Don't Forget About the Creativity

As the last day of the festival winds down, everyone camps out in the Debussy theatre for the Innovation Day sessions, which in translation means waiting for Bono. However, I found these sessions exhilarating and enjoyable to sit through. These were the kind of sessions and speakers I had expected during the week! Listening to these inspiring, creative people reminded me of the importance of creativity when it comes to communication. 

I know all week I, and many other professionals, have been throwing around the word "creative," but there really is an importance and almost a sense of relief that comes with the word. Philip Sheppard, a TV and film composer for Audio Network demonstrated his talents on the cello. He even composed a song on the spot pertaining to the festival and the names of some people in the audience. His music literally gave me chills and I felt myself relax for the first time all week. 

That feeling of relief and happiness made me realize that the creative ideas behind advertising are extremely important. I was pleasantly surprised when later that evening The Audio Network won a gold lion for their commercial about the importance of music and how it makes everything better. Without the emotion, without the "human," all the messages we try to communicate would be stale and extremely hard to listen to/care about on a daily basis. 

"Music is liquid architecture. Music is in everything, so everything is music." -Sheppard. 

Another amazing presentation was done by Neil Harbisson. Neil was born completely colorblind, he could only see in shades of gray, but that didn't stop his pursuit of seeing color. He goes on to explain his inspiring story about becoming a human cyborg. 

He started playing piano at a young age and quickly became interested in music theory about sound correlating with color. He began to match certain sounds with certain colors even going beyond the color spectrum to infrared and UV rays. Eventually he invented a device that would allow him to pick up sounds easier in order to perceive color. He found a doctor that would implant the device in is skull, so he could hear through bone conduction. 

Now, Neil travels all over the world experiencing colors as music and sounds in his head. He says the experience not only changed his brain, but changed his perception on beauty.

"Now when I look at people, the colors of their face and clothes make music to me. Someone could look physically attractive but then sound completely horrid. I also learned that there is no black and white skin tones, we are all just shades of orange. So racism is a complete waste of time." 

His stories were so inspiring. Instead of just accepting what people told him, he ventured out grabbing his own uniqueness. He has probably jump started technology when it comes to humans experiencing the world in a different way - merging technology with emotions. This could be a the next form of advertising.

Creative people, people to turn the norm upside down, are the ones we should be listening to. After all it makes life interesting and worth living. I'm not even going to comment on the magician from Virool that literally blew my mind with just a piece of paper. 

And then this happened: 

The audience still needs fun and mystery after all the data is collected!

This festival has been an unforgettable experience. I've made close friends and life-altering choices that will aid me through my last semester at UGA. Since everyone has been so excited for storytelling, I can wait to see what's in my next chapter.