My son.
My cat.
A semi-tidy/messy bedroom.
Colour. Toys. Posters and Paintings.
Books to Dolls houses to Magnetic Blocks.
This photo makes me so very, very happy.
Not just because of Otis and Rosie – though obviously that is great – but as childhood photos go, I can’t help but feel this is how it should be.
Now, of course, this ‘look’ – excluding my son and cat – is often the sort of thing you also find inside ad agencies.
I remember an old boss telling me that when he took his kids to the office, they asked where the other kids were, because they thought it was just like their bedrooms.
And while it is easy to write this design approach as superficial or childish – I genuinely believe it can make a difference.
Being surrounded by an environment that celebrates and provokes creativity can only be a good thing, especially if you are paid to think creatively – however, like raising a child, it only works if that extends to what you expect from the people within it.
Frankly, if you create a creative environment you have to let them be creative.
You can’t do that and then create systems and processes that push people to conform to rules.
Creative culture can absolutely be aided by the environment you surround people with, but the reality is it’s ultimately driven by having a culture of freedom and encouragement, which is why it seems to me the nice environments of many agencies are more about the illusion of creativity rather than the celebration, inspiration and ignition of it.
Kinda like what I told Campaign magazine a few years ago …
