Member in the Spotlight: Maarten Boer

In our Members’ Spotlight this week we have Maarten Boer, Owner / Creative Director at agency Buutvrij for life – a disruptive creative agency that ‘solves problems worth solving’. Through a series of personal and professional questions, we get to know Maarten a bit better and find out more about his daily routine, what his top tips are to get creatively inspired, and see why he loves to mow the lawn.

As the Club for Creativity, we’d like to ask you to get creative and draw a self-portrait.

PERSONAL

What is your favourite website/app and why?

I love Audible, it’s one of the best audiobook apps and I use it every day. It turns things I hate - like waiting in line, or cleaning the house - into time I cherish. Thanks to Audible, I love mowing the lawn. #nospon

Do you own a collection and if so, what is it?

Somehow I’ve been collecting single socks for years now.

What technology could you not do without?

We have a hifi setup with an ancient Lenco record player that makes me very happy every single morning.

What is the most unforgettable place you have travelled to?

Oh wow, I have a couple, but if I have to choose, I’ll go for Peter Pan’s – Madagascar. I travelled there in a wooden sailboat.

What music could we find on your favourite playlist?

Check out www.perfects.nl – you will not be disappointed.

What is your most recent 'find’?

Adidas Crocs, #bloodsponsor.

What was the last meal that truly impressed you?

My Turkish friends are world champions of raw vegan cuisine. We stayed with them for a weekend and it really blew my mind what they could do without cooking food.

What is the last thing you bought and loved?

The book Moral Tribes by Joshua Greene.

What is your favourite piece of art and why?

Miles Davis, Kind of Blue on vinyl. That gem can set the mood on Saturday night and gets me out of bed on Sunday morning. Merry Clayton works too.

If you didn't live in the Netherlands, where would you live?

On a boat, anchor out, in the bay across from Aperlai Turkey.

How much of a routine do you have in your daily life?

I microdose every three days, with LSD instead of morning coffee but that’s about it.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, coffee from M.E.L.C. and the voice of Don Hagen reading You Are Not So Smart.

PROFESSIONAL

Which phase of the creative process excites you the most and why?

With any brief, the first step in our creative process involves a question: 'So what?' I thoroughly enjoy the conversation that ensues.

What makes a great or hero client?

Being human first.

If you weren't working in the creative industry, what else would you be doing?

In a previous life, I was a medical computer scientist. So I might be playing around with MRI scanners at the hospital. Or Behavioural Psychology, I’m a sucker for that.

What professional skill do you value the most?

Colouring outside the lines.

Who do you love/admire the most in the Dutch creative industry?

I think SEF - Yousef Gnaoui - is absolutely brilliant and crazy talented yet super down to earth. The brief time I spent with him the past year left me very impressed.

If you could pick one recent campaign/project that makes you think, ‘I wish I’d done that’, what would it be and why?

Abbot Kinney’s: Skip the hurt.

Out of the campaigns/projects you’ve worked on, which makes you the most proud?

The launch of Omroep ZWART, hands down. Impossible goals, impossible deadlines. But we made it anyway, beautiful teamwork all the way.

What top tips do you have to help people get creatively inspired?

No screens in the bedroom and when in doubt: go out.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Sometimes you don’t need to make that joke.

What’s the first thing you do when you start a project?

Ask: ‘Why is this important?’ Or: So what?

Over the last year, have you developed new ways of working?

I’ve learned to put my trust in others. Everything gets better with trust and air.

What’s the one new skill you would like to learn?

My new fetish is behavioural psychology, knowing what makes us tick is at the core of almost everything.

Golden tip: You Are Not So Smart (David McRaney)

How do you overcome a mind block?

I sail.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome and how?

When the financial crisis hit the industry we went 'all in' with Buutvrij, by working for free. Afterwards clients could pay whatever they felt like or could. We went from near bankruptcy to doubling our office, staff and annual turnover in 40 days.

What is the most bold move you have made?

Once we approached new clients by hijacking their computer camera and microphone. It worked, but we did have some sweaty palms if I’m honest.

Through our Member in the Spotlight feature, we aim to get to know both professionally and personally the unique qualities of our ADCN Members. If you would like to join ADCN, the Club for Creativity, you can find out more here.