Our formula for generating ideas

By Javier Ruiz de Assin and Clara López, members of the Baud team.

They say that Newton discovered gravity when an apple fell next to him while he was sitting in the shade of a tree. A momentous discovery for humanity, with a beautiful story.

This and many other similar stories are part of our collective imagination and contribute to continue to romanticize the universe of creativity and the processes of generating ideas.

And now we are here. On such a day as today at such a time as this. You reading and us, in the uncomfortable situation of having to demystify these processes.

We are Clara and Javier, Baud Consultant and Designer. Of course, we have never come up with a discovery as momentous as gravity, nor have we come up with an idea with a story as beautiful as that of the apple. But we would like to take advantage of this moment of reading to tell you some of the formulas that we use to generate unique ideas that work for the challenges of our clients in the required times.

The formula for Clara is work and life

She is passionate about both and experiences them to the fullest, nurturing them in all directions. Every time she is faced with a challenge such as a merger, an internationalization or diversification process, a generational transfer, a reputation crisis, the need to connect with new internal or external audiences, or create and conquer new blue oceans, Clara becomes into a bookworm and gets into the subject up to his ears. Reports, magazines, documentaries, workshops, experiences ...

Delving into everything and detecting with a critical and expert eye what is most important.

With the keys in mind and written down on no more than what will fit on a post-it, change the scene.

If the weather is tight, use the sofas in the office, the park below or the balcony of your house. If time permits, rest it for a couple of days, coinciding with a concert, a restorative bath or a few hours of sleep. And there 'the magic' happens. One of the last good and effective ideas happened on the stage of Hans Zimmer. Although yesterday's was less poetic and emerged looking out the window.

With the information and the idea, she continues to work, going round and round, alone and with her colleagues. Going deeper, reaching the truly valuable, developing and polishing it.

Hours, effort, ability and also and very especially, life.

A rich life outside of work: surfing, diving, salsa, travel, own projects ... Everyone chooses their own.

The formula for Javi is order and teamwork

Order is a term that can sound antagonistic to creativity, especially if the image one has of it is close to that of a young Jackson Pollock brushing on a canvas. However, the design presents a functional dimension that means that its methodology must follow a different process from that of the freer plastic arts. When tackling a new branding project, the designer may be tempted to immediately start filling his desk with countless logo proposals, colorful color palettes and modern typefaces: mistake.

In branding, the house always begins with the foundations and the foundations of this profession are the strategy.

The time spent internalizing the strategic work should never be underestimated, since it will be time that we will save later by carrying out tests that lead nowhere.

Once all this documentation has been read and reread, it is best to write down the main keys on a sheet of paper and keep it in view throughout the project.

So far, everything may seem a bit more boring than you might expect, but once we have carried out this first phase, we can, now, get disheveled and start sticking our own brush strokes.

And you advance. And you come upstairs. And you think you are the Newton of design ... And then you get stuck. Suddenly you find yourself with an idea 'impossible' to materialize, an overwhelming amount of visual references and a gazillion disjointed sketches that you no longer understand even yourself. At this point there is only one possible formula: a fresh look. That of oneself after a walk or even better, that of a partner.

Using a third party not only gives us a new and objective point of view, but by verbalizing and arguing our own ideas we help to clarify and improve them.

Living, striving and resorting to methodologies and colleagues is our formula. But there are many more that we will love to continue knowing and practicing.

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Image by Christin Hume.