The Growth Issue
The Growth Issue
To go hand in hand with the release of our new ADCN film, The Growth Issue is filled with inspiring content from the team behind the creation of the film – Trip to the Moon Films (film direction), Rogier Smalhout (script), Amp.Amsterdam (music production & audio post production), Ambassadors (VFX & colour grading) and the driven participants from Plus Plus One (featured in the film).
Creativity is constantly evolving, breaking barriers, shattering expectations and twisting in unforeseen directions. We believe that creative people shape the world around us and, as creative growth is at the very core of everything we do at ADCN, we asked these creatives how they continue to grow and how they keep their finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the industry.
SIGHTSEEING
Seek inspiration from outside your bubble.
'Inspiration is crucial to creative growth. For most of us that means looking outside of our world to the music, art and culture that fires up our creativity, and sometimes inspires specific looks or ideas we bring to our craft.
I suffer from a small addiction to visual art, paintings and prints which fill my home and feed that need for daily inspiration. Bisou Gallery is a local physical & online space that deals in vintage furniture, housewares, pottery and paintings by modern artists, but their specific expertise is the work of Japanese artist Kumi Sugai. Bisou’s founder Julien Rademaker manages to unearth and offer up a prolific number of editions from the artist's minimalist geometric abstractions. Ranging from the 1960s to the 1990s, these prints feel somehow vintage and reminiscent of their era but also completely modern and contemporary.' – Justin Blyth, Global Head of Creative at Ambassadors
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Go beyond the classical rules.
'For me personally, the film Cold War (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2018) made a lot of impact on me and helped me grow. The unique and precise framing of Pawlikowski and his cameraman Lukasz Zal inspired me to never forget to keep thinking beyond the classical rules of shot listing a scene. It also made me aware of how important the delicate interplay between camerawork, mise-en-scène and directing is to let any scene work emotionally. In my opinion, every frame of Cold War tells a little story in itself.' – Eva Heinsbroek, Cinematographer and DOP for our film
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Time for some spiritual growth.
'Switch off your phone, pour yourself a bottle of good wine and take the time to listen to this 6 hour spiritual jazz mix by the legendary DJ KC The Funkaholic. This music relaxes my mind when I have to work or I just put it on to vibe to it. If six hours isn’t enough for you, he recently made a part 2! : ) Thank you, Kees!' – Rogier Smalhout
BREAK THE MOULD
Shaping the sound of a brand.
'In 2011 I read the book Sounds Like Branding by Jakob Lusensky on how to use the power of music to turn customers into fans, which almost seemed ahead of its time. It was released as a book and on vinyl, nice touch I have to say.
Sounds Like Branding is a great journey through the history of music and marketing, from the humble jingle and Muzak to Michael Jackson's groundbreaking association with Pepsi in the 1980s and the music branding embraced today by global brands such as Nike, Starbucks, McDonald's, Levi's and Coca-Cola. What marketers need to know today is not what music to run in the background to an ad, but how a brand 'sounds'. It's something we think of and work on daily at Amp.Amsterdam and why I love my work a lot :)' – Sietze Rademaker, Director New Business & Sonic Branding at Amp.Amsterdam
SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES
Self-love is underrated.
'Everybody looks at themselves and finds all sorts of reasons not to love what they see or they wait for someone else to give them permission to love themselves. You have to stop waiting and start doing and that takes some work. Self-love is not something that just happens – it’s a creative process where you dig deep to find your own soul.' – Be Unapologetically You by Adeline Bird, recommended by Ruminaily Alberto, participant of Plus Plus One and one of the extras in our film
Image below of Adeline Bird, author of 'Be Unapologetically You'
FRONTIER
Get to know our Cover Artists.
‘We have this Bonsai tree at our office. We water, nurture and expose the little fellow to the sun. We even sing for the son of a gun plant it is. It isn't growing. It's not blossoming. But it ain't dying either. You got a good recipe for creative growth right there.’ – Jan Oudemans & Max Grapperhaus, Trip to the Moon Films
A huge thank you to Jan Oudemans & Max Grapperhaus, founders of Trip to the Moon Films, for being our eighth FRONTIER and the Cover Artists of The Growth Issue – taking you on a journey through the decades with desks from the 60s until the future. Check out our interview with Jan & Max below.
We invite all members of the ADCN community to co-create and curate our new Digital Magazine.
If you have seen or made something that we should all learn from, please get in touch!