Yesterday Brian and I had our monthly one-to-one meeting while walking around the new Te Papa Art Gallery – Toi Art. We wanted to talk about how to raise our creativity to the next level and what better place than amongst an eclectic collection of the best NZ art.
Toi is brilliant and we were both inspired and talked excitedly for an hour and a half. We had different pieces that spoke to us. Brian fell in love with the story-telling associated with a small house from outer space in the detour collection. I was taken by the possibilities and perspectives reflected in the crochet circles part of the colour section.
The big take out of our walk was that we can go even further in our drive to make people feel something from our work – joy, anger, passion, nostalgia, pride, etc. (Yes, even an annual report can do that!) To take our designs to another level, we must work harder to engage audiences at an emotional level, making them feel something. Think about your favourite movies, art, books and music – chances are they are your favourites because of the emotions they stir in you.
We came up with a number of ways to capture the feeling the client wants in the brief; how we can ensure our territories have a strong single feeling aligned with what audiences need and will respond to; and how to engage our client in going with creating a feeling rather than literally telling audiences stuff.
It has already started informing our idea creation on new projects.
If you get a chance to go to Te Papa Toi Art, do it. It’s well worth it.