Birds of a Feather: When Creativity and Commerce Collide | Dan Levy, Sparksheet

Are creativity and commerce two sides of the same coin or different currencies altogether?


That's the question at the top of this article. Levy begins his response by writing, "Commerce and and creativity have always been interlinked." But he notes the tug-of-war of content creators, marketers and entrepreneurs between authenticity and selling out, between populism and purity.

For this article, he asked designers, musicians, filmmakers, writers and marketers how they strike a balance. He writes:

I was surprised to find that their answers fell more or less neatly into three categories:

• those who see creativity and commerce as perfectly compatible,

• those who strive to broker a compromise between the two, and 

• those who cultivate decidedly non-commercial outlets to satisfy their creative needs.

These headings from the article pretty much summarize what Levy heard from the people he interviewed:

• “Creative Thinking is Commercial Thinking”
• “Art That Doesn't Require Compromise Becomes Self-indulgent"
• “Living in Two Worlds Means I Don't Have to Compromise Either One"

For more information on this topic, check out Garbl's Creativity Resources Online.