Australian Infront

Moffitt Moffit provided a very entertaining overview of their careers and their development as creatives at the top of their game.
Rather than provide a complete overvew of their talk, I'll list a few of the major points that they brought up in their talk.:

Graphic design is only part of what they do. In terms of running a business, it is an important part but not the biggest part of their work. They like to see and describe themselves as three different characters, or as different versions of  'STEVE'. These are the characters that were described:

1. The Steve Jobs: Like Jobs, they like to think creatively and outside of the square.
2. The Steve McQueen: The man with have metaphorical 'massive balls' and challenge themselves and take risks
3. The Steve Irwin: Moffitt & Moffitt are proud to be Australian and have an Australian perspective in their work.

All these characters combine describe their approach to their work. They were emphathic in their approach to their work being as much about their point of view as it is about their clients work. Which led to the way in which they have branded their business and how they believe that they should be visible  in everything that they do.

They then provided an overview of their work and clients and in summary:

- Creativity was and continues to be an all consuming passion.
- As a creative there are as many highs as there are lows (long hours, trying to get paid vs doing what you love)
- They like to be provocative in what they do and work with images that get people talking, that are flirtatious and sexy
- They like to be involved in projects that take them to new destinations as travelling always provides a fresh perspective and they love travelling.
- In particular, they like working with like-minded people. Fashion clients always provide a great creative outlet, whereas music and restaraunt clients allow them a fair bit of creative freedom.
- It's great having those smaller creative clients, but being ably to utlise their passion for corporate clients has also been very important.
- The heart and soul of a business isn't the products or services, but what they stand for; what they say and how they want to say it.
- They like projects that express their own agenda and their own point of view

They spent some time discussing a couple of projects that didn't work and the importance of failure in their work career:

- They started a magazine which they realised didn't actually stand for anything after aiming for it to be hugely influential and a trendsetter.
- As soon as you say something is 'cool' (with regards to your own work) - it won't be.
- Some of the best ideas come from heading in the wrong direction.
- It's important to know when to have fun.
- It's important to have perspective: "You're JUST fucking creatives. You're not doctors out there saving lives, so just enjoy it"
- If you do nothing, nothing happens

They discussed the importance of three points in their work everyday:

1. Self Less Promotion:The best promotion for promoting yourself is promoting someone else
2. Knowledge Does Not Equal Power: Anyone can find information in the internet and it isn't a powerful commodity- power today is how you interpret information.
3. Polarise People: Leave yourself and your work open to interpretation, be clear about your identity & be open to the way people interpret you
be ok with that. Don't be ok or average because that's forgettable.

www.moffittmoffitt.com