We were lucky to catch up with Jerry Brown recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jerry, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I don’t think a creative path was a choice. I was born this way. As soon as I could talk, I lied about everything and made up all kinds of wild stories. Even changing fairy tales. In my version, Cinderella had a big wart on the end of her nose which the fairy godmother bit off before the ball, leaving a red spot which the Prince kissed and turned into a purple frog. He married a plaid dragon and they had lots of polka dot children. Very visual. When I went to see the Disney movie with my mother, I screamed out “That’s wrong!” when Cinderella came on screen, “They left off her wart!” I mistrusted every Disney movie after that. There were no other kids around when I was growing up, so the first children I met were in kindergarten. I thought they were all silly and stupid. As the years went on, my rejection of them turned into their rejection of me, which is its own kind of loneliness, and I retreated further and further into my own fantasy world. That’s where I was most comfortable, off by myself, drawing on big sheets of art paper and writing on my pile of lined tablets. I also drew very complex maps of islands with cities, volcanos and forts to fight off the pirates. I was good at it, but my solitude worried the teachers and they frequently called my parents in, who just seemed annoyed by the whole thing. So I kept at it.
My dream in high school was be become an architect, but my father wouldn’t pay for school. I was lost for a while, but in my early twenties, I discovered I had a knack for copywriting and made my career at that, working with some of the best art directors in the world, who also taught me how to design. My first big campaign was ‘You Deserve a Break Today’ for McDonalds, and it went on from there, from traditional advertising into writing and designing websites and apps.
So I guess creativity has always been my refuge, the place I go to make things more interesting and exciting. And I’m lucky to have had some success at it, if that seems more tenuous the older I get. At 78, I feel I’m at the height of my craft, but not everybody sees it that way. In the real world, Cinderella is still missing her wart.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I guess I’m a kind of creative mongrel, a mix of high breed and low. I was never trained, but was fortunate to learn from the best how to write and design, code, concept, develop branding, design websites and apps and even write AI conversations. If I didn’t know how to do it, I figured it out. People often get confused as a result and ask, “So what is it exactly that you do?” The answer is that I can do whatever anybody needs. For me, the advantage of being multi-disciplined is the ability to keep a single-minded focus on the project, create a core concept and build everything out from there. Text, image and tech are bound together, each reflecting the other in attracting an audience. I can’t always explain it, it’s just a kind of instinct for what works and what doesn’t. When I was Chief Creative Officer at IDAvatars, an advanced tech company, I had to do all the creative work myself. I designed the apps and wrote the content, developed the avatar characters with the animation team, wrote the conversation trees, designed and built the company website, and even designed the company logo and developed the branding. Most of the tech people had never worked with a creative person before, so they just assumed that’s what I was supposed to do, and didn’t understand that it usually takes a whole team of people to do all that. But I was able to do it, and I loved doing it, being at the helm, creating workable, successful products. I didn’t question it or ask for help, I just did it. There’s a great sense of accomplishment in that.
But these days, as a mature freelancer, I’m finding those opportunities increasingly rare. My networks dried up during Covid, and I haven’t found new ones. I have a strong resume and portfolio site, but the term I keep hearing is ‘over-qualified.’ I suspect there is some ageism involved, but there’s not much I can do about that. It is what it is. But it’s scary at times. I have a fantasy that I should give up everything, take a room somewhere and just write. But I know I would get bored very quickly. I need a challenge.
The point is not to give up, hard as that is sometimes.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

What drives my journey? As a senior creative in both age and experience, I’ve lived through many changes in the ad and tech business. Sadly, what I often find missing these days is humor. This business used to be fun. Even developing the most serious campaigns, there was always a sense of adventure, creating something new that no one had ever seen before. Now everything seems plotted, prearranged, managed on boards and charts, aimed at click points. So it’s that sense of adventure I try to bring back to my clients. Some like it, some don’t and find it uncomfortable. But the ones who embrace it find the most success. They know it’s a gamble, but they’re willing to take the risk. Those are the clients who make it all worthwhile, when I see their joy as the results start coming in. I love being part of that.
One client is a clinical physician in the Bay area. She developed a unique piece of software to measure critical vitamin levels and needs. It was just some code when we started out, but she decided to trust me and we created a beautiful interface, a strong logo and the branding campaign. I did all the design and content, and she began to experiment with her own art direction through Canva. If she didn’t always nail it, she gave me some good ideas and we put them to use. We ultimately developed the software into a teaching program and promoted it through a targeted email and peer campaign. It was a great success, built to sustain itself, so it was with some sadness that my work was no longer needed once it took off. But a year later, everything is still working and generating new customers. I take some pride in that, and I think it reflects the way I partner with my clients, not just as a vendor but as a vital member of the team.
When I work by myself, I miss that companionship. So with social media, I particularly enjoy the feedback. I keep a private facebook page for other artists and writers, along with some old school mates. I try to post things that are unusually beautiful, insightful or humorous. I occasionally post some poetry memes, something that has inspired me to write, combining spirit, words and images. On a lighter note, one of my favorite morning activities is to post my bizarre ad feeds, through which I’ve formed an odd relationship with the ad algorithm. I’ve also posted some of my writing, especially sections from the memoir, which has encouraged others to share their own stories in the comments. So it is social media for a purpose, not my own self aggrandizement.
Which I guess sums it all up, my goal. To always put my abilities to use in some form of service. It makes me smile to even think about it, remembering those I’ve helped and lifted.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I suppose the greatest creative risk I’ve taken is writing and publishing my memoir, ’Flyboy: A Turbulent Life.’ It covers the first thirty-six years of my life, beginning with my mother’s rape and the intensely close relationship with my adopted father, who was a pilot and used to take me flying with him, thus the title.

My objective was to just tell the truth. Unvarnished, nothing invented, just the truth. Which was terrifying at times. I started to write it in a workshop as a one man show for myself, but with the problems of getting a play produced, especially with someone nobody ever heard of, I decided to convert the script into a book and self-publish it on amazon kindle. Amazon provides a web app for the entire process, which is relatively easy. Of course I expected it to be an instant best seller, but without any promotion, sales have been modest. It’s only gotten five reviews, but each one is a rave. At least the way I read them. But the main thing is that I took the risk and did it. For the first time in my life, I felt like a real writer when I saw my book appear on its own amazon page. It was a thrilling experience.

I still need to convert it from a kindle to a paperback with the amazon app, which I’m resisting for some reason I don’t fully understand. Maybe I just want to keep the illusion alive, and not make it material. It’s a puzzle to me, and one that the adult (hiding in here somewhere) needs to work out.
I also need to finish writing the second volume, the mature years, which is an even bigger risk because it’s so close to home. How willing am I to look truthfully at myself at this point in life? But I’m kind of doing that here, so I guess that’s a beginning. We’ll see.
Who knows what lies ahead.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://jbbd.net
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHDK8QWM/

Image Credits
Images © Jerry Brown