The modern age, powered by technology, is bringing creativity to the point of stagnation. Is it restricting innovation and killing creativity?
Thoughts such as these have been growing in the minds of the public consciousness, it seems. Pushing the tech advancements and modernization under the dark light, convincing the masses that technology and creativity can never co-exist. It is popularly believed that with technology becoming an integral part of this world, creativity will cease to exist. Indeed, creativity is an invaluable treasure that lays the foundation of change. The mere thought of a world without creativity is frightening, given how it paves the way for innovation. Contrary to these widely spread myths, technology is anything but a Dementor sucking the creative juices from one’s mind. It is, in fact, serving as an enhancer and enabler of creativity.
To convince the world of the significance of tech in unlocking new dimensions of creativity, there is a need for a voice that can make the world believe otherwise. Technology opens countless horizons for the minds, making the impossible possible. Even Heidi Arkinstall, chief executive officer at Logitech, supported this theory, “People [can] express their creativity in ways that it would have taken ten years, or they wouldn’t have had access. I don’t think that it’s a creative killer at all; I think it’s a great enabler.” Playing a key role in spreading this message far and wide are creative technology leaders such as Alex Suchet, the founder of digital production company Mystery Box and more recently, The Virtually Group, a separate agency specialising in addressing the commercial need for elevated online experiences better than traditional websites or videos, harnessing the powers of virtual reality instead. A creative tech-enthusiast at heart firmly believes in the co-existence of creativity and technology in a sweet symbiosis. To help the world understand this, Suchet set up two digital production businesses.
With his award-winning digital production and design agency, Mystery Box, Suchet has helped companies like Warner Bros., Hasbro, Apple, Marvel, Nike, James Bond, Dolby Digital and Volvo build a prominent digital footprint. He is one of the many leaders in this field, advocating that technology will open a new era in curating experiences.
It was his knack for creativity and his being raised in a family where modern incarnations of “creativity“ was part of the legacy which led him so deep into the merger of creativity and technology. The ‘Suchet’ family is not a name that is unknown in this sector. His great grandfather, James Jarché, was quite literally a pioneer of modern press photography as we know it. He is known for taking the first pictures of Edward VIII and is the man behind the iconic photos of Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein. Alex’s father, Peter Suchet, was the creator of ‘Fantasy Football’ and the former director of Saatchi and Saatchi, one of world’s most renowned advertising agencies. His Uncle? Sir David Suchet, best-known for playing Agatha Christie’s Poirot for a mere 25 years. His other Uncle is legendary ITN news broadcaster, John Suchet – and the list goes on. It was partly because of his family, he stated, “Creativity is in my blood.”
Finding His Way into Creative Technology…
While Suchet was surrounded by people from the creative industries from a young age, he didn’t follow in their footsteps as a result of family pressure, he insists. Instead, he explored his options and stumbled across his own calling; ‘digital production.’ Both of his businesses are based on this premise, but he wears several other creative hats, too. A self-professed “creative technologist”, Suchet he has a diverse portfolio of creative outlets.
He was a television presenter in a past life (presenting live shopping channels in the UK in his early twenties) and today, regularly works as a voice artist. He’s a familiar voice, once you hear it. We asked how it was pursuing his career as a voice artist while running two successful businesses. Suchet sighs, before telling us, “My work as a voice artist started to hot-up long before I had a business I could honestly profess to being “successful”; but Mystery Box began to grow and I found myself spinning several plates – you do what you need to do and count yourself lucky for having the “problem” in the first place!”. His dulcet tones have been backdrop of radio and television commercials for some big names over the years, too; from Mercedes-Benz and Turkish Airlines to Transport for London, Channel 5, Tesco, and Schwarzkopf. “Ultimately, it’s just selling pixels and making noises, isn’t it?”.
It was when he joined renowned digital production company Unit9, that he developed a deep understanding of where digital production meets creative technology, and went on to set up Mystery Box alone. People like Alex Suchet, part of the creative tech game who consider this as their life’s calling, are helping prove to the world the possibility of creativity and technology can – and must – coexist. “I’m convinced the future lies within”, he says.
Technology is not an antithesis to creativity; and Suchet appears to prove this. The many forms creativity takes and the variety of ways in which is can be applied are many.
It is true; tech and creativity now exist in a sweet symbiosis, opening a wide array of innovative possibilities for the human mind to explore. Initiatives such as Suchet’s, along with executions such as Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse, all underpinned by the meteoric rise of blockchain and crypto technology, are leading the world into a digitally advanced era where creativity and technology will surely work wonders together.
