It all started with a brief.
As the Simple Truth 2023 summer interns (Abril: designer, Melanie: strategist and Sophia: writer), we were tasked with creating “something” that reflected our overall interests and skills as a designer, writer and strategist while demonstrating our experience working in a Chicago creative agency and our unique points of view.
When we first got in a room together, the options were quite literally limitless. Luckily, there was something we all bonded over immediately. As soon as we sat down, we were complimenting each other’s accessories and outfits, and even the stickers on our water bottles. We all clearly valued self-expression and personality but each had unique ways of showing it.
This moment of connection was the spark for our project. We started looking at the ways self-expression and fashion interact in the workspace. We came across what became one of our project’s guiding ideas: psychological safety. This occurs when there’s a climate present where people feel safe enough to take interpersonal risks, speak up and share concerns, questions or ideas.1 The presence of psychological safety can enhance employee engagement, improve employee well-being and encourage creativity. All this research brought us to our big idea:
It became clear to us there was a definitive connection between personal style and self-expression, and successful creative work. At Simple Truth, it’s always OK to express your individualities. In fact, they actively encourage it. Simple Truth understands when you feel your best, you work your best. Creativity itself will inherently be more diverse when the employees creating it feel psychologically safe. We noticed our coworkers living this out daily. From office outfits to desk décor and unique accessories, everyone’s personality was on display.
To bring this project to life, we wanted to create something that felt very current and would capture the variety of personalities and perspectives within Simple Truth. The first piece we created was a playlist. Often in the ST office, music is being played and we listen together. This can spark conversation, collaboration and creativity. Music can be a powerful representation of personality and holds a great deal of importance to people. Much like style, your taste in music can be a significant form of self-expression. As the first piece of our project, we asked everyone on the Simple Truth team for their favorite artist or song and created one big playlist. We call it “Simple Sounds.” Give it a listen and get a feel for what gets us grooving and our creative juices flowing.
Music is just one dimension of a person’s whole expression. So, we decided to capture Simple Truthers in their own words sharing what makes them feel their best, and how at Simple Truth they feel supported to genuinely express themselves. A video felt like the right tactic because it would give us the chance to flex each of our individual strengths as well as create a piece that would live on after our time here came to an end. Filming around the office was a new and insightful experience for all of us. We had a list of interview questions, but we also got the chance to riff based on responses and ended up getting some of our best footage in those interactions. It was cool to see everyone open up and for us to start thinking about how all of that would play out on screen. Everyone was such a natural, it just took a little added spice from us three and it was ready to be shared with the world. Grab your popcorn.
While it’s time for each of us to move on to our next chapters, everything we’ve learned this summer will be coming with us. Simple Truth has taught us that people truly make the place. Our internship was a first-hand experience of the fact that great work comes from great people. It was also shocking and thrilling to see that no creative process is linear. Real-world work can go in a million different ways and having trust in yourself and your team is what makes it something great. Finally, bringing your whole self to the table is one of the most important things you can do as a creative because everyone’s one-of-a-kind. Don’t be afraid to share your unique perspective and personality, you never know what will come from it.