To create something you must be something.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Every really good creative person in advertising has always had two noticeable characteristics. First, there was no subject he could not easily get interested in...Second, he was an extensive browser in all sorts of fields of information. For it is with the advertising man as with the cow: no browsing, no milk.
Interpretation
Creative individuals in advertising are curious and diversified in their knowledge, analogous to cows needing to graze to produce milk.
James Webb Young emphasizes the importance of curiosity and breadth of knowledge for creative professionals in advertising. He draws a parallel between the need for an advertising person to explore various subjects and a cow needing to browse for grass to produce milk, highlighting that a lack of curiosity and information limits creativity and output.
In practice
During a workshop on advertising strategies, this quote could be used to inspire participants to explore diverse fields.
To create something you must be something.
The first book is the book you have to write to get back at your parents; the book you always had in you. Once you get that out of your way, you can start writing books.
Ideas are cheap. Always be passionate about ideas and communicating those ideas and discoveries to others in the things you make.
In any creative industry, the fact that others are moving in a certain direction is always proof positive, at least to me, that a new direction is the only direction.
Whatever the creative industry, when you're confronted with the challenge of coming up with a Big Idea, always work with the most talented, innovative mind available. Hopefully... that's you.
Sometimes you have to stop thinking. Sometimes you shut down completely. I think that's true in any creative field.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.