Without creatives, brands fade into static.
It’s a challenging time to be a creative.
Model: Emily Martin Photographer: C. Schwartz Forest City Studio
The reality is, many creative businesses like studios, designers, photographers, writers, and videographers are struggling to keep the doors open. We often hear, “We’ll handle visuals in-house,” “Can’t we just leverage AI to do that?” or “We don’t have the budget right now.” But the truth is, creative work is not a luxury. It’s the foundation of how your brand communicates, connects, and competes. And right now, nothing says “cheap” or “last minute” like AI or DIY phone images. What worked as a quick fix during the pandemic now looks amateur, fails to connect with audiences, and doesn’t reflect the quality your brand deserves.
Take a look at the recent back-to-college ads from brands like Sterilite, a $665 million corporation. Their visuals come across as weak and unmemorable, adding little value to the campaign. Now compare that to IKEA, whose back-to-college visuals were polished, engaging, and truly resonated with their audience. Do we see the difference? I hope so…
Sterilite
Ikea
Without strong creative voices, products don’t stand out. Stories don’t get told. Brands lose their ability to connect with people. It just becomes a sea of everyone copying what they saw work for someone else, not realizing it all turns into static.
If small businesses and corporations don’t start recognizing the value of investing in creatives, soon there won’t be many left to choose from. The talent pool will shrink, and the ones who could have elevated your brand may have moved on, burned out, or closed up shop. What will be left are the cheapest and most inexperienced, because in a race to the bottom, the best lose interest in working with people without vision and for next to free. Exceptional creative work deserves respect, recognition, and proper investment.
Creativity fuels business growth, yet too often it’s the first area cut when times are tight. In today’s economy, where even basic items feel like a luxury to most customers, dollars won’t be spent on your products unless your brand truly stands out from the noise. Ignore creativity, and your brand risks fading into irrelevance. The loss won’t just be creativity—it will be customers, market share, and opportunity.
This isn’t just about survival for me and my studio. It’s about the future of the creative workforce. If you’ve been on the fence about bringing in a creative partner, now is the time. Because you don’t always know what you’ve lost until it’s gone.
Right now, the youngest generation is already opting out of creative fields. They see the oversaturation, the constant undercutting, and the lack of respect for work that, in reality, is essential. Creative work is what shapes the world we interact with every day. The photos you scroll past, the packaging that made you pick one product over another, the music in your headphones, the movie or show you watch to relax, the ads that catch your attention, even the design of the phone in your hand—creatives had a hand in all of it.
The arts and creativity aren’t just “extra.” They are woven into the fabric of our daily lives. They shape culture, drive business, and remind us of our humanity. When we stop valuing them, we lose far more than jobs; we lose a vital creative workforce and the impact it has on everything we see, hear, and experience.
