Introducing Nathan: Creative Director

We recently welcomed our new Creative Director, Nathan Crosby to the agency. Nathan’s background as an art director and creative director has seen him work for clients like Lego, Coke, IHG, OVO, Heidi, and Bath Rugby. His first love started with photography but his study of Graphic Communication appealed to a desire to explore a more diverse range of disciplines – and is ultimately what’s supercharged his skillset as a creative leader.   

We caught up for a chat to find out more about his story, how he’s spun a multitude of interests to his advantage, and why Fiasco might just be the perfect match.

Tell us a bit about your path to becoming a Creative Director. What have been the key moments or turning points in your career so far?

Photography is my first love. I wanted to study this but when I went around all the different Unis, I felt a bit disillusioned by the practice of it. Like a lot of creative education, it felt more about the theory and academics of photography. During that time I had friends doing Graphic Design and I became more interested in this. I liked that it brought lots of mediums together. 

I ended up studying Graphic Communication at Bristol. I loved the freedom it gave me to explore – the course let you shape what you wanted to do which meant I got the chance to work with illustrators, videographers, print makers, typographers… It all fell under this broader moniker of visual communication.

In my first job at 375, a sustainably-focused brand studio, I was lucky enough to work with great conceptual thinkers and designers. That, combined with my experience at Uni, taught me that what I found really interesting was ideas. 

By that point, I was starting to understand the craft of art direction. Coming up with the idea that sits at the heart of a campaign or brand and building a visual world around that idea. Then, exploring the psychology and cultural references you bring into that to try and resonate with people.

I moved to Mr B & Friends as a Midweight Designer and worked my way up to Creative Director across the ten years I was there, working on everything from brand identity and digital experiences to campaigns and films.

When I was younger, I was easily distracted by new things. Life was an ever-evolving list of hobbies and interests. I think people hoped I’d find my ‘thing’ and stick to it, but I was a bit of a wanderer. I’d get engrossed in things and just as quickly they would fall away in favour of the next thing that grabbed my attention. As you move through your career you become more at peace with yourself. I’ve been able to leverage this to my advantage because now I can collect lots of different experiences to pull on when a brief’s put in front of me – helping shape the direction and vision, then working with these incredible craftspeople to bring it to life. I love that.

What drew you to Fiasco? What excites you most about the opportunity?

I’ve always respected and admired the craft – the attention to detail and the work that Fiasco puts out. It’s become their calling card. What really stands out is the degree to which the brand idea informs the output. The combination of great ideas and that absolute master of the craft shines through. For me, it’s the perfect match.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the industry right now? 

I think apathy is the biggest threat to what we do. It’s never been easier to create ‘stuff’ and we – as brands, marketers or creatives – are responsible for the proliferation of the kind of stuff we put out there. The more of it, the more apathetic people become. The space inside the collective mind is shrinking, whilst the bar is constantly being raised.

The opportunity is how we find new ways to stop people in their tracks and jolt them out of their apathy. To create work that properly resonates and lingers long after the fact — that is the constant challenge.

What’s your approach to building a creative culture — one that both delivers excellence and encourages experimentation?

I think trust, empathy and consistency are the foundations of a safe space — somewhere that welcomes questioning, encourages feedback and celebrates failure as an opportunity to learn. It’s not about having a culture where you can’t have heated or passionate discussions but what’s important is the bedrock you build for that. You have to set a cadence and expectation for how things will work, and stick to it.

It’s that trust that dictates how even a simple question will land. You need to build a relationship where people trust it’s being asked for the right reason and to encourage a collaborative approach in service of pushing the work forward. Lots of agencies say they celebrate failure, but do they actually? 

What’s immediate about Fiasco is those things aren’t just a line on a website. They’re woven into the DNA of the culture here. That’s rare and something to protect at all costs. 

What kind of projects most excite you?

It’s easy to get excited by sport, culture and people-first projects. The ones where you can see the tangible impact it’s had on people and their lives, and of course, I love those projects. Who doesn’t?

But I also like the niche, weird and technical stuff too. For example, I’ve worked in niche areas of insurance where you have to work hard to understand this thing you wouldn’t come across in everyday life. I love the projects where you have to do a bit of mental gymnastics to understand or uncover the insight that makes the work exciting and ultimately, effective. 

What’s something outside of work that fuels your creativity?

Photography has always been a passion of mine – it’s something I still love to digest and can find very captivating. Particularly the work by Gregory Crewsden. There’s no other artist who’s managed to arrest my brain as much as he has. He constructs these almost film-like images, there’s a surreal element to his work and to be confronted by something you can’t find the answer to can be quite humbling.

I also like to hike and wild camp. Anything to do with the sea, being by the coast or in the outdoors. Music as well. I used to play the drums and everything is constantly being soundtracked in my life!

What’s a piece of advice you’d give your younger self? And anyone just starting out?

Focus on what you can control. I spent so long in my Uni days paralysed by what I thought I should do, constantly judging myself by what other people do. But you can’t control what other people put out, you can only control you.

Try to put yourself out into the world, don’t worry about what others are saying or doing, or how ‘good’ their stuff appears compared to yours. Inevitably, the first thing you put out may not be very good, but the thing after that will be better, and so on.  If you don’t nurture that spark of curiosity for fear of it being the wrong kind of spark, you’ll never get started.

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