Creative Concepts

 Good Ideas alter the

power balance

in relationships,

that is why

good ideas are always

 initially resisted.

  

for more on this read “Changethis”  visit http://www.changethis.com  you can read, download extraordinary and excellent writeups:

ABOUT ME?

I am different, different in various aspects.  You may have a particular perception about me but I promise you that you will change your perception once you observe my performance.  I am a go-getter and a team player.  Yet, I am reserved and workaholic.  This self confession usually is not welcomed by any boss!  He will take with a tablespoon full of salt.  So I will have to hard sell  my resume, before getting the interview and after getting joining any firm.  

 The one book and one author

I would like to quote few lines from “The Alchemist” written by world famous and most widely read author Mr. Paulo Coelho .  In fact while reading these following lines from the above book, I stopped for more than an hour to reconcile about myself. 

When the Arab tribesman who was searching the alchemist’s belongings found small crystal flask that filled with a liquid and a yellow glass egg that was slightly larger than a chicken’s egg. 

                         “What are in these things?”  he asked.

                        “That’s the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of life.  It’s the Master Work of the alchemists.  Whoever swallows that elixir will never be sick again, and a fragment from that stone turns any metal into gold”  

The Arabs laughed at him and the alchemist laughed along.  They thought his answer was amusing, and they allowed the boy and the alchemist to proceed with all of their belongings. 

“Are you crazy?” the boy asked the alchemist, when they had moved on.  “What did you do that for?”  

“To show you one of life’s simple lessons,”  the alchemist answered.  “When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.”  

In fact I faced this type of situation several times.  In some situations, people just laughed at me and waved me out.  At one situation one person asked me about how come all these ideas were not implemented by any one till date!  And he answered himself saying that I should realize that my ideas are impractical and mere dreams, but in practical world these ideas fetch no impact and the clients will get different ideas about our agency. 

Coming to my experience, in the year 1973 when I was at Chennai – I was commuting daily from KK Nagar to Mount Road.  I used to observe that near the Devi Theatre there was a big building housing the then most famous white goods distributor M/s: Mohammed Ibrahim & Co.,  It was in the ground floor and the first floor was empty and one room with large glass windows was used as store room to keep the old chairs, broken furniture etc.,  And it was visible  from about 3 km on the famous Mount Road ( presently Anna Salai)  After observing for a month I typed a letter to them explaining how they can use that space for advertising purpose by keeping the products in different was instead of wasting that space as store room.  I was expecting a reply.  But what I witnessed was that after a month the entire floor was redone and lighting was installed and being used as excellent display window. 

Believe me or not, but in just one year back, the director of an agency  informed me that he was about to get a contract of famous three star hotel in Hyderabad to re do the specific interiors so he took me to the hotel to get my Ideas.   The most important and prominent part of that hotel lobby are the huge pillars, then the restaurant which has got large open space next to it.   I suggested that  the pillars should be used as their icons and the restaurant should be converted as Bar.  The director insisted me to explain the way I can turn it into innovative icon.  I suggested that these pillars can be made to illustrate and show the Hyderabad’s history not by paintings but by lighting itself.  He has me again about how?  I asked him to get the approval from the Hotel management and let the contract signed and the advance.  There was no news from him till date. 

The thing is that if some architect from Bombay gives the same ideas, people are ready to spend millions on that.  That is what Paulo Coelho has explained about it.

 Just two months before the IPL Twenty20 matches started, I was asked to design a print advertisement for a real estate company.  That company has already got its own market share and is a reputed one.  The brief was that they want some thing totally new but suggested that we should use few photos of politicians and certificates in the advertisement.  I explained them that the company has crossed that stage and has crated its own brand and today we should talk some thing which will take the company from the mediocre stage to upper level and it should be visible in their advertisements.  They agreed to some extent but when I created the art work – by incorporating the vector art design and vector flowers.  It was out rightly rejected. And when the IPL Twenty20 started, the Godrej introduced their changed outlook of their organization and in the beginning for 20 days they have shown those vector designs – a city like thing. 

 I will write some thing more after some time.  Please visit http://vasantam.blogspot.com and listen my podcasts…

Only cell and interview muchatlu – they are created in 2006 when Podcast was introduced.  I need to do some polishing and I am on the job.  

 Creativity – Beyond print media and electronic media.  

Advertising has gradually graduated to the politics.  Surprisingly politics have not taken to the advertising – unlike USA, in India political advertising is very limited.  I would like the upcoming agencies to trek into the new grounds with creativity and innovation.  

Interior design is not necessarily belongs to the upper class or for that matter it’s not patented by the Architects.  Architecture is building science.  Interior design is creativity and innovation.   

There are millions of middle class houses where the owners are ready to spend good money if we are not talking about AutoCAD or computer aided design – without which one can create wonders and motivate these owners to rebuild their interiors for good living.   

There are thousands of small offices and factory premises – which require good interior design – we need to create new name instead of interior design.  We can call it innovative housing design or “Redesigning of your house” or just call it Redesigning.   

If some big Real Estate company would like to construct duplex flats – I suggest – you create independent houses in Apartments!  Yes, when you are providing 1200 sq feet and above for each flat, leave about 6 feet space and then construct the flat – whether it is duplex or ordinary – So when you are in the 5^th floor, you will see rows of independent houses with front yard, front gate and then house inside – with front garden if you like?   

In the same way, take a middle class or upper middle class family apartment – show them how you can change the look of their apartment in a cost effective budget.  Take a good camera with good resolution and take photograph owner and his family and blow it up to the size of (for example) 7 X 4 feet and get it printed and paste it on the drawing room! You can charge around 10,000 for that.  Like wise there will be many opportunities in innovation.  Consider the cupboard – you can make several changes with the same cost and still you can ask extra price for design.   

For a reputed school – I created the Marksheet format.  Generally all schools will handover the mark sheet to the students at the end of the academic year and forget about that.  I suggested that the school should collect the last years mark sheet from all students right from Kindergarten  and keep it in a file individually and when the student completes his or her 10^th class or 12^th class – handover the file as a memento which has got marksheets right from Nursery to 12^th class! They were surprised and grabbed this idea! 

In a very reputed public school at Jubilee Hills – the nursery class students are sitting on a table which is in the shape of half-moon (concave) and all these tables were arranged in line.  

Surprisingly the teacher was sitting in the front.  When you created a new shape of tables, there is a purpose for it – the teacher should sit in the middle and tables are to be arranged around her.  I found half of the children were suffering from neck pain as they have to turn their head to see and observe the teacher!  The teacher is not concerned, the management is not worried, and the parents are least bothered as they think that higher fees will take care of their children’s future. 

There are major showrooms – requires intelligent and innovative display ideas,  the retail fresh markets are like captive advertising spaces – costs cheap and ROI will be good.  There are many companies – SME  who ware spending more money for marketing advertising firms can advice about how to add muscle to their day to day marketing techniques. 

Small firms can take up the strategic surveys for politicians – and advise on innovative methods for right publicity. Simply copywriters will have a field day – for speeches and Visualisers can direct them about modulation – how to create a frenzy in their speeches!

 Absolutely there is no body who can guide these people in a right direction!