The Friday Thing #693

Hello Friday.

 You would think given my advice in #690, I wouldn’t have made so many spelling mistakes and grammatical errors in last week’s edition. Sorry. I am pretty sure I was tired after a day of hosting Include 2021, but it’s no excuse. I’ll do better. Thanks for the notes sharing the typos etc. I really appreciate it.

The Friday Thing #693 as promised is 5 tips on creative inspiration. But before we get there, here is the answer to A-Z puzzle from edition #691. Eli Lilly was the tricky one. 

Okay, on to the 5 tips for creative inspiration. Some are practical things you can actually do; most are a mindset that has helped me over the years.

1. Be curious: As Ed Catmull, Pixar co-founder says, “Art is not really about drawing, it’s about learning to see”. As someone who always wanted to be a professional creative (artist, designer etc.) I love this quote. I can’t draw for toffee (as they say in England) but I have plenty of creative ideas – because I’m always looking around, always gathering input from the web and the world. When I visit a new city, I always search out the nooks and crannies as that’s where the good stuff is – where nobody else is looking. I’m constantly building mood boards in my mind as I believe that when you do this, you train your brain to make synaptic connections that end up as crazy ideas – and often the crazy ideas are the best ones. Which leads me on to my next point…but before that, do you know that after 3 days, you’ll remember 10% of what you heard? If you saw an image at the same time, you’ll remember 65%. Now you know why every edition of The Friday Thing includes images.

2. Collect things: My excuse for hoarding things is I like to have lots of inspiration around me. My office space at home is chock full of ‘stuff’. Pictures, books, matchboxes, LEGO creations, art, magazines, cartoons, trinkets, bunnies, caricatures, crafts. Each one of these things offers me some inspiration and has a story. When I am looking for a creative idea, I often look at my bookshelf – it may just be a colour that catches my eye, or a thing – such as the deck of cards on my shelf that inspired my team and I to create our own deck of cards that are “Ideas to Inspire”. Which is a bit meta as I am stealing liberally from that deck of 52 things for this edition. I may have some decks of those cards to share…

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have space or money to collect things – you don’t need to collect physically. There is this thing called Pinterest you may have heard of. I haven’t used my Pinterest board for ages, so I went back to it as I was writing this edition and it was great – so much stuff on there that I had collected that inspired new ideas for projects I am working on right now. And of course, I found myself drawn into a back alley of the web to find this gem – a gigapixel image of the office of one of my heroes and fellow collector. Zoom in, pan around. Get inspired.

3. Everything is a remix: Or as Picasso said, “The bad artists imitate, the great artists steal”. A very close friend helped me realize that originality is an illusion that I should stop chasing. There is no idea that is truly unique or new – everything is an evolution or as I prefer, a remix. Even the best things can be remixed.

 Once you get over this common mental barrier, you begin to see this everywhere. People copy ideas, steal ideas, take two ideas and put them together to make a new one. That in some ways is the definition of creativity to me and is why points 1 and 2 above are so important. If you’re surrounded with stuff (and people) it trains your mind to make connections. And before you know it, you’re thinking about turning a podcast series into a limited-edition vinyl record that has cover art from Banksy (please don’t steal this idea I have). And thus, you have become creative-ish. Or, as Banksy himself would say “the greatest crimes in the world are not committed by the ones breaking the rules, but by the ones following them”. Yes, creativity requires some rule breaking and risk taking. I say this from experience. We’ll come back to this. 

4. Read widely: …and share generously. I came up with that quote myself. At least I think I did but….I mean, I’m pretty sure I stole it from somewhere or remixed it from someone. Anyway, my point here is my bookshelf (as you can somewhat see) is full of magazines and books. In fact, my loft (when I had one) was full of magazines. My house is full of magazines. All kinds of magazines – Wired, The Economist, Monocle, Road Rat, Rouleur, Vanity Fair, National Geographic, Departures, B Magazine, Slow Journalism, Porter, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Contagious etc. I never read any of them cover to cover (an actual rule I have) – but I do flick through every single one of them. I take photos of images, rip out pages, find the digital versions and share them. Because reading is great – but sharing is better, sharing is key to knowledge.

I have a theory about this that I plan to expand on in another Friday Thing. It’s about the letter K in the word knowledge. Take a close look at the letter K. Take another look. I think the letter originated in Australia. Have you ever noticed that the letter K hides a boomerang within it? I was in the shower last week when that idea came to me – that a lot of the knowledge I have acquired over the years is a result of sharing things and receiving things in return. Often with interest. Knowledge is not power – knowledge is a boomerang and when you share your knowledge it very often comes back to you with more knowledge, ideas or even wisdom. So read widely and share generously. Oh, and if you’re a Seattle resident, please visit Big Little News – the coolest new store in Capitol Hill that stocks all kinds of eclectic magazines, books, and other treats. Including champagne. Tell them I sent ya ??

5. The Renaissance is at your fingertips: As much as I would like to go back to 15th century Florence and hang out with da Vinci, Botticelli and Michaelangelo for some creative inspiration (and espresso and pizza), I’m not sure the fashion of the day would suit me. Fortunately, you no longer have to travel to ancient Italy to get inspiration – it’s a click away. For me that means following my heroes and friends and enjoying the creativity they share with the world on a daily basis – back to that letter K thing, the best creatives share their work generously. Here’s a few pointers to get you started from some of my heroes and a few friends:

• Peter Saville in conversation with Will Gompert?z. I attended this event in person with my brother and in London. The setting, the interview, the whole thing felt like being transported to another world. What a treat. Oh, and Peter was kind enough to sign a few record sleeves for me. The fact that I was there with my brother is a great story too….for another time.
• Nike – because if I didn’t work at Microsoft, I’d work at Nike. Because Better really is temporary. In my opinion, no other brand does storytelling (and symbolism) as well as Nike. And they take risks….all the time.
• Sir Paul Smith. I remember the day I walked into his original shop in Nottingham when I was at university at Loughborough. It was down a back alley in the city (funny that)….and I’ve been a fan ever since. I met him accidentally two years ago in the concession store at London’s Design Museum. Which seems somewhat perfect. I was nervous to chat with him but I said hello, told him how much I admired his work and we exchange a few pleasantries. He’s a very pleasant, humble man. You can get that from this interview with him. There is so much wisdom within it. If I didn’t work at Microsoft or Nike wouldn’t have me, I’d apply for a job working for this knight.
• Lucy Walker – makes beautiful stories. Stories about people - which are the only real stories. Waste Land, Blindsight, Crash Reel and Bring Your Own Brigade. Take your pick.
• Smale. He calls himself Brian but he deserves the single name treatment.
• Dior et Moi – you can find this film in streaming channels. I’ve watched it over and over. Because the music, the shows, the dresses, the atelier. The whole thing is magical. What a story.
• Liz and Mollie – I don’t know them, and I only found them recently but whoa, Liz and Mollie capture life and all of its messiness in such a simple way.
• Mini Modern House – astonishing. And they have only posted 15 times. When they release a capsule collection, I will be at the front of the line.
• Banksy “A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to”. If you don’t own Wall and Piece you really ought to. A creative bible of sorts.
• Hugh MacLeod - One of the most creative people I know who succeeds in part because he shares so generously. In fact part of the reason I have this job is because he shared an image with me one day and sparked a whole raft of creative and crazy ideas – some of which nearly got me fired. Not many people would share 26 brilliant ideas in a manifesto for free. I steal liberally from Hugh every day and remix his work. I miss sitting at a bar with Hugh and stealing his ideas and cards. 

Okay, that’s all I have this week. It’s not quite what I expected when I started this edition, but that’s creativity for you I suppose.

I hope some of this is useful. I’m off to scribble on a napkin for a bit.

Happy Friday

Steve