Intro

It’s hard to talk about superhero movies without mentioning The Avengers. It was an unprecedented crossover event onscreen that totally reshaped the cinema world. It also goes without saying that it’s the first thing that comes to mind when even thinking about collaboration. Individually, they’re all very capable heroes and together, when they’re not at each other’s throats, an even more capable team, able to take on so much more. Fury brought together the Avengers for that very reason.

“The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to to fight the battles that we never could.”

Over the course of several movies, they took on aliens, robots that sounded like James Spader, and titans who snapped away half the universe. Although they butt heads and try to do things their own way, once they work together and emphasize each other’s strengths, they win the day.

Creating can be a big, lonely undertaking occasionally even bigger than taking on Thanos on your own. Sometimes you can get through on your own but everyone can benefit from a little help from time to time. Whether you’re taking on a small project or a massive one, it helps to know how to assemble your team. Here’s what you should consider when finding collaborators.

What Makes a Good Team?

A good team is not just a bunch of people you like working with, though that helps. The key is to pick the right people with a variety of strengths and specialties. Like the Avengers, you may not get along. In fact, it might help to have someone to disagree with. Cap & Tony butt heads all the time and constantly bring out the best in each other.

The secret to putting together a good team is to know exactly what you need. The best way to do that is to know yourself and your capabilities. The more honest you are with yourself, the better your team will be.

Pick Your Team

Let’s break down the heroes in a way that feels like it’s a quiz from a teen magazine, but it isn’t. Though if someone wants to make a quiz, I’d be all over that and would like to think I’m a Cap. Like most personality “quizzes” not everyone will perfectly resemble one character and some may fit multiple. I should also note that a perfect team may not have every Avenger represented, it all depends on what the needs of your team and project are.

Captain America

The Cap of your creative crew will serve as your moral compass of sorts. They’ll keep you on track and make sure that you keep the heart and soul of your project in mind with every decision you make. Ideally, this person will have been around the creative block a time or two so they’re likely to offer some inspiration in dire moments and even serve as a mentor type.

Iron Man

An Iron Man type will very likely know a lot of things about a lot of things and if they don’t know it, they’ll learn about it overnight. They might have a big personality and have a rockstar vibe but they’re an endless supply of makeshift ideas when you’re in a pinch. Bonus points if they’re a tech person that has a gadget or app for just about anything. 

Thor

So you probably don’t know a literal god of thunder (if you do, you have cooler friends than I do) but that doesn’t mean you can’t find someone similar for your team. Having someone like Thor by your side means that you’ll have someone who can inspire confidence in you before a daunting task. This person can be a heavy hitter, able to knock out takes or get things done with ease. A Thor for your group could be a friend to all, staying loyal and finding the best in everyone unless they threaten the goals of a project. At which point, they may become a little bit of a hothead.

Hulk/Banner

A Hulk or Banner type person could combine some of the best attributes of Tony and Thor. They are smart in one specialized area and can channel that intellect into powerful progress. Sometimes it might show up as going above and beyond what you need of them, verging into overkill. The downside of their expertise is that they might be reluctant to try something new or in a different way than what they’re used to.

Black Widow/Hawkeye

Let’s be honest, in a lot of ways Widow and Hawkeye are basically interchangeable characters but they’re no less valuable to the team. Having a Widow and/or a Hawkeye means you have some great support staff by your side that can fill a variety of roles, sometimes multiple over the course of a single day. They can either do a lot of everything, learn how to do it, or know someone who can. Basically, they’re resourceful and valuable in a pinch. Don’t expect them to tell you about Budapest though.

Common Goal

Surrounding yourself with people doesn’t make a team though. Everyone probably has their own way of doing things or own reasons for doing them. You see that a lot in the first part of The Avengers. Everyone is fighting for a good cause and the causes tie together, but they aren’t working together. Thor is trying to stop Loki, Cap is trying to destroy the Tesseract to stop history from repeating itself, and Tony is trying to be a show-off. It wasn’t until Coulson’s death that gave them all the push they needed and a unified goal. Your Coulson doesn’t necessarily need to be a person and I certainly hope it’s not anyone you need to avenge. It just needs to be a common goal that everyone can agree with and can work towards in their own way. This can look like anything from putting on a show or a gallery or launching a new product. Basically any undertaking needs to have a fixed point for everyone to work towards.

You as the Fury or leader of your team need to know how to use that push effectively. Using everyone’s individual goals to meet your own can be more critical than the people you invite along and it may even shape who you invite. Without using this effectively, your team or even your whole project may fall apart without it. 

Conclusion

Collaboration is one of my favorite parts of being an artist. I love inviting people to come play in my sandbox as well as get to play in other peoples. It’s fun to bring other creators’ ideas and approaches and combine them and get something amazing as a result. Whatever your undertaking is, it helps to have people in your corner even if it’s just to vent to or bounce ideas off of. It makes all the difference to know that win or lose, you’ll do it together.

Who’s your favorite Avenger? Share this blog post with people you’d recruit to your artistic Avengers. 

If you want help finding your team, I just launched a creatives’ hub where artists of all types, specialties and skill levels can come together and share ideas and projects they’re working on. Join our Facebook Group here.

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