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Big Spaceship - 03/03/2009
Welcome one and all to the Worthy, LLC journal! We’re ecstatic to kick start things with this inaugural post, which should really set the tone for what we’re all about.
Our main asset as a design firm is not a photo-editing or design application, a server or a pile of code. Creativity, above all else, is what we can’t work without. Creativity makes work fun, fosters fulfilling client relationships and simply makes us better, happier people. It’s only when you add creativity to all those digital tools that you end up with a great web experience.
Putting so much emphasis on raw creativity may seem a bit childish to some. Web design is still a business after all; it’s still a means of making money. At the end of the day, someone is paying us to provide a service just the same as they would with any drycleaner, plumber, or stockbroker.
I have to admit that there is truth in those sentiments. We are getting paid for our work, after all. The notion that work can’t be fun is where we would have to disagree, though. After financial business is dealt with, good websites are always borne out of an urge to express oneself and a desire to create something of value and present it to the world. This demands a free flow of creativity.
It’s so easy for a young company like us to say something this idealistic, but for these words to be spoken by the director of an award-winning agency with a client list that looks like a veritable directory of Fortune 500 companies is truly inspiring. This is, in fact, exactly what I heard last week coming out of Michael Lebowitz’s mouth as he addressed an audience of rapt design students on how he maintains his agency’s status as a respected pioneer in the world of web design (a totally uncreative label, which makes him cringe as it turns out).
Michael showed example after example of projects that I hesitate to even call websites because they could more aptly be described as experiences. Combining interactivity, innovative techniques and simply fantastic design, his portfolio had me convinced that the web as we see it now is only scratching the surface of what is possible. What set his projects apart weren’t just the cutting edge programming he employed (which they had in spades), but the incredibly creative ways in which his teams employed these technologies. He truly sees these tools as means to an end and creativity is the engine that drives them.
It was very uplifting to hear that he loves removing his employees from their computers as much possible to experiment with non-digital tools and materials because it gets them interacting with each other and with the world in an authentic way. Some of Big Spaceship’s most impressive projects employed materials like sand, paper and fur. He seemed convinced that this sort of visceral experience piqued his team members’ creativity in such a way that play naturally led to passion, which inevitably produced quality projects. I was convinced too after seeing the final products.
Starting off as a young company, we at Worthy LLC sometimes feel that the way to prove our mettle is to wear a serious disposition on our sleeve because that’s what serious businesses do. The truth is that with each passing project we realize more and more that Michael is absolutely right. Creativity is really just another word for play and play really does inevitably lead to quality because it is the most authentic way to explore the world around us. It makes sense that play comes to children so naturally because they’ve got so much absorb in such a short amount of time and playing helps make sense of the world so quickly and easily. It worked for us as children, so why not again as adults?
Big Spaceship has worked with companies like Nike, Warner Brothers and Gucci among countless other global brands. Michael didn’t start the agency as a stoic and then become playful once he reached the top. He got to the top by being playful, which is incredibly refreshing. We don’t think there could be a better example to follow and that’s exactly what we intend to do.