Folio Edition 1: What is an idea worth?
Written by
Jonathan Beacher
Creative Director
If I was a 19th Century dandy, all absinthe and cravats, I would tip my velvet hat to Oscar Wilde.
‘The value of an idea has nothing whatsoever to do with the sincerity of the man who expresses it.’
Not a monetary answer, but this quote has been with me throughout my design career – a good idea is a good idea, and a bad idea is a bad idea – regardless of who comes up with it and the conviction they have.
Remove the political, overlook the salary, and ignore the ego, and you can instead focus on the strength and merits of the idea.
However there is a problem – if we accept the principle that – a great idea from a student on a two-week placement is as valid as one from the CEO, how will our perception and understanding of that idea change when confronted with a natural presenter or someone unable to articulate their
idea effectively?
As social beings we love to hear, share, and tell stories, from campfires to TED Talks, we are naturally drawn to those individuals who engage us. Politics is an obvious example – skilled communicators often receive more attention and influence, even when their ideas are weak, compared to those with strong ideas but lack that skill in delivery. Have the right accent, speak with confidence, throw in a joke – and you can mask any flawed thinking.
Bring this convention into my world of brand and design, and you begin to find similarities. Design trends, new technologies, new techniques – that wonderful new shiny ‘design button’ that gives even the most mundane of ideas a polish and lustre. If we can’t judge an idea on merit because of who or how it’s delivered, how do we know it is the right idea?
I’m fortunate that in my role as a designer, I get to straddle both sides of the brain. The left side – analytical, intelligent and logical, and the right – inventive, emotional and artistic. Combining research with intuition to help shape my creative thoughts. I am constantly seeking that harmonious balance, impactful creative ideas that answer the brief and are highly effective.
But there is a third side to this brain straddling – creative intelligence built through experience. Years of sifting through ill-conceived briefs and marketing bullshit. Years of absorbing, making, practising, learning, and of course failing (over and over again) combine to give nuance to your understanding of the creative approach.
I attended a talk with Sir Jonathan Ive, along with his beautiful sketches, anecdotes and early prototypes of Macs, he spoke about his genuine desire to create, of curiosity in design, accepting the unpredictable nature of the creative process and how that process increases the probability of generating good ideas.
I agree, Sir Johnny. There are three main points I like. The first is desire - a desire to be curious and playful, the second is the unpredictability of creative ideas (the bit we all enjoy seeing), and the third is having a sound process – that you can work through time after time – giving you the room to generate those great, unpredictable ideas.
Often it’s the ‘process’ that gets overlooked. As a business how do you cost ‘design inspiration’? How do you attribute resources to ‘I had this idea while I was putting out the bins’? How much time should I put in for ‘thinking in the shower’?
An old university tutor once said to me “Don’t let blank paper syndrome get you” – and he was right. Sitting at your desk staring at the page, and waiting for inspiration is counterproductive and unreliable. You have to have a process that lets you work through the problem, remove the possibility of mental blockage, and keep your curiosity going.
In other words, straddle your three-sided brain.
Analyse – dive head first into research, the subject matter, try to understand your audience, unravel their needs, their pain, their desires – and crucially the wider context they exist in. Ditch the dead ends and identify those connections that start to make sense.
Create – now let the (fun) work begin, start to play, try new things, turn it upside down, and be that art student again. Work quickly and keep moving, the goal is to have more ideas than you need. You can then take these first thoughts and look for patterns and connections, dismiss duplications and refine your ideas.
Knowledge – use your wider experience, shape those first flushings into something more concrete, iterate on them, experiment around them and adapt them until you have exhausted yourself. Then ask for help. Designing in isolation without the opportunity to collaborate, bounce ideas around, or seek different perspectives can frustrate creativity and limit your ability to see ideas from fresh angles.
Ultimately, the true worth of any creative idea lies in its understanding of the question being asked, the thinking behind the idea and how and why it addresses the problem at hand.
Good ideas should be easily understood, resilient to scrutiny, and – if we have done our job correctly – enduring.