Opinions expressed by Digital Journal contributors are their own.
Marketing is such a crucial element of any successful business, including in the arts. While many often categorize art and business into two distinctly separate spheres of thinking, they form a symbiotic relationship with one another. Art needs business to succeed, and in turn, business needs art to succeed.
Marketing an artistic business is not as simple and calculable as a spreadsheet might make you believe; it’s a complex issue. How do you sell something in a way that hasn’t been done a million times before, cutting through the white noise of an oversaturated marketplace? How do you turn your art into something sellable and appealing? These are questions with which Sara Rados is especially familiar. As a creative director and producer, Rados has spearheaded some of the most iconic creative marketing movements of the decade, and she’s just getting started.
When asked about the specific role she fills as a multi-hyphenate creative director and producer, Rados says she loves the fluidity of the position and the way in which it actively encourages her to take on more roles within a given production. Her roles provide her with the chance to work hands-on in a creative way.
“I believe that experiencing a little bit of every single production role is part of a great creative director’s journey. Being able to truly understand and empathize with everyone’s roles and unique challenges puts me in the position to lead a more seamless production and create a more harmonious creative environment,” she says.
This mindset has served Rados incredibly well, as the young artist has worked with some of the biggest brands in the market: Salt and Stone, Sephora, Outdoor Voices, Anheuser Busch, Target, and JJJJound collaborations with New Balance, APC, and Salomon. In her eight years working in the field, Rados’s name has risen to such prominence that she has even worked with high-profile musical artists such as Leon Bridges and Ariana Grande.
As Rados says, “I am in a unique position to take on more roles outside of the traditional creative director title. My work experience has varied from high-level creative directing to producing, styling, casting, interior designing, prop styling, social media management, client relations, and copywriting.”
After completing her Bachelor of Design in the advertising program at Ontario College of Art and Design University, Rados pursued a career in marketing and creative directing for brands. As with any post-graduate, she was uncertain about the viability of her dreams and how the market would receive her work. But now, Rados’s work is integral to much of the North American marketing ecosystem.
Photos she produced, creative directed, and shot with photographer Michael Kazimierczuk are now featured exhibits adorning the Sephora Canada, US, and Australia websites. The Salt & Stone video, which Rados creatively directed, was featured prominently by the company’s Time Square installation.
Rados has found success very much on her own terms within this industry. She’s a creatively inspired and logistically flexible individual who has found a nexus point between art and business and made it her craft to cater to both with phenomenally successful results.
