What Inspires Me?
I believe that sources of inspiration fully depend on each person. I could sit down and make a list of the world's best creatives who inspire me, but I must say that although there are very inspiring trajectories, the muses that help you have a good idea or the beginning of a creative execution are out there. For me, inspiration comes from observation and from experiences.
When I want to get inspired, I have several tools. I look at award-winning cases, see what the new trends are, and even visit websites that have nothing to do with advertising to see how a director thinks, what a filmmaker's vision is, or even what new pieces of technology are in the market that we can use. But I also think back to the last place I travelled, what the most recent experience was when I visited X or Y restaurant, or what stayed with me from the last time I read a book.
Over time, creativity has been taken to a very boxed-in limit where people think you're more creative sitting at a desk for more than 12 hours. But true creativity and that spark we all want to have someday, although it comes from effort, also come from how much you live your life and enjoy it. That's why my sources of inspiration are the streets, airports, sitting on a beach, or having coffee in a different place because sometimes, just by observing, you can see an insight that you would never see in an office.
What I always make sure to do and what I try to do the most is to have a pocket notebook at hand or my phone's notes always active and be always ready for any idea, observation, or insight that might cross my path. A common mistake of this new generation is that taking notes has lost value, but what no one sees is that sometimes we have that spark right in front of our eyes, and we assume that because it's so good, we'll always remember it. But the reality is different, and only by writing can we make an idea grow even more, or it can help us understand how it's not big enough yet or all the potential it can have.
We are sponges that absorb knowledge and experiences, so if we've been thinking about ideas for a long time and don’t manage to come up with something we like, maybe it's time to change the way we approach situations. So I invite everyone who reads this to watch a movie, to open maps they've never visited, to change the route they use for their commute, to go to a country they didn't even know how to pronounce, so that the next brief they receive, they don't approach just with their office creative side but also with their adventurous side. And who knows, maybe in that next cup of coffee in the middle of nowhere is the answer to get the next gold trophy.
