Creativity Unpacked – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode I’m speaking with the brilliant Damon Stapleton. He is the Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder of The Monkeys Aotearoa, New Zealand. I have been a huge fan of Damon and his work since I discovered his blog on Creativity called Damon’s Brain. 

Damon is a highly awarded and successful Advertising Creative. He’s recognised as one of the top 10 Executive Creative Directors globally and he’s won over 500 international awards including Cannes Lions, D&AD Pencils and Clios.

Damon has worked on some truely incredible and famous campaigns like the ‘The Zimbabwean Newspaper’ campaign where the Zimbabwean trillion dollar note became the advertising medium and the Samsung iTest - where they were able get iPhone users to turn their phones into a Samsung! Sounds crazy right? We’ll unpack those ideas in the episode. 

Damon is not only a brilliant creative but an inspiring leader of creativity. We discuss what needs to be present for creativity to thrive in an organisation. 

This conversation with Damon is full of gems. I loved this chat and I hope you do too.

You can follow Damon's epic blog here https://damonsbrain.com

And you can follow me, Nicole Velik at www.theideasbodega.com.au

In this episode I am speaking with the brilliant Gabby Lord. Gabby is an Australian designer and art director, who is now based in New York City.

She recently co-founded a branding studio in New York called Super Keen. Prior to this, Gabby worked in Sydney and Berlin. Throughout her career she's worked on some pretty big brands such as Netflix, the Apple Music Awards, Ableton, Macquarie Bank and Qantas.

I first met Gabby, when I invited her to speak at CreativeMornings Sydney, five years ago. It has been really inspiring to watch her journey and the incredible leaps that she's made in such a short amount of time. From Tamworth to Sydney to Berlin and now New York, Gabby is living a truely creative life, although not always easy!

In this episode, we discuss how to keep moving forward - as Gabby says, "You can't steer a parked car". We discuss her creative journeys through Berlin and now her new life in New York, starting a studio on the other side of the world, and how she nurtures and feeds her own creativity.

Gabby has so much lived experience and advice. She has this way of articulating lessons so they really drop. I honestly think all these "Gabbyisms" should be bumper stickers! You can't not be inspired by her wisdom.

You can find Gabby at her studio https://superkeen.studio/

and you can sign up to her brilliant newsletter called OMG LORD here https://omglord.com/

You can find me, Nicole Velik at www.theideasbodega.com.au

In this episode of Creativity Unpacked I'm speaking with Carly Heaton, the Executive Producer of the award winning Netflix show Heartbreak High and Head of Scripted at Fremantle Australia.

Carly and I met about a decade ago when she brought me into Foxtel to train her TV Promos team in creative thinking. One of the things that really struck me about Carly was her leadership style. Still to this day I have never met a leader who empowered, inspired and championed creativity in her team the way that she did.

Carly is a creative powerhouse in her own right and in this episode we'll unpack her creative process and how she pulls her best ideas from the zeitgeist for the TV shows she makes.

She also tells some pretty crazy stories about the remaking of Heartbreak High and a behind the scenes look at what it really takes to pull off creating a global Netflix hit.

You can find Carly Heaton on LinkedIn.

And you can find me Nicole Velik at The Ideas Bodega

Welcome to season two of creativity unpacked. I’m kicking off season two with a bang and bringing you the legendary internationally recognised designer and author Kevin Finn. 

Kevin is also an old friend of mine from our days at advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi and it was so wonderful to jump in the studio and have this chat with him. In this episode we not only unpack some epic projects Kevin has done -  like the work he did for Edward de Bono but to me it’s really clear that Kevin’s whole life is a creative project. I am so fascinated by the way he zigzags, he takes huge leaps and risks and never ever follows a trodden path. I think he’s such a pioneer. 

If you’re someone who’s feeling a little lost at the moment or maybe there’s that voice inside that’s quietly telling you that there’s something else you should be doing or maybe a creative project that you should be starting, you’re going to get a lot from this episode and Kevin’s advice.

You can find Kevin at https://thesumof.com.au and you can purchase his new book Brand Principals at Booktopia

You can find me at The Ideas Bodega or Nicole Velik on LinkedIn

I got to chat to the wonderful Peter Brennan. Pete is the co-founder of the non-alcoholic Aussie beer sensation Heaps Normal. He also owns a Branding and Design Studio called, Electric and Analog.

Interestingly, this week I was in Melbourne, having a drink in a pretty swanky cocktail bar. The guy sitting at the bar next to me was drinking Heaps Normal. And I have to say, I don't think that would have happened a few years ago, especially with the way Aussies love to drink.

So, this incredible beer is changing drinking culture, challenging what’s normal and offering a beautiful solution to what is a huge problem for a lot of people.

In this episode we dive into why some ideas fly and others don't. You see Pete’s launched a few businesses before this one but never had the success Heaps Normal is having. So What's the difference you might ask and why did this one blow up? It’s definitely a few things like timing, having the right people and skills but I’d say it’s all about purpose. Pete has a very personal motive driving him and he’s deeply connected to the brand’s purpose.

In this episode you’ll hear Pete's story from growing up with an abusive alcoholic father and his own struggles with alcohol and why he had to scratch his own itch. Pete took on the crazy challenge of creating a non-alcoholic beer that actually tastes good! 

Pete gives us all a creative challenge and it's got to do with finding your purpose. I hope you enjoy the episode. 

You can find Peter Brennan at his branding and design studio Electric and Analog  or on LinkedIn.

You can find me, Nicole Velik at www.theideasbodega.com.au or Nicole Velik on LinkedIn.