the Varoom Varoom lounge

a collection of creative thinking resources

We see with memory. My memory is different from yours, so if we are both standing in the same place we’re not quite seeing the same thing. Different individuals have different memories; therefore other elements are playing a part. Whether you have been in a place before will affect you, and how well you know it. There’s no objective vision ever - ever.
— David Hockney

Hockney’s Winter Timber and A bigger Grand Canyon

Freud’s sin was in locating the source of human disorder within human beings themselves
— unknown
Teaching the eye what the ear can hear

Hockney on his ‘Wagner drives’ in California - driving through the countryside racing against the setting sun to Wagner in his red Mercedes convertible.

via Edith Devaney’s talk on Hockney at the Royal Academy

Teachers leave those kids alone!

Fabulous article on how some innovative thinkers are disrupting and challenging the teacher pupil model of education.

From Google’s Think Quarterly SPEED issue.

Inspiring and thought-provoking.  Makes me want to go back to school and see how the kids are doing it.

Ann

Suppose Winston Churchill had said ‘we owe a lot to the RAF’ instead of ‘never was so much owed by so many so few’, do you think the impact would have been the same?

Logic and over-analysis can immobilise and sterilize an idea. It’s like love. The more you analyse it, the more it disappears.

— Bill Bernbach

…. what Schön called ‘reflection in action’ -

He discovered that the work of skilled professionals did not consist in having a sudden revelation, but in trying things out, talking things through, playing about, testing ideas and so allowing the ‘right’ solution to emerge.

To do this as a group requires that its members practise certain habits. They need to listen well, to avoid becoming too attached to their own ideas, to accept uncertainty and to take risks.

Holding the conversational space open until a consensus emerges, and staying open to data or observations that invite us to consider that we may have been mistaken, are not things that all agency or marketing people find easy to do.

But it may be that the best chance of improving the quality of advertising decisions lies in paying attention to these processes and seeking to improve them.

Paul Feldwick via David Warren’s blog

1. Entrepeneurs routinely see opportunities where everyone else sees problems.

2. They have an ability to live with risk and failure. Entrepeneurs do not go out of their way to court risk for its own sake. But they accept that risk comes with success.

3. Entrepeneurs have a determination to run their own lives. Many have a problem with authority.

Economist article reviewing World Changers, a book on Entrepeneurs and what makes them tick.

Gender Rules!

Via Jamie Elwes - bloody brilliant and thought-provoking site that looks at print ads and how they relate to gender, and the various roles male and female play.

A fab source of images too.

Ann

Nudge that over three clicks. Now back one. Back one more. And, one more. Great.
— A reblog from Fucking Creatives 

Every detail has to be perfect

The fabulous Mr Chow.  Pretty full on.  This world famous restauranteur shares a day in his life.  You’ll get a glimpse of what has made him so successful - his tenacious obsessive perfectionism and fierce self-belief.  

An inspiring reminder to make sure that whatever you make, you’ve made a conscious choice to compromise or not on every detail and angle.

Ann

The power of vulnerability

A TED talk worth listening to all the way through.  Some truly deep and mind-opening insights from a qualitative research professor who spent a decade digging into what makes people tick.  

Thanks Suzy

Ann

Meet on the fly

Another smart idea for an airline.

KLM is working with Facebook so that customers can book a seat on a flight next to someone based on their social media profile.  

Hmm, in practice that might be a bit creepy, but a lovely creative leap nonetheless.

Ann

Couple up to buckle up - a fabulous idea execution from Scandinavian Airlines.

A 2 for 1 offer for holiday flights that could only be redeemed by a couple booking the flights together.

Ann

Good design is great for productivity.
Through witnessing all of the elaborate systems for productivity, we realized that the most effective systems are distinguished by their design.
It’s very simple: If a system functions properly and is attractive, you are more likely to stay loyal to it.