One of the more fun aspects of working in advertising is participating in creative brainstorming sessions. While there’s always serious thinking and a back-and-forth flow of ideas going on, typically, there’s also equal parts laughter. So much so, that the people in the offices across the hall have been heard laughing for no other reason than that they hear us laughing — it’s a contagious response.
That’s the thing — we’re in this business because we love creating new ways to look at and to think about the world. We love playing with ideas. We love jamming. We love letting ‘er rip. We love going where no minds have gone befo… Well, you get the idea.
So, what’s the process? 
When a client comes to us with a project, we start with looking at what their objectives are. After the information gathering stage is complete, we get together and let the words, images, and ideas flow. Our job at this point is to riff with reckless abandon — no editing allowed. When the creative dump has run it’s course, then we start sifting, sorting, combining, discarding, and finally, selecting.
Our process can be structured or improvised, individual or group, planned or spontaneous, consciously executed or subconsciously percolated. The number of ideas generated tends to be a function of the amount of time the client gives us and the information we’ve gathered during the initial phase.
While it’s true that creativity can be sparked through a social process, you don’t need a meeting or an involved format to be creative. Just as often, our best ideas happen in the solitary space of our own minds working at our own desks. Really, just a brain, some desire, and some time are all that are required.
So, if you have a desire to express your creativity in some way, don’t let yourself be hampered by anybody else’s rules. Just grab hold of an idea that fascinates you and do what this guy did.
