🎬 Creative Director Skill

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An AI creative director that generates advertising concepts using world-class methodologies, scores them against Cannes/D&AD-calibrated criteria, and recursively refines until the quality threshold is reached.

Not a brainstorming toy. A structured creative process that mirrors how top agencies (Droga5, Wieden+Kennedy, Mother) actually work — insight before ideas, methodology over free association, honest evaluation over flattery.

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What It Does

Feed it a brief in any format — text, voice transcript, PDF, raw notes — and it runs a full creative cycle:

1. INTAKE — extracts the brief's DNA: product, audience, objectives, constraints
2. INSIGHT — mines consumer insights using 7 proven techniques (Mark Pollard, JTBD, Tension Spotting, HMW, Abstraction Laddering)
3. IDEATION — generates 8-12 ideas using 3 methods from different categories (structural × associative × disruptive), rotating between 20+ methodologies
4. EVALUATE + REFINE — scores against 6 weighted criteria + HumanKind + Grey Scale, then recursively improves until 9+ or convergence
5. ARTICULATE — outputs in a presentation-ready format (one-pager, top-3, campaign platform, or quick response)

You can also enter at any phase: jump to insight mining, evaluate an existing idea, or generate concepts from a known insight.

Why This Exists

Most AI "creative" tools generate ideas by free association — producing volume without structure. The result: hundreds of mediocre concepts that nobody can evaluate.

This skill enforces the discipline that separates award-winning work from filler:

• Insight-first — no ideation without a validated consumer tension
• Structural methods — SIT, TRIZ, SCAMPER, Bisociation, Synectics, not "give me 10 ideas"
• Honest scoring — calibrated against real Cannes winners, with anti-inflation rules that prevent the model from rating everything 8+
• Recursive refinement — weak criteria get targeted improvement using different methods each pass
• Kill Your Darlings — the skill argues against its own favorite ideas to test their strength

What's Inside

creative-director/
├── SKILL.md                              # Core skill — phase router + instructions
├── assets/
│   └── output-templates.md               # 4 presentation formats
└── references/
    ├── methods-catalog.md                # 20 creative methodologies as executable cards
    ├── method-selection-matrix.md        # Task → method routing + rotation rules
    ├── insight-mining.md                 # 7 insight discovery techniques
    ├── scoring-calibration.md            # Detailed rubrics + calibration anchors
    ├── creative-constitution.md          # 3-layer evaluation system + feedback rules
    └── storytelling-frameworks.md        # 6 narrative frameworks for advertising

Methodologies (20+)

| Category | Methods | |----------|---------| | Structural | SIT/Goldenberg Templates, SCAMPER, TRIZ (10 principles), Morphological Analysis | | Association | Bisociation, Random Entry, Forced Connections, Synectics | | Inversion | Reverse Brainstorming, Worst Possible Idea, Provocation PO | | Perturbation | Oblique Strategies, Six Thinking Hats, Disney Creative Strategy | | Volume | Crazy 8s, Brainwriting 6-3-5, Starbursting | | Bonus | First Principles Thinking, Lateral Thinking Toolkit, Design Sprint Sketch |

Evaluation System

Three parallel scoring systems calibrated against real campaigns:

• 6 Weighted Criteria — Originality (0.25), Strategic Fit (0.20), Emotional Response (0.20), Feasibility (0.15), Scalability (0.10), Simplicity (0.10)
• HumanKind Scale (Leo Burnett) — 1-10, from "Destructive" to "Changes the World"
• Grey Scale (Grey Group) — 1-10, from "Toxic" to "Best in the World"

Anti-inflation rules: batch control, normal distribution enforcement, real analogues test, specificity test, time test.

Storytelling Frameworks

Story Spine (Pixar) · Sparkline (Nancy Duarte) · Freytag's Pyramid · Monroe's Motivated Sequence · Pixar Rules · Hero's Journey (StoryBrand)

Installation

Claude Projects

Add the files to your Claude Project's knowledge base. Upload all files from creative-director/ — SKILL.md is the entry point, it references other files via [[wikilinks]].

Claude Code / Cursor / Windsurf / Any AI Agent

Copy the creative-director/ folder to your project or skills directory:

git clone https://github.com/smixs/creative-director-skill.git

The skill works with any AI agent that supports structured instructions — Claude, GPT, Gemini, or local models. The core logic is in markdown files, no platform lock-in.

Usage Examples

Full creative cycle:

"Come up with a campaign for [brand]. Target audience: [who]. Budget: [range]. Channels: [where]."

Insight mining:

"Find a consumer insight for [category]. The brief says [context]."

Evaluate an existing idea:

"Evaluate this concept: [description]. The brief objective was [goal]."

Quick ideation:

"Need 5 concepts for [brand] social media posts about [topic]."

Idea Levels

The skill distinguishes between three levels and matches output to the brief:

| Level | Scope | Example | |-------|-------|---------| | Big Idea | Brand platform for years | Nike "Just Do It", Dove "Real Beauty" | | Campaign Idea | Time-limited, multi-channel | "Share a Coke", Spotify Wrapped | | Execution Idea | Single channel/format | A specific social post, banner, activation |

A Big Idea for shelf talkers = waste. An Execution Idea for a rebrand = falling short.

How Recursion Works

Generate ideas (3 methods, 8-12 ideas)
        ↓
Score top 3 (6 criteria + HumanKind + Grey)
        ↓
    Score ≥ 9? ──→ YES → Output final deliverable
        ↓ NO
Identify weak criteria → Apply different method → Rescore
        ↓
    5 passes or plateau? ──→ YES → Output best + honest assessment
        ↓ NO
    Continue refinement

What It's Not For

• Media planning or budget allocation
• Production management
• Brand identity / logo design
• Final copywriting (it generates concepts, not polished copy)
• Market research data collection

Credits

Built on methodologies from: Jacob Goldenberg (SIT), Genrich Altshuller (TRIZ), Edward de Bono (Lateral Thinking, Six Hats, PO), Arthur Koestler (Bisociation), William Gordon (Synectics), Brian Eno (Oblique Strategies), Nancy Duarte (Sparkline), Joseph Campbell / Donald Miller (Hero's Journey / StoryBrand), Leo Burnett (HumanKind), Mark Pollard (Strategy), Clayton Christensen (JTBD).

Creative Constitution based on the Voskresensky/IKRA approach.

License

MIT — use it, fork it, make better ads.