Lessons from RANKIN’s multi-faceted approach to creativity

The Alliance of Independent Agencies invited RANKIN, the acclaimed photographer, and film director, to share his insight into what makes a fertile creative culture.

As a photographer, RANKIN's portfolio ranges from portraiture to documentary, and he has shot David Bowie, Kate Moss, and The Queen. He also co-founded the seminal magazine Dazed & Confused in 1991, and has worked with brands including Dove, LEGO, and Rolls-Royce.

Interviewed by David Harris, the executive creative director at Deloitte, the polymath shared strong views on AI, purpose-based ads, and working with client services people.

Partnerships fuel creative excellence

RANKIN has considerable experience working on commercial projects and he explained that the process of working with agencies, or brands directly, is one of partnership in which he brings the craft. "When you hire me you're after a partner... buying into me because my treatment says that I'm going to partner you in this and going to tell you what I think is good about it and bad about it."

RANKIN said that while there are fewer "divas" now in photography and filmmaking they still exist. He adopts a different approach: "What I try to do is have a diva result without the diva journey. What's the point in saying 'no' to doing another take, or another couple of pictures?"

But have the strength to say "no" to clients

Equally, though, RANKIN believes that after discussion with him it can be positive for agency people to say "no" to clients: "It comes down to, if you're in client services, understanding just because you've been on a flight simulator doesn't mean that you can fly the plane."

He added: "When you've got a guy going 'you can do this, this and this' I say 'well I could but it's going to affect this, this, this and this.' You can listen to me and I'll give you the bones of why it might be a problem... I try and go through it together. But sometimes client services just want to say 'yes' [to the client] and I think that's a real problem."

AI is neither good nor bad for creativity

Describing a world in which everyone can take a picture using their phone, RANKIN said that his own inspiration often comes from the freedom to think: "You have to be bored at least a couple of hours a day because the best ideas don't come from ChatGPT they come from being bored and synapses reacting to, say, a building that looks just a like a coffin, or to what someone's wearing. That's when great things come."

Speaking about the influence of Artificial Intelligence on creativity, and photography especially, RANKIN said it's not inherently a good or bad force. Just another development that creative people have to deal with. He experimented himself with using AI to "photograph people who are dead" such as Bob Marley and Elvis and was pleased with the results.

And, while he believes passionately that craft expertise is important, RANKIN feels that tools such as ChatGPT can be useful in accelerating the ideas process: "The white piece of paper for everyone is a nightmare. So, sometimes to use something to spark an idea isn't a bad thing. I don't love it, I don't believe in it... but the homogeneity that will come from it is, to me, an absolute gift because the more that's homogeneous the more I'll stand out."

Purpose isn't right for all brands

RANKIN pushed for greater equality and respect for all people through the '90s and early noughties with diverse representations in Dazed & Confused and then involvement in campaigns such as Dove's 'Campaign for Real Beauty' (launched in 2024).

But now he argues that the "pendulum" has moved too far in the sense that brands with no right are producing purpose-based campaigns: "Everyone can blame me for purpose-built advertising - I started Dove, I did it, I was in the room... It became something that overwhelmed advertising and I feel responsible for all that shit - a lot of people shoe-horning purpose into something that has no purpose in it."

Get creative people back into agencies

RANKIN's passionate about the impact of Brexit on UK creativity, and said it negatively impacted friends and creative businesses. He also views the impact of Covid as detrimental to agencies and harmful to leaders aiming to create strong cultures.

"Out of all the stuff I say when asked to give advice to people who run a creative agency, the main thing is to make people come in five days a week and do their jobs. Because why shouldn't they?"

RANKIN argued it's not only good for the mental health of creative people to be around others but also that agencies create and sell ideas which won't be as compelling when created in isolation: "The necessity for being in a group and in a team to be creative it's a bit like sailing a ship - everyone needs to be on the ship, and we all need to be working in the same direction and unfortunately that's not how it's been since 2020. It's been the worst thing, apart from Brexit, that's happened to us all in terms of teams and getting things done."

However, RANKIN conceded that he's willing to show some flexibility in the hiring process: "Going forward if people want to work for me four days a week I'll give you the one day because I'm nice. But that's it."