Have you ever wondered if there’s a science behind creativity? Or looked into how you can be more creative? Well, the answer is: finding inspiration. The good news? Inspiration is everywhere. The bad news, it can be hard to spot and even harder to turn into something useful.

In this article, we’re breaking down:

🔎Where to find inspiration to spark creativity and

🔥How to bring those inspirations to life.

WHERE TO LOOK FOR INSPIRATION:

MUSIC

Music is such a powerful creative tool. At INDIRAP, when we start editing a new video, we always start with the music. It really sets the foundation for how a video is going to feel, the kind of message we’re sending, and it can immediately bring the audience into our headspace.

Pay attention to the music you listen to on a regular basis and really try to tap into how it makes you feel. Even if you’re not looking for a specific piece to add into a video, listen with intention.

Recognizing and tapping into the vibe of a song can launch you into a whole new creative perspective. And you can use that perspective to generate fresh ideas, challenge traditional ways of thinking, and keep your mind active.

"I’m constantly consuming. Constantly looking for new ideas. My creativity does not come from one dimension. It comes from every dimension."

Julian Tillotson
FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, Indirap

MAGAZINES

One of our favorite sources of inspiration. Magazines and editorials offer an unreal amount of visuals to pull inspiration from. Most people tend to turn to magazines for articles and interviews, completely skipping over the ads and sponsored pages. But honestly, there is so much creative genius that often gets overlooked in those spaces.

The way we see it, these promos are the culmination of ideas from some of the most creative minds working for the biggest brands out there. You might just see a perfume ad. But we see hours and hours of work that went into the set design, the model choice, the editing process, and the copy that was crafted.

These ads don’t happen by accident, and when you start peeling back the layers, you can start to unravel each little detail that you can utilize in your own content.

MEDIA

Movies, TV, commercial spots, paid ads, social media posts. There is a never-ending supply of digital media inspiration that, chances are, you’re already exposing yourself to. The key to turning these into sources of inspiration is by shifting your perspective when you’re consuming them.

The average person is exposed to 4,000 to 10,000 ads every single day. With numbers like that, it’s no surprise that most people become somewhat blind to them all. They passively intake all of the information surrounding them without really thinking about any of it.

Try to break yourself free from that habit. When you start to really analyze the content you’re experiencing, it becomes significantly easier to see the small aspects of creativity and thought behind everything. And the more you notice, the more chances you have of something sparking your creativity.

YOUR MAILBOX

We’re not gonna lie. Most of the promotional mail that gets pushed into people’s mailboxes by the masses really isn’t inspiring. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still brands out there that have given up on user experience.

Have you ever gotten a piece of promotional direct mail that actually caught your eye and, for some reason, made you read it for a moment rather than tossing it in the trash? Or have you received a delivery order only to be blown away by the attention to detail in the packaging? This doesn’t happen by mistake.

So next time you’re going through your mail, take a second to see what catches your eye. Even better? Make a note of what you hate. Sometimes knowing what you don’t like can be even more enlightening than what you do.

OTHER BRANDS

We’re not just talking about your competitors though. Of course, you want to stay aware of what everyone in your industry is doing. But the best way to stay above your competition and differentiate yourself? Look beyond them.

What are the brands outside of your industry that share similar values and vibes? Take a look at the fortune 500 companies. Which brands speak to you and why? What are they doing differently from everyone else and what methods can you recreate for your own business?

These brands offer a never-ending supply of creative inspiration if you know where to look.

ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE.

The best thing about opening your eyes to inspiration is how limitless the possibilities are. Every day you are exposed to thousands upon thousands of messages in varying forms.

Make a habit of stopping to reflect when something grabs your attention.

You know those moments when something jumps out at you and demands your attention? It could be a song, a movie trailer, someone’s outfit walking down the street, or a sponsored ad that pops up while strolling. Truly anything.

Next time you notice that something jumps out at you, pause for a second and ask yourself why. What about it speaks to you? Are there elements you can learn from or draw inspiration out of?

When you stop letting messages just roll over you, it becomes so much easier to spot brilliance and understand what makes a piece of content really pop.

HOW TO BRING YOUR CREATIVITY TO LIFE:

MOOD BOARDS

Take the inspiration out of your head and put it into a physical creative space. We always have a mood board in our office full of inspiring pieces. It’s a great way to piece together all the ideas you have floating around in your brain and see how it looks put together. Plus, it makes it near impossible to forget what about those small bursts of inspiration since they’re staring you right in the face.

Pro Tip: don’t think of a mood board as a one-and-done project. The things that inspire you today can and should look completely different from the week or month before. A mood board should be a living, constantly evolving space. We like to keep pieces on the board until we act on them and bring them to life in our content. Once we’ve used the idea, we’ll remove it to make space for the next creative opportunity.

DON'T KEEP IT A SECRET

These ideas aren’t doing you any good if they’re just stored away inside your head. Share them with your team! You can’t expect others to be on the same page as you if you don’t let them see where you’re getting your inspiration and what you’re hoping to achieve with it.

Don’t know how? Schedule a semi-regular meeting to share inspirational pieces. Create a collaborative creativity folder to drop content into when inspiration strikes. Share links that you find in a text or email chain.

Keeping everyone involved in your creative vision will only make it even easier to bring your ideas to life.

"When you only pull inspiration from one place, you can’t really bend and mold and shape it and come up with organic content that really shows people in their true nature. I’ve always been an observer —just sitting back and watching how things are done."
‍Julian Tillotson
FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, Indirap‍

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BREAK IT DOWN

When you stumble across a piece of content that catches your attention, don’t ever assume that it is out of reach. A final product can appear daunting, so try to look at it in smaller pieces.

How can you deconstruct it and find ways to achieve similar results? Maybe you just like the color of an ad, the headline for an article, or the pose of a model. Finding those smaller elements makes every piece of inspiration so much more accessible and easier to digest and recreate.

SHARE IT

Let your audience know what you’re being inspired by lately. This is a great way to easily position yourself next to the brands that you love. It allows your audience to automatically associate your brand with your sources of inspiration while offering you a chance to become adjacent with those brands.

Basically, it’s a shortcut to brand association without even needing to go out of your way to recreate the content. And who doesn’t love a good shortcut?

"I’m constantly exploring. I’m constantly looking for new inspirations and that’s just what makes me, me. And what really makes us INDIRAP. It’s a constant on going deep dive into not just creative and marketing, but in yourself. "
Julian Tillotson
Founder & Executive Producer, Indirap

WANT EVEN MORE INSIGHTS FOR CREATIVITY?

Julian Tillotson, Founder & CEO of INDIRAP, gives us an inside look at how his creative brain works and how he uses those ideas to push and elevate brands of all kinds, from all over the world.