Tech your time: Cameron Temple

What technical innovation, from the past five years, has changed the way you work? How has it helped?

It's difficult to imagine any single piece of tech could change the way we work completely, but there are certainly a few that have had a profound impact on how we function as a creative business. 

We're an extremely collaborative company, so tech that contributes to how we share stuff is big - work, references, things people have made/discovered, etc. Slack, Google Docs, WhatsApp groups, they all play a big role in our day to day. 

I once started presenting an unfinished deck in Google Slides, that the team finished by the time I reached the end.

Obviously not all of these are from the past five years, but they have started to become more central to how we operate, in such a way that it's hard to imagine how we'd function without them. 

For example, I once started presenting an unfinished deck in Google Slides, that the team finished by the time I reached the end - taking the 'flying a plane while it's still being built' metaphor a bit too literally perhaps.

Do you find that people entering production nowadays are more tech-savvy?

Totally, and it's increasing year on year. 

The range of tools young people have access to these days is mind-blowing and they enable the most incredible work. The kind of work that would have taken a full team and thousands of pounds worth of equipment months to produce only five years ago. 

Things like Facebook's Spark AR putting Augmented reality in the hands of designers, Cinema 4D and Blender allowing a single person to create an entire 3D world, even having 4k cameras in your phone. 

What we once viewed as high end specialist gear is becoming commonplace.

Is there any tech you resist, as part of your job?

Sometimes resisting tech all together is super helpful at the start of a project. 

Cutting yourself off from the internet and thinking about something or chatting with other people. I spend allot of time with pens, paper and pads, sketching things out and taking notes while talking. 

The tech then starts to come in as the work develops. 

Also the kettle, I drink too much tea.

Technology is becoming more and more accessible and can create the most incredible stuff, so now, perhaps more than ever, it's important to think of an idea that puts it all to good use and pushes it's potential.

From a production point of view, I'd say it's hard to avoid or write off any technology, because the next day you can guarantee an idea will come along that relies on it. 

What’s the aspect of your job that you feel could never be overshadowed or replaced by tech?

Coming up with a good idea. 

As I mentioned above, technology is becoming more and more accessible and can create the most incredible stuff, so now, perhaps more than ever, it's important to think of an idea that puts it all to good use and pushes it's potential.