We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dustin Edward Arnold a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Dustin, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
One broad definition of an artist or creative I’ve had knocking around in my head is “someone with a very specific value system” if we take that to be true, by definition an artist is going to care deeply about things which others simply don’t. That’s a hard pill to swallow. Full stop. Therein lies the double-edged sword for the artist in relation to their clients, they don’t think the same; and this is exactly the reason businesses should hire them.
Creative businesses are constantly having to prove their value to legitimize their craft in the eyes of their clients and get paid. Generally speaking this is a good thing. However, there’s many ways to skin that cat. To solve for this, big networks and creative agencies have incorporated data scientists, focus groups, strategists, and analytics into the design process. After 15+ years of working in these kind of teams I’m not fully convinced this isn’t primarily a cost center for agencies to market the marketing. We’ve codified and rationalized the creative process to the point that we’ve lost the most important part: imagination.
It all depends where your working and who you’re working with, but I have to say that being a ‘creative’ at most agencies is more like Cosplaying a normal office job than ever before. We’re miming the gestures but aren’t doing the literal dance. The ever widening floodgates of AI generated images, content and UX, that ‘gets the job done’ might just be the thing to break the industry out of that cycle, and force us all to use our imagination again.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
As a child I had a fascination with the subterranean, the alien, and the supernatural. It started at age five with golden era horror movies. Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari– that kind of thing. Growing up on the Central Coast of California, these gloomy realms were as far from the sun and surf as could be. Yet they captured my imagination completely.
Through them, I learned the power of image. It’s power to transport, transform, and transgress. To wrap someone in story, and find magic in the seemingly mundane. It’s this sense of world-building and a fascination of what could be, that led me to design and creative direction; where in 2004, I specialized my practice in technology, beauty, and prestige brands. A decision which has colored my creative output to this day.
Fast-forward 20+ years, and my personal and professional practice has expanded to directing film, photography, product design, interiors, and sculpture for clients such as Shiseido, Bang & Olufsen, Nike, Apple, Issey Miyake, and Prada.
Currently I’m the Executive Design Director at AKQA SF where I co-lead a team of 90+ creatives on clients such as IBM, Coca-Cola, The North Face, and Levis.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I started reading non-fiction to understand others, and to my surprise, found new ways to understand myself. This extends beyond business or a market. Both are microcosms of a much larger story. What I discovered was how to frame and translate the world around me. First by reading an ancient text, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and then a modern one, Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith. Both shaped how I invest my time, energy, and passion— in all aspects of life.
The first, Meditations, was my introduction to Stoicism writ large; emphasizing self-discipline, resilience, and the acceptance of events beyond my control. That the importance of the response to said events greatly outweighs the events themselves. It taught me to manage myself before managing others. Learning to sit in feelings of discomfort and become friends with those feelings. There is a simple insight here: if you’re not scared, you can’t be brave, and if you can’t be brave, you’ll never be tested. It was a welcome mat to being uncomfortable.
The second, Selling the Invisible, taught me about perception. It pushed me to pose a number of questions, the first being “Is seeing believing, or is believing seeing?” It was an introduction to examining the stories we tell ourselves, and how they shape us. Most importantly, it challenged me to look at myself, to excavate my own confirmation bias, and examine how this plays a significant role in shaping my own perception of the world. In short, it helped me be honest with myself.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
This one is above my pay-grade, but I will leave you with a cautionary tale, best summed up by the parable ‘The Giving Tree’ by Shel Silverstein.
It tells the story of a tree and a boy who form a deep bond over the years. The tree selflessly gives everything it has to make the boy happy, starting from its apples as a child, to its branches for building a house, and eventually its trunk for a boat. Despite the tree’s sacrifices, the boy, now an old man, continues to take from it without reciprocating or showing gratitude.
The tree gives until it is nothing but a stump.
It shows us the nature of love. That love will take everything from you, but also on some level will make you immortal in the lives, the minds, and the hearts of the people you gave that love to.
The truth is, most of the arts are taken for granted. As much as there is the stereotype of the self-absorbed, bizarre, and difficult artist; take a moment to imagine a society that has no consideration or space for art or creativity. Think of what would be lost. The ideas, the visions, the invention, the shaping of the future, the optimism. I don’t know about you, but that’s not somewhere I want to live. It’s for us all of us to remember: what you take care of, takes care of you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dustinedwardarnold.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dustinedwardarnold/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustinedwardarnold/
- Other: https://dea.studio