‘Don’t underestimate value of the arts’
Prudent to nurture talent in preparation for creative economy
I WAS dismayed to read about the financial troubles facing Goldsmiths, University of London, reported in a recent Times Higher Education article (Deficit-hit Goldsmiths ‘at sharp end of financialisation of HE’, Jan 11, 2022).
Although the financial challenges facing many universities are nothing new, this comes at a time when governments seem to be prioritising science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at the expense of arts and humanities – areas where institutions such as Goldsmiths are largely focused on.
Perhaps not surprisingly, there is also a general perception that students who study NON-STEM subjects have poorer career prospects than their STEM counterparts.
While there may be some element of truth in this depending on how one presents the statistics, such a simplistic delineation between the sciences and the arts is sorely misguided in the modern, interdisciplinary world in which we now live.
Indeed, there are several trends that suggest the creative industries will play a larger role in economic development moving forward.
Content is king
Netflix would not be where it is today without the creative talent that went into producing its original content.
It was shows like Stranger Things, House of Cards and Narcos that really drew in the millions of Netflix subscribers, not the high-tech streaming platform per se, and it will be the continuous flow of fresh and relevant content that will be the key to sustaining Netflix’s success.
Similarly, Disney’s fortunes have been built around its library of appealing and commercially lucrative content such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which has generated billions of dollars in revenue for the company and is now arguably the crown jewel at the centrepiece of the company’s strategy.
But content is king not only for big companies, but also for the smaller players too, such as the millions of content creators that power Youtube.
Creating compelling content requires significant creative talent and, in some cases, large teams of creative individuals.
Design sells
We are in an age where the expectations of the modern consumer are such that poorly designed or aesthetically unappealing products are almost certainly doomed to fail.
Indeed, Apple would not be the monstrous trillion-dollar success it has become without the obsessive focus on design imbued by its much-admired founder Steve Jobs.
In a nutshell, good design sells, and companies cannot afford not to place design at the forefront of the product development process.
So, not only do we need the engineering capability to build products, but also the creative talent to conceive how those products will look and feel.
User experience matters
The world’s going digital – websites and mobile apps are becoming the de facto channels through which companies engage with current and prospective customers.
Retail banking is an obvious example, where in most developed countries, the need for physical bank branches is fast disappearing.
But there’s a lot more to digital transformation than just getting the information technology (IT) folks to build an application.
Users today expect their digital experience to be one that is seamless, effortless, and even enjoyable.
This means companies must pay close attention to user experience design and create user interfaces that are not only functional, but also beautifully and thoughtfully crafted.
There’s now a burgeoning demand for UX (user experience) professionals with both the creative and technical skills required to deliver such user experiences.
In conjunction, we’ve seen a movement towards “design thinking” where the most innovative companies are inventing new products and services around the user experience, rather than traditional product and service silos.
NFTS are coming
The marketplace for digital art is witnessing phenomenal growth with the advent of non-fungible tokens (NFTS).
An artist known as “Beeple” recently sold an NFT of his digital artwork for a mind-boggling Usd$69mil (Rm289mil) at reputed auctioneer Christie’s.
Although some may dismiss NFTS as a fad, an increasing plethora of artists and sports companies, including the National Basketball Association in the United States, see NFTS as a means of creating digital assets.
The signs are that NFTS will become the de facto standard by which digital works of art, in whatever format, will be bought and sold. This will open up new markets and exchanges, expand the creative industry and provide an array of opportunities for those with creative talent.
Gaming is big business
Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnite and League of Legends are games that most youngsters in Malaysia will be familiar with.
Gaming is a global business – Microsoft recently acquired games company Activision Blizzard for a whopping Usd$68.7bil (Rm288bil), and new developments in online gaming, mobile gaming and virtual reality add fuel to an industry that is already larger than movies and sports combined, and yet poised to expand further.
Developing games to a professional standard requires teams of creative people working on graphics, character design, music, sound effects, gameplay, motion and other aspects.
Several universities now offer undergraduate degrees in gaming design, and we can only expect the demand for such graduates to rise.
AI and automated engineering
While technical talent such as software engineers will always be in high demand, artificial intelligence (AI) tools will gradually automate much of the back-end engineering work.
The prevalence of no-code and low-code platforms, for example, allows those without programming knowledge to create sophisticated IT applications.
Even today, no-code platforms such as Shopify allow business owners to create a fully functional online store in a matter of a few clicks without any technical hassle.
The increasing automation of such engineering work will permit greater attention on more value-added creative innovation.
Independent artists and creative entrepreneurs
We are at a point where many young people are exploring career paths as independent artists and entrepreneurs as an alternative to the typical corporate career.
Such individuals are more motivated in applying their creative talent in work they are genuinely interested in versus a typical nine-to-five job.
Forbes estimates that Mr Beast, one of the world’s most-popular Youtubers, earned a cool Usd$54mil Rm226mil) in 2021.
While such astronomical earnings are few and far between, there are countless creators now earning a decent living from Youtube, online courses and online marketplaces such as Etsy.
Whereas perhaps 10 years ago such alternative career paths would have been wishful thinking, today they offer a viable and rewarding career for those with creative talent and entrepreneurial flair.
In conclusion, in an age of increasing technology and automation, the new economy will be one where creativity shines.
Creative talent, in its various guises, will power the next waves of innovation and economic growth.
Rather than viewing STEM as separate from the arts, it is where the two overlap and entwine that offer the most promise and potential.
Prof Wing Lam is the provost and chief executive officer at University of Reading Malaysia, an international branch campus of University of Reading, United Kingdom. He has held a variety of academic positions in Malaysia, Singapore and the UK. Prof Wing completed his PHD in computer science at King’s College London in 1994. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles and journals. His current areas of research interest include technology and innovation. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.