Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Starr.
Hi Eric, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I began my career with education and interests in creative fields, marketing/communications, and psychology. My first job was working with the noteworthy advertising Chiat/Day out of Los Angeles, specifically on the Apple brand. At this time, the music industry was embroiled in controversy. Record labels were suing 12 year olds for illegally downloading music. Artists weren’t getting paid. And there was no clear solution. Apple introduced iTunes and the iPod as an easy, legal solution to enjoy digital music legally. But education was needed. Our first campaign taught people how to take your CDs and put 1000 songs into your pocket, using iTunes and iPod. However, culturally we needed something more. Something that would unite record labels, artists, and music lovers. Why not celebrate what we all had in common? A love for music. So we launched the iPod Silhouttes campaign, featuring people on colorful backgrounds enjoying music the best way we know how – dancing. The campaign was a resounding success winning the Grand Kelly award, Out of home ad of the Decade, and an Effie for effectiveness. At the time Steve Jobs was so thrilled with the outcome that he asked us to “create Silhouttes for Mac.” At the time Mac users represented less than 1% of the computer market and were thought of as a computer for creatives. Our challenge was immense – make Mac accessible to everyone. We talked to thousands of Mac and PC users and discovered some wild insights. PC users hated their computers – frustrated with viruses and freezing, struggling with doing even simple tasks. While on the other hand Mac users were creating beautiful videos, stunning photo albums, and amazing music. How could we bring this to life in a fun, irreverent way? We decided to personify these experiences in the form of relatable Mac (Justin Long) and his lovable, yet troubled friend, PC (John Hodgman). This campaign was episodic, almost like a TV series – picking off some of the most relatable experiences the world has with their computers, and illustrating what life is like on a Mac. Get a Mac won campaign of the decade by Adweek.
Once you’ve done some of your best work, your drive to do career defining, high profile work wanes, and you begin to focus your career on things that simply bring you joy. I shifted my focus to develop compelling content for clients. I became Creative Director for a content agency – shooting and directing stories to promote music festivals like Coachella and Burning Man. I fell in love with finding ways to capture humanities magical moments and share them with the world as stories. No longer was I creating marketing, I had become a story teller – expanding my media to include short films, documentaries, animations, and other visual arts. I decided to leave the content agency and work for independently for a wide breadth of clients and industries. And that’s where I find myself now. The best way to describe what I do is “visual arts.”
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Every road has its bumps and potholes. I expect that. If you expect life to go smoothly, you will always be disappointed. It’s the challenges that teaches us, trains us to understand the contrast of what you want, and what you don’t want. I am grateful for the challenges, even though they can feel like a grind.
My biggest struggle was dealing with a routine desk job. I like to be out in the world, engaging with new people, discovering the novelty behind new experiences. For me that meant walking away from a high paying job and promising future and taking a huge risk hoping I landed on my feet. I can’t say that I’ve ever found the same financial security I once had, but I did find something far more satisfying – my freedom. You just can’t put a dollar amount on freedom.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a visual artist meaning I tell stories through a variety of visual mediums: video, photo, graphic design, animation. In the career world, companies like you to focus on one area. I’ve never felt okay about that. My interests and skill sets span all sorts of areas. And I absolutely love teaching myself something new. It all starts with inspiration. I couldn’t be more grateful from those sparks of inspiration that come out of nowhere. They provide the fuel for me to do anything. Once I am inspired, I figure out how I want to use that inspiration to tell my next story. Sometimes that means learning a new skill or taking a risk and making something that might seem somewhat out of reach based on my skills and experience. And from that comes the greatest award.
I am known for music videos, album art, short form documentaries, and design projects. But who knows what’s next? I don’t. And that’s part of the fun.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I think I already covered this one!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ekstarr.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ekstarr
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekstarr/
- Soundcloud: undcloud.com/eric-starr-1
