Interview: Alberto Ponte & Ryan O'Rourke

Method Studio is a community-funded, independent project. Every dollar from memberships goes into more interviews, more articles, and keeping things running. If $5/month feels like a stretch, click here for alternative ways to get full access.

At the time of this interview, Alberto Ponte and Ryan O’Rourke are founders and CCOs at Someplace, in Los Angeles. Before opening their own shop, they led the Nike global team at W+K for over a decade, where, according to Fast Company, they have made some of the best Nike ads for almost 20 years.

Here are a few campaigns they worked on, either as creatives or as creative directors: Nike: Find Your Greatness • Nike: Dream Crazy • Nike: You Can’t Stop Us • Nike: Seen It All (Directed and Starred by Spike Lee) • Nike: Risk Everything • Nike: Fate (Directed by David Fincher) • Nike: Human Chain

---

Table of Contents

This interview is organized into 5 core parts. Here’s what we covered:

Part 1. Foundations & Mindset

(00:11) Alberto’s Creative Call
(01:16) Ryan’s Creative Call
(03:37) On Dealing with Failure
(05:45) A Hack To Deal With Pressure
(06:44) On Competition
(08:19) Discipline Gives You Peace of Mind
(09:47) On Insecurity
(11:16) A Hack to Deal With Insecurity
(12:26) On Insecurity Burn-Out
(14:32) Work With Who Are Better Than You

Part 2. Concepting

(16:49) On Briefs
(19:20) First 24 Hours Tackling The Brief
(20:09) On Working With References
(21:43) On Creating Volume
(22:20) Ideating Hack: Do The Opposite
(23:27) Ideating Hack: Say The Obvious
(24:52) Ideas Are Like Charming People
(25:39) On Quick Turnaround
(26:57) On Brain Farts
(28:16) Will Anyone Care About That?
(28:44) On Deadlines

Part 3. Craft

(30:35) On Manifestos
(31:56) From a Manifesto To “Jogger”
(34:04) The Role Of Chance In Jogger
(35:15) On Pushing For The Right Casting
(37:10) Craft It To The Extreme
(40:05) The Craft Behind “You Can’t Stop Us”
(41:55) On “Dream Crazy” & Not Giving Up
(46:42) Crafting The Music On “Human Chain”
(48:27) On Crafting The Music
(51:16) When The Song Leads The Script
(53:15) What To Look For In a Treatment
(56:53) “Best Athlete Ever” & Limited Budget
(58:46) Point Of View Vs. Craft

Part 4. Presenting Work

(59:40) On Presenting Work
(01:00:35) The Right Number Of Ideas To Present
(01:02:43) On Presenting “Human Chain”
(01:06:13) On Presenting “Jogger”
(01:06:58) On Presenting “Dream Crazy”
(01:08:15) The Risk Of Presenting Too Well

Part 5. Creative Direction & Leadership

(01:09:21) The Role Of a Creative Director
(01:13:27) Fast Decisions In Creative Reviews
(01:14:33) Tricks When Reviewing Work
(01:17:26) What To Look For In a Creative Review
(01:18:55) One Vs. Many Teams Ina Project
(01:22:01) On Portfolios & Hiring Creatives
(01:25:39) Getting On The Client’s Team
(01:27:26) What Makes a Good Client
(01:29:32) Make Meetings To Push Meetings
(01:30:22) Note On Pushing Meetings

---

Sneak Peeks

---

Recommendation

If you like this interview, you’ll probably also like this one too:

Pedro Izique worked with Alberto and Ryan for years at Wieden+Kennedy Portland. Pedro’s approach to art and creative direction led him to win dozens of awards at the most prestigious creativity festivals in the world and drove him to make some of Nike's most iconic work.

---

Help Yourself By Helping Others Help Themselves

Use the referral button bellow (or the “Share” button on any article) to share our content with friends. Every new subscriber—free or paid—counts toward your rewards:

• Get a 1 month for free for 3 referrals

• Get a 3 month for free for 6 referrals

• Get a 6 month for free for 12 referrals

---

Share Your Thoughts With Us

All feedback on how we can make these interviews better is highly appreciated. Don’t hesitate to get in touch. Thanks!