Collaboration Leaves Room for Authorship
A shared project can hold several distinct contributions. I want to hear how the partnership worked and which decisions each person shaped, with enough detail to appreciate both the individual and the people around them.
I always pay attention to the moment a creative switches from “we made this” to explaining the part they actually shaped. Neither story should come at the expense of the other.
A campaign might begin with a writer and art director finding the idea together, then branch into a dozen decisions about voice, imagery, timing, and production. I'd love to hear how the partnership worked, where each person took the lead, and which decisions needed both of them in the room.
There's a funny pressure in portfolio conversations to either claim the whole thing or minimize your contribution so you don't sound self-important. Neither helps someone understand how you work.
Good collaboration makes room for individual authorship. When people can speak generously about their teammates and clearly about their own decisions, the work becomes much easier to appreciate on its own terms.
Three Questions About Shared Work
Use one collaborative project to describe the relationship between the shared idea and the decisions you personally shaped.
What did you develop together? Explain where the idea began and which conversations or discoveries depended on more than one perspective.
Where did you take the lead? Name the choices you owned and show how they affected the work. Be specific about where another person led.
How did the partnership change the result? Describe a contribution from someone else that influenced your thinking or helped the project become stronger.