Ideas ideas ideas!

As we progress through Media Entrepreneurship, I find myself connecting the lessons I’m learning in assigned readings and TED Talks to various aspects in my life.

I immediately connected to Austin Leon in “Steal Like An Artist.”

I’ve had the same exact lesson in my design courses, and Leon summed them up perfectly. As a designer, you are taught to “steal” little designs and make little changes. The more changes you make, the more unique and original your design becomes. Ultimately, it becomes your own.

Leon explained that he was creating art that already had a 250 years of history behind it. He was accused of being inauthentic and critics said he ripped off those who came before him.

So how can you be original?

You can’t… and that’s okay. But to stand out, you need to remix or mashup what’s already been done.

After reading Melyssa Griffin’s takeaways from Leon, I cut her ideas down to three things I want to focus on during this semester.

• “Carry a notebook wherever you go” — ideas truly do come at the randomest times… if not a notebook, I want to be more conscious of writing ideas down on my notes app!
• “Routine can be a good thing” — especially during COVID times, once we have a creative idea, we should try to establish and maintain and routine to stay productive.
• “Travel” — in terms of my Margate idea, I’ll have to travel here (and to other beach towns) more often to understand audience needs. I want to discover things outside of my bubble.

Steve Johnson was firm in his belief that good ideas come when we least expect them. Good ideas are mocked, stolen, taken from and added to. Johnson drew a parallel to the purpose of GPS changing over the years. It was a good idea that turned to a great idea (and now we can’t live without it).

We’re doing many of the things that Johnson recommends in “Where Good Ideas Come From.”

• We’ve explored and experimented in different areas through our self-assessments and class discussions
• We’re letting our ideas develop slowly over the course of a semester
• We are open to exploring and open to the idea of “serendipitous” connections — I like this point, we should have exciting “ah-ha” moments while working on our ideas
• We’ll make mistakes
• We’re researching new uses for “old inventions” or news that’s already been told
• We’re building on platforms that have come before us (especially by hearing all there is to know about Substack)

I want to link the Business Plans article to be able to reference. It is full of great ideas and advice that will help me grow through the following weeks of class.