Creatives ‘stifled by work pressures’

The days when art directors and copywriters were given time to let their creative juices flow are long gone, according to a study which claims most are being hamstrung by increasing workloads, ever-tighter deadlines and constrained budgets.
And with many spending less than two hours of their day doing ‘creative’ work, nearly half believe levels of creativity in their industry have stagnated or declined in the past decade.
That is the damning verdict of the study, carried out for iStock by Getty Images, which quizzed 400 creative chiefs working in a range of sectors in the US and UK.
While the findings may raise a few eyebrows among agency account directors,  the research also revealed that lack of inspiration, funding and time are the three main barriers to creativity in a creative’s job:
The majority (60%) of creatives said that they have had “great ideas” in the last year but not enough time or support at work to achieve what they wanted. Meanwhile nearly three quarters (70%) said they want more “creative time” and 63% said they do not have the time they need for “creative reflection and inspiration”.
It claims creativity rarely happens in the workplace. Only one in three rates the workplace as one of their top three locations for creativity. During the commute (34%), in the shower or bath (25%) or during exercise (22%) are other favoured places and times for inspiration. Strangely, “down the pub” was not even mentioned.
iStock general manager Ellen Desmarais claims there is a deep malaise affecting the sector. She explained: “When you consider that global revenues last year in the advertising industry alone were nearly half a trillion dollars, declining creativity is cause for alarm and should prompt an industry-wide discussion. The bottom line – we need to free the creative.”