at today's design schools that could use some refinement, according to Kleinberg. "Traditional marketing and advertising programs lack the third dimension of media," he says. "While students are learning how to build a brand, there's not enough emphasis on the science of usability. The user interface is the engineering of the experience." In the past, TV spots and billboards were considered sufficient, straightforward customer engagements. Today, designers must build effective interactions with customers using new and exciting approaches. "To engage the customer with your brand, you must be able to design far beyond a flat page," says Kleinberg. This may pose a challenge for those who are more traditionally creative, he warns. But to offer more complex, satisfying user experiences, interactivity is going to be standard. Some academic marketing programs have caught on, putting interactivity at the core of the curriculum. The future creative professional Traction is always looking for qualified team members who can deploy their skills to develop groundbreaking branding campaigns. The generation entering the workplace today is considered the technologically elite, notes Kleinberg. "Young people are coming into agencies now and making an immediate impact." But before a new designer can get a foot in the door, Kleinberg looks at a candidate's online portfolio. "In ten seconds, I can make a judgment with gut instinct," he says. "It's not just about knowing design concepts. A candidate should be passionate about creativity, and seek ways to improve, innovate, and add value to a project." Kleinberg believes that developers who are entering the workplace are well advised to master Adobe AIR-a framework for deploying rich Internet applications to the desktop, and Adobe Flex, a cross-platform development environment for creating rich Internet applications (RIAs). As well, designers should understand the capabilities of new Adobe technologies such as Adobe AIR so they can design interactions that put the application to good use. "There are a select number of people out there who understand the development and design sides of the fence," says Kleinberg. "Those people are very valuable to agencies." Knocking down functional creativity barriers Kleinberg surrounds himself with colleagues whose unique strengths make them collectively ideal for problem solving. The agency is divided into teams-all of which rely on Adobe technology to bring their visions to life. The production and creative teams, for example, rely heavily upon Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium, including Adobe Photoshop, Flash, and Illustrator software. "Those who have programming skills and a keen design sensibility, and can leverage the integrated Adobe toolset on either side, are invaluable to the organization," notes Kleinberg. Traction also prides itself on working in an open floor plan to promote collaboration among disciplines. Earlier in their careers, the partners were dismayed with the divide that existed between the various functions, with the creative staff working on a separate floor from the developers. "We realized that to be effective, our team needs to have constant communication and an ongoing dialogue," says Kleinberg. "Cross-discipline intelligence is essential, because every staff member is an integral part of the agency. Regardless of their function in the organization, everyone needs to understand how things work in order to improve them. This is how projects and concepts get better each time, no matter what level person is working on the project." For example, when a Traction art director hands off a project to a production assistant, it's expected that the assistant will make improvements. When thinking ahead to the next five years, Kleinberg lays it out plain and simple. Having people who can wear multiple hats, such as those who can both design and code, adds valuable flexibility to any workplace. "If you've got creative talent and programming skills, then you've got tremendous opportunities in front of you," he concludes.
