In the first of a new regular feature, we invite those whose work has recently entered our archive to explain where their ideas and inspiration come from.
MICAH WALKER
Chief Creative Officer, Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, Sydney
I was recently in New York and picked up Pep Bonet’s book, Hellbangers. It’s a unique photographic series that captures the thriving heavy metal community in Botswana. It’s wonderful, anything but cliché, and unlike any other book on my shelf.
JOHN LIVERIS
Creative Director, Another Circus, Athens
Lately, I find myself enjoying all the little and big things that Covid deprived us of. This is a slow shift from an introverted to a more extroverted lifestyle through things that are completely simple (or not). For example, the everyday commute to work by using the crowded, humanly diverse and dirty metro while listening to the reissued Revolver album by The Beatles… this gives me an instant, organic burst of inspiration personally and therefore professionally.
GIULIA DE CHIRICO
Senior Art Director, MullenLowe MENA, Dubai
I need to free my mind to feed my creativity. Walking helps me do that. Every day I take my time, wherever I am and I start wandering. With no destination, phone or email, I isolate myself in such an automatic action that it allows my mind to wander too. Maybe the idea doesn’t come right away, but the seed I planted in my mind will blossom sooner or later.
ISABEL RODRÍGUEZ ALBARRÁN
Midweight Creative, Iris, London
Everyday life, especially small objects that are always there and become part of your life. Like napkins. You know, the kind of napkin or serviette that you get in Spain when you go to a tapas bar, with the name of the place and the phone number on them. And they have those little and simple, but at the same time, beautiful and timeless designs. Love those. Maybe I should start a project about napkins soon?
SASCHA KUNTZE
Chief Creative Officer, BBH, Singapore
My son, 6, created this Lego creation. All by himself. No instructions. Freehand building. No barriers to creativity. No second-guessing. No questioning if the idea is good enough. Just a pure sense of making stuff, a sense we’re all born with and something we’re all at risk of losing every day. Unless we get reminded that we all are creative.
THASORN BOONYANATE
Chief Creative Officer BBDO, Bangkok
This is probably the hardest brief I ever received in my life. To take my son first time on a plane. I don’t want my son to be like those kids who are crying/screaming on the plane. So, I was planning two weeks ahead, I craft the journey including a way to prevent his ear pops from changing in air pressure and we made it! If I can do this, no brief is too difficult to do already.
FLORENCIA LODA
Creative Director, VMLY&R Argentina, Buenos Aires
I recently read the results of a survey taken in Argentina about the number of creative women in agencies. Only 2.7% reach top leadership roles. A fact that is as sad, as it is inspiring. I’ve never thought a number would generate so much inspiration and encourage me to continue being part of an industry that demands a change of perspective and inclusion. It inspires me to know that there is still much to do and the roles of women in creativity are essential to inspire future generations as well.
CARLOS PABOUDJIAN
Creative, VMLY&R Prague
My inspiration comes from a crazy and chaotic bowl of concepts and images that keeps my brain pregnant. It goes from filthy trash to shiny diamonds. Nietzsche, however, is maybe my biggest overall inspiration in life. There’s also one of his quotes that I love: ‘One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.’
MAYA HALILOVIC
Copywriter, Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam
In Nick Cave’s words, ‘my wife’s benevolent gaze’ or in my case, the benevolent gaze of my friends and family. The thought that perhaps they’ll spend a day walking through this life without noting every instance they’ve lost or gained weight, without worrying about crypto, or feeling as though they’ve got a sale-item-sized-hole in their lives. The thought that maybe they’ll see an ad that makes them feel something other than anxious for once is what inspires me.
MARIA BRANCO
Creative Copywriter, Judas, Lisbon
Inspiration is just like Dolby in movie theaters, it’s ‘all around you’. In this case, around me. Sorry. For example, I take inspiration from People. Not the magazine, like, real people. Peculiar telesales and the world’s most random, weird and new facts that help me to find unexpected creative connections.
ELLIOTT STARR
Head of Copy 20Something, London
I'm a big fan of this 1984 quote, from George Orwell: ‘Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past’. A slight personal re-interpretation of that feels pertinent, given our planetary situation. If you watch The Century of the Self, by Adam Curtis, you get a glimpse at the colossal power brands have over the way we behave and feel about ourselves, and our lives. We’re in a climate crisis. Governments won’t pull us out of this hole. By their very nature, they are too slow to act. They won’t be the lever to us making the changes we need to make, at the speed we need to make them. People need to vote for the world they want with their wallets. With where their money goes, and where it doesn’t. The reality is, this now has more power than a political vote. What inspires me? Using advertising to pull people into brands creating things of value. (And doing so in a planet-positive way.) And, of course, by default, that means pulling them out of brands that are not.
CHRIS BALMOND
Director, Outsider, London
Terminator 2: Judgment Day. It is a perfectly crafted thing. I bumped into Arnie a few months ago and I told him as much. He seemed nonplussed. I think he’s heard it a lot.
JAIME AGOSTINI
Creative Copywriter, VMLY&R Brazil, São Paulo
What inspires me is the exchange of ideas and experiences with people from different cultures and perspectives. Preferably at a bar.
JEN SPEIRS
Executive Creative Director, Droga5, Dublin
This. A stat (75% of people genuinely believe they can impact their community and the world through personal action). I’m not always inspired by numbers - but after a couple of years of feeling like we have no control over anything, this feels massive. And makes me want to put something out into the world to show the other 25% that we can make good shit happen.
HUGH O’CONNOR
Art Director, FCB New Zealand, Aotearoa
Living in an age of having countless images at our fingertips means that my screenshots folder is always brimming with a bit of inspiration.
CAMILA RODRIGUES
Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy, São Paulo
Lately, there has been a strong street art movement here in São Paulo and the buildings are getting covered with these beautiful murals. As an illustration enthusiast, I feel inspired to see female artists’ work out there. The paintings have changed the face of the city and I can’t stop looking up when I’m walking around.
LISA FEDYSZYN
Executive Creative Director, Special Group New Zealand, Auckland
A nap is my most inspirational place in the world.
