COMPUTERARTS.CREATIVEBLOQ.COMto see something just because you’ve gone into a
search engine.”
“It’s vital to spend time away from work to
inspire and refresh your brain,” agrees Sutherland.
“The more amazing visual, verbal and aural things
you feed in, the more interesting work comes out
the other end. It’s a very poor approach to think you
need to sit in your studio at a computer to generate
ideas. Most ideas come thorough conversation,
inspiration and when you’re not expecting them.”HOW TO NURTURE A GREAT IDEA
Great ideas need to be nurtured and protected
if they are ever to reach their full potential –
particularly in the face of pressure from the client
to mould them in ways that compromise their
integrity, or keep tagging on extras that dilute or
distort them.
“It’s easy to put too much irrelevant stuff in,”
admits Arnold, who compares the situation to the
kids’ game Buckaroo. “If there’s a lot of stuff in the
br ief, don’t tr y to misshape it to a nswer ever y t hing.
Strip it back and think: how is this idea the best it
possibly can be? Sometimes you need to persuadethe client that there are a few things they wanted
that can drop off, if it solves one thing really well.”
That’s the key, for Arnold: when you’ve found
an idea that’s still compelling in its very simplest
form, you must stay faithful to that essence
throughout the process. “Think, what are the
pieces that we do not want to lose? Would we
rather walk away from the idea than make it like
that? Therein often lies the problem,” she admits.
“Time gets in the way,” she adds. “You’ve been
to-ing and fro-ing about an idea for weeks, and
suddenly the deadline is coming up and the idea
looks nowhere like it did at first because everyone’s
had their input. It’s shifted. And yet you have to
make it, even though it’s nothing like what you
intended. Sometimes you don’t have the luxury
of saying, ‘No, I don’t want to make it like that,’
although you should.”
Collaboration is an integral part of the creative
process, but Arnold believes the best ideas need
ownership and singular creative vision, whether
from an individual or a small creative team.
“Collaboration can make it wonderful – working“THE MESSAGE IS
OFTEN COMPLICATED,
SO IT NEEDS TO BE
ABOUT THE IDEA”
SUSAN HOFFMAN CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, WIEDEN+KENNEDY
Above W+K Sao
Paulo’s vibrant
Drink Right F***
Right campaign for
Skol turned the
anti-drink-driving
brief on its head,
making the same
point about sex
instead of driving.
Right Cossette’s
Follow The Arches
campaign for
McDonalds
demonstrates the
power of iconic
brand assets.
SPECIAL REPORT SEPTEMBER 2019