Doing different shit is hard. You see all these mainstreamers doing mainstreamer things. Passable logos, maybe fun (maybe boring to us) campaigns, broad audience, easy to get. Not quite no-brainers. The easy life.
But you’re laying a trickier path for yourself. Outlier audience, ethics maxed, tough message, a need to be properly authentic to the culture while helping grow it while being successful as a venture. Some or all of that.
I’m Chris, a freelance/in-house creative for thirty-something years — or maybe I’m a one-person* creative agency called To Be Fair.
TBD.
I’m a different thinker via neurospicy wiring, creative director, quiet disruptor, brand consultant, goodness warrior.
I may have started doing creative within the culturally rebellious world of action sports, but I’ve worked with hotshots like Adidas and Nike as well as little brands doing something rad.
Back to you and me. After we’ve ascertained a good fit, I’ll work with you to figure out properly tailored solutions. Starting with the whys and whats, together we’ll get me cooking up some ideas with the intent of feeling so right to you and the people who’ll then get you. No generic stuff other agencies will push that often seem to be “Let’s oversell this and get the invoice out”.
A few rounds of back-and-forth later, hopefully you’ll be hyped with the results. If not, we keep working.
With a design-award-winning disruptive/left-field publications foundation**, I like to craft a deeper brand of creative built on resonant connection. Fancy words, maybe, but truth. Before the AI hype fest, “authentic” was the most overused A-word in marketing, and that’s been my approach from day one. For me, looking to the positive, celebratory and/or solutions side of reality is my first instinct, and one that works. It results in creative that is evocative, aspirational and compelling, to the right people.
You, with a scoop of my help, will make people feel empowered and part of a movement.
Ecological and social responsibility and progress are a big deal to me, so I’m not going to work with anyone doing bad things, no matter how deep their pockets are.
(I’ll also work with direction from above however that looks.)
I recently returned from thirteen years in the creative hotbed of Portland, Oregon, USA and am now based in Exeter, England. Solo or within a team, I’ve put my hand to everything from global omnichannel campaigns to app design. I’ve lead and created rebrands, environmental design, digital, print, motion, copy and much more.
*I have great people to call on as necessary.
**In a past life, along with co-conspirators and some amazing folks I changed the face of action sports at my apparently somewhat seminal media company, 4130 Publishing.