Creative Commissions
Independent Editorial + Creative Strategy for important creative work — before the shoot, campaign, collaboration, feature or story reaches the audience.
Deegan examines what’s already there, what’s working, what may be missing and where a stronger strategic idea could make the work more distinctive, intentional and worth noticing.
A photograph can be beautiful.
A campaign can be beautifully produced.
A creator can look incredible.
An editorial can be technically perfect.
And the audience can still move right past it.
Deegan looks at the space between beautifully executed and strategically worth noticing.
Anyone responsible for an important piece of creative work that deserves another strategic perspective before it reaches the market.
01Fashion Editorial
02Magazine Feature
03Brand Campaign
04Creator Partnership
05Influencer Campaign
06Photography Concept
07Video Concept
08Lookbook
09Product Story
10Launch Creative
11Advertorial
12Digital Feature
13Print Feature
14Founder Profile
15Social Campaign
16Branded Content
17Creative Collaboration
18Campaign Pitch
19Major Content Moment
Creative execution carries real investment
The strategic question is not simply:
“Can we make this?”
It is:
“Is this the right thing to make?”
Deegan creates a moment to answer that question before significantly more time, money and attention are committed to execution.
Unexamined
The brief becomes the execution. The team produces. The work launches.
The risk: assumptions remain assumptions. Opportunities may remain unseen. Questions that could have strengthened the work are never asked.
The cost isn’t necessarily failure. Sometimes it’s something more expensive — a significant investment producing work people simply don’t remember.
Well-executed
The photography is strong. The talent is right. The production is polished. The deliverables are complete.
The work may be objectively good. But execution and strategy are not the same thing.
Beautiful execution cannot compensate for an idea that isn’t distinctive enough to matter.
Strategically directed
The creative has an intentional role. The audience is considered. The brand is present without becoming predictable. The idea has a reason to exist.
Every specialist can execute against a clearer strategic direction. The result is creative with a stronger opportunity to:
These are strategic opportunities, not guaranteed outcomes. No strategy can promise attention.
Each perspective matters.
Deegan enters without responsibility for executing any one of them. That independence creates room to ask a different question:
What would make the whole thing stronger?
Creative Commissions
Independent strategic direction for a single piece of important creative work.
Public pricing
Commissions from $1,500
Scope is determined by the complexity, stage and scale of the work. Three levels sit inside the commission.
Level 01
From $1,500
Best when
The work or concept already exists and you want an independent strategic perspective before moving forward.
The client submits existing materials. Deegan reviews the work and provides focused strategic perspective and recommendations.
Appropriate for
Outcome
A clearer understanding of what’s working, what deserves protection, what may be missing and what could strengthen the final work.
This is not a complete brand strategy.
Level 02
From $5,000
Best when
The creative is still being shaped and strategic direction can influence what gets produced.
Deegan reviews the available context, brief, brand direction, audience and creative thinking before execution is finalized.
This represents greater strategic involvement than Creative Review, because Deegan is contributing before the work is fully formed.
Outcome
A concise Editorial Direction establishing the strategic idea and creative priorities that should guide production.
Level 03
From $10,000
Typical commissions may extend to $20,000+ depending on complexity.
Best when
The creative moment involves multiple assets, channels, stakeholders or significant production investment.
Deegan examines how the larger creative idea should hold together before execution.
Outcome
A more comprehensive strategic direction designed to guide the creative system surrounding the campaign or editorial moment.
If the need expands beyond one creative or campaign ecosystem into a broader brand or business question, the appropriate route is The Strategic Focus or Brand + Creative Strategy.
Perfect isn’t required. Context is.
Depending on the commission, clients may submit any of the following. Not every item is required.
Issued as a document, not a deck. Depending on scope, it may address the following.
Sometimes the work is good. It simply could have been more.
More distinctive. More connected. More memorable. More intentional. More strategically useful to the brand.
When significant money and talent are already being invested in execution, the cost of another perspective can be small compared with the cost of discovering the missed opportunity after the work is finished.
No strategy can guarantee attention, sales, press, engagement or cultural relevance. But stronger strategic thinking can improve the conditions for all of them.
Note — Notes from the House
The difference between content and creative worth remembering may be one question nobody asked.
Give the work another perspective.
Not sure whether your project is a Creative Commission or a Strategic Engagement? Tell us what you’re working on. We’ll point you in the right direction.