Welcome to The Spark—your weekly creative pick-me-up from The Creative Boom Podcast. Each Thursday, we bring you a shorter, snappier episode packed with inspiration, creative news, and practical tips to fuel your creative journey as the week winds down.

This week, we reflect on our conversation with Lisa Smith, global executive creative director at JKR in New York. Lisa was open and honest, sharing her experiences in the creative industry, the challenges faced by women, and the value of hard work. We discussed the importance of community, cultural differences in design, and what it takes to reach the top. If you haven't listened yet, download the episode—it's a brutally honest chat with which many of you will resonate.

For this week's creative news highlights, marketing budgets are on hold. The latest IPA Bellwether Report reveals a pause in UK marketing budget growth due to uncertainty surrounding the upcoming Budget, marking the first stall in 14 quarters.

We also shared cosy games for mental health. Games like Animal Crossing and Pokémon are helping players cope with anxiety and depression, offering a soothing escape and a sense of community.

And Bluesky surges in popularity. Jack Dorsey's decentralised social network, Bluesky, is now a top-five social app following changes at X (formerly Twitter), driving users to seek alternatives.

This week's Spotlight article on Creative Boom tackles a question that many creatives face: where's the best place to work as a creative—agency, in-house, or freelance? It explores the pros and cons of working in these different scenarios. It's a must-read for anyone considering a change or starting out in the industry.

Our Book of the Week is Legal Roadmap for your Creative Business by Kiffanie Stahle. This guide simplifies the legal side of running a creative business, offering clear steps to protect your assets without getting lost in jargon.

Choosing the right fonts can make or break a design. Here's a quick rundown: match the font to the brand's personality, prioritise readability, consider technical aspects, and always test across different media. For more tips, check out the full article on Creative Boom.

On Monday, Kwame Taylor-Hayford, the new D&AD president and co-founder of Kin, will join us. We'll discuss his mission to empower the next generation of creatives, his global upbringing, and the evolving role of creativity in an AI-driven world. We even catch him in a reflective mood and discover some of the things on his mind lately. Don't miss this inspiring conversation.