MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Thomas Hong-tack Kim, Chief Creative Officer of Paulus, and one of Korea’s top creative minds, graced the ONE Asia x adobo Magazine Masterclass stage on October 14, 2024, at the Ayala Museum in Makati.
Organized by The One Club for Creativity and adobo Magazine, the event was a great learning opportunity for young creatives in the Philippines at the inaugural masterclass.
Key takeaways from Thomas Hong-tack Kim
In his talk, Thomas has indeed initiated a profound exploration of creativity, technology, and its synthesis. He began by posing the question, “What is creativity?” where he defined it as “everything to make something happen.”
Thomas highlighted two reactions to technology: “You either feel fear or delight.” He further explained how human development struggles to keep up due to our inherent biological limitations, which, according to him, remain rooted in our hunter-gatherer past.
“So what will fill this huge gap? Creativity,” Thomas expressed.
The alchemy of technology and creativity
Totally aligning himself to the title of his talk, Thomas defined the “alchemy of technology and creativity” by synthesizing his own definition together with a response generated by ChatGPT. “It’s […] a chemical transformation – just like how ancient alchemists tried to turn different substances into gold. The mission of creators is to produce gold. It’s about the fusion of technology and creativity, creating those ‘wow moments’ that feel like magic.”
Thomas reminded the audience: “Technology, in its essence, remains a mere tool. It is only when infused with creativity that it transcends its functional state and transforms into a magical solution.” He presented case studies such as the “Last Leaf” music video for OK GO created together with Samsung (2010), along with the Going Home (2016) and Nano Cooling Film (2024) campaigns for Hyundai Motor Group.
Furthermore, he underscored the importance of going beyond capitalist-oriented values, telling the crowd to think of social purpose and values like diversity, inclusion, and equity in today’s creative landscape.
“What truly matters is how we wisely harness technology for sustained social impact, and that is where creativity plays its pivotal role. The best approach is to wisely utilize existing technology for agile solutions,” he stressed.
Referencing “Mad Men,” Thomas concluded his talk with a motivating reminder for creatives to become “Math Men” in the age of creative solutions; harnessing logic, creativity, and technology.
adobo Magazine is an official media partner of ONE Asia and The One Club for Creativity.
The ONE Asia x adobo magazine Masterclass was made possible by the generous support of sponsors Yellow Brick Road Productions, Soundesign Manila – Audio Production House, and Meta.
Special thanks to our organization partner, Ayala Foundation, Inc., for providing the venue for this event.The One Club for Creativity – home of The One Show, ADC Annual Awards, Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE) awards, ONE Asia Awards, Type Directors Club and competition, TDC Ascenders, Young Guns, Young Ones Student Awards, Next Creative Leaders, ONE Screen Short Film Festival, and more – is the world’s foremost non-profit organization whose mission is to support and celebrate the global creative community. Revenue generated from entries to its global awards shows goes back into the industry to fund programming under the organization’s four pillars: Education, Inclusion & Diversity, Gender Equality, and Creative Development.
