WDW Magazine April 2016 - Disney's Hollywood Studios | Page 107

AN INTERVIEW
IMAGINEER
JOE RHODE
INTERVIEW BY GAVIN DOYLE,

This month, we are pleased to bring you an
interview with one of the most famous
Imagineers of our time - Joe Rhode - the man
behind Animal Kingdom, Aulani, and more!
Gavin– So Joe, what does your current
position of ‘creative director’ mean at
Imagineering?

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DISNEYDOSE.COM

Joe– A creative director becomes less of a
designer. This is a big split actually in people’s career paths. A director has to learn how to make use of other
people: of their decisions, of their vision, of their creative preferences; how to coordinate all that towards a
common vision. But a director is not any longer really a designer. You have to kind of step away from design
a little bit and be able to articulate a vision in a way that other people can share it. So that they are the
designers, and they have room to design, they have room for their own opinions, they have room for the
things they would like to do, and yet, all those things are consistent with what you want to do.