What’s one thing you wish you knew when you first started your career?
Being the child of the founders, I got to start in a leadership role and not a typical entry-level position. I did not start my professional life with peers that were like me because of this, and I wish I had understood the importance of having a friendship with your co-workers. I had a foot in both worlds, which created limiting beliefs around this that really only existed in my head.
Juror Spotlight
Amanda SuttCEO, Creative Director, Rock Paper Scissors
Amanda Sutt is the second generation owner, CEO and Creative Director of Rock Paper Scissors, a branding and marketing firm based in Lawrenceville, Georgia. She oversees the vision and the direction of the company, and she and her team partner with their clients to develop brands with a purpose and market them intentionally.
In addition to overseeing the business and collaborating with her team and clients, Amanda is also a certified business coach. She supports her coaching clients by giving them an outside individual with an unbiased perspective with which to discuss challenges, strategize, and plan for success. Additionally, she is involved with a number of professional and civic organizations and is an active board member with causes that support our community.
Amanda resides in Gwinnett County with her husband, daughter, and dog, where they enjoy the lake, hiking, and traveling.
We spoke with Amanda to gain insight into her experience leading Rock Paper Scissors, her dream project, and what she’s looking for in entries this season.
What has been the biggest change in office culture since you started your career?
When I started in the early 2000s there was a culture of work-life and home-life, which made it harder to connect with team members as a leader. I knew when I was working with my team that there was a part they were keeping closed off and knew it held some of the keys to making things better. Being able to talk to and support the whole person now, not just the person at work or the professional, has made work so much more fulfilling.
I not only get to show up and design, but I get to help people grow and get better. This deeper connection helps us build solid relationships that are not just about doing the work and sustains us through the tough projects and every changing industry we get to work with.
What’s your dream project?
We are a team that looks for partnerships not just projects. It is when we can build a lasting relationship with a client as their marketing partner that the real magic happens that moves the brand, their audience and the team making it happen forward. So we look for a dream client who really wants a creative partner and lets us develop a beautiful brand that solves problems. We love a partnership that goes beyond the pretty part of the brand and lets us dive in deeper to help them build marketing, communication and even operation systems that solve their problems so we are always striving for better. I am always more energized by brands that are there to really help people; a core value for our team is to “work co-creatively to generate win-wins” so we align best with clients who believe this as well.
What’s one of the greatest challenges your industry is facing?
How to balance technology with the value we provide as professionals. The two questions I ask myself on a daily basis are: How do we embrace that technology is going to make things better and not be a threat? How do we provide value that technology cannot? We really have to rethink what we offer our clients and what we can do as humans that is different from the tools that are being rolled out. We have to find a new balance.
We’re celebrating 30 Years at The Communicator Awards. What were some of your favorite movies from the 90s?
My favorite ’90s movies are Grosse Pointe Blank, The Matrix, Jurassic Park, Toy Story, and Waiting for Guffman.
What are you looking for in entries to the Communicator Awards?
First and foremost, I am always looking to see if the project follows good design principles. Then, I look at it to see if I can quickly understand the message. It can look pretty, but if I don’t understand the message and the purpose the design serves, then the design is not solving problems to communicate an idea. Those are the core pieces that help me determine whether I will score an entry high or not. After that, I look for something that makes the piece memorable. I don’t want something that is just flashy with the latest trend, there needs to be intentionality with the design choices and, ideally, a cleverness with the elements that delight the audience to create something that will stick. Award-winning work should check the boxes of good design, a quick and easy-to-understand message, and memorability.