Ed PATTERSON

1. What was your very first job? 
A McDonalds restaurant opened in my local town in Oxford, UK. I needed to save up to go traveling so I signed up. I worked in the kitchen flipping burgers, soon earning the nick name ‘Fast Eddy.’

2. Please describe, in your own words, what your job is and what work it entails.
I’m a Creative Director at BSSP in Sausalito, CA. Along with my partner Jeff, I keep the creative going on several accounts, mentor a group of super talented juniors and generally try my best to keep the positive vibes going.

3. How did you discover that the creative world was right for you? Was there a time in your life that you credit to this discovery? Was there a train of events that brought you where you are today?
I started in the animation world, working as a runner on the set of Wallace & Gromit. From there I moved into animating and directing. It was an awesome job but one that always felt a little precarious, essentially because it was always freelance. It wasn’t until I directed some spots for W+K London that I began to realize that working on ‘the otherside’ could be an interesting switch. The idea of a full-time creative gig was appealing as well as going from always executing an idea to being the one that actually creates it. I know it usually works the other way, with ad creatives becoming directors. Well, I zagged, and managed to sneak my way through Wieden’s doors and haven’t looked back since.

4. In your constantly growing and expanding industry, how do you find inspiration to keep your work fresh, innovative and relevant?
In our current climate, it’s harder than ever to keep inspired. WFH has its benefits but desperately lacks the much-missed human/creative connections we all cherished from our days at the office. I’d pull a lot of inspiration from those interactions which is why it’s important to push through the ‘Zoomxiety’ and make an effort to connect with other creative minds. Of course, we all have the internet to keep us close to the things that inspire us. But I look forward to the day we can get back to being together, traveling, art galleries, live music, that’s the stuff that keeps my brain fresh.

5. If you had to pick one piece of work or project that you are most proud of, more for the creative work and innovation rather than its recognition or industry "success," what would it be?
It has to be an animated spot that ultimately got me to where I am today. I worked with W+K in London on a project for Nokia to promote their new camera phone, the N8. The key aspect of the idea was that we had to use a lens to create a macro film to show off the camera’s quality and resolution. This invention was called the Cell Scope, a microscope attachment designed to take images of human cells in remote locations that could then be sent via email or text from the phone itself. We came up with the idea to create a stop motion Alice & Wonderland-inspired story with a tiny animated heroine called Dot. The character would stand at just 8mm tall and would be 3D printed, it was the first animated commercial to use such a process.