Todd Lancaster – VP, Creative Director
Actually, there are three things that, for some reason, have inspired me throughout my career. I’ve never been one to keep up with industry news or other agencies. I don’t want to be influenced by other people’s take on advertising. I’d rather be inspired by books and movies and music, which can lead to unique advertising concepts.
One thing that’s always inspired me is skateboarding. I was super big into it back when I was a teenager, when the Bones Brigade and all those guys were big. And it’s not really the design surrounding skateboarding so much as the motion of it. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like the fluidity of motion inspires the way I think and design, even now.
Another inspiring thing for me is kind of strange. I love black and white movies, and I watch On the Waterfront pretty much every time it comes on TV. I recently found out that the buffalo plaid jacket Marlon Brando wears throughout most of the movie was actually green and not red. I can’t explain how this inspires me, but I actually found myself thinking about it while I was working through some design concepts the other day.
The third thing that’s been inspiring to me is an interview with Dave Grohl I saw online. One of the things he talked about was resisting the urge to self-edit. You don’t like it when other people mess with your stuff, so why do it to yourself? The imperfections that go along with spontaneity are sometimes the most interesting parts. I try to remember that with design.
