He reminded us that we didn’t have to play by the rules. He proved that we could succeed, fail and return to even greater glory. If we were creative types he gave us permission to follow our instincts, believe in ourselves and dismiss the predictability of research and the safety of committees. He introduced the masses to the virtue of beautiful design.

Here’s what I think about when I think about Steve.  What about you?

The Whole Earth Catalog
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish. Words to live by for all of us.

The Stanford Commencement Address
Lots of lessons and inspiration.

“Here’s to the Crazy Ones”
One of the greatest scripts of all time. Allegedly written by Jobs himself.

Steve’s quotes

Captured here nicely in the Wall Street Journal

My favorite quote:  “The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament.”

An all-time favorite Apple ad
A harbinger of things to come.

Steve Jobs was the same age I am. I remember everything about Apple, from its launch as a company when I was working in the minicomputer business, to its reinvention of the personal computer, to its ad campaigns, to Steve’s return, to his departure, to yesterday. Lucky to be here during the same time as Steve Jobs.

Rodney Raftery on right

When Rodney Raftery leaves his pristine, white desk at Mullen, he heads straight to the dark confines of a black box theater in Cambridge where he’ll be rehearsing for the next three hours. He won’t get home until close to midnight and he’ll be lucky if he has time to grab a granola bar for dinner.

Rodney has been doing this for the better part of two decades. An active member of the Boston theater scene, he does about three shows each year on top of his full-time job as an associate creative director. He says he’s slowed down a lot recently; he used to do seven or eight.

“You wouldn’t eat,” he says. “You would basically get up at 6:30 and you wouldn’t be back into your own house until after midnight. Then you’d get up and do it all again the next day.”

Six weeks of rehearsals. Four or five nights each week. After opening night, he performs up to eight times per week for the run of the show.  “It’s basically like having a second job,” he says.

You might think that the amount of creative energy Rodney expends on his characters coupled with prolonged periods of severe sleep deprivation might have a negative affect on his career. But over six years at Mullen, he’s risen through the ranks and become a crucial part of the Stop & Shop and JAMRS teams.

“It actually opens you up creatively,” he explains. “When you’re so busy that you don’t have time to be creative, that’s when you are most creative. It gives itself momentum. If you just go with that momentum you are constantly creating.”

Rodney Raftery on left

Nicole Berard agrees. She’s spent five and a half years in the pop rock group, Mercy James Gang, holding rehearsals each week, writing songs, singing and playing synthesizer. They’ve performed frequently at clubs like the Abbey Lounge, Great Scott and even the Somerville Theater. Nicole is also a visual artist, working primarily in collage and shadowboxes.

“The more I do, the more I can do,” she says. “The more fired up I am about stuff outside of work, the more fired up I am about work.”

She sees a direct link between performing for an audience and presenting to clients. “Music is a huge confidence builder,” she explains. “I’ve presented work at the Pentagon. I don’t think I could have done that if I hadn’t sung at the Abbey Lounge first.”

In the same way, Rodney sees a connection between acting and copywriting. “As an actor, you have to think creatively. You have the lines, but how you deliver them is what makes your character. [In advertising], it’s not really what you’re selling, but how you sell it. How you spin your character or how you spin your product is really where success or failure lies.”

In his novel, Then We Came to the End, Joshua Ferris writes that every copywriter has a screenplay in his desk drawer. And to some extent, that’s the way it ought to be. In fact, Mullen’s original creative chief, Paul Silverman, was a prolific writer of short fiction, described as “a real writer” who just happened to work in advertising.

Just as professional athletes need to hit the gym and exercise different muscles in order to excel at their sport, writers and art directors should exercise their creative muscles outside of advertising. Both Rodney and Nicole agree that their extracurricular pursuits sharpen their skills, stretch their imaginations and ultimately make them more successful in their work.

At The Lost Jacket, Stuart Foster gave his opinion on exactly what a blog should be, whether for a company or an individual, and posed some of his own predictions about ad engagement and measurement on the open web.

And finally, Mullen writers contributed to the new, buzzworthy The Next Great Generation.  Brenna Hanley shared her personal rejection of paid tweets.  And Jason Potteiger posited his thoughts on the 15 ways Millennials think about brands.

Enjoy.