• designer
• creative
• writer
• actor
• astronaut

It's easy to take aim at a job title like 'creative'. It sounds a bit vague. In this case it's like 'designer plus'. A strategist. A thinker.

The reason I've included it here is to highlight how, within this role, I've been able to move projects along and come up with approaches and ideas which set campaigns and identities apart. Giving clients questions that help them wonder why they hadn't thought of something in this way before – and ultimately come up with great answers. It's genuinely out-of-box stuff.

An artworker, when asked to design a discount voucher, will make a lovely discount voucher. When I was asked, I devised, with the client, a 'secret word' campaign which was updated monthly by an email campaign which cross-promoted events and product news. No cutting out, no remembering to keep a scrap of paper in your wallet and produce it when you order, just membership of a 'club' whose offers and benefits could be regularly updated, tweaked and enhanced – with a potentially infinite life.

A creative will look at the life of the project, what comes before it and where it will lead. They will look at the market, what competitors and peers are doing and how the client sits within it. They will make the client fit in, or stand out. They will help the client to startle or to reassure.

A designer who is also a creative will not just make it look good. They will make it look right.