Into Z Future - Understanding Generation Z, the Next Generation of Super Creatives

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Finn

Into Z Future explores how Generation Z—raised with mature social media and creative tools—has transformed influence into a new era of creative communication. The report analyzes gen Z’s creative themes and survey-backed creative habits, highlights how digital expression (video, sound, animation, AR lenses, lip syncing, emojis) becomes both identity work and income opportunity. Insights are linked to brand and marketer needs, followed by profiles of five super creatives and synthesized takeaways.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages70

Reading Time2 h 56 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Overview

Who are Gen Z?

Into Z Future Understanding Generation Z, the Next Generation of Super Creatives JWT Intelligence in partnership with Snap Inc. x Contents Introduction 03 2. Overview 07 3. Key creative themes for gen Z 18 4. Survey findings: the creative habits of gen Z 42 5. Meet five gen Z Super Creatives 52 6. Takeaways 62 INTRODUCTION Into Z Future: Understanding Generation Z, the Next Generation of Super Creatives Raised with mature social media, online creative tools and gesture recognition at their fingertips, and with entrepreneurial platforms to broadcast their wares, generation Z is defining a new era of influence and creative communication. This group, between 13 and 22 years old, are already monetizing their outputs, building empires, e-zines, influencer communities and more—all the while using visual tools like those available on Snapchat to propel their influence. Their creative arsenal—face swaps, selfies, AR Lenses, lip syncing, and emojis—has become the expressive staple of the digital arena, and now this group is using video, sound, animation and more to create rich new visual landscapes, lobby for their favorite causes, and create new income streams. Meet the gen Z Super Creatives: the supercharged multidisciplinary future of creative talent. And your new consumers. More than half of gen Z (51%) say their generation is more creative than previous generations, according to a 2019 study conducted in the United States and United Kingdom by JWT Intelligence. Teens are certainly setting a new tone for visual culture—after an era of posed photos against millennial-pink backdrops, a new wave of social content mixes selfies with spoken word, imperfect collages with augmented reality (AR) landscapes, and illustration with candid livestreams. This is layered with the need to live their truth, and an acute sense of social responsibility. Hence, gen Zer Donté Colley posts short clips of him dancing in his bedroom, syncing animated emojis and words of encouragement over his short videos; Tyler Woodford crafts simple, playful Snapchat Lenses that help fellow trans and LGBTQ teens express their identity. x INTO Z FUTURE 3 Art by Katya Abedian. Courtesy of Irregular Labs INTRODUCTION “Gen Z are absolutely more creative, but it’s more utilitarian than other generations,” Molly Logan, cofounder of gen-Z run think tank Irregular Labs, tells JWT Intelligence. In other words, while “creativity” was taught to millennials and generation X in art classes, it’s significantly more inherent for gen Z. Logan first observed this phenomenon when she ran School of Doodle, an “online high school for imagination” for teen girls.“We would ask them to articulate a feeling and opinion... and, say, make an image and explain it to me,” she says. Leading with something creative—an image, a video, a collage—and writing out what it was about made the written element much richer, Logan explains.“You’d ask them to do it in the way they’re used to communicating every single day via Snapchat and Instagram and the rest of it. You’re acknowledging this generation is creatively trilingual.” There are sliding scales of creativity. Phoebe Pojo, 19, the founder of YouTube platform Models That Eat, says she was born into it.“I grew up in a creative household,” she tells JWT Intelligence.“My mom is a professional photographer and a musician, and she’s always ingrained in me that you want to engage with instruments and draw and be creative, and I think I’ve always had that within me.” Others are self-taught videographers, photographers, and podcasters. Danny Moriarty, 22, founded the Picky Boys Podcast partly as a response to his endless content consumption, a constant reminder that he wanted to create something himself. Their creative language is crucial for brands and marketers to translate. Gen Z make up about a quarter of the population in the United States and the United Kingdom. A 2013 Mintel report put their annua

FAQs

What makes Generation Z’s creativity different from previous generations?

The document describes gen Z as inherently more creative, and more utilitarian in how they apply creativity to expression and communication.

What creative tools and formats are highlighted for gen Z?

It emphasizes visual tools and features such as face swaps, selfies, AR Lenses, lip syncing, emojis, plus broader use of video, sound, and animation.

How does the report position gen Z’s influence for brands and marketers?

It states that gen Z’s creative language is crucial for brands and marketers to translate, noting their engagement value and evolving relationships with digital and analog/IRL tools.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Finn