“Creative Excellence is a Moment” Tosh Hall, Global Chief Creative Officer, JKR

Tosh Hall has spent over a decade shaping some of the world’s most recognisable brands at JKR (Jones Knowles Ritchie). As Global Chief Creative Officer, his fingerprints are across the work serving as a reference for greatness across the world.

Sitting down with Tosh for our next episode of Design Next was as fascinating as we knew it would be – and as energetic and unstructured as his process!

When asked what creative excellence means to him right now, Tosh didn’t reach for a definition – it’s more of a feeling. One that can’t really be universally reached with a singular process… “I find it as a moment. Whether you’re an around-the-world kind of explorer and you find it under one rock, or you go into an archive or you talk to a client – the moment of excellence is finding what that one thing is that you can hang everything on.”

It’s a perspective that pushes back against the current tendency for design to follow design. Tosh is candid about where he thinks the industry is right now: at an inflection point, where too many portfolios look the same and too many studios are looking left and right rather than somewhere new.

For him, and for JKR, genuine creative excellence should be a singular idea – one with mass appeal, that can transform a business, and something you could describe to your mum and have her immediately get it.

“When you crack the design, call your mother.”

Tosh values pandemonium over process. His creative instinct tends to arrive fast.

“My first idea is often the best. My second idea is the second best. If I don’t have it by the third day, I won’t get it.”

That said, he’s not dismissive of the value of getting outside – literally. One of his strongest convictions is that the design industry has become too insular, too locked into looking at what everyone else is doing and what they are making. His prescription? Leave the office. Go to a park. Pick up a sketchbook.

One of the most honest moments in this conversation came when Tosh talked about being told early in his career that he was exceptional at one thing – and average at others. A tough truth,

“Stop doing the things that other people are brilliant at and you’re okay at. Make the brilliance more brilliant.”

His spiky spike? Creative direction. Clarity. Knowing what the idea is and rallying everyone behind it.

If you want to know how the greatest brand agencies cares for their own reputation, talent and people – here’s the golden focus.

JKR’s creative principles aren’t on a wall somewhere gathering dust. They have ten. Each year, the business focuses on one.

This year’s? Demand more.

“Demand more of your time, your industry, your ideas. If you don’t have a good brief, demand a better brief.”

It’s exactly this laser-focus that allows Tosh to deliver excellence again and again. So if you admire conviction and a dedication to greatness, and you want clarity on what makes something creatively excellent, tune in and learn how it’s done.