SCABs

What is your favourite creative technique? By Intake of 16/17

 

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What is your favourite creative technique?

 

This week was certainly a busy one at SCA. We were introduced to a multitude of creative techniques. Here are some of the ones that inspired our creatives the most:

 

Adeline –  I like mixing some of them together. Sometimes it can work quite well.

But honestly, my favourite one was, is and always will be the illogical conclusion.

 

Alexandra – There is one creative technique that I used on the same day learning it so I’m going to say that Random is my favourite so far. Simple and efficient, so little thought goes into the generation of words for this technique that it frees up your mind to think differently and come at the problem from a different perspective.

 

How to?

 

Choose 2 words completely randomly then associate 2 more words with each of those words and keep branching out till you eventually decide to try and tie any 2 random words to your project.

 

Anam – My favourite was definitely “Use the medium”. It’s cool to see how ordinary everyday objects can be manipulated to push a brand’s message further.

 

Arthur – I don’t really have a favourite one… Possibly the 4Rs and “Skewed World” work best for me. Rethinking and challenging the brief by pushing it in a whole new dimension, is the best way to come up with a logical solution.

 

Christine – Having fun while brainstorming is more important than you think. Go nuts – don’t limit yourself – when you’re a Creative everything is possible!

 

Beth – Mediums: putting the idea into different mediums allows you to really get a feel for what your idea can grow and develop into.

 

Bunmi –  I like the skewed world because there are no limitations. There’s a lot of insanity in this technique that I was comfortable to explore!

 

Daisy – I’m a fan of the entire process of bashing out tons of creative techniques until you have a hundred ideas, maybe one of which is halfway decent. That’s my game.

 

Fenton – For me I love ads that play with the scale making an otherwise initially boring un sexy brand (Old Spice for example) and making it funny and somewhat cool. Its also interesting to see how the 12 creative techniques we explore entwine.

 

Henry – I love the honest approach, telling the truth about the product/brand seems to lead to witty ideas that connect with the audience, using the ordinary to show the extraordinary e.g. Classic VW ads

 

Flavia – My favorite approach is the logical. I like to solve logical problems in a creative way, I think that is what advertising is all about.

 

Jacob – having a huge stack of blank paper sitting in front of me really gets the juices flowing

 

James – Thinking of illogical conclusions really helps to get ideas flowing as your imagination is the only limit.

 

Katherine – I love being illogical with briefs, thinking a bit wonky tends to help my brain come out with some bizarre, yet logical ideas!

 

Krista – Get rid of all the words! It’s the perfect challenge for a lazy copywriter.

 

Kenny – For me, it’s just sitting down and making things. It could be disaster, it could be gold, but at least I got to make it. I’m always chuffed to bits that I’m lucky enough to be part of a group of people who have the privilege to simply just create for a living. It makes me ambitious and it makes me better. Make, make then make again.

 

Kyle –  I like the random technique. Bringing things together that have no relationship is a challenge and exciting.

 

Lauren – I`m a big fan of the `what is it like?` technique as it enables you/the consumer to understand something you/they don’t already know by invoking something you/they do.

 

Exhibit A:

 

You: What the heck is a pomelo?

Me: It’s kind of like a giant grapefruit.

You: Ahhhh okay. Thanks Me.

 

This provides clarity, inspiration and an alternative approach.

 

Lee – Illogical over urrrthang

 

Ludo – Creating a ‘Skewed World’ works for me, thinking about something completely weird and out of the ordinary usually sparks an idea.

 

Malou – Our fav technique.. Uh that’s a tough one… I think mine would be (and this comes from many creatives that I’ve spoken to) GO AND EXPLORE.. Do something fun. Go see something new. Go to art galleries or just go feed the ducklings in the park. Cause ideas comes from everywhere and they most often come when you’re not pushing it =)

 

Mark – I really enjoy trying to describe something without words or without pictures. There is nothing like having to go without to make it clear what really needs to be there.

 

Marianne – I loved the “Use the medium” technique. You can do so many exciting things with social media and technology! Even if it’s a traditional medium, it forces you to look for the big idea.

 

Max – Skewed world seems to work well for me, if you think about everything you shouldn’t and be totally obscure, you open up to new ideas instantly, some of which are surprisingly quite rational

 

Mona – I am a dreamer, I’m constantly daydreaming about different stories in my head, most of the time, these stories don’t make any sense, they are completely ridiculous, it’s a different world where everything could happen… That’s why I really like the “illogical conclusion”, but my favorite creative technique is to create a skewed world. Imagine a world where magic can happen and gravity can switch off !

 

Naomi – Beat up the enemy – nothing better than a bit of friendly competition.

 

Orla – Read the brief, go to a gallery and try and link every painting to your brief.

 

Pjotr – My favourite technique is freestyle since it implies freedom which is good.

 

Robyn – There’s definitely something to be said for ‘beating up the enemy’, (a technique Marc highlighted this week). I’m not one for beating up friends, but give me a rival brand or product and I’ll pick a hundred holes in it before stepping back, then trying to make mine a hundred times better. As a child I loved supermarket ads where one did a direct comparison against their competition. Brutal but brilliant.

 

Rollo – Starting at SCA I feel a little like Harry Potter… I’ve always loved dreaming up ideas, but never had any control over them!! Before Harry finds out he’s a Wizard he has no control over his magic. Arriving at Hogwarts, however, he learns how to harness and hone his magic through mastering techniques… Like Harry, we too are learning techniques to master our creativity. My favourite will come with practise…

 

Sasha – I have a couple of new techniques from the workshops we’ve taken part in over the past couple of weeks but my favourite still has to be Deanna’s she shared in creative writing class, day 2 of SCA. She got us to write solidly about a topic for 2 minutes, scribbling whatever came into our minds – such an easy way to get ideas down effortlessly, instead of staring at a blank page… Mind blown.

 

Sam – I’ve been loving a bit of free/speed writing; sitting down for 2 minutes and writing freely on a subject to see if anything good comes out. I find the process quite a freeing way to make odd links between things.

 

Sophie – Before I joined SCA I thought there may be 5 creatives techniques max. Oh how wrong I was. We have spent the past week soaking up so many i’ve lost count. But my favourite to date is Re-expression. Basically you have to explain the brief/ idea in a different way e.g draw it, map it, say it in a different language, act it out, use similes – whatever you can think of to turn it on its head.

 

Tomo – Tell the truth. Or as Stu Outhwaite from Creature explained, ‘Be brutally honest about the brand.’ That sort of thinking gave birth to Pot Noodle’s infamous ‘slag of all snacks’ line.

 

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