Going Down the Rabbit Hole - Chaos, Curiosity & Creativity (The Inbounder, May 2017)

@hannah_bo_banna

going down the rabbit hole…chaos,curiosity, & creativity

@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

hello there!

@hannah_bo_banna

my team’s job is to make things that journalists want to write about

& people want to share

@hannah_bo_banna

huh?

this was created for Expedia, it’s a series of vintage travel posters commemorating the wildlife we’ve lost

links from over 150 domains

this was created for Sage,it explores what these $1bn start-ups & the people who founded them have in common

this was created for GoCompare,it reveals the movies with the highest on-screen death counts over the past 80 years

@hannah_bo_banna

last year we created 50 thingers(so we were launching at a rate of about one per week)

@hannah_bo_banna

this year we’re doing 75(or maybe more…)

@hannah_bo_banna

here’s the thing I don’t normally admit

@hannah_bo_banna

for every twenty ideas I come up with,

only one is likely to be worth making

@hannah_bo_banna

on this basis I’ll need to come up with around 1,500 ideas this year

{insert your own expletive here}

fortunately I’m not alone J

@hannah_bo_banna

nevertheless, on this basis we’ll need to come up with around 1,500 ideas this year

{insert your own expletive here}

@hannah_bo_banna

so creativity is something I think about a lot

@hannah_bo_banna

or, more accurately, what it means to be creative

@hannah_bo_banna

creativehaving a good imagination or original ideas

@hannah_bo_banna

raise your hand if you think you’re creative

@hannah_bo_banna

so the rest of youdo not consider yourselves creative

@hannah_bo_banna

raise your hand if you used to make up games as a child

as an adult you see a cardboard box

but as a child you saw a treasure chest

a boat

a transmogrifier

a time machine

@hannah_bo_banna

we were all creative

@hannah_bo_banna

raise your hand if you used to make up stories as a child

after I saw jaws for the first time, aged 7,I wrote my own version

@hannah_bo_banna

I felt that the sea was too limiting in terms of potential terror

@hannah_bo_banna

so in my version jaws could swim through the earth’s mantle

& pop up through the crust to terrorise people

@hannah_bo_banna

as stories go I thought it was pretty great

@hannah_bo_banna

I gave it to my dad to read

@hannah_bo_banna

my dad said that the earth’s mantle was mainly solid so jaws couldn’t swim through it

@hannah_bo_banna

he also said that the mantle was too hot(between 500-900 degrees)

@hannah_bo_banna

he said jaws would not be able to breathe in the mantle

@hannah_bo_banna

he mentioned something about it being pretty tough to break through the earth’s crust

@hannah_bo_banna

[tough review]

@hannah_bo_banna

I responded that jaws had been stung by a radioactive jellyfish & had special powers now

@hannah_bo_banna

I said it was a bit like what happened to Peter Parker

@hannah_bo_banna

I took two things I liked & mashed them together to make something new

@hannah_bo_banna

jaws + spiderman = a better story(according to me, aged 7)

@hannah_bo_banna

we all used to do this,it’s how we came up with games & stories

@hannah_bo_banna

somewhere along the way most of us stopped

@hannah_bo_banna

& now we say we’re not creative

@hannah_bo_banna

but we are

@hannah_bo_banna

I just think that how we define creative is a bit broken

@hannah_bo_banna

creativehaving a good imagination or original ideas

@hannah_bo_banna

children are creative

@hannah_bo_banna

they imagine all sorts of things

@hannah_bo_banna

but they don’t sweat the originality bit

@hannah_bo_banna

or rather, they arrive at originality via a roundabout route

@hannah_bo_banna

jaws + spiderman = a better story(according to me, aged 7)

@hannah_bo_banna

two ideas smooshed together = an original idea

@hannah_bo_banna

right now you’re probably thinking

@hannah_bo_banna

what has this:jaws + spiderman = a better story

@hannah_bo_banna

got to do with stuff like this…

@hannah_bo_banna

I think that if you need to come up with 1,500 ideas

@hannah_bo_banna

you stand a better chance of succeeding if you ditch your obsession with originality

@hannah_bo_banna

(trying to be original is crippling in any case)

@hannah_bo_banna

instead, find things you love

& build upon them to make something new

@hannah_bo_banna

were inspired by these…

@hannah_bo_banna

Mythical Beasts - a series of vintage travel posters by graphic designer Fro Reza

(who was likely inspired by someone like David Klein)

@hannah_bo_banna

was inspired by this…

@hannah_bo_banna

find things you love & build upon them to make something new

@hannah_bo_banna

I feel like I sort of knew this already

@hannah_bo_banna

but it wasn’t until I read this that it clicked for me

@hannah_bo_banna

but wait, stealing is bad, right?

@hannah_bo_banna

don’t *just* steal

@hannah_bo_banna

steal like an artist

@hannah_bo_banna

know the difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ theft

bad theft = just make some more vintage travel posters of mythical beasts

bad theft = steal the data, redesign it, maybe change the name

bad theft = just make this beautiful

@hannah_bo_banna

sometimes the line between good and bad theft is blurry

@hannah_bo_banna

I can’t tell you where the line is

@hannah_bo_banna

but just because you *can* get away with itdoesn’t mean that you should

@hannah_bo_banna

steal responsibly in order to come up with ideas

@hannah_bo_banna

what does that look like?

@hannah_bo_banna

in the past, when people asked me how I came up with ideas

this was my answer

@hannah_bo_banna

I do hours and hours and hours of research, I drink a lot of coffee, I lose my mind because all my ideas are terrible, I decide f*ck it, I get drunk…

@hannah_bo_banna

the next day…I regret getting drunk, I do more research, I try harder to come up with ideas, I typically lose my mind again...

@hannah_bo_banna

I keep on doing this until I come up with some stuff I think might work…

@hannah_bo_banna

it’s not an especially helpful answer, huh?

@hannah_bo_banna

today I want to try to give you a slightly better answer

@hannah_bo_banna

this stealing like an artist thing helps

this is the research phase

@hannah_bo_banna

step one

‘find things you love’

@hannah_bo_banna

do this constantly

@hannah_bo_banna

there’s likely to be something in every book you read, every film you see,

every song you listen to, art in all its forms, the stuff you see online, on street signs, in slogans, in overheard conversations…

@hannah_bo_banna

here are a few examples…

@hannah_bo_banna

“it’s often a person’s mouththat broke their nose”

~ overheard on the last train home

great ape-spectations(http://windoodles.tumblr.com/)

@hannah_bo_banna

“making a killing on Wall Street might be a harmless turn of phrase, but it only enjoys traction because

of the culture it takes place in”

~ Irvine Welsh, intro to American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

@hannah_bo_banna

make it your mission to constantly capture this stuff

@hannah_bo_banna

step two

@hannah_bo_banna

when it comes to concepts for clientsfinding things *I* love can be tough

@hannah_bo_banna

but actually,*I* might not need to love them

‘find things which provoke an emotional response in your target audience’

@hannah_bo_banna

huh?

@hannah_bo_banna

we only share things if they make us feel something

@hannah_bo_banna

which makes social shares a reasonable proxy for strength of emotional response

@hannah_bo_banna

to begin, figure out where you want coverage(start with 5-10 sites)

@hannah_bo_banna

find out which content is most sharedon those sites

@hannah_bo_banna

actually, while we’re here…

@hannah_bo_banna

don’t just find out *what* people share,try to figure out

*why* people are sharing this stuff

@hannah_bo_banna

especially if you it’s not something you care about it

nearly 14k people shared this on facebook?!

@hannah_bo_banna

talk to a human being who cares about this stuff

@hannah_bo_banna

if you don’t get your target audience,it’s likely they won’t get your content

@hannah_bo_banna

figure out where you want coverage(start with 5-10 sites)

@hannah_bo_banna

find out which content is most sharedon those sites & why

money,life hacks,

mindfulness, happiness

leadership, intuition,

intelligence, instinct

money, cost of living,

happiness

leadership, power,

influence

@hannah_bo_banna

read the articles, make notes,

& create a separate list of topics to explore further

save anything worth stealing

@hannah_bo_banna

now do this again with [site + each topic]

(leadership, life hacks, money, happiness, intuition, intelligence, instinct, power, influence, cost of living)

@hannah_bo_banna

start with 5-10 sites[search site]

make a note of topics[search site + topics]

note down more topics[now you’ve explored a subset of topics across 5-10 sites]

@hannah_bo_banna

now do this again with [each topic]

(leadership, life hacks, money, happiness, intuition, intelligence, instinct, power, influence, cost of living)

@hannah_bo_banna

create a separate list of sites to explore further

@hannah_bo_banna

now do this again with [new sites + each topic]

@hannah_bo_banna




[search topics]make a note of sites you’ve not explored yet

[search new sites + topics][now you’ve explored a subset of topics across many more sites]

@hannah_bo_banna

now take your list of topics & come up with a bunch more related topics

@hannah_bo_banna

now do this again with [each new topic]

(efficiency, productivity, creativity, work life balance, problem solving, prioritising,all of the above + apps and tools)

@hannah_bo_banna

create another list of sites to explore further

@hannah_bo_banna

now do this again with [new sites + each of your previous topics]

@hannah_bo_banna




[search topics]make a note of sites you’ve not explored yet

[search new sites + topics][now you’ve explored a subset of topics across many sites]

come up with more topics[search new topics]

make a note of sites you’ve not explored yet[search new sites + all the topics]

[now you’ve explored a bunch of topics across many sites]

@hannah_bo_banna

are your heads spinning?

@hannah_bo_banna

you’re not done yet

@hannah_bo_banna

now google your topics

@hannah_bo_banna

try google image search

@hannah_bo_banna

search reddit

@hannah_bo_banna

go to the library

@hannah_bo_banna

(these are just examples, there’s loads more you can explore)

@hannah_bo_banna

by the end of this, you should have tonnes of stuff worth stealing

@hannah_bo_banna

you’ll have a much clearer idea of the content landscape

@hannah_bo_banna

& you’ll have a better understanding of what your target audience share & why

@hannah_bo_banna

step three

@hannah_bo_banna

take the stuff you love

@hannah_bo_banna

& try to mash it up with the stuff your target audience care about

@hannah_bo_banna

use both as building blocks to make something new

@hannah_bo_banna

wait, that sounds hard…how do you do that bit?

@hannah_bo_banna

I’ll try to explain with an example

@hannah_bo_banna

back in 2014 I had a client that sold books

@hannah_bo_banna

I love books(so I thought this would be easy)

@hannah_bo_banna

research suggested that the most voracious readers are often would-be writers

@hannah_bo_banna

I wanted to make something for those voracious readers & would-be writers

@hannah_bo_banna

they say everyone has a novel in them& I wanted to prove that it’s never too late

I’d seen how successful this was…

& this is (very loosely) based on that -it shows how many books the best loved authors published, & when they published

their breakthrough: from Jack Kerouac aged 26, to Rosamunde Pilcher aged 65

@hannah_bo_banna

the message was,there’s still time to write that first novel

@hannah_bo_banna

actually that’s a pretty sanitised version

@hannah_bo_banna

I eventually arrived at that piece with a coherent message

but, I disappeared down a bunch of rabbit holes first

@hannah_bo_banna

I trawled the book sections of news sites and book specific sites to try to get a handle on

what content was most shared

@hannah_bo_banna

at the time the most shared piece of content on Book Riot was:

16 things Calvin & Hobbes said better than anyone else

possibly the most true statement ever

@hannah_bo_banna

I spent a bunch of time on this Calvin & Hobbes idea

@hannah_bo_banna

but no matter what I did I couldn’t get it to a point where it was anything other than

a listicle of comic strips

@hannah_bo_banna

comic strips that we weren’t likely to be allowed to use

@hannah_bo_banna

& of course the client wasn’t likely to go for it

@hannah_bo_banna

rabbit hole L

there was also tonnes of stuff about amazing bookshelves

@hannah_bo_banna

but what do you do with that?

@hannah_bo_banna

could we design our own bookshelves?

@hannah_bo_banna

why?!

@hannah_bo_banna

could we imagine how would famous authors would design bookshelves?

@hannah_bo_banna

that’s crazily tenuous

@hannah_bo_banna

what would that even look like?

@hannah_bo_banna

rabbit hole L

@hannah_bo_banna

wait… what about libraries?

@hannah_bo_banna

libraries are cool

@hannah_bo_banna

what about libraries in movies?

the breakfast club is set in a library

in ghostbusters, the 1st ghostly encounter occurs in the NYC public library

what about superman’s fortress of solitude?that’s kind of a library right?

@hannah_bo_banna

oh god what am I doing?

@hannah_bo_banna

yet another rabbit hole L

@hannah_bo_banna

but I think you have to go with it & allow yourself to get a little bit lost

@hannah_bo_banna

sometimes those ridiculous rabbit holes will lead you to an idea that will work

@hannah_bo_banna

ok, let’s wrap this thing up

@hannah_bo_banna

rubbish in = rubbish out

@hannah_bo_banna

every day you’re exposed to stimuli –there’s the damned internet, but there’s also books, music,

conversation, art…

@hannah_bo_banna

be mindful about what you’re exposing yourself to

@hannah_bo_banna

be curious

@hannah_bo_banna

seek out the things that your target audience care about& try to understand why

@hannah_bo_banna

especially if they’re things you don’t care about

@hannah_bo_banna

know the difference between ‘good’ & ‘bad’ theft

@hannah_bo_banna

do this first and foremost becauseit’s the right thing to do

@hannah_bo_banna

but also…

@hannah_bo_banna

‘bad’ theft can lead you to create ‘bad’ content

@hannah_bo_banna

honor vs degradeis this just a dumbed down version?

is it worse than the original?

@hannah_bo_banna

skim vs studydo you have a deep understanding, or are you

creating something shallow or patronising?

@hannah_bo_banna

steal from one vs steal from manywhat are you adding here?what’s new or different?

@hannah_bo_banna

the final 3 are really just about being a decent human…

@hannah_bo_banna

credit vs plagiariseyou learned this at school

@hannah_bo_banna

transform vs imitateimitation is not flattery

@hannah_bo_banna

remix vs rip-offyou know the difference

@hannah_bo_banna

embrace the chaos

@hannah_bo_banna

disappear down rabbit holes

@hannah_bo_banna

trust that one of them will lead you somewhere

@hannah_bo_banna

“you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them

looking backward…”

~ Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement, 2005

@hannah_bo_banna

others echo this sentiment

@hannah_bo_banna

“ideas are born out of the stuff populating our memories…

creativity is simply the capacity to put those together in incredible new ways”

~ Maria Popova, brainpickings.org

@hannah_bo_banna

don’t lose heart

@hannah_bo_banna

plunging headlong into a sea of self-doubt because you think all your ideas are ‘bad’

is counter-productive

@hannah_bo_banna

we are all creative

@hannah_bo_banna

it’s just that no one really talks abouthow much hard work is involved

@hannah_bo_banna

you will find it hard, because it is hard

@hannah_bo_banna

work *really* hard

@hannah_bo_banna

for the most part, the difference between an idea that will work

and one which won’t,is just a whole bunch of work

@hannah_bo_banna

so do the work J

@hannah_bo_banna

& finally

@hannah_bo_banna

it *might* get easier over time

Paula Scher designed the Citibank logo, in seconds, on the back of a napkin, in an early client meeting

@hannah_bo_banna

“it’s done in a second, and 34 years…it’s done in a second, and every experience,

and every movie, and everything in my life that’s in my head”

~ Paula Scher

@hannah_bo_banna

when we’ve been doing this for 34 years, maybe we’ll get there faster J

good luck out there x

@hannah_bo_banna

Hannah SmithHead of CreativeVerve Search

send questions and/or pictures of cats to: [email protected] things @hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna

Big love to the team at Verve who helped me put this together J

Images:down the rabbit hole: http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2016/09/salvador-dali-alice-in-wonderland-illustrations/unknown tourism: http://www.expedia.co.uk/vc/unknowntourism/ unicorn league: http://www.sage.co.uk/c/v/unicorn-league/director’s cut: http://www.gocompare.com/life-insurance/directors-cut/ jesus titty christ: http://www.sickchirpse.com/illusions-that-will-blow-your-mind/cardboard box: http://blog.creativebug.com/halloween-cardboard-costumes-for-kids/ jaws: http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2014/07/jaws-ridiculous-say-kids-who-owe-everything-jaws mythical beasts: http://www.frodesignco.com/mythical-beasts david klein: https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/david-klein%E2%80%99s-twa-travel-postersbillionaires league: http://www.gocompare.com/money/billionaire-league/ deadliest films: http://www.randalolson.com/2013/12/31/deadliest-films-of-all-time-by-on-screen-death-counts/ steal like an artist: http://austinkleon.com/steal/beer: http://lifehacker.com/why-you-should-drink-beer-for-big-ideas-coffee-to-get-513262326great ape-spectations: http://windoodles.tumblr.com/post/11324031727/great-ape-spectationsbuzzsumo: http://buzzsumo.com/ too late to start: http://fundersandfounders.com/too-late-to-start-life-crisis/ calvin & hobbes: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/ read: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/32-awesome-bookshelves-every-book-lover-needs-have.html the breakfast club: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/ ghostbusters: http://untappedcities.com/2013/09/05/film-locations-ghostbusters-at-nypl-columbia-hook-ladder-fire-station-tavern-on-the-green/fortress of solitude: https://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/04/this-superman-poster-encompasses-everything-great-about-the-1978-movie/danbo - https://www.flickr.com/photos/nomadic_lass/6889892777/in/set-72157629144987013unicorn - http://queenofheartsonthesleeve.tumblr.com/post/58736423727/ok-not-much-but-here-it-is-3

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Going Down the Rabbit Hole - Chaos, Curiosity & Creativity (The Inbounder, May 2017)

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Transcript of Going Down the Rabbit Hole - Chaos, Curiosity & Creativity (The Inbounder, May 2017)