The A3 principle.

There are a lot of tools available to the creative mind. George Lucas and the entire original Star Wars crew had access to less technology than is contained on the average advertising agency desk today. Whatever can be envisaged can be created.

But let's not overlook the most important word in that last sentence. Envisage. A computer screen won't help you envisage. Flicking through the latest great ads won't help you envisage. And with the multitude of distractions available, it's not controversial to say that the presence of a computer screen can be detrimental to the envisaging process.

The most important tool available today is the most important tool available ten, twenty, thirty years ago.

A big piece of paper and an A3 sheet of paper. (A2, if you're really old school.)

A couple of hours every morning with the computer turned off and no distractions, hunched over a white page and scribbling elegant little notes, illustrations and diagrams, is essential for conjuring up ideas before you turn on the computer to realise them.

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