Where Do Ideas Come From?
Illustration by Meg Hunt
A brilliant idea can change your life. Just ask Steve Jobs. And think about it – how would one incredible idea affect your work? How would it affect your personal creating? Your career? Your confidence and opportunities?
These days, new ideas aren’t just inspiring; they’re essential. A narrow-gauge mindset doesn’t work in modern business. Consumers aren’t loyal to cheap commodities. No, they love the remarkable, the human, the unique. And those ideas don’t just fall from the sky. (Usually.)
So where do they originate? Since Scott Hull Associates is in the business of ideas, I figured our artists ought to know. They surprised me with their answers, citing everything from “cross-pollinating synergetic associations” to cracks in the driveway. Enjoy. -Scott
A mysterious internal response to an ever-changing external set of chance meetings.
- Lorraine Tuson
The top of your head, or down in your gut. One's from the head need to be constantly offloaded, written down, turned into a doodle, or recorded as a voice memo. They then need to be sorted for quality. These are great day-to-day ideas that need to be captured and not lost. Everyone has a constant river of ideas going through their head, it's the creative in us that needs to go fishing.
The ones in your gut are a little different. They are deep-seated truths that need to be pondered, refined, and executed with precision. They might be our unicorn, moby dick, or just a really big, life-changing idea. They are aspirational, to say the least. These ideas can move mountains, but they also require more planning to make happen
– Mikey Burton
Aren't you silly...Ideas come from the stork, just like babies.
– Andrea Eberbach
Ideas can come from anywhere. They could come to you during a walk or while you are listening to a song or viewing a movie. They might appear while you are taking a shower or trying to fall asleep.
– Michael Waraksa
I'd have to say I'm all over the place with this question. I watch a ton of cartoons, movies and shows for inspiration. Sometimes I will pause what I'm watching and
draw from the screen (Stanley Kubrick,Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, The Coen Bros, Genndy Tartakovsky, The Wachowskis to name a few of my faves).
I've also been meeting buddies for coffee and drawing what I see (plants, people, animals, buildings etc). People get into really interesting positions when they are eating, working and talking.
Books, lots of books.
Another place I like to go for ideas is getting lost while listening to music.
– Colin Walsh
MOMENTUM
- Penelope Dullaghan
Well, sometimes necessity...what a certain assignment requires often dictates the direction that I might explore. Searching visuals for inspiration, maybe a phrase , less often out of thin air, for me at least.
– John Maggard
Ideas are conceptual compounds that are comprised of two or more separate elements and we are the catalyst. Whenever I’m faced with a problem to solve I begin by putting concepts together, starting with elements that relate to the problem at hand and then moving outward in concentric circles to search for more exotic combinations. I never discount the power of random.
- Larry Moore
I'm not sure where they come from, but I'm pretty sure – starting in 2024 – that there will be a federal tax on them.
- Mark Riedy
Ideas come whenever I am not looking for them. I have to take in all of the information and let it bounce around in my head for a bit. Then, when I am doing something that is not at all related to my problem, the ideas flow. I think it is the act of opening up your mind to all kinds of thoughts that you get those unexpected connections that lead to creativity.
- Lisa Ballard
Ideas are endlessly everywhere-- they are waiting in plain sight and hiding around the corner. The key to finding truly great ideas is a limber playful mindset-- being willing to take that raw material and explore, break apart, recombine, and reimagine to find something exciting.
- Meg Hunt
The specific brain wave activity that fosters eureka moments happens when we reach a gamma level of thinking. This is above normal consciousness and not sustainable. That is why it happens mostly when we aren’t actively pursuing it but comes on it’s own such as when driving, or taking a shower and our brain takes all the information we’ve seen, read, experienced and makes connections.
This also explains why brainstorming works, more people address the same challenge means more likely someone will pop through into gamma level thinking and form an idea.
So the best way to facilitate ideas is to understand the problem, take in all the information you can and let you brain naturally start connecting the dots. Right when you’re at the point of feeling like nothing is going to work is usually when you want to focus on something else and relax and let your brain do what it does best.
You’ve probably heard it said before that the difference between creative genius and a schizophrenic isn’t too far off? This also has to do with gamma level thinking too. So in that respect it’s a double edged sword to some. But it defines why idea formation is hard, you have to literally think differently.
– Von Glitschka
