Greg Hoffman joined Nike as a 22-year old design intern. He retired in 2020 as Chief Marketing Officer.
Over three decades, Greg was responsible for crafting some of the most iconic brand campaigns in history.
His book, Emotion By Design, is the story of a biracial, adopted child, who cultivated an ability to create stories, images, and experiences that make people feel even their most audacious dreams are possible to achieve.
We spoke to Greg about how his personal and professional experiences empowered and informed how he led one of the most creative brands on the planet - using a framework he calls, Emotion by Design. We discussed why leading with empathy is essential in creative work, why you should care more about telling stories that stick with your audience than creating content that just competes for attention. Greg talked about his experience as a person of colour in the design and creative industries, the late great, George Lois, and a warning on pursuing perfection too early in your process.
Emotion by Design is available in paperback now in the UK
https://uk.bookshop.org/books/emotion-by-design-creative-leadership-lessons-from-a-life-at-nike-9781847943569/9781847943569
Find out more about Greg here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-hoffman-1b196a25/
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2:18 - Meet Greg
2:40 - What does creativity mean to Greg?
4:20 - Greg's creative outputs
7:45 - Emotion by Design - starting creative work with empathy in mind
14:07 - Collaboration as a way of creating solutions that can change the world
19:12 - Escaping the battle for attention
22:28 - on writing Emotion By Design - the process and framework
31:00 - Greg's personal life story and how it shaped his time at Nike
32:16 - Collaborative innovation - Greg's call to action on homelessness on the US west coast
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artists in residence is hosted by Isabelle Wilkinson, a writer, creative producer, and interviewer from East Yorkshire. To get in touch, sponsor us (now booking for series 4!), pitch yourself as a guest, or share your creative project, email [email protected]

Episode produced by Billy Truswell. Brand design and episode artwork by Holly Whitaker.

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artists in residence - https://www.instagram.com/artistsinreside/

Host - Isabelle Wilkinson - https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabellewilkinson/

Podcast editor - Billy Truswell - https://www.linkedin.com/in/billy-truswell-94535011a/