Surrounded by childish inspiration

Do we ever grow old inside? Do we ever want to let go of that inner child? The things that you held onto as kids growing up. The items, memories and dreams that have carried you through the years but you drew much happiness from. We refuse to let go of those things, they appear to be a ‘comfort blanket’ back to moments of pureness, a time when we had no worries and allowed our minds to be free. As we’ve gotten older and had to let go of those pure thoughts as children we picked up bad habits, thoughts are full or worry, full of doubt and fear about the world that surrounds us.

So, how pure are we still? Do we allow ourselves that moment to go back to a clearer time in our heads to help shape what we do in our future? The problems of life take over how we could apply our creative thinking to our daily challenges. The trouble with holding onto all this 'adult baggage' is that it clouds our ability to think back like a child and potentially then gives us a purer way of expressing the way we think now.

Of course, there’s a time to be an adult, there’s a time to make sure we are on the ball and taking on the challenge of life. But going back to my childish routes and memories have allowed me to be more creative today than I’ve ever been. After all, that sense of creative expression no matter how it’s applied as to come from somewhere. It has to come from a deep place where I can draw upon some pure inspiration when it’s needed. The ability to step back in time to when you were a child and didn’t have those hardships and adult worries. It's not an easy thing to do. It takes time to master and clear your mind of the daily clutter. But when you can master the art of taking yourself back the thinking becomes so much clearer.

How would I have looked at the world and what I’m trying to achieve through the eyes of my ten year old self? A brief or project may need a serious twist to it, it may allow for me to have a sense of fun. Whatever the task there is a clear objective, create a unique approach. Do something different and say it in a different way.

It’s hard, it’s all been done before right? It might have been, but how different could we make it if we looked at the same brief through our Childs eye.

As a curator of all things arty and creative my career has seen me work on some of the biggest and smallest brands across the world. And I still draw on those experiences to help me through my next brief. Surrounding myself with inspiration I’ve always tried to hold onto the things that made me a child. Now, my large model of a Minion, my StarWars Lego display or even my passion for 80’s films are not going to answer a brief all on their own. It takes me to look at shapes, colours, a feeling and an emotion to help set down on my pad a simple mark that may become the hook to my next campaign.

My creative team were always told to ‘break free of the usual four walls’ and spend time being influenced by what makes them tick. I’d say “Go and grab a coffee in town, watch someone walk past with bright pink shopping bag, pick up some packaging in a department store, question for a moment while watching the world go by how your inner child may look at the purity of the challenge instead of the clutter we hold onto that may be over shadowing our ability to tackle something in a much more creative and clever way.”

A sense of colour inspired by Hulks skin was somewhere we’d not normally go when looking at a brand for a range or organic teas. And whilst green is the obvious choice the yellow of the Minion may just make this range of organic teas stand out from the usual crowd. So as a curator of all things arty I will continue to surround my creative output with the things that make me what I am today. I will always step into my inner child to help inspire me. It won’t always work and it won’t always be suitable to do so. But, the fact I can take myself back to my Childs eye and think in a different way it as the ability to throw up some very different thinking.

Give it a go, it’s not just about us creative and advertising types that can use this method. Apply it to what you, see how it can make you see things in a different way. And if you have space on your desk fill it those things that bring a smile to your face. Sometimes we just need to go back there to help us create and see things in a new way.