Jordan Berkowitz

Sketching With Technology

My name is Jordan and I’m a creative technologist.

For a long time I struggled to put a name to what I do. I love technology and I love a great idea. It pains me to see either executed poorly and all to often a lackluster execution of one means the other inevitably suffers. It’s only recently that, with the help a few others, I’ve gained some clarity into what I thought was going to be a nameless future where I would always describe what I do as “a bunch of stuff.”

At the moment people have varied opinions on what a creative technologist is. I’ve heard that we are strategists, planners, technologists, producers, and a few other odd variants that elude me. The short answers is yes and no. There are aspects of each of these roles that contribute to what a creative technologist does, but the total is not simply the sum of these parts.

Mark Avnet is a professor at VCU Brandcenter and has written what I think is the the best description of a creative technologist to date.

CTs understand the business of advertising, marketing, and branding, take a creative, strategic and people-centric view of how to connect people and brands, and understand the kinds of mediating technologies that can best be used to make those engaging experiences where the connection happens.

They sketch with technology, just like a visual creative can sketch with a pencil. They’re steeped in strategy, so the things they come up with make sense, it’s not about technology just for the sake of technology. The experiences they design address real needs of people and brands.

Creative technologists share a creative and inquisitive view of the world. They’re on top of technology trends, aren’t afraid of coding (just as a modern visual designer isn’t afraid of Photoshop or Illustrator), and take both strategic and tactical approaches to creativity. They also understand that we’re in a business, and we’re solving business goals by addressing people’s needs as a priority.

The rest of the post deserve a serious read as he goes on to talk about another quality of creative technologists which I completely agree with, the “Learn, Do, Teach mindset.”

So what does all of this mean for me?

• First off, I have a new mission which is to advance the understanding and acceptance of the creative technologist as a critical member of the agency of today. This isn’t a role meant for some future state; it’s a complete necessity today and the primary challenge is that there aren’t more creative technologists to be hired and utilized to make better work. 
• Secondly, and this is somewhat selfish, I now have a way to describe what I do. Not everyone may agree with it, but I don’t care. It makes perfect sense to me and I’m confident that in due course many more people will come to understand and respect the role. 
• Finally, I want to meet more creative technologists. If you are one, think you’re one, know one, or suspect one of your friends is one but doesn’t yet know it, please get in touch with me.

I’m going to spend a lot more time talking about creative technologists, what we do/think, and how we fit into the agency environment so please stay tuned.