Creativity is worthless. To some.

I lie. It’s 4am. But hey, what difference does an hour or so make? Time, it seems, means little. Especially if you happen to be in creative. 

At this rather absurd hour,  I guarantee there are designers, writers, artists, directors, photographers, musicians all over the world thinking of ideas that will hopefully change something. 

Once 9am comes around, there will be people logging onto sites that allow you to create logos. For free. Really? Is that the value these sites place on creativity? Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Is a company logo so trivial that hey, let some random algorithm do it for you? Free? 

Here’s how it works. You type in your business name and choose what business you’re in. It then shows you a handful of random designs and asks if you like any. That’s it, then you get row after row of irrelevant, boring designs. Maybe they believe there are people starting businesses who can’t afford to pay a designer. Frankly, they can’t afford not to. 

Creativity should be the most required, requested, respected and valued part of business. Robin Williams said, “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” There is somebody, somewhere, giving their time, effort, thought and passion to developing an idea that will change, maybe not the world, but a client’s business. Unfortunately, there are companies who will undermine all that by making creativity worthless.

It is tough to put a price on an idea. A logo that can be used anywhere for however long. A photograph that captures a brand in a single, powerful and memorable image. An idea that literally changes what a business is and what it stands for. All I know is that it’s worth a lot more than nothing.