Trade Tips from one of the country's leading creative agencies
If you think doing consistently great creative work inevitably leads to long hours, chaos and burnout, we have just one thing to say:

Rethink.

Rethink your priorities.

Rethink your approach. And rethink your product in the process.

Rethink is a one-word business plan for any company in the creative arts - from advertising, to design, to publishing, architecture or software development.

Rethink is also one of the world's most consistently awarded advertising and design agencies. Headquartered far off the beaten track in Vancouver, Rethink has been radically breaking rules for two decades, proving that you can do work that gets the world's attention, without sacrificing efficiency and a balanced life.

Now, for the first time, Rethink offers you a how-to manual of their 55 best tools for creating a sustainable, successful creative culture - tools that will help you inspire your people, boost your bottom line and take your creative product to the next level. Tried, true, constantly tweaked and consistently proven, these tools are simple and effective ways to inspire teams, boost creativity and cut through the bullshit at every stage of the process. Rethink's step-by-step plan is radical, refreshing and relatable to any business striving for creative excellence.

Ian Grais' profile page

Tom Shepansky's profile page

Chris Staples' profile page

IAN GRAIS was born and raised in Western Canada. He studied economics at the University of British Columbia and then advertising and design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, prior to founding Rethink in 1999 with partners Tom Shepansky and Chris Staples. Ian has been ranked the number one art director and also the number one creative director (with Rethink co-creative director Chris Staples) in the country for the past decade. At Rethink Ian creates and directs a wide range of projects encompassing design, interactive, installation and advertising. Ian has served on the jury of many industry award shows, including the ANDYs, Cannes, the CLIOs, Communication Arts, D&AD, and the One Show. Currently Ian serves on the Board of Directors for the Vancouver Urbanarium Society as well as the Professional Advisory Board for the Photography program at Sheridan College in Ontario.

TOM SHEPANSKY grew up in Edmonton and studied marketing at NAIT and the University of Alberta. After gaining experience at two Edmonton agencies, Tom moved to Vancouver to work at Palmer Jarvis, where he advanced to the role of director of client services. In 1999, Tom founded Rethink with his two creative partners, Chris and Ian. At Rethink, Tom helps drive the strategic process in both Vancouver and Toronto. With his help, clients get the right strategy that ultimately leads to the best creative idea. Tom also manages the business side of the business--negotiating contracts and ensuring the agency delivers on those contracts. On top of that, he plays a leadership role within the account service, production, administration and accounting groups, and also provides direction on IT and finance. In his spare time, he loves to play with his kids, Nolan and Julia, and travel with his wife, Roxanne. He also enjoys cycling, fly-fishing, golfing, cooking, and relaxing on Salt Spring Island.

CHRIS STAPLES is one of Canada's leading creative thinkers. In fact, since 1997, he has been named the number one creative director in the country an unprecedented nine times (including 2015, with co-creative director Ian Grais). Chris has an honours degree in journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa. He started his career in Edmonton, before moving to Vancouver in 1990 as a writer with Palmer Jarvis (now DDB). Three years later he was creative director, helping lead that shop to three Agency of the Year titles in five years. In 1999, Chris started Rethink with Ian Grais and Tom Shepansky. He splits his time between Vancouver, Toronto and Montréal, working on high-level strategy and creative direction on a wide variety of accounts. Chris has won a slew of national and international awards, and has served as a judge at Cannes (twice), the Clios (twice), the One Show, D&AD and the Communications Arts Annual. In his spare time he travels incessantly and watches far too much reality television.