Creative Direction, Video, Product, User Experience

Creative Concepts

There are millions of ways to have an idea, but how you nurture it into existence once it arrives is what counts.

First, teams must determine the parameters under which a creative idea must operate, and what’s at the heart of the real problem. Spoiler alert: that’s never the obvious problem. From there, brainstorming, developing concepts, and otherwise building the idea into something that can stand on its own is an iterative process of increasing fidelity.

Team games, feedback, creative direction, and lateral thinking can all shape concepts as they grow and change. Strategic framing using strong shared narratives, idea names and loglines, frameworks like the OLCC+5 (One Line Creative Concept plus Top 5 Features), and simple repetition can help push new concepts toward being green-lit and executed.

Equally important is the power of “No”, deciding to block an idea from the barnacles of compromise that might lessen its overall impact.

Case Study: Livestreaming Concepts with NYTR&D

Challenge

Uncorked helped The New York Times’ R&D department prototype key features and scenarios in around livestreaming key news events in a 5G-enabled future.

Approach

We worked through user experience and feature development to plot out and simulate how major news events might unfold on in-app livestreams. We used storyboarding and motion graphics to concept and prototype ways to represent reporter participation, layer in background information, involve reader commentary, and more.

Impact

Our prototypes were given encouraging feedback by key C-suite, newsroom, and partner stakeholders, and are continuing into production fidelity.

Due to the unreleased nature of this work, it’s staying off the public web for now. Contact me if you’d like to discuss it.

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