Creativity Squared: Role-Playing Games with Juliana Constantino

I am a chaotic-good person. For those who don’t play RPG (role-playing games), this is a way to define your character, combining moral compass and general personality, and I haven’t found any better way to describe myself. I try to be good to people and myself, which is straightforward, but the chaotic part speaks for my decision-making process, which is rarely linear. I’m not a big fan of using approaches and methodologies to replace the human factor behind the creative work.

Of course, by mentioning RPG, you’ve already guessed I am a geek. But back to personality, I’m almost delusionally optimistic and driven to constantly think, ‘What if there is a universe where an idea is better, more interesting, more challenging?’ I enjoy novelty and change and don’t do well with boredom and routine.  

To comply with my optimism, creativity has always been a scape valve to get rid of the hustle of reality. I’m unsure if I was born this way or forged by experience. I was born in Brazil, an underdeveloped country, and sometimes, the cards we are dealt, are not the best hand. But we can accomplish wonders with a sprinkle of imagination and writing down our stories from a different perspective.  

Also, I’m an introvert. It is indeed a characteristic that is not fully appreciated in creatives, where the expectation lies in putting up a show to ensure your passion comes across to the audience. Obviously, it was aggravated when I chose to move to a country where I couldn’t speak my mother language. I am a writer, and I discovered my skills were not as sharp as I thought. It feels like being Superman and, by choice, moving to a planet made of Kryptonite. What keeps me going is that the world is fascinating, at least inside my head, and it is an infinite source of ideas to be discovered and created. 

I apply creative thinking in everything I do. Honestly, I’m not sure I know any other way to think. In fact, I feel that my work improves with the more diverse sources of creativity I consume. I love a good sci-fi book or movie, problem-solving computer games, and even some mathematical challenges to bring new thoughts and use the totality of the brain.

What makes me crack a smile about a particular creative work is when it taps into an unquestionable human truth and reveals something so obvious that everybody feels terrible for not thinking about it that way before. 

The search for uniqueness in perspective has always been a pillar of my criteria. But the level of insights we can access today is truly amazing, thanks to technology. I rely more on technology, and it has transformed my creative process. Sometimes, the starting point is not a comprehensive strategy but a new piece of tech or a new behaviour brought to light, and we start from there. 

One of the works I’m super proud of and speaks about this symbiotic relationship between technology and creativity was a billboard created for NIVEA SUN a couple of years ago. Of course, we had a brief to make a campaign for sunscreen. But that idea was born because we stumbled upon photo-sensitive beans, so we thought: ‘What if we transform our billboard into a product demo? Not only a product demo but what if we use the photo-sensitive beans combined with sunscreen to make art. Art only visible during the sunlight.’

The creative industry is heading to a profound transformation due to the popularisation of AI and other emerging technologies. Processes like prototyping and execution are becoming more manageable, freeing space for our ideas to soar. We are witnessing the emergence of a new level of creativity unlocked by technology. Or the other way around.

Talking about processes, here is where my personality's chaotic beat comes into play. Although, after many years in this industry, I've learned enough not to drive account managers too crazy, my creative process is far from linear and predictable. 

I firmly believe in subconscious processing, so sometimes I'm just moving around on the web or IRL, collecting references on Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, or even playing video games. Still, new stuff magically pops up when I come back to the idea. 

Another thing that varies for me is collaboration time versus alone time. I love a good brainstorming session to unlock new paths, but I need some ‘me time’ to put pen to paper. 

Covid forced us to use document sharing, but I don't particularly appreciate being ‘watched’ while writing. Another thing that I would rather do in person is ideation. Virtual conference meetings drain my energy.

Being born in Brazil was undoubtedly one of the best creative schools I could have. First, when you live in a place where you cannot take resources for granted, you learn how to improvise and play by ear very soon. Not only at work, it is a skill necessary to navigate life. 

For instance, there is still a significant stigma about careers dedicated to art, as if they were not a decent way to make a living. Many parents encourage their kids to opt for a more ‘practical’ occupation, like engineering, medical school, etc. So, what do many of us do? We go to college to learn something else (not art, craft, or advertising) and transform whatever we know into a creative output. Anything can fuel creativity, and Brazilians have unique ways to channel it. 

On top of that, the country is well-recognised for its creativity. I’ve always been fascinated by literature, music, visual arts, folklore, and (why not) advertising.

Another thing that we learn early is how to be resourceful. We know there will never be perfect conditions, and obstacles are part of the road. So, we learn to embrace them as part of the process or as a push to try new routes.