Before I get into this I should first tell the story of how I came round to thinking of that title. It starts, as do nearly all of my stories, with me sitting on my arse looking willfully at a blank screen in front of me wondering what the hell I should write. After several fruitless minutes of staring into the abyss I got off my arse and went to make a cup of tea. While waiting for the kettle to boil something that any of you who try to be creative will be quite familiar with happened: I came to the dramatic conclusion that nothing I did really mattered. It was then that I knew exactly what I was going to write thus proving once and for all that tea makes everything better and sitting at a desk will only kill your soul. I ran/ walked carefully so as not to spill my drink back to my laptop and wrote the following words:
Your idea doesn't matter (and neither does anyone else's.)
Then a part of my brain that I usually ignore started chirping away saying,
"Ash, Ash, people might not be able to read that." So I rewrote it as this:
Your idea doesn't matter (and neither does anyone else's.)
and suddenly I knew what art direction was.
To explain this realisation I sort of have to go against everything I have ever tried to do as a freelancer, but I think it's worth it just to save the point becoming even more drawn out than it already is.
The fact is thus: Everyone has ideas. You have ideas, your mate has ideas, your aunt has ideas and the guy who delivers the charity bags through the door has ideas. They are not exclusive to the creative industries, they are a commodity that everyone needs in order to survive and grow. The problem with an idea, and therefor the meaning of this blog post, is that on its own it really has nothing to offer. One idea just sitting around in your head can't really have any sort of impact on anything. You can make that idea happen, you can write it up or draw it or create it or buy it, but ultimately it is still just one idea even if it now exists in a material form. One little thought against the rest of the world will not be victorious, no matter how loudly you shout about it.
The only way one idea can prosper is if it joins hands with other ideas. Together they are a stronger force, a bigger object, a more exciting offer. When we are willing to share our ideas with other ideas is when they become possible. That's when they can lead to something great.
The fear is that the other idea will shoot your initial idea down and kill it, but if you don't take that risk that will just end up happening anyway only in a more slow, pointless way. You either jump knowing there's a chance you'll die or stand still knowing you definitely will. It's obvious, really, which choice you should make.
No idea is bad, it might just be different and the more different ideas combine the more likely they are to become even more ideas that will, eventually, matter. Things like the Chip Shop Awards that have been torn apart by certain advertising bodies recently aren't there to cause controversy or 'steal intellectual property,' they're there as a way to get ideas out there that may otherwise never have been seen. If we can't come up with something creative without first having the thumbs up from whatever body we're planning on being creative for then what chance do we have of thinking of something new? What hope would there be for creatives like myself, like all my friends and like how everyone now higher up in the industry started out as have of getting anywhere?
It shouldn't be thought of as dangerous to share new thoughts that might be a little bit risky; it should be thought of as dangerous to hold them back. More ideas can only lead to better ideas, which really is the reason I keep on sharing mine.
You don't have to like them, you don't have to contribute to them, but saying they simply shouldn't be allowed is one of few ideas that probably aren't worth taking forwards.
