"The industry needs a resurgence of creativity": a day in the life John Roescher

My role is fundamentally about enabling creativity between the Raw Materials team and our clients. My day-to-day responsibilities revolve around ensuring that our team has everything they need to do the best work of their lives.

This involves finding and forming opportunities to do great work, which often means working closely with clients to inspire and help them form the best brief and engagement environment possible. I spend a significant amount of time in strategic discussions, whether that's with clients, partners or internally with our team.

For me, creativity isn't just about the output; it's about the process. I believe that everything we do affects the work, so I treat everything as if it were the work itself. This philosophy guides my approach, ensuring that we create a supportive environment that allows our creative talent to thrive. Whether it's through education, collaboration or simply providing the right resources, my goal is to create the conditions where creativity can flourish. This means that while I might not be directly involved in pushing pixels or writing code, my role is about setting the stage for our team to do their best work.

My early career was driven by a fascination with the internet and digital experiences. Growing up in a small town, the internet was a gateway to the world for me. I was captivated by the idea that a line of code I wrote could be seen and used by someone on the other side of the world. This sense of possibility fueled my passion for design, technology, and the internet in general.

In the early days, I was deeply involved in every aspect of the process. I was coding, designing and most importantly, learning and being inspired. I quickly realized the importance of human-centered design and the power of beauty in user experiences. It wasn’t just about making things work or basically look good; it was about creating experiences that resonated with people on a deeper level.

This led me to dive deeper into the world of design. I was constantly experimenting, learning from both successes and failures. My early career was marked by a relentless pursuit of understanding how technology and creativity could intersect to create something meaningful. This period laid the foundation for everything I’ve done since. It taught me the value of obsessing about problems, truly listening to users and never settling for the status quo. The romance and passion I felt in those early days still drives me, but now they are combined with the discipline, rigour and wisdom gained from years of experience.

Like anyone in a creative field, I’ve faced my fair share of challenges – highly prescriptive or overly ambiguous briefs, under-resourced projects, and generally difficult creative environments. These can all be demoralizing but somewhere along the way I learned that this is where the real work begins and where the greatest opportunities lay.

Rather than seeing these moments as setbacks, I view them as chances to dig deeper, push harder and find the true potential in the work. It’s about embracing the difficulty and using it as a springboard for truly great ideas. When the circumstances seem to be in opposition to succeed, that’s when you have to fight even harder to find it. This shift in mindset – from seeing obstacles as roadblocks to viewing them as opportunities – has been one of the most important lessons in my career.

Closing Handsome and founding Raw Materials was less about shutting something down and more about a metamorphosis. The decision was driven by a deep desire to return to the essence of what I believed creativity should be. I felt that to truly do the work we all wanted, we needed to start fresh. Raw Materials was born out of the conviction that we could create something fundamentally different, something that embodied our vision without compromise.

While I’m proud of all our projects, the one that stands out is the 885-How-To-Quit campaign.

It’s close to my heart because it addressed such an important issue – addiction recovery. But what made this project special was how we approached it; we didn’t set out to make the best, most effective “opioid addiction” campaign. Instead, we took a step back, took a clear look at the problem and the goal, asked ourselves what wasn’t being done, and we created something new. Something that connected directly from insight to message to medium to impact in a way that hadn’t been tried before.

The campaign centred around real stories of individuals in recovery, using multimodal and multi-channel strategies to make a genuine impact. It’s a project that exemplifies our philosophy of going beyond the expected to deliver something truly meaningful and effective. We approached it not just as a design challenge, but as a moral imperative to create something that could make a real difference in people’s lives. We worked closely with addiction survivors to ensure that their voices were heard and that the campaign resonated on a deeply personal level.

The result was a powerful, moving campaign that not only achieved its goals but also reinforced our belief in the power of creativity to drive change.

At Raw Materials, we believe that when everything is the same, being different is the greatest opportunity. Our philosophy of pursuing 'unusual wins' is about finding those truly novel, great ideas that others might overlook. It’s about going beyond the obvious and creating something that hasn’t existed before.

But beyond just the gratitude and excitement, winning the award served as a powerful validation of our approach at Raw Materials. This award isn’t just a pat on the back; it’s a clear signal that the industry is resonating with what we’re doing – embracing creativity, pushing boundaries and prioritizing originality over the status quo. It’s also a reminder that we’re on the right path, and it’s encouraging to see that our efforts to challenge the norms and bring something fresh to the table are being recognized at such a prestigious level.

This is just the beginning for us. While we’re deeply honoured by this recognition, it fuels our ambition to continue evolving, experimenting, and driving forward. We see this award as a milestone, not a finish line, and it motivates us to keep raising the bar and redefining what’s possible in design and creativity.

At its core, the industry needs a resurgence of creativity. Over the past decade, there’s been a noticeable shift towards over-indexing on systems, standards and optimization, which definitely has its place, but has inadvertently stifled the kind of creative problem-solving that drives true innovation.

I firmly believe the cure is a delicate balance of rigour and romance.

It’s about understanding that differentiation doesn’t just apply to major, macro-level changes; it can and should happen at every level, from the smallest details to the overall strategy. There’s a misconception that being different means making drastic, sweeping changes, but often it’s the subtle, thoughtful differences that set great design apart.

To combat sameness, we need a deeper understanding of the problems we’re trying to solve and a commitment to exploring multiple solutions before settling on the best one. This requires time, strategic thinking and a willingness to deviate from the norm. We need to foster a culture that values exploration and the courage to take risks, ensuring that creativity is always at the forefront of our work. Only by doing so can we break free from the cycle of repetition and truly innovate.

There’s no shortage of advanced tools and technologies available today but I still find myself gravitating towards simpler, more “analog” tools like Google Docs, email and Figma. These tools don’t get in the way – they allow me to focus on the task at hand without creating additional layers of complexity.

That said, one area where I do see the value of AI is in these new meeting note-taking companions. If you can get over the awkward “phantom zoom attendee”, these tools seem to get AI-assisted workflows right. They’re in the background, they do something that’s tedious and time-consuming for you (transcription and summarization), and they don’t try to “create” anything for you besides help. This can significantly speed up processes without sacrificing the integrity of the original content.

In an era where AI is often used to cut corners towards some original content, these tools are a refreshing example of how technology can enhance, rather than complicate, our workflows. They help me be more efficient in the slow, deliberate tasks that require attention to detail and precision. So, while I use AI sparingly, I do appreciate its ability to support rather than overshadow the work I do.

This is a tough one. I think, generally, tools and technology do belong in creative work. But it all comes down to the purpose and use. Are you using the tool to eliminate the thinking part or to accelerate ideation and enhance craft? Are we eliminating people or enabling them? A lot of what I see being talked about and promoted is the former and that isn’t cool. I think we’re very early in this journey and we have to be careful. The best way to be careful is to be principled and open minded at the same time.

My dream project would be one where there’s a significant saturation of sameness in the market – a space where everything looks and feels the same, and there’s a real opportunity to break the mould.

I’m particularly drawn to multi-faceted, multi-channel experiences that provide a rich surface area for holistic thinking and creating. I thrive on projects where the goal is crystal clear, where we know exactly what problem we’re trying to solve, and where we can help clients define and refine that goal if needed. It’s about finding that sweet spot where creativity and strategy intersect, allowing us to bring something truly unique to life.

Whether it’s a brand doing some soul-searching or a market ripe for disruption, I’m always looking for opportunities to challenge the status quo and create something truly novel and truly great.

I’d start with a quote from Dolly Parton: “Figure out who you are, then do it on purpose.”

It’s crucial to understand your “why” and your “what” – why you’re doing what you’re doing, and what exactly you want to achieve. That’s the real job, not just making easy money or taking the path of least resistance. It’s about identifying what truly matters to you and making that happen, no matter how difficult or challenging the path may be.

I’d also remind myself to practice moderation – something that can be easy to forget when you’re deeply passionate about your work. Balancing ambition with self-care is key to sustaining a long and fulfilling career. It’s about playing the long game, staying true to your values, and never losing sight of the bigger picture.