How do you find ideas? How do ideas come to you?
Sometimes, the best thing you can do for your precious ideas is to set up home somewhere beautiful and put a few great things and people in place there, so as to coax those thoughts out into the safe shelter they need to grow. We all have different versions of this – what are your favourite things to have around you while you work, and is there a place where you find it just magically happens?
In one of my very first posts on this blog, I wrote about the wallpaper around us, the importance of noticing what you're surrounded by and how this can affect your take on things whether you realise it or not. I think this is vital – in our world of coming up with good, fresh ideas, it's essential to be conscious of the visual signals posted around you and the influence these will have on your quality of thought, and ultimately, expression of that thought too. Don't be blind to these things – they affect you more than you know!
With that in mind, this post is a little tribute really. I am so excited and thankful to have a new creative home at The Forge. What a gorgeous place to call my home now, with other accomplished designers and illustrators. Being in a place like this helps me have better ideas just by walking in the building. I knew the first time I visited that my horizons were already bigger, my breath was deeper, my vision clearer. What sort of magic is this?! What makes this happen? The old bricks, the clean, white surfaces, the sun coming in, care taken over the few favourite and well-worn focal points that already exist, and enough room to add one or two of my own.
This space is a very special thing in the name of ideas. This table top pictured, I suspect, will be the base station for some really life-bringing chats and problem-solving. I think all of us here want that, and are keen to make it happen.
Thinking about what helps the best ideas out, as I land, here are some of the practical things I appreciate about my new space. It's not really complicated, but good to consider:
A clean, clear table top with a view. Spacious. Room to spread out.
Tools that are sharp, full of ink, ready for action. Analogue. Never neglect your tools. Don't be afraid of them leaking on your fingers either – proves you're still flesh and blood.
Smooth, clean paper. Moleskine and Artefact cards? Come on, you know this drill!
Big windows. Fresh air.
Good tunes – when you need them, not all the time. Sometimes it's important be quiet because ideas, like animals, can be shy.
A carefully assembled palette of colours and textures around you – a theme of serenity for me, with the occasional slice of colour. Probably inspired by nature, yet also some cool, clean lines. (My RPS photographer grandmother loved these things too, I discovered recently.)
Plants. They breathe, like us, and need care and love, like us. A good visual prompt to take care of yourself too.
Books. Don't have shelves of books you never read. Just pick out the ones that you know work for you – the ones that simply looking at the spine remind you of something valuable.
And pictures. I try to avoid sticking any old thing up on the wall for the sake of it. Imagine this, that the wall in front of you echoes the state of your mind. Or the other way up, that same wall says everything opposite to what's really going on in your mind. You have the power to control that! I find that my head normally has so much pinging around inside it, I really need calm on the outside in order to beckon everything out safely. Like I said, ideas are like animals.
Obviously having good kit and internet connection is massively helpful too – streamline smart thinking with Wunderlist, Evernote, calendar, but how nice when this just works ...
One final thing. I make the decision not to be isolated. As an independent, I won't suffer on my own in silence, and there's something about moving to this new space that's signposting a world of inspired, creative connection I've been craving. Listen to those hunches, even if it's bloody frightening to act on them first of all.
Wherever you are, happy days my friends, and I hope your spaces are blessed with much wonderful inspiration and your ideas feel more excited than ever to come out of hiding.
{Today's Soundtrack: Natalie Merchant – San Andreas Fault}