PORTO ROCHA’s Joseph Lebus on why the best route into creativity is a non-linear one

Joseph Lebus, Design Director, London Principal at PORTO ROCHA

The future of creative careers is non-linear.

Over the next three years, I think starting a creative career will look a lot like it does today: the people who stand out will be those who bring a distinctive perspective.

As AI makes more technical capabilities accessible, I believe the ability to think differently will become even more valuable. Creativity is fundamentally about questioning, interrogating and finding new ways of doing things. Going against the grain. The challenge is showing people how you see the world and what you're curious about.

The least creative path into a creative career is a linear one: go to a certain school, get a certain degree, follow a prescribed route and arrive at a job. Ironically, starting a creative career is often as non-linear as creativity itself.

That's been my experience. I took a three-month intensive design course assuming it would lead to a straightforward path into employment. The reality was very different. What ultimately gave me my first opportunities wasn't following the path I had imagined, but experimenting with what truly interested me. Exploring those interests helped me develop a perspective, stand out and build the career I have today.

I think there's a temptation to believe that ticking all the usual boxes will get you where you want to be. My advice to emerging creatives would be to pursue what genuinely interests you. Follow the curiosity and creative spark that drew you to the industry in the first place. That's what makes people stand out. At our studio, designers come from all kinds of backgrounds and have taken very different routes into the industry. What excites us is the unique ideas, skills and opinions they bring, often developed by exploring what matters to them.

For Creative Lives in Progress, I think this means continuing to ignite creativity and expose young people to different perspectives, mediums, disciplines and ways of working. Events, outreach and community-building can help people discover interests and connect with opportunities they might never have considered. Just as importantly, CLIP can showcase the many different routes into creative work, rather than reinforcing the idea that there's one correct sequence of steps.

As entry-level opportunities become harder to find, standing out matters more. Over the next three years, I hope we move towards a culture that places greater value on individuality, curiosity and creative judgement, and gives emerging talent more ways to demonstrate them. The opportunity is to help people find their own creative voice rather than teach everyone to follow the same path.