Darren Campbell
The Dr Martens chief product and marketing officer shares five pieces of advice for unlocking creativity
Darren Campbell is a Babington House member and the chief product an marketing officer at Dr Martens. A veteran in the fashion and footwear spaces, he’s also worked at Nike, Asics, and Lacoste. Here, he shares his top tips for unlocking creativity.
Leave room for experimentation
‘When handing over a design brief, leave the last 10% of it open – that’s where the magic comes from.’
Capture the emotion
‘Design to capture the emotion as much as the function. Get the end user to love the product, rather than simply use it.’
Make safe spaces for dialogue
‘Build a place for feedback. Design reviews should be about creating your brand’s progression, not about enforcing creative suppression.’
Be flexible with timing
‘You can’t switch creativity on within conventional working hours. Give design the license to flex without losing sight of timelines.’
Embrace the uncomfortable
‘Get creatively comfortable with being uncomfortable. It’s better to see, learn and be challenged than never to see.’