Tom Oceano

Who are you and what do you do?

I am Tom Oceano and I currently work as Art Director in an international advertising agency. Defining my artistic style is quite difficult, as I tend to adapt my visuals to the ads’ needs and tone.

What is your favorite medium?

I mainly use Photoshop, because it’s blue. I like blue more than yellow and definitely more than purple

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I am a curious animal and my curiosity fuels my inspiration. As an Art Director in Adv you never know which knowledge or information will be useful for your next work. They all are. This is where I think curiosity is an advantage. Curiosity makes you stay informed, ask questions, makes you observe things rather than watching, or read books and see movies beyond your areas of interest. It constantly takes you to places you don’t know.
I found this passion of “gathering information” useful in many occasions at work, as ideas were born from the most different subjects.
And in the long run I think it enriches you, it keeps your interests varying.

What is your creative process?

It is a methodical process of logic and rational thinking during a random chat often made of jokes and nonsense. I believe it is also called brainstorming. That’s where all I’ve “eaten” in my everyday life comes out as ideas, which get then killed or discussed further according to how much they fit the situation (brief/product/client/target, etc).

Is there a specific theme/message/emotion you aim to evoke?

Ads are a really powerful medium, and I think here they’re very seldom used to convey messages beyond the actual product selling. I find it wasteful. Being given the opportunity to talk so directly with a public sometimes so big means having a great responsibility on what you’re saying, how you’re doing it and how can that affect their lives. It can be an incredible opportunity to inspire people, to make them laugh or to raise their awareness, and most importantly to make them think rather than switching off their brains.

What motivates you to continue to create?

I am really childish and I feed on others compliments. That’s it really.
Had to compensate the seriousness of the previous answer.

When you encounter creative blocks, what do you do to overcome them?

In my experience, my creative blocks were always linked to personal problems, so I try to solve them fast or to focus on activities I like to feel better.

What are your thoughts on the future of art?

It would be extremely pretentious for me to talk about art, I’ll try to tackle the answer from afar. I’m really fascinated by virtual reality, it is a medium so different to its closest and in its novelty so unexplored that creatives of all kinds will have the the opportunity to craft truly unique experiences. Can’t wait to see it happen.

What is something you have had to learn on your own that you would like to pass on to the next Creative?

Adobe’s shortcuts. Honest.