🎬 Creative Director Skill

May 1, 2026 · View on GitHub

Created in collaboration with Paul Deadcough.

An AI creative director that generates advertising concepts using world-class methodologies, scores them against Cannes/D&AD-calibrated criteria, recursively refines until the quality threshold is reached, and calibrates every idea against a library of 571 legendary campaigns to detect saturation and ensure originality.

Not a brainstorming toy. A structured creative process that mirrors how top agencies (Droga5, Wieden+Kennedy, Mother) actually work — insight before ideas, methodology over free association, honest evaluation over flattery, calibration against the canon over invention from zero.

What's New in v2.0

571-case library with full Insight / Mechanic / Why-it-worked / Steal structure on every card
17-axis frontmatter schema — every card tagged across pattern (P01-P18), industry, format, emotion (Tier 1/2/3), budget, idea_type (Pollard 7-level), awards, and more
6 MOCs (Maps of Content) for fast lookup by pattern, emotion, format, industry, budget, and chronological index
4-point case library integration in workflow — priming before generation, originality empirical cap, RESTART case-soaking, pattern calibration before exit
3 maintenance scripts (Python via uv) — schema validation, MOC generation, graph wikilinks
Pollard 7-level idea taxonomy replacing the previous 3-level system
3-tier emotion hierarchy with 30+ specific emotion values
Activation toolkit with 9 formats and the Non-advertising vs Execution test
Pre-Mortem template before final delivery

Quality reviewed via skill-conductor: 41/50 production-grade (Discovery 7/10, Clarity 9/10, Efficiency 7/10, Robustness 8/10, Completeness 10/10).

What It Does

Feed it a brief in any format — text, voice transcript, PDF, raw notes — and it runs a full creative cycle:

INTAKE — extracts the brief's DNA: product, audience, objectives, constraints + classifies the required idea level using Pollard 7-level taxonomy (business / brand / tagline / advertising / campaign / non_advertising / execution)
INSIGHT — mines consumer insights using 7 proven techniques (Mark Pollard, JTBD, Tension Spotting, HMW, Abstraction Laddering)
IDEATION — primes against the canon (scans 5-7 cases from the relevant MOC), then generates 8-12 ideas using 3 methods from different categories (structural × associative × disruptive), rotating between 20+ methodologies, with a Tension test on each
EVALUATE + REFINE — scores against 6 weighted criteria + HumanKind + Grey Scale, then recursively improves; Originality is capped empirically by case-library saturation (3+ canonical cases of the same mechanic → cap at 7); when stuck, RESTARTs through case-soaking (read 8-12 canonical cards, remix allowed); Pattern Calibration + Pre-Mortem before exit
ARTICULATE — outputs in a presentation-ready format (one-pager, top-3, campaign platform, or quick response)

You can also enter at any phase: jump to insight mining, evaluate an existing idea, or generate concepts from a known insight.

Why This Exists

Most AI "creative" tools generate ideas by free association — producing volume without structure. The result: hundreds of mediocre concepts that nobody can evaluate, often unknowingly recycling work that already exists.

This skill enforces the discipline that separates award-winning work from filler:

Insight-first — no ideation without a validated consumer tension
Structural methods — SIT, TRIZ, SCAMPER, Bisociation, Synectics, not "give me 10 ideas"
Empirical originality — every idea is checked against 571 real campaigns; if 3+ canonical cases use the same mechanic, originality is capped, not subjectively claimed
Honest scoring — calibrated against real Cannes winners, with anti-inflation rules
Recursive refinement — weak criteria get targeted improvement using different methods each pass
Case-soaking on plateau — when ideas plateau, the skill reads 8-12 canonical cards to re-train its sense for what a strong insight feels like; combining/remixing existing patterns is explicitly allowed (this is how Cannes-grade work is built)
Kill Your Darlings — the skill argues against its own favorite ideas to test their strength
Pre-Mortem — before delivery, simulates failure and surfaces the most likely failure modes

What's Inside

creative-director/
├── SKILL.md                                  # Core skill — phase router + 5-phase workflow
├── assets/
│   └── output-templates.md                   # 4 presentation formats
├── scripts/                                  # Python via uv (PEP 723 inline deps)
│   ├── validate_schema.py                    # Frontmatter validation against tag-schema
│   ├── generate_mocs.py                      # Builds 6 MOCs from cards
│   └── generate_links.py                     # Adds Related sections (idempotent)
└── references/
    ├── tag-schema.md                         # Single source of truth — 17-axis frontmatter contract
    ├── idea-taxonomy.md                      # Pollard 7-level taxonomy
    ├── emotion-hierarchy.md                  # Tier 1/2/3 + 30+ specific emotion values
    ├── activation-toolkit.md                 # 9 activation formats + Non-ad vs Execution test
    ├── legendary-patterns.md                 # P01-P18 mechanics + Pre-Mortem template
    ├── methods-catalog.md                    # 20 creative methodologies as executable cards
    ├── method-selection-matrix.md            # Task → method routing + rotation rules
    ├── insight-mining.md                     # 7 insight discovery techniques
    ├── scoring-calibration.md                # Detailed rubrics + calibration anchors
    ├── creative-constitution.md              # 3-layer evaluation system + feedback rules
    ├── storytelling-frameworks.md            # 6 narrative frameworks for advertising
    └── legendary-campaigns/                  # 571-case library
        ├── README.md                         # Library guide
        ├── MOC-index.md                      # All 571 cards by year DESC
        ├── MOC-pattern.md                    # Grouped by P01–P18 (18 mechanics)
        ├── MOC-emotion.md                    # Grouped by emotion_tier (3 → 2 → 1)
        ├── MOC-format.md                     # Grouped by category (film/integrated/stunt_pr/...)
        ├── MOC-industry.md                   # Grouped by industry vertical
        ├── MOC-budget.md                     # Grouped by budget (low/medium/high)
        └── cards/                            # 571 individual cards (flat namespace)
            └── {id}.md

Case Library

571 advertising campaigns from 1950–2025, tagged across 17 axes, with full structural analysis on every card.

Card structure

Each card has YAML frontmatter (17 axes — see references/tag-schema.md) + 4 sections:

Insight — the human truth the campaign exploits (one sentence)
Mechanic — what was actually executed
Why it worked — psychological / cultural / structural reason
Steal — pattern-level borrow strategy
Related — auto-generated wikilinks (pattern hub + 2 sibling cards + emotion match)

Tag schema (17 axes)

id, title, brand, agency, year, country, region, industry, pattern[] (P01–P18), category, idea_type (Pollard 7-level), involvement, channel, duration, goal[], budget, emotion[], emotion_tier (1/2/3), insight_domain, media_epoch, awards[], quality_score (HumanKind 1–10), scalability, risk.

18 patterns (P01–P18)

Format as Idea · Enemy or Conflict · Behavior Inversion · Brand as Activist · Cultural Hijack · Limitation as Power · Invisible Brand · Craft as Message · User as Co-Author · Serialization & Ritual · Absurd as Carrier · Social Experiment · Truth Telling · Product as Proof · Benefit Hyperbole · Long-form Drama · Design as Idea · Tech as Canvas

Lookup strategies

# Browse by axis — open the matching MOC
# Each line has inline-context (brand · year · format · emotion · budget · top_award)

# Filter by combination — ripgrep on frontmatter
rg -l "^budget: low$" cards/ | xargs rg -l "^emotion_tier: 3$"

# All P11 cases since 2020
rg -l "P11" cards/ | xargs rg -l "^year: 202"

# All canonical cases for QSR
rg -l "^industry: qsr$" cards/ | xargs rg -l "^quality: canonical$"

Saturation map (originality pressure)

Pattern	Saturation	Originality cap
P11 (Absurd as Carrier), P16 (Long-form Drama), P09 (User as Co-Author)	high (>50 cases)	≤6 unless structurally new variant
P02, P10, P12, P14, P18	medium	≤7 if 3+ canonical use same mechanic
P01, P15	low	room for novelty

This is empirical saturation, not subjective novelty.

Methodologies (20+)

Category	Methods
Structural	SIT/Goldenberg Templates, SCAMPER, TRIZ (10 principles), Morphological Analysis
Association	Bisociation, Random Entry, Forced Connections, Synectics
Inversion	Reverse Brainstorming, Worst Possible Idea, Provocation PO
Perturbation	Oblique Strategies, Six Thinking Hats, Disney Creative Strategy
Volume	Crazy 8s, Brainwriting 6-3-5, Starbursting
Bonus	First Principles Thinking, Lateral Thinking Toolkit, Design Sprint Sketch

Evaluation System

Three parallel scoring systems calibrated against real campaigns:

6 Weighted Criteria — Originality (0.25, empirically capped by case library), Strategic Fit (0.20), Emotional Response (0.20, Tier 1/2/3 hierarchy), Feasibility (0.15), Scalability (0.10), Simplicity (0.10)
HumanKind Scale (Leo Burnett) — 1-10, from "Destructive" to "Changes the World"
Grey Scale (Grey Group) — 1-10, from "Toxic" to "Best in the World"

Anti-inflation rules: batch control, normal distribution enforcement, real analogues test, specificity test, time test, empirical saturation cap from case library.

Idea Taxonomy (Pollard 7-level)

Level	When required	Lifespan
`business`	new venture, repositioning the entire company	years
`brand`	rebranding, brand platform — "what does the brand stand for?"	5–10+ years
`tagline`	short phrase that crystallizes brand idea	5–10+ years
`advertising`	central thought across all comms — recognizable without logo	3–5 years
`campaign`	seasonal campaign, product launch, promo	3–12 months
`non_advertising`	activation/utility/cultural object that lives without ads	varies
`execution`	one-off channel/format/mechanic	days–weeks

Activation diagnostic: if brief mentions activation/stunt/utility — apply the test "remove the campaign, does it still have meaning?" → Yes = non_advertising / No = execution.

Emotion Hierarchy (Tier 1/2/3)

Tier 1 (forgettable): happy, sad, angry, afraid → score ≤ 6
Tier 2 (memorable): nostalgic, defiant, proud, ironic, etc. → score 6–8
Tier 3 (greatness): bittersweet pride, ironic sincerity, vulnerable defiance, etc. → score 8–10
Score 9+ requires Tier 3.

How Recursion Works

Generate ideas (3 methods, 8-12 ideas, primed against canon)
        ↓
Tension test on each idea
        ↓
Score top 3 (6 criteria + HumanKind + Grey, originality capped by saturation)
        ↓
    Score ≥ 9? ──→ YES → Pattern Calibration + Pre-Mortem → Output
        ↓ NO
Identify weak criteria → Apply different method → Rescore
        ↓
    Plateau? ──→ YES → RESTART via case-soaking
        ↓             (read 8-12 canonical cards, remix allowed)
        ↓ NO
    Continue refinement
        ↓
    5 passes? ──→ YES → Output best + honest assessment

Storytelling Frameworks

Story Spine (Pixar) · Sparkline (Nancy Duarte) · Freytag's Pyramid · Monroe's Motivated Sequence · Pixar Rules · Hero's Journey (StoryBrand)

Installation

Claude Code (recommended)

git clone https://github.com/smixs/creative-director-skill.git
cp -r creative-director-skill/creative-director ~/.claude/skills/

After installation, restart Claude Code session (/clear or new session) to pick up the skill.

Claude Projects

Add the files to your Claude Project's knowledge base. Upload all files from creative-director/ — SKILL.md is the entry point, it references other files via [[wikilinks]].

Other AI Agents (Cursor, Windsurf, GPT, Gemini)

The skill works with any AI agent that supports structured instructions — the core logic is in markdown files, no platform lock-in. Copy the creative-director/ folder to your project or skills directory.

Maintenance Scripts

Three Python scripts (run via uv run, PEP 723 inline deps — no manual setup):

cd creative-director
uv run scripts/validate_schema.py        # Validate all card frontmatter
uv run scripts/generate_mocs.py          # Rebuild 6 MOCs from cards
uv run scripts/generate_links.py         # Rebuild Related sections (idempotent)

Run pipeline: edit/add cards → validate → regenerate MOCs → regenerate links.

Usage Examples

Full creative cycle:

"Come up with a campaign for [brand]. Target audience: [who]. Budget: [range]. Channels: [where]."

Insight mining:

"Find a consumer insight for [category]. The brief says [context]."

Evaluate an existing idea:

"Evaluate this concept: [description]. The brief objective was [goal]."

Activation / non-advertising:

"Need a PR-stunt for [brand]. Low budget, must drive earned media in a week. Not a campaign — a one-shot activation."

Quick ideation:

"Need 5 concepts for [brand] social media posts about [topic]."

What It's Not For

Media planning or budget allocation
Production management
Brand identity / logo design
Final copywriting (it generates concepts, not polished copy)
Market research data collection
Brand positioning warmaps (use a dedicated positioning skill)

Limitations & Honest Notes

Auto-trigger in claude -p mode is unreliable. This is an advisory skill — when invoked through one-shot CLI, the model often answers creative briefs directly without consulting it. For consistent behavior in interactive sessions, invoke explicitly or share a detailed brief (>500 chars with structure).
571 source URLs are unverified. Library was built from public award-show indexes; verify links manually before citing in client work.
12 cards have confidence: low with verification_required: true — these should be cross-checked against external sources. The skill prefers quality: canonical cards for calibration.
Library is static. New campaigns from 2026+ are not auto-added; periodic manual extension required.

Credits

Created in collaboration with Paul Deadcough.

Built on methodologies from: Jacob Goldenberg (SIT), Genrich Altshuller (TRIZ), Edward de Bono (Lateral Thinking, Six Hats, PO), Arthur Koestler (Bisociation), William Gordon (Synectics), Brian Eno (Oblique Strategies), Nancy Duarte (Sparkline), Joseph Campbell / Donald Miller (Hero's Journey / StoryBrand), Leo Burnett (HumanKind), Mark Pollard (Strategy + 7-level Taxonomy), Clayton Christensen (JTBD).

Creative Constitution based on the Voskresensky/IKRA approach.

Case library curated from D&AD, Cannes Lions, One Show, Webby, and Effie shortlists 1950–2025.

License

MIT — use it, fork it, make better ads.