Just saying, could be ideas for anything. Any tips on getting those ideas out of your head (whatever they are) and onto paper?
I get stuck quite frequently, and sometimes when I get unstuck (or so I think), the ideas I come up with are apparently waaaay worse than the ideas I originally thought of.
Be specific please if you can. I mean, an answer like “Brainstorm” can tell me a lot, but perhaps exactly how you brainstorm or what are the components to your brainstorming or even key generic questions you ask yourself at every brainstorming activity can help. What kind of state of mind you’re in, when’re your peak hours, anything I can do to give it a shot.
I’m a poor guy trying to break into advertising and I feel like I’m getting worse and worse as the days pass.
About the only one I have that’s working for me is; Whenever I get an idea, I immediately set out on a quest to use it in a different way. With regards to advertising, say I do a print ad, then I immediately try to see if this can work in other mediums.
Back when I used to draw, my ideas would come from sitting on the toilet.
Not because I was thinking or anything, but because I was facing the shower wall. On the wall there was residue from the previous shower. From that I’d be able to see shapes and images similar to how people often point out what clouds look like or how people see a figure in unshapen clay. I would get ideas from that and just put it on paper.
I’m not sure if that was the type of thing you’re looking for but whatever.
I haven’t written very much lately but here’s are a couple things I might do:
Sometimes I pull ideas from sources that I like and malform them until they are unique and my own, kind of like how two artists can be told to draw the same thing and come out with two completely different looking results.
On other occasions, I pull things out of my butt…I’ll sit and think and think and eventually maybe a phrase or an idea will come to me and I expand upon that, thinking things like “what kind of person would believe this? what kind of person would both believe and vocalize this? what would they look like? what would their friends be like?”
Word association is fun, too; start with one concept and work from one to another until you have a list of ideas and then make your goal to bring these things together. I could kind of see how that might help with sneaky advertising (associating a particular product indirectly with good health or attractiveness or energy or youth).
For me walking always worked, i came up with my best ideas while walking through my neighborhood or to or from somewhere, but most of my idea would be gone or altered by the time i got to put them down on paper. If it works just bring recorder of some type, most MP3 players can record now so its not that big of a deal.
Well besides that, ever did that stupid spider brainstorm when you were in grade school? That actually helps. Also try talking to people in your field and get their response. From there, you can branch off their ideas to yours.
Remember “Bad artist copy, good artist steal” - Pablo Picasso
Hope that helps. This is coming from a student who just got academically suspended from college. :china:
I was the same way, except i’d look at the tub as some sort of giant fortress and imagine battles going on within it.
I too am going into advertising, and am currently a Mass Comm major. The best advice i can honestly tell you is to talk with other people. I throw ideas back and forth between friends and we always end up coming up with some awesome ideas within the conversations. The creative process is always enhanced once more people are involved. In doing this, you also get an idea of what people are looking for. Research is a must, because you can end up making an awesome ad, but if it isn’t marketed to the right demo, it’s failed.
Also, consider that most ideas have been done before in some form or another. Very rarely does anyone come up with anything that is TRULY original. It’s your job to take some of these ideas and make them better, so consider finding existing ads that you like, or that are well known and try redoing them. I suggest reading Luke Sullivan’s book “Hey Whipple, Squeeze this.” Has alot of advice on how to get through those blocks. I know it’s helped me out.
I also forgot to mention. Don’t try to get all complex with it. Keep it simple. Think of a single sentence selling point that points out a benefit (sometimes oppisite of what the product does) and convey that visually. You’d be surprised at how sometimes the best ads are also the simplest.
It depends on the project. I can’t get started on my novel for the life of me, but I keep on coming up with short story ideas and plots for my gameworld. I just started fleshing out an entire desert city complete with government structure and an awesome hand-drawn map, but I can’t even get past a few paragraphs of my novel down at a time. I just hate writing sci-fi/fantasy, but the story I want to tell really dosen’t work any other way.
Visualization usually helps me. If I can visualize it as a movie playing out in my head I can write it down. The problem is writing it in a narrative way.
Not sure if this will help, but I’m going to answer your question from a video game perspective.
When try to think of an idea for a game, first I think about the type of game I want to play, then I look at what’s currently out there. It doesn’t matter if it’s a big-budget game or an independent. During my brief time at a school for game design, we had brainstorm sessions. We just basically wrote down whatever came to mind, then filtered it out later. Writing down your ideas as they pop up in your head is always a good idea. You can add details later, but the important thing is that you write them down. Popular game designers have said that they get their ideas from anywhere and anything…it doesn’t have to be game-related.
Usually while something boring is going on, my mind wanders. This is often the case on the bus when I’m bored as hell and surrounded by fat, disgusting fucktards. I escape and come up with good ideas… Articles to write up, new thesis for my paper, etc.
Ironically, my ideas were apparently best when I worked by myself and ignored what others thought.
Or maybe I’m not chilling with the right peeps.
Thanks for the suggestions so far.
King9999, good one on the writing down part. I’m walking around with a notebook + pen today so unless I’m in some major CANNOT USE HANDS situation, I’ll be able to write down my idea in some way, shape or form. Hate when I try to form an idea and it flutters off.
Usually when I am sitting at work or taking that long ass 52 mile drive to work and another 52 mile drive back home, I think of some weird things to do, like go to Bingo at the local Indian reservation or decide to stop in at Skippers and eat some fish and chips.
Amature writer/art student here, some ideas just come to me. Doing chores or manual labor helps for some reason because I’ll be so bored, my mind will wonder for a bit and I’ll start to develop some sort of design or plot. Music can be inspiring, a beat or melody can influence character personalities. Seeing other peoples work is a requirement to the creative process, I’m surprised how much TV and vidya games have helped. Not sure if any of it will help for the advertising field (my ad designs usually suck by the way) , but I hope it helps.
, but I hope it helps.