This document discusses the role of the creative technologist. It defines the creative technologist as a key member of the digital creative team who helps lead projects from concept to delivery. The creative technologist both writes code to build software and platforms, and also leads strategic thinking. Some of the main responsibilities outlined include managing emerging technologies, building prototypes, enabling agile workflows, and sparking creative thinking through research and experimentation. The role of creative technologist has grown in importance as technology has increasingly disrupted advertising.
6. "The computer in my cell phone today is a
million times cheaper and a thousand times
more powerful than the computer that we
used at MIT when I was an undergraduate
[1965]," he says. "That's a billion-fold
increase. And we'll do that again in the next
25 years.
Ray Kurzweil
Source: http://www.newsweek.com/id/197812/page/3
12. Who are these guys and what do they have in common?
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Brin, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_page,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Dorsey, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_berners-lee
13. Technologists (programmers) are driving cultural, social,
and economic change.
Mark Sergey Larry Jack Tim
Zuckerberg
Brin
Page
Dorsey
Berners-Lee
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Brin, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_page,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Dorsey, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_berners-lee, www.facebook.com, www.google.com, www.twitter.com, http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web_Consortium
14. Rapid advancements in technology are
bringing about tremendous disruption to our
business.
17. To a growing digital ecosystem driven by complex
software and algorithms
18. It makes sense then to integrate those
who live and breath software and utility –
creative technologists (programmers) –
into the creative and strategic process.
21. And think in left-brained, logical, rule-based
constructs
If this condition is true
then do this
Else
do this
While this condition is true
then do this
Do this, this many times
22. And structured data and APIs
That we use to search, sort, filter, edit,
and save.
23. And speak in a long list of acronyms
XML, HTTP, SSL, JDBC, AJAX, CSS,
HTML, FBML, SQL, TCP/IP, FTP, RGB,
W3C, ASCII, CAPTCHA, COM, API, CPU,
CORBA, GPS, DHCP, XHTML, CSS, FAQ,
GSM, WAP, GUI, GPRS, I/O, IP, ISO,
KBPS, ITV, IVR, JPEG, MPEG, LAMP,
MIME, WYSIWYG, XSLT, ZIP, "
T3, TDMA, SMS, SMTP, SVG, RAM, PGP,
POP
49. Back to titles. The industry has rallied
around the title “Creative Technologist”
Source: http://markavnet.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/what-the-heck-is-a-creative-technologist/, http://www.thefwa.com/job/creative-technologist-1oe,
http://www.impactful-conversations.com/2010/07/creative-technologist-new-role-in.html
50. Number of Posts
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
is growing.
Jun
2009
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
1.1.09 ‐ 7.13.11
May
Jun
2010
Jul
Crea/ve Technologist(s)
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
And conversation and buzz on the topic
Mar
Apr
2011
May
Jun
Jul
53. The creative technologist is a key
member of the digital creative leadership
team.
And helps lead projects from briefing,
through concepting, system architecture,
development, and final delivery.
54. 1) The creative technologist writes code
and makes functional software.
58. 2) The creative technologist leads
strategic and creative thinking for brand
utilities and platforms.
59. This isn’t throw away brochure-ware. These are major
brand investments that need to be architected to live
over the long term.
Source: nikeplus.com, fiat.com/ecodrive,www.dominos.com/pages/tracker.jsp, www.openforum.com
60. Brand utility can become the driver for broader brand
messaging.
Source: http://more.dominos.com/wp/2011/07/times-square/, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5Q2Y2ZQ-4Y
61. 3) The creative technologist brings
emerging technology thinking into the
creative concepting process.
62. A couple of years ago our toolkit was
somewhat limited:
- Flash
- HTML
- Video
- Databases
63. Technologies in our now toolkit include:
- Flash
- Tablet devices
- HTML
- Augmented reality
- Video
- Voice recognition and
audio detection
- Databases
- Physical computing
- Mobile
- Augmented reality
- Facebook
- NFC
- Twitter
- E-readers
- Geo-location
- Connected TV
- Multi-touch interfaces
- Automotive technologies
- APIs/Mashups
- Robotics
- Near field communications
64. This year’s Cannes winners show the wide
range of possibilities.
Source: http://www.canneslions.com/work/cyber/index.cfm?award=1
69. 5) The creative technologist builds early
prototypes to test ideas, interactions, and
functionality.
This creates momentum and is very
helpful in selling through ideas.
75. 8) The creative technologist sparks
creative thinking through emerging
technology research and
experimentation.
76. Art, science, and play had merged into the
magical activity of programming, with every
hacker an omnipotent master of the flow of
information within the machine.
Steven Levy, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution
Source: http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Heroes-Computer-Revolution-Anniversary/dp/1449388396/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291568052&sr=8-1
84. Technology will continue to bring about
disruptive change in our business.
The creative technologist will play a lead
role in creating ideas that carry across the
rapidly expanding digital ecosystem.
85. 5 points for technologists to consider
when joining a traditional advertising
environment.
93. 2) Include technologists in the full
project lifecycle – from initial research
and briefing, to concepting, through final
project delivery.
94. 3) Understand that making software is a
significantly different process than
making TV, print, or radio. Be respectful
of the complexity and time
requirements.
97. Good resources on technology
Blogs
- Creative technologist group on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2830357
- radar.oreilly.com"
- www.digitalbuzzblog.com
Books
- HTML and XHTML: The Definitive Guide, Chuck
Musciano and Bill Kennedy
- Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution,
Steven Levy
Industry Organizations
- 4A’s Creative Technologies Committee"