Look For New

Written by Suzi Paddison, Creative at Now.

“Eureka!” – Archimedes, (a very long time ago)

Although we don’t always shout ‘Eureka’, as a creative sometimes the right ideas seem to appear out of nowhere when you least expect them. For me, it usually happens when I finally stop thinking about having the right idea.

Yet, ideas do not appear out of nowhere; they happen when your brilliant brain connects one reference with another. So, it doesn’t take a mathematician like Archimedes to work out that the more references you have, the more chance you have of them being useful.

To gain more references, I have found it useful to become like a sponge, absorbing anything and everything possible. The weirder the better. The less like you, the better. Because if you are looking and listening to the same things all the time, then you’re going to keep coming up with the same (boring) old ideas.

Go outside, watch films that scare you, look at art you don’t understand, listen to music you don’t like, talk to that Uber driver, make friends with spontaneous people, eat weird food, get lost, read a book, go to a museum, take a class, open your mind, open your eyes – essentially, be a sponge.

I know this is easier said than done, but a little bit goes a long way… and not only for ‘creatives’ trying to crack that brief. Getting out of your comfort zone for an afternoon, an hour, or even a minute could lead you somewhere new and interesting. You might even have fun.

So – go and see stuff. Do stuff. Look for new, and never stop looking.