When the service you’re selling is as ephemeral as “creativity,” sometimes it pays to defy the conventional business wisdom. “In so many traditional advertising agencies, art people become middle managers,” says designer John Dames of the St. Louis agency CORE. “They organize a process, but — almost in spite of their talent and training — they don’t actually create anything. Some specialist does their type, another does their photos, yet another does their production and color.

“The creative impulse gets diluted in layers of hierarchy — and the work suffers. When CORE was started, that was exactly what we wanted to avoid.”

Lead with the Heart

That decision has led the CORE Advertising team to an international reputation as an ad agency that always brings artistic passion to everything they do — from their ground-breaking typography, to their renowned photocompositions, to more recent experiments with lush motion graphics and special effects.

Throughout, as their techniques have constantly expanded, their tool was always the Macintosh. “From the very first day, the prime idea was ‘Hey, create it ourselves. Control it ourselves,’” says Dames. “We wanted to build a workplace where the shared ethic was always hands on — with all hands welcome, all the time. Where the only prerequisite for doing the work was talent. And there’s no way any of us could have envisioned that without the Macintosh.”

“Whatever we do — brainstorming, collaborating, presenting to clients — whatever ideas we’re exploring, in whatever medium, we do it on the Macintosh. The computer is always our canvas.”

Roll up your Sleeves

Strategist and co-founder Keith Tilford is quick to agree. “Plain and simple, CORE would not be here if the Mac didn’t exist. With the Mac, we suddenly had this hugely empowering tool that conspired to bring every facet of design to our desktops — and inspired us to say, ‘Wow! Not only do I now have the power to create what’s in my head, I can also take it further than I ever knew possible.’”

Tilford also credits the Mac with helping them to create a workflow that favors creativity over hierarchy. “We believe in keeping our staff small and our organization flat,” says Tilford. “And whatever we do — brainstorming, collaborating, presenting to clients — whatever ideas we’re exploring, in whatever medium, we do it on the Macintosh,” says Dames. “The computer is always our canvas.”

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