Let creative steroids push you higher

Planit Agency
December 17, 2012

Ideas. They’re everywhere. They’re swimming around, hiding under the sofa, and it feels like everyone has them except you. Here are some suggestions to keep the creative juices juicy so the next time your boss wants you to go to The Tree of Big Ideas, you’ll be able to pick something ripe.

Yoda

Exercise your creative muscles.

Look at Flesh Yoda. He is supposed to be green and has always been green. Movies tell us what Yoda is supposed to look like, but then a designer changed his color. See the hair, the wrinkles; notice the wisdom in his eyes. Green Yoda is something old whereas Flesh Yoda is an entirely new direction. What other aliens, animals, office equipment, mugs, shoes, cars—things—would the “human treatment” change? Complement new thoughts with the right brief and it might serve you well.

New ideas are dead, but your ideas are alive.

“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope.” – Mark Twain, a Biography

Look at blogs.

Flesh Yoda came from a blog. Keep pace with the industry by viewing Adweek, Adage, Agency Spy, Mashable, etc. and use your radar to find all things cool. Design blogs are huge for expanding your view of the world. Sweet Station and Cool Hunting are two to watch. Instead of using Tumblr for your own blog, see what others post.

Find new executions.

Be informed on what’s happening in both the digital and guerilla worlds. How are consumers responding to those big thoughts? Check out Springwise and PSFK for the newest and best uses of clients’ spaces.

Maintain originality.

Be inspired by others’ ideas but plan to come up with something bigger, better, and more innovative. We’re in the business of coming up with the next big idea, not copying someone else’s. The Flesh Yodas of the world can only feed the creative well. After that, it’s your job to blow it up.