Robbert Lopik - Art Director
What does a typical day in the life of an Art Director look like?
My role is rather multi-dimensional.
Being an Art Director allows me to work on the conceptual vision of a project, and also the visual execution of an idea in illustration, graphic design, film and photography.
What three skills do you think are essential to fulfil your role?
To fulfil a multi-dimensional role, you have to be able to balance a multitude of facets of yourself. In some ways you can look at this from the perspective of making use of the learnings you, as a person, have had through different life phases.
Sometimes I have to allow myself to be a child – playful and capable of thinking without set boundaries in order to create something creative and new with lots of enthusiasm.
Other moments I’m more of a teenager – curious and willing to find information in order to critically make sense of a new topic
And sometimes I need to rely on my experience - consciously using all of my previously gathered knowledge to ensure everything stays on the right track and that all final decisions are made thoughtfully.
What do you like best about working at Edelman?
How Edelman feels like a combination of multiple agencies coming together in one workspace. The integrated way of working in our office brings together marketing, strategy, PR, digital, data and creative.
This brings a diversity of perspectives which allow you to learn way more than in other marketing / creative agencies.
What are some of the challenges you face in your day-to-day role?
Finding the perfect amount of coffee to work energetically, without becoming restless.
Trying to make enough jokes to keep people smiling, without overdoing it and becoming too much of a clown.
Staying away from continuously chatting to colleagues and distracting them!
And last but, not least; not falling for the pandemic trap of talking whilst my Teams app is still on mute.
Describe your working week using 3 emojis
🤡🤐😊
What’s been your most memorable moment at Edelman so far?
Definitely my first day. I just remember walking into my new office and being introduced to lots of ambitious colleagues, all highlighting their specialist fields of expertise. This really sparked my curiousity and thirst to find out more about their perspectives.
What’s your favourite part of a working day?
Without a doubt, a first brainstorm on a new project.
I’m always fascinated by how everyone reads the exact same briefing but how identical information triggers completely different things in people’s minds, making a team of individuals all come to the table with hugely diverse creative ideas!
