Creative Spices

For me, sitting around and waiting for ideas to show up doesn’t work. I have to do something that promotes creative thinking. One of my favourite ways to do that is by cooking.

One of my creative workspaces.

I love cooking. I started cooking last summer and it’s changed the way I think about food. I no longer buy completed meals from restaurants now. I search for recipes, I find fresh ingredients, I use certain tools, and I create. It’s exactly like any other form of creativity. This one’s a bit tastier, though.

So tasty.

Cooking includes a process towards which I’ve grown fond: Preparation. Peeling potatoes, chopping carrots, trimming meat, mixing spices, kneading dough… it’s the perfect length of monotonous action that allows my mind to wind down a bit, then to step away.

This “stepping away”— thinking about work, remembering what your friends talked about, wondering what’s happening Saturday afternoon—this is the right amount of time my mind needs to sort everything out. It clears out the clutter, and keeps my hands busy. And, with that, ideas start showing up for me.

Cooking permits people to follow a recipe or create something completely on their own (and at their own risk and potential dismay). But either way, it puts my mind in the right place to explore and incubate thoughts. With a bit of luck, those thoughts become ideas. Concepts. Stories. Even jokes, if I’m in the right mood.

Cooking itself is a creative outlet, and cooking promotes creative thought.  And because of it, I won’t let anyone cheat me out of that process.

Homemade guacamole is better anyway.

Roger von Oech, the Obscure Genius

It was about a year ago when I first heard of the creative genius Roger von Oech. Kenton Larsen, the first-year advertising instructor, mentioned an app called the Creative Whack Pack. Simply put, it was life-changing, and I use the app regularly.

Roger von Oech created this app to be used as a portable creativity tool. If I had to guess, I would say that the Creative Whack Pack is the best creativity tool ever crafted since it can suit any creative or inspirational need. Let’s break it down a bit.

Essentially, there are four roles in the creative process:

1) The Explorer, which is the part of you that seeks out new information and absorbs any potential creative material found in your surroundings;

2) the Artist, which is the quirky, daring part of you that asks funny questions, breaks rules, and releases your inner wonder;

3) the Judge, which is the part of you that uses logic and reason to decide if your idea has a solid foundation; and

4) the Warrior, which is the part of you that fights for your idea and pushes you onward to your goal.

Each “card” in the Creative Whack Pack breaks down simple sources of inspiration into useful questions or examples to help you with your idea. For example, one Explorer card, called “See the Obvious,” might seem unhelpful, or even… well, obvious at first. But if you read the entire card, you might begin to see the value and depth of the otherwise plain expression.

The card explains that bicycles used to have pedals that attached to the front wheel. This made the front wheel larger and the ride dangerous. Eventually, someone figured out that attaching the pedals to the rear wheel made it safer and more practical. Changing from the front wheel to the back wheel may seem obvious in retrospect, but it really stumped some bike engineers in the 1800’s.

The “See the Obvious” card also uses a popular joke to explain that sometimes the lack of obvious things. The joke goes as follows: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went camping, and set up their tent before falling asleep. In the middle of the night, Holmes wakes up and asks Watson if he sees anything peculiar. Watson says that he sees millions of stars; some of which may host living beings within their respective galaxies. Holmes then replies, “no, you idiot. Our tent is gone!”

Try out the app. Use the “Card of the Day” feature for a quick bit of inspiration, or dive into the four roles of the creative process. You can also buy von Oech’s books, A Whack on the Side of the Head and A Kick in the Seat of the Pants, for more insight on creativity and inspiration.

What are you using to get inspired? What sparks your creativity? Hear any good jokes lately? Tweet me @labossiere25, or write on this page.

Stealing, The Art of

A bit of preface: My old blogs weren’t all that good, so I chose to do something that might be able to help someone, or at least offer something useful. This blog, inSPIRE, is about the sources from which people draw inspiration. I’ll try to keep it light and fresh.

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So in the first week back to CreComm, Melodie Richard opens advertising class to the second years with a friendly “welcome back!” As she does this, she shows us a book that she read over the summer and said that it was a book about inspiration.

I’ve always wondered where we find inspiration. Naturally, everyone has his or her own answer. But it’s interesting to think that, inside our heads, some sort of action, imagery, or sound sets us in motion to want to do something.

Back to ad class. Melodie holds up a small black book titled “Steal Like an Artist.” It’s a short book written by Austin Kleon that claims every idea has already been done, so it’s okay to steal ideas. That being said, the book isn’t saying that plagiarism is acceptable. Instead, it provides two key messages:

1) There is nothing new under the sun.

2) “Original work” is really work created by someone who doesn’t know the source of his or her inspiration.

This book is ideal for any creative person. As an ad major, this book is a great reminder that we can always find inspiration in others’ work, including outside the advertising industry. Again, the book isn’t about taking other people’s ideas. It’s about looking for new ways to use old ideas, and masking or reworking formulaic concepts into something fresh.

To conclude, here’s a neat quote from the book:

“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” (André Gide)