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Phil BICKER
Communications Manager | INSTAGRAM
Phil Bicker is an award-winning Creative Director with 20+ years of experience across editorial, advertising, web, social media and education. Notable work in the areas of fashion, music, art, culture and news. A respected art director, photo editor, designer, producer and writer. Recognized for nurturing, commissioning and working with both emerging and established photographers and creatives to produce groundbreaking work.
Instagram • Magnum Photos • Time • The Fader • BBH • Calvin Klein • Vogue Hommes International Mode • Creative Camera • The Face.
questionnaire
1.) What was your very first job?
Working as a Saturday boy in a grocery store that my father managed
2.) Please describe, in your own words, what your job is and what work it entails.
I am the Creative Editor for the official @instagram account. I work with the @instagram team to surface and shape content in support of product and the Instagram community—across @instagram’s primary visual surfaces, Feed, Stories and IGTV.
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? What was there train of events that brought you to where you are today?
From a young age I enjoyed drawing. In high school I had a supportive art teacher. And by my early to mid-teens I had set my heart on going to art school. My first commissions out of college were as a collage-based illustrator. Followed by work on magazines where I became more interested in design, layout, typography, editorial structure and storytelling. I graduated from Art Director to Creative Director and working with photography and photographers became my focus —and has been central to my practice ever since.
4.) In your constantly growing and expanding industry, how do you find inspiration to keep your work fresh, innovative and relevant?
Fortunately surfacing visual voices is a big part of my job at Instagram, which leads me down the rabbit hole to inspiration every day. I’m also inspired by family, friends, co-workers and collaborators, by conversation, curiosity and the regular cultural stimuli of books, movies, exhibitions and everyday life.
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 it required, rather than its recognition or industry “success,” what would it be?
It’s difficult to pick one piece of work of project. Can I have two? The “One Dream” video series and microsite which marked the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Washington. And the work I did as Creative Director at The Fader magazine.
