About
I help companies transform and grow by putting creativity at the center of the…
Articles by John
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Are You Doing the Best Work of Your Life?
Are You Doing the Best Work of Your Life?
Are you doing the best work of your life? This is a tricky question. If you answer “Yes,” then you are vulnerable to…
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Why the Teeter-Totter Wall Is Meaningful Creative
Why the Teeter-Totter Wall Is Meaningful Creative
What does meaningful creative work look like? The answer lies on the border of the United States and Mexico. In a…
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Activity
5K followers
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John Norman shared thisHad a blast chatting with Elissa O'Dell O’Dell and Mia Pokriefka on the MADWOMEN podcast about how real human truths fuel the best brand work. We got into why strategy matters, how insight sparks creativity, and why the most powerful stories come from a place of honesty and connection. If you have a few minutes, give it a listen: https://lnkd.in/gyiV9rVd #humantruths #designthinking #creativity #innovation
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John Norman shared thisA big thanks to Charles Nix and Monotype for the opportunity to share some special and memorable adventures through the art of typography. What a blast! Time flew by!John Norman shared this"At a certain point, you can’t teach hunger. You can’t teach curiosity. You can’t teach that little voice inside you that says, ‘just do that thing.’ It’ll be cool, you know." Episode 8 of #CreativeCharacters is now LIVE, featuring John Norman, a celebrated visual storyteller and former Chief Creative Officer of world-renowned creative agencies. In the episode, John shares insights from his career, which started with an appreciation of typography and has spanned several decades, including work for iconic brands such as Nike, The Coca-Cola Company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and many more. Listen to the episode 👉 https://apple.co/3z4FhRi or on Spotify, Google Podcast, etc.
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John Norman shared thisOur industry needs to deliver creativity born out of human truths now more than ever. The events of 2020 have reordered society in dramatic ways. While the world is changing, human nature is one of the only constants. As creative storytellers, the most enduring impact we can have is one of human truth – something that’s so universally true, we can all agree on it. The world is craving it, too. Read more in this week’s Ad Age. Thanks for sharing my thoughts on creativity. Shoutout to Veronica Padilla for the design!Opinion: Delivering creativity based on human truthsOpinion: Delivering creativity based on human truths
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John Norman shared thisIntroducing the Battle Home: an immersive installation in partnership with National Association of REALTORS® and Veterans Community Project. Deployed service members spend a lot of time in sleeping bags. When they re-enter civilian life, too many of them end up in sleeping bags on the street. Made out of sleeping bag “bricks,” the Battle Home is a symbolic representation of the journey homeless Veterans take from their service, to the street, to finding home with VCP. Veteran homelessness is a systemic issue. Thanks to VCP, there is hope. Check it out: https://lnkd.in/gCP2UKC
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John Norman shared thisLast week I judged Adforum's PHNX Tribute Awards, and honestly, it felt more meaningful than any show I've been a part of. Why? Anyone could enter, and it was free. It was multi-disciplined and had entries from all over the world. The talent ranged from the raw to the more polished. Our industry needs more opportunities like this, to make creativity more accessible to all. It was an honor to participate in this online celebration of creativity. Thanks AdForum and Philippe Paget for putting it together!
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John Norman shared thisThanks, Tim Nudd! It was fun talking about creativity, inspiration and how a kid from south Dallas ended up in Chicago. Every day, and particularly now, I feel lucky to work in a community of creative people.2 Minutes With ... John Norman, CCO of Havas Chicago2 Minutes With ... John Norman, CCO of Havas Chicago
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John Norman shared thisAre you doing the best work of your life? The reality is, we don't always do the best work of our lives every day. But we need to try. Here are five questions to ask in order to challenge you and your team to get to great work. #creativity #craft #culture
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John Norman shared thisEarlier this summer, I was honored to be invited to speak to Omid Farhang in his series in partnership with The One Club, Talking to Ourselves. I talked a lot about basketball, Dan Wieden, Goodby, and what my four kids taught me about being a leader #TTOPodcast https://lnkd.in/dH3G7FETalking to Ourselves by Omid Farhang on Apple PodcastsTalking to Ourselves by Omid Farhang on Apple Podcasts
John Norman commented on a post
3mo
Hey Cedric yes and still have the character development the WK team and I created with Pysop. We created a whole brand world around the platform of optimism “Open Happiness”. The Happiness Factory was a creative property that transcended advertising into entertainment. IMHO - Thanks for asking
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John Norman liked thisJohn Norman liked thisThank you to The Clios for having us at the inaugural Clios on Culture to discuss The Business of Taste. My my biggest takeaway is taste should not be treated as elitist, innate, or exclusive. It is something that can be developed. Taste is shaped by experience, education, and ethos: Experience gives us proximity to real people, communities, and cultural moments. Education gives us context through research, listening, history, and deep attention. Ethos is the point of view and value system that helps us decide what is meaningful and worth supporting. Taste is not just about being “in the know.” It is about curiosity, context, discernment, and building with intention. Thankful for the conversation and everyone who made it meaningful.
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John Norman liked thisBeautiful work from our team in China...John Norman liked thisTomorrow marks the start of China’s National Day holiday, and the LEGO® Bloom Exhibition is about to open its doors. As October arrives and the world around us begins to slow down, we wanted to bring a little more color, a little joy, and a little more life into the city. So we hand-built more than 380,000 LEGO® botanical blooms, turning flowers into streams, and streams into waves — flowing out from Tank Shanghai Art Center on Shanghai’s West Bund. All to awaken your joy. The exhibition brings together nearly 1,000 sqm of LEGO® Botanical Wave, a Bloom Gallery inspired by 18 LEGO® Botanical arrangements and the joy of bringing them into our homes, 18 artworks created by artists and AFOLs inspired by LEGO® Botanicals, and interactive experiences where everyone can pick up some bricks and build their own waves of blooms — Where Blooms Begin. If you’re in Shanghai, come experience the joy of creation with us from October 1 to 29 at Tank Shanghai Art Center. Hope to see you in the waves. None of this would have come to life without everyone who built these waves alongside us — our GBD, China Market Group, LMP colleagues, and our amazing OLA team. Annie Boo JingJing Zhang Bebe Wang Beck Deng 刘阿超 Venice Choy Violet Wang Charlene Li Momo Chen Nicole Taylor Carlo Cavallone Thank you for building the impossible with us and making it real. #lego #legobotanicals #awakenyourjoy #乐高开花展
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John Norman liked thisJohn Norman liked thisI remember sharing this with Rich. We had not considered print for the campaign yet. At the time I was a little underwhelmed with how simple it was. And personally, I wanted to sell some more artful concepts. But it sure as heck made me want some milk.
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John Norman liked thisJohn Norman liked this<<available for #freelance handwritten #copy and creative direction>><<<i'd also be delighted with (FT)full-time employment, if such an opportunity exists>>> I'm used to losing wallets, not having them returned. So yesterday was "So Random" Episode_02, special thanks for Kylie Martin 72andSunny for her kind phone call and Stainless Sound and Music for the #music and #sounddesign
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John Norman reacted on thisJohn Norman reacted on thisWhatever happens next, I’m not giving up on creativity. I’m not buying the idea that design has lost its value. And I won’t stop pushing for more people, not fewer, to have the chance to create for a living. The future should be made by more of us.
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John Norman liked thisJohn Norman liked thisAt the 2026 Forbes CMO Summit, Nick Law, creative chairperson at Accenture Song, highlighted the skills that drive effective, meaningful creative work. Presented by Accenture Song
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John Norman liked thisJohn Norman liked thisI had the opportunity to work on Converse while I was at Anomaly . I can confidently say it was the golden age. We had just launched a successful campaign celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Chuck Taylor and we were not slowing down. We had a CMO, Geoff Cottrill who personified the brand's rebel spirit. We found ways of amplifying music and sport which were pillars of the brand's heritage. We had passionate debates on every aspect of every piece of work. When we shot Join the Procession, we started out with an overage. Let's just say the city of NYC didn't want us shooting in Harlem. The pressure was intense. Dr. J, God Shammgod, Kenny Anderson, the skater, Doug E Fresh, Adrian Walton...Jim Jones. lol. We made it all make sense. I remember when we saw the first cut. The room was silent. We all knew something was wrong. It was the music. It felt too gloomy. It was kind of expected. When we tried The White Stripes, "Hello Operator", the room erupted with high fives. It just felt right. We made the business case for licensing the song and we changed the game. We were Nike's little brother but we continued to make work that got Beaverton's attention. Attention. Attention. Attention to detail. That was our secret sauce. We knew the skateboard community was critical. We knew we couldn't make Dr. J look less than the Icon he is. We had to take all of these different categories and put them under one spot; without alienating our consumers. Our diversity, our passion and our love for the brand made that a reality. One Star. https://lnkd.in/g2NxKjGC
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John Norman liked thisJohn Norman liked thisLast weekend I wrapped up my fifth and final Roblox Developers Conference and Roblox Innovation Awards. My first RDC was a few weeks after I joined. The team was tiny, we influenced what we could. Five RDCs later, we hyped the halls and rooms with beautiful art direction, films and design. We put on an award show celebrating the extraordinary people who make things on Roblox - 200K people watched IRL, over 800K players watched on the platform, a couple million more stopped by. RDC and the RIAs feel like a fitting bookend to four years spent building a brand, an identity and a voice - and helping shape how creativity shows up at a company with one of the most creative platforms in the world. I’m proud of what we made. Even prouder of the teams I built, and the brilliant creative minds I brought together. I will miss you all! Now it’s time for a reset. I’m looking forward to hearing myself think again. And then to finding the next crew of raconteurs and brands who believe creativity can help shape their business. No need to comment that you “can’t wait to see what I do next.” I love you. Thank you. But, if you think we could make brilliant things together, reach out. I promise to actually check this inbox. BRB.
Experience & Education
Honors & Awards
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Awards Summary
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John’s career has taken him from Tokyo to Amsterdam to Italy to San Francisco to California to New York. His work has been widely recognized and has won awards including an Emmy, an Emmy nomination, Cannes Grand Prix, Grand Prix Epica Award, The New York Art Directors’ Vision Award, Campaign of the Year and the Top 5 Award, multiple Cannes Lions, Effies and One Show medals, The Japan Nikkei Award, The Russian Grand Effie, Adweek’s Spot of the Year, and has been featured in almost every…
John’s career has taken him from Tokyo to Amsterdam to Italy to San Francisco to California to New York. His work has been widely recognized and has won awards including an Emmy, an Emmy nomination, Cannes Grand Prix, Grand Prix Epica Award, The New York Art Directors’ Vision Award, Campaign of the Year and the Top 5 Award, multiple Cannes Lions, Effies and One Show medals, The Japan Nikkei Award, The Russian Grand Effie, Adweek’s Spot of the Year, and has been featured in almost every advertising and design publication. The “Happiness Factory” campaign for Coca Cola and “Write the Future” for Nike remain two of the most highly-awarded integrated global campaigns ever. John has been a judge in Cannes and all the major awards shows. He has been a guest speaker at the Palais in Cannes International Creativity Festival, the AICP, The One Show and numerous other industry organizations, brands, and universities.
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