It doesn’t need to shout to hold your attention. The power of Americana often comes from its restraint—the stillness of a sunburned landscape, the worn leather of a saddle, the dust caught in late-afternoon light, the steady posture of someone shaped by work, weather, and place.

These images carry a story before a single word is added.

That’s what makes Americana one of the most story-forward imagery trends defining design right now. It gives creatives a visual language rooted in character, history, and lived experience—one that feels culturally resonant without feeling overly polished or manufactured.

RELATED READS: Candid Imagery in Design: Capturing Authenticity in a Polished World

Why Americana Is Resonating Now

Audiences are tired of visuals that feel frictionless, filtered, and interchangeable. They’re drawn to work that feels specific. Human. Lived-in. Americana answers that need with a visual world full of texture, imperfection, and emotional weight.

From cowboys and ranchers to everyday people in small rural towns, from wide-open roads to weathered storefronts, this style captures a part of American culture that feels tactile and grounded.

It has a sense of place. It has character. Most importantly, it has a point of view.

But the strongest use of Americana imagery isn’t about romanticizing the West. It’s not about turning rural life into a polished fantasy or leaning on the expected clichés. The real opportunity is in showing it honestly—the grit, the stillness, the beauty, the labor, the contradictions, and the people.

Authenticity Is the Real Power

The best Americana imagery feels observed, a snapshot of a lived-in moment.

A quiet portrait can feel just as powerful as a horse galloping at full speed. A faded sign on the side of a building can tell as much of a story as a sweeping landscape. A pair of worn boots, a dusty truck, or a sunlit kitchen can hold narrative weight because these details feel earned.

That honesty is what gives the imagery its power. It doesn’t ask the audience to buy into a fantasy. It invites them into a real environment shaped by time, work, and culture.

For designers, that authenticity is gold. It builds an immediate emotional connection and gives the work a visual foundation with real character. Against the polish of hyper-clean campaigns and generic lifestyle imagery, Americana offers something harder to fake: a world that feels genuinely lived in.

RELATED READS: Flash On: The Raw, Authentic Visual Style That’s Reshaping Photography

A Tasteful Approach to Visual Storytelling

Using Americana imagery well requires taste. The difference between a campaign that feels iconic and one that feels costume-y comes down to curation.

A cowboy hat in the frame won’t carry the concept on its own. The image needs restraint, intention, and a strong editorial eye. The right photo should feel like it belongs to a larger story. It should make the viewer curious about what happened before and after the frame.

Americana becomes most powerful when it works as a storytelling device. The imagery brings a sense of place, while the curation gives it meaning.

The ongoing success of Western dramas and films rooted in this culture shows that audiences are drawn to this visual language. For brands and designers, the opportunity is to understand why it’s working, then push it into new visual territory.

That’s the tastemaker move: recognize the cultural pull, then interpret it with enough restraint and originality that it feels fresh.

RELATED READS: The Design Trend Report | 2026

Texture Creates a Distinct Visual Identity

Americana imagery brings colors, surfaces, and character that are difficult to replicate in urban environments or overly polished campaigns.

Dusty neutrals, sun-washed reds, faded blues, denim, wood grain, open skies, leather, metal, and natural imperfections can instantly give a campaign a sense of place. These textures create a sensory quality that makes the work feel more grounded and memorable.

This kind of imagery adds friction in the best way. It gives the eye something to hold onto. It makes the work feel less manufactured and more emotionally present.

Don’t Let the Design Become Too Obvious

Just because the imagery evokes a Western aesthetic doesn’t mean the design has to follow suit.

Some of the strongest creative opportunities come from contrast. Brutalist layouts, rigid grids, oversized typography, and minimal color systems can create a striking tension against texture-packed Americana visuals. The imagery brings warmth. The design brings structure. Together, they create an identity that feels honest.

RELATED READS: The Case for Bolder Color in 2026: Why Cloud Dancer Misses the Mark

A campaign doesn’t have to dress itself in vintage type, rope textures, and sepia tones to communicate the West. It can be modern. It can be bold. It can be restrained. Americana gives designers the emotional foundation, while the design system can push the work somewhere more contemporary.

That contrast is where the magic is.

Why This Trend Has Staying Power

Ultimately, people connect with stories. And when an image can communicate history, place, emotion, and character in an instant, it gives your design a head start.

Americana imagery crafts a sense of place and perception, giving the audience something to feel before they even know exactly what they’re looking at.

That’s why this trend has staying power. It’s a way to bring authenticity, narrative weight, and human texture into work that needs to resonate.

The best use of Americana feels intentional. Specific. Real. It shows the West with enough honesty to respect the culture and enough taste to move the aesthetic forward.

Because when imagery feels real, people lean in. And when it’s curated with a true point of view, they remember it.

Download the 45-Page Stills Trend Report

Explore Americana on Stills

The post Trending Imagery: Americana appeared first on Stills Blog.

As audiences grow numb to generic sameness, designers are abandoning safe defaults for bolder choices: stranger textures, louder colors, and authentic imagery that carries actual presence.

This year’s trends reward experimentation over polish, prioritizing feeling over following rules, and giving designers permission to inject character, detail, color, and weirdness into everything they touch.

Check out the trends we predict will break through and resonate with audiences at a deeper level.

Direct Flash

Direct flash has shed its reputation as a quick, inexpensive fix and become a campaign-defining style. The era of polished studio lighting and composed sets no longer carries the same weight for every campaign.

Those images still have a place, but as audiences gravitate toward work that feels real, direct flash injects life back into design.

Direct flash brings visual impact to your designs with striking contrast and strong pops of color.

This style of imagery offers a sharp separation of highlight and shadow, creating natural spaces for type and design elements, bringing an eye-catching moment to your work before a headline is read or a message is processed.

This style is gaining a strong foothold across the sports and lifestyle industries as brands continue to build stronger brand identities and strengthen their connections to their communities.

(BANDIT is an excellent example of a brand that continues to use direct flash imagery to bring grit and credibility in their campaigns.)

The work feels lived-in, not staged, and audiences respond because it authentically reflects the culture they recognize.

Americana

There’s something magnetic about imagery that captures the toughness, quiet resilience, and raw texture of the American West.

Honest and packed with story, Americana imagery is one of the most story-forward imagery trends for this year.

These images are characterized by a quiet stillness at times, then contrasted with the toughness and grit of a horse galloping at high speed, from cowboys to everyday people and places in small rural towns, young and old.

This approach embodies true authenticity. It’s not meant to be a romanticized view of the American West, but an honest look at people and culture.

People connect with stories, and when you can tap into that instantly with imagery, your designs are guaranteed to resonate.

Download the 45-Page Trend Report

The post The Design Trend Report | 2026 appeared first on Stills Blog.

But here’s the deal: if your creative brief is off, your project could be, too.

It doesn’t matter how talented your team is; without a clear direction, even the most talented of creatives can end up wandering for 40 years in the wilderness of client work.

The stakes are high, but the good news? Avoiding these transgressions is easier than you think.

Here are seven sins that can land you in creative-brief hell — with tips on how to avoid each of them altogether.

Deadly Sin Number 1: Obscurity

The Pitfall

Imagine giving your team a treasure map without marking where the treasure is — or even what the treasure is.

That’s what a vague creative brief does. It leaves too much open to interpretation, creating a guessing game no one wants to play.

Without clarity, you’re setting your team up for rounds of revisions and misaligned work.

The Fix

Be as specific as possible about what you want and why you want it.

If you’re targeting a specific demographic, identify it. If there’s a tone or emotion you’re aiming for, describe it.

Give examples, mood boards, or even references to other projects that nail the vibe you’re after.

When objectives, audience, and deliverables are clearly outlined, the creatives on your team can focus their creative energy in the right direction instead of decoding cryptic instructions.

RELATED READS: 20 Essential Elements That Make a Great Creative Brief

Deadly Sin Number 2: Gluttony

The Pitfall

On the flip side, sometimes the creative brief tries to tell the entire story of the brand, the market, and the world. It’s got every stat, every piece of background, every possible idea you’ve had in the last year.

So, what the team ends up with is a 20-page document that feels more like a post-grad thesis than a creative brief.

When everything is important, nothing stands out.

The Fix

Treat the creative brief like a great edit: trim the fat and cut ruthlessly.

Ask yourself: Does this detail directly support the project’s objective? If not, let it go.

A good creative brief highlights what’s essential:

• The project goals
• The key audience insights
• The tone
• The deliverables
• Any mandatory elements
• Timelines, budget, or any other constraints

The rest? Put it in an appendix or leave it out entirely. Your team needs space to breathe and create, not a mountain of data in need of sifting.

Deadly Sin Number 3: Aimlessness

The Pitfall

Without clear objectives, a creative project becomes a ship without a rudder.

Sure, the team might set sail and create something beautiful. But how often does that produce a deliverable worthy of your client’s expectations?

Jury’s still out.

But when it’s time to evaluate success, no one knows what metrics to use, because there weren’t any to start with.

The Fix

Every brief should define what success looks like.

Are you aiming for brand awareness?

Lead generation?

Social engagement?

Spell it out, and make it measurable.

Instead of saying “increase engagement,” say “increase Instagram post saves by 20%.” These markers give your creative team direction and give stakeholders something concrete to evaluate when the project wraps.

Deadly Sin Number 4: Pride

The Pitfall

When we fall in love with our own ideas, we sometimes forget who we’re actually creating for.

A brief that centers only on what you like can miss the mark with the real audience. This leads to beautifully crafted work that lands flat because it doesn’t resonate with the people it’s meant to reach.

The Fix

Make the audience the hero of your brief. Go beyond demographics. Get into psychographics.

What does your audience care about? What are their struggles, their dreams? How do they speak?

Show the creative team what makes this audience tick and give them the tools to connect authentically.

When the team understands the audience deeply, they can craft work that feels personal and hits home.

RELATED READS: Beyond Aesthetics: How Joe Diver Balances Vision with Brand Legacy

Deadly Sin Number 5: Conformity

The Pitfall

Without a clear USP, your brand risks becoming just another voice in a crowded room.

When your creative team doesn’t know what makes your brand or product different, they can’t emphasize that difference in the work.

The result? Generic campaigns that could belong to anyone.

The Fix

Your USP is your spotlight—make sure it’s shining bright in your brief. Clearly articulate what makes your offering different and why that matters to the audience.

Don’t just say, “We have great customer service.” Say, “Our 24/7 live chat resolves 95% of issues within five minutes.”

Specifics help your team weave that unique value into the creative execution.

Deadly Sin Number 6: Ruin

The Pitfall

Leaving out the timeline and budget can make even the most brilliant project unravel.

Without these constraints, teams may propose ideas that are either too ambitious or too minimal for what’s actually possible.

Worse, projects can spiral out of control, running late or blowing past financial limits.

The Fix

Set realistic guardrails. Be upfront about how much time and money the team has to work with.

Creative freedom thrives with clear boundaries—knowing what’s possible helps your team dream up solutions that fit the scope.

And remember to build in review time. Rushing approvals or feedback sessions can derail a project just as quickly as blowing the budget.

Deadly Sin Number 7: Blindness

The Pitfall

You’re in a hurry, the team is excited, and you think, “Let’s just get started.” But skipping the review process means stakeholders aren’t aligned.

Suddenly, halfway through the project, someone important raises a red flag—and now you’re backpedaling.

The Fix

Make the review process non-negotiable. Set up a meeting where all key stakeholders sign off on the brief before any creative work begins.

Use this time to address questions, clarify expectations, and make sure everyone’s vision aligns.

This upfront alignment avoids costly revisions and ensures that everyone’s rowing in the same direction from day one.

Final Thoughts: Your Brief is the Blueprint

From the emotional hook to the final rollout, your creative brief is the project’s foundation, not just a bunch of paperwork.

Done right, it guides your team toward producing work that doesn’t just meet expectations, but blows them away. Don’t think of it as a limitation. It’s your creative runway.

Keep it clear. Keep it focused. And always, always keep your audience at the center.

The post 7 Deadly Sins of Making a Creative Brief (And How to Avoid Them) appeared first on Stills Blog.

Stills: Starting as an art director at Wieden+Kennedy in 2018 and now working as a creative director, how has your creative process evolved?

Nik Reed: While both jobs are fundamentally different from one another, the process still starts at a similar place.

The goal early on is to identify some kind of point of view that feels true for the brand and something that can emotionally resonate with people.

But the double-edged sword is that the media has become so fractured that it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle.

However, the opportunity for creativity comes from the fact that there are new touch points and feelings that you can use to engage with people.

So if you do it right, brand truth can take even more forms today and resonate with even more people.

RELATED READS: Dan George Hill on Disrupting Your Own Process

Who played a significant role in your career, especially during your early years at Wieden+Kennedy?

Nik Reed: One of the great things about working at W+K is that so many people you work with are people you can constantly be inspired by and take inspiration from. It’s almost like a buffet-style mentorship approach.

At W+K, there’s so much history and creativity in the walls of that place that it’s pretty easy to walk in and feel inspired by what the people around you have done and are continuing to do, which, in advertising at large, is a luxury.

Many of the CDs I worked under helped shape my approach to the work—even my approach to the CD role.

One of our current CCOs at W+K, who was a CD who first hired me, was probably one of the first people I drew inspiration from to find success creatively at the agency. It wasn’t so much a capital-M Mentorship as a mentorship through osmosis.

Seeing how to lead a team creatively, being hands-on at the right time and hands-off with others, and even just finding a way to be creative in situations that would otherwise not allow it helped shape me early on and even into today.

RELATED READS: Gabby Lord on Fostering Creative Culture

With Wieden+Kennedy working with iconic clients like Nike, how do you balance maintaining a brand’s legacy with pushing creative boundaries?

Nik Reed: Our jobs as creatives should always be to push the boundaries of what’s known or established and constantly challenge the status quo.

In my time here, I’ve been fortunate enough to work on both legacy and newer brands. With all of them, we’ve either tried to push the brand out of its comfort zone or push the category as much as we can.

Each end of the legacy/new brand spectrum presents its challenges. But ultimately, the goal is to be unexpected and go beyond what a brand knows about itself or what a consumer might think of it.

For a legacy brand like Nike or McDonald’s, a key consideration is ensuring that the brand’s core ethos is maintained in everything it does.

Many brands make the mistake of trying to distance themselves from who they are and what they stand for to appeal to a modern consumer.

For many legacy brands, there’s usually a set of timeless attributes or beliefs that have made them resonate with people for a long time. So, when a brand is able to tap into that history and figure out how it can translate into a modern context, it can end up being really powerful.

From there, your job as a creative is to take those timeless qualities, figure out how to translate them into a new context, and then find some kind of alchemy between the “old” and “new.”

This approach ensures consistency but also allows the brand to remain fresh as time goes on.

RELATED READS: Beyond Aesthetics: How Joe Diver Balances Vision with Brand Legacy

What are the essential elements for creating impactful and memorable campaigns?

Nik Reed: Having a point of view is foundational to the success of any work.

That’s your starting point—your view of the world. It guides your creative decisions in nearly every aspect of the campaign. It’s the knife to cut through the noise.

What are you trying to say? And how are you trying to say it?

Unfortunately, the advertising landscape nowadays is filled with a lot of stuff that’s just stuff. I think there’s a general fear of not saying or doing anything because it might get in the way of capturing a potential customer, so it merely exists to fill space in the hopes that you will buy the product.

There’s a ton of everything-for-everyone-everywhere-all-at-once where you frame your brand as this amorphous thing that can be for literally anything for anyone. It plays to metrics and data over a feeling or emotion.

“Our job as creatives is being a chemist in a way where you combine different pieces from different places to create something new. So if you always have sources of inspiration to pull from, you’ll never run out of creativity.”

Nik Reed

When you look at past work or stuff today that’s interesting, it always makes you feel something. It might be a simple laugh, do something cool, or challenge what you think, but at the very least, it provoked something out of you.

Craft is another vital piece of the pie, as it determines whether something is impactful and memorable.

We’re in a really exciting space right now. There are so many talented people in the industry and even adjacent to our industry that can really push creative to new areas.

There’s excitement when you begin the production process. It’s a time when you figure out how that initial idea and point of view can be expressed creatively and done in a way that can feel fresh and unexpected.

RELATED READS: Award-Winning CD David Stevanov on Building Great Campaigns

What recent project are you most proud of? What contributed to its success?

Nik Reed: A recent project I’ve been excited about was a brand campaign we did for Team USA.

As someone who played sports my whole life, there probably isn’t a bigger legacy brand that comes to mind.

So the opportunity to build a new brand platform for them, as well as an entire visual identity, felt like something I probably wouldn’t get to do in a long time.

It’s also just rare nowadays that you get to really build a brand from the ground up and think beyond just a current moment and instead think about how this brand will continue to exist in the future.

In the campaign, we got to think of things on a macro scale, like how (potentially) millions of people would perceive the brand.

We also got to get into the weeds of crafting something that felt specific to the team and the country it represented.

It’ll be exciting to continue working with them and build on the foundation we’ve already established.

RELATED READS: Dani Hunt on Cracking the Code to Commercial Success

What helps you stay motivated on a high-stakes campaign under a tight deadline?

Nik Reed: Pressure can be one of our best allies.

As creatives, we sometimes benefit from having a little bit of a fire underneath us. It pushes us into making swift decisions.

There’s a time and place in the campaign when you can be more idle and take your time. But at some point, the train has to start going.

Otherwise, you can fall into the trap of perfectionism and spend too much time second-guessing whether something is right.

It’s always a balancing act between finding enough time to develop a good idea and having the urgency to implement it promptly.

Some of the work I’m most proud of came from us having to pivot or develop new stuff within a 24-hour deadline.

How do you stay inspired and continually bring creativity and fresh ideas to the table when working with your clients?

Nik Reed: It’s about staying perpetually curious. It’s about being interested in culture at large but also about finding smaller niches and communities to be interested in.

Beyond that, the people around me are similarly curious about the world, so I’m constantly learning or discovering something new.

Often, a creative’s job is being a chemist in a way where you combine different pieces from different places to create something new. So if you always have sources of inspiration to pull from, you’ll never run out of creativity or new ways to think.

RELATED READS: Alishbah Masood on Mastering a Creative Mindset

Tell us about a dream project or brand you hope to work with.

Nik Reed: I’ve been lucky to work on a wide range of brands and products while at W+K.

There’s not a specific brand necessarily. But it would be cool to do something in the luxury space or a fashion or apparel brand.

That space could lend itself to less traditional “ads,” but I just haven’t had the chance to work in that space as much.

RELATED READS: Kelsey Bryden on the Rewards of Leaving Creative Comfort Zones

What advice would you give aspiring creative directors looking to work at an agency like Wieden+Kennedy?

Nik Reed: It’s different for everybody, but there’s a really big difference between being a creative director and being a creative. It’s mostly a completely different job.

As a creative, you have control over the minutiae and every little detail. But as a CD, you’re largely viewing everything through a macro lens.

Most of the time, you’re not making things or coming up with ideas. Instead, you’re figuring out how to create an environment for the team to be creatively successful.

CDs have to figure out how to scale brand beliefs beyond just yourself and the rest of the team.

That’s why the role of being a CD is so different.

There’s this perception that ending up as a CD is a natural progression in your career. But it’s more of a decision than something inevitable.

Knowing what you want from the role and where you want to take any project is instrumental in determining whether the role is right for you.

It starts with identifying why you want to be in that position.

What do you like about Stills? Why would you recommend it as a resource for brands and designers?

Nik Reed: Stock photography is so often associated with being bad.

But when you have a resource like Stills, it can actually change and elevate the campaign beyond what it normally would be.

The post Wieden+Kennedy CD Nik Reed on the Chemistry of Creativity appeared first on Stills Blog.

Stills: Tell us about your journey as a creative director and how you found your way to New York.

David Stevanov: I started my creative journey in Singapore, my second home. I finished college shortly after the 2008 financial crisis hit, but companies weren’t hiring.

I wanted to join Ogilvy Singapore, so I interned, hoping that I could be converted to full-time when they resumed hiring.

After a few months, I realized I couldn’t survive with an intern’s pay, but I didn’t want to let go of this opportunity.

A branding design company on another floor was looking for a junior designer.

I thought this could be a win-win solution because I could learn the craft of branding design while being close enough to check in on Ogilvy and pay the bills.

The opportunity at Ogilvy finally came 10 months later, and I’ve been in the adland since.

In 2017, it was the right time to move on to another country and a bigger market.

It became more urgent, as my wife became pregnant with our first child.

Now or never, I thought.

Luckily, the stars were aligned, and I had a great opportunity in Chicago.

We loved our time there and met so many wonderful people, most of whom I still keep in touch with today.

However, saying no to New York City was impossible when an opportunity came knocking in 2019.

We moved again and have been calling New York home since then because my wife made it clear that this would be the last move for at least a few years.

RELATED READS: Designer Q&A: Ethan Tran on Finding Your Path

You’ve worked with iconic brands like Samsung and McDonald’s. What unique challenges do you face when creating campaigns for such well-established companies?

The main challenges of working with iconic brands usually involve balancing the brand’s expectations and its audience.

I must be mindful and respectful when the brand has years or decades of history. I can’t just make some changes just because they’re trendy.

At the same time, the brand needs to evolve and be perceived as modern. So we have to figure out how to move the brand forward without taking away its soul.

Another challenge is because of their sheer scale: iconic brands command a vast and diverse audience.

Each member of their audience has varying levels of emotional attachment towards these brands.

The question is how can you come up with a big, all-encompassing campaign idea and yet still be engaging to each of their target audience. 

RELATED READS: Beyond Aesthetics: How Joe Diver Balances Vision with Brand Legacy

You achieved significant recognition early in your career, including the D&AD Yellow Pencil. What contributed to your rapid success?

At that time, Ogilvy Singapore had one of, if not the best, creative department in the region.

You could find some of the most accomplished creatives, so the standard was extremely high.

At that time, the Chief Creative Officer for Asia Pacific, Eugene Cheong, built a special place where creativity was encouraged and championed.

I was so fortunate to be surrounded by many great creatives I could learn from daily, but I had still to put in the work and the hours to keep up with everyone else.

I never dreamed one of my projects would pick up international acclaim, especially the D&AD Yellow Pencil. We’re talking about the D&AD Yellow Pencil.

I told some friends I could die happy if I won just one D&AD Yellow Pencil in my career.

Right after winning all these accolades, I learned one of the most important lessons in my career.

One of my mentors told me that all these accolades were great but consistency was more important in producing great work year after year because you wouldn’t want to be seen as a one-hit wonder.

This helped to keep me grounded, stay consistent, and never let any success get to my head.  

What have you learned from working with such a diverse range of clients, and how has that experience shaped your perspective as a creative director?

The diverse range of clients always helps bring in new perspectives and challenges.

In the long run, the diversity helped me widen my horizons and help me as a creative.

It’s also interesting that, after a while, some of the learnings I gathered from working on one brand would help me when working on another, completely unrelated brand. 

What are the essential elements for creating impactful and memorable campaigns?

A great campaign usually has these three combos:

Relevant human insight, a simple idea with tension, and a surprising and unexpected execution.

These three elements are interconnected, with human insight being the foundation.

Of course, this oversimplifies what makes an impactful and memorable campaign because each element will have some derivatives.

But if you hit all three, you’ll have a winner.

“A great campaign usually has these three combos: Relevant human insight, a simple idea with tension, and a surprising and unexpected execution.”

David Stevanov

Who are the biggest influences on your work in the creative industry?

In college, I always flipped through those award show annuals. The beautiful art direction and clever copywriting displayed through the pages mesmerized me.

I was lucky to spend my formative years learning firsthand from the masters of their crafts in art direction and copywriting.

There was this legendary creative director/art director named Eric Yeo. He was responsible for producing some of the most beautifully art-directed advertisements in the region, and I was lucky to have him as a mentor.

I remember I used to do 40-50 different layouts, and if I could get an “okay” from him for one layout, I’d be happy.

He would then demonstrate how to elevate these “okay” layouts to a few amazing ones within minutes.

The other person I’m lucky to call a mentor is Eugene Cheong, a legendary copywriter. He is one of the copywriters featured in D&AD’s The Copy Book.

I’m a visual person, but I was always amazed by great copy and how a string of words could move someone in a way that visuals could never do.

I could never write to save my life, but Eugene taught me about great copywriting.

Over the years, I learned about creative leadership from him.

RELATED READS: Gabby Lord on Fostering Creative Culture

How do you approach creative blocks or moments when inspiration feels elusive? 

Whenever I have any creative block, I read more.

I usually encounter creative blocks when I don’t have much information. So I’ll go back to the brief and re-read everything from the beginning, highlighting keywords and writing down thoughts or questions from the brief.

Most of the time, I discover some new things that I might have missed or didn’t previously pay too much attention to.

It may raise more questions because it opens new doors that may lead to a creative solution.

Then, I do a deep dive into the topic or issue at hand, trying to feed as much information as possible to the brain.

After that, I take a break and let my subconscious mind synthesize all of these. And hopefully, it sparks something. 

RELATED READS: Hayden Everitt on Creativity, Burnout, and Building a Unique Design Identity

How do you ensure that your creative concepts stay aligned with the strategic goals of a project or brand?

Collaboration is key, especially among the core team members.

I like having regular, informal check-ins with my team. I wouldn’t even call it a check-in because I walk over to them and ask what they think of our rough ideas.

This is helpful in more ways than one.

Not only can we ensure the creative ideas are on the right track, but they can also contribute to the ideation process so the ideas become richer and better.

RELATED READS: Leta Sobierajski on Creative Influence and Collaboration

What do you like about Stills? Why would you recommend it as a resource for brands/designers?

When working with other art directors and designers, I always emphasize visuals that elevate the page they’re on.

I can always go on Stills to find those images.

And with AI being all the rage, it’s even more important to recommend images that feel human to brands.

It’s something that you can find on every single image on Stills.

Explore a curated Board of David Stevanov’s favorite imagery—all available to license on Stills.

The post Award-Winning CD David Stevanov on Building Great Campaigns appeared first on Stills Blog.