Why Creative Types Should Collaborate with Non-Creative Business Types?
“I think that if you’re going to collaborate with somebody, it shouldn’t just be with somebody who is the same as you but with somebody who compliments you and completes your work somehow” - Jona, Founder and Designer of InAisce
In addition to branding exercises, collaborations can be an effective tactic to help diffuse the risk (i.e. no sales) associated with launching a new product in the marketplace. Consumer tastes can be mercurial, fluctuating with or against trend cycles depending on whom you believe your customer to be. Sometimes partnering with a reputable artist, designer, or brand can add context or credibility to your work - just enough to take some of the risk off the table and provide a pathway to sales.
However, if you’re going to collaborate - maximize the effect. As this quote from Jona, designer and founder of InAisce, asserts, collaborate with an individual or brand that compliments what you do well and is capable of adding an unique or intangible element to your work. Something that could set you apart from your competition. For example, you might start by looking into Interzone Exploration - an interdisciplinary exercise where a creative professional or brand collaborates on a project outside the traditional scope of their industry (i.e. Rick Owens designing furniture for Carpenters Workshop Gallery). You can also use the market feedback from this type of exercise to plot your next move for the brand (i.e. yay or nay on brand extensions? Do we have a secondary customer segment? Etc).
Of course you should consider additional factors when deciding whom to collaborate with (an aligned value system being near the top of that list). But, I do believe the right cross-pollination of skills can add a unique spark to a creative union.
Posted by Kwasi Gyasi of MyUberLife
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