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Ever read a book and thought to yourself, “I could have written that”? Communicate has – many, many times. And after reading The Art of the Idea and how it can change your life, the latest book by John Hunt, worldwide creative director of TBWA, we thought it again.
Except, on second thoughts, we really couldn’t have written that. It just made us think we could have.
The Art of the Idea looks as effortless as it reads; it’s beautifully packaged and punctuated with 20 original artworks by internationally acclaimed South African artist Sam Nhlengethwa. Divided into 20 observations, the book is essentially about the power of the idea and how to nurture it to maintain its strength.
At the official launch of his book (held at the Dubai TBWA/Raad headquarters last month), Hunt presented his book to employees, students, and guests. He’s a soft-spoken creative with a knack for storytelling, and at the launch he used those skills to present some of his 20 observations.
Observation 01: You get sunrise or sunset people. Hunt has worked with Nelson Mandela, a man who kept a positive outlook in spite of the fact he spent 27 years in jail. Hunt says it’s that kind of sunrise person with positive energy who will let ideas flow and flourish.
Observation 06: I Google therefore I am (not). Hunt says ideas do not come from Web searches, which many people become reliant on. Information does not equal ideas, he writes, and information can camouflage as much as it can illuminate.
Observation 10: Embrace diversity; it’ll hug you back. While it sounds a little hippy-ish and simplistic, it rings true. For an idea to flourish, it cannot be bounced off people who will not challenge it. “We need others to take our blinders off, mainly because we don’t realise we’re wearing any,” writes Hunt. (This is the kind of stuff that makes you think, “We could have written that.” Maybe we could have, but we didn’t realise we were wearing blinders.)
Observation 15: Idea apartheid is dead. Hunt says that the place where ideas come from cannot be rigid, and that categorising ideas is nothing but a creative killer. “It might work for wine, but being anal about the provenance of an idea is incredibly stupid and guaranteed to stunt any new perspectives.”
Observation 18: We don’t know what we don’t know until we do what we don’t usually do. This observation is accompanied with an illustration of a nun playing the saxophone. During his presentation, Hunt spoke cheekily of breaking out of the habit. It’s a simple observation, one that makes sense, but also one that’s easily forgotten in the creative world.
The Art of the Idea really did make Communicate feel like we could write something similar to Hunt’s 20 observations. But we think that’s probably the power of a good book: it’s relatable.
By no means is it a dense and moving novel, but it’s a valuable read for anyone looking to play around with his or her creativity. And not only did Hunt makes us wish we could write a similar book; he also made us want to work for him.

Ramzi Raad, chairman of Memac Ogilvy & Mather, on The Art of the Idea
“A base to inspire the creative people of TBWA, and the normal reader, on how to handle situations and how to generate big ideas…. Because ideas are not to be found on search engines, or by simply getting people together and saying we have to brainstorm. The big ideas are sometimes very simple ones.”

John Hunt, worldwide creative director, TBWA, on how The Art of the Idea applies to the region
“Don’t fall in love with the fact that you have a big budget. You can have a big budget and everyone can avoid it, or see it but not have it go into their brain. A big idea with a big budget is a nice combination, but too many times in the region sometimes there’s a need to be big, flashy, and ornate, which I understand is part of the culture, but keep going rather what is the size of the idea, not just how big is stuff.
“The region is becoming more sophisticated in terms of how it thinks about itself. It’s becoming much more self-confident, and the old world is beginning to look at all the developing countries with a lot more respect. Places like the Middle East no longer think they have to ape what’s done in Europe or in America; they’re getting their own sense of identity, and that can only be good.”

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