From where do your best ideas originate?
I read this great book a while back. In essence it said that the greatest ideas come from the subconscious. When you need a big idea, fill your mind with all the background information you can about your subject (old ads, imagery, old copy, bios, background info, magazine articles, a competitor’s work) then, step away from the project and let your subconscious work on the idea for you. Usually when you come back to the work, your mind has processed all the big info and the ideas flow out much smoother. So now, I do most of my research for a new project before I go to bed. Then I try to get a good night’s sleep. I usually find that by morning I’m primed with at least a couple of good ideas. (Maybe it’s why you always hear of people being hit with their big ideas in the shower?) And just in case the best ideas hit in the middle of the night, I sleep with a pen and paper by my bed, and have even called and left half-asleep messages on my voicemail to check in the morning.

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