Charlie Purdy joined us for work experience and we gave her the task of exploring where ideas come from and how a concept is created from a brief. Here are Charlie’s findings…..

Have you ever wondered how designers and creators miraculously turn a brief into a successful campaign? Creativity plays a significant role at a marketing agency, putting inventive and imaginative minds to the test to produce amazing work.

Sometimes ideas don’t appear automatically after reading what the client theoretically wants, often research and mind-wandering produces the best pieces of work. Here are 5 pieces of inspiration creative teams use to transform a brief into something spectacular!

1. Draw inspiration from examples – particularly from competitors

There is no harm taking inspiration from great campaigns, a lot of designers do this in order to form ideas and figure out why that campaign was so successful, or not as successful. This helps gauge an insight into what a good idea requires. This doesn’t mean you’re copying these campaigns, but in fact learning from them in order to better your performance.

Additionally, looking at campaigns produced by competitors of the client can give you motivation to create an even better idea, and wow your client! Research is a huge part of a designer’s job, allowing them to widen their perspective on what makes a creative idea good or bad.

2. Accept all of your ideas

We’re all guilty of being critical of ourselves at time and often believe the idea which popped into our heads is useless. However, in a creative team, any idea is valuable, and works as a building block towards a campaign. Jotting down ideas, good or bad, and discussing their practicality is one of the most important steps which takes place before building a successful campaign. So don’t be ashamed to share your ideas!

3. Step back from the brief

Stop forcing ideas. Allow your mind to wander free and be patient- sometimes the best ideas are formed at 2am in the morning, or when you’re busy singing in the shower!

Often, trying to comprehend a lot of words on a page can cause your mind to go blank. Give yourself time to make sense of the brief. Boredom allows your mind to wander, which is great for creativity. Amazing ideas take time to be formed!

4. Teamwork

Speaking to others on your team about your ideas can create heaps of inspiration. You might find you and someone else had a similar idea, so by joining both of your insights, and addressing the strengths and weaknesses, an amazing campaign idea could be sparked.

Good marketing campaigns frequently come as the result of teamwork and ongoing development. Brainstorming and discussions are one of the biggest sources of fresh and unique ideas. So, when you have an idea, share it with your team, and watch incredible campaigns unveil!

5. Using your own interests

Often designers create pin boards on Pinterest, collecting multitudes of ideas to use in future projects- whether that’s a colour or design which sparked their interest, or a wacky font which would provide inspiration for a future project.

Building a portfolio provides a useful tool when beginning to work on a new campaign, as it provides a foundation for ideas to form, and makes it easier to find inspiration when beginning your research, as you already have a toolkit of possible ideas.

These are just some of the tips and techniques designers use to turn a brief into a creative piece. It’s not always possible to miraculously think of an idea on the spot, a lot of work is put in to ensure campaigns are as imaginative and exciting as possible, in order to surprise the client!