Working in the creative industry means you are one of the few lucky people who get to do what they love for a living. But when your passion is also your work, it is especially important to keep the ideas bank brimming. So, we’ve decided to let you in on some of the B1 team’s secrets to staying inquisitive and creative!

Team Outings

Visiting new places always provides a fantastic opportunity to rejuvenate and build as a team. Often these are small, local events which provide us with the space to have fun outside of the office. Since our mantra is “every day’s a school day”, we also love to take educational trips! One visit to the Design Museum earlier this year explored the installation-based exhibition “Breathing Colour”, by Hella Jongerius. The exhibition focused on how colours interact and change in response to one another, and provided us with a serious shot of design inspiration!

Another trip to the “Make, Hack, Do” exhibition at the Science Museum, looked into the origins of the internet and digital culture. We got involved in fun experiments, like robot building, making screen prints, and playing with the sound frequency of various objects to create music – culminating in Sally playing a banana (as you do)!

This December, B1 went further afield for our Christmas trip to the stunning city of Edinburgh. Time together outside the office is the perfect way to have fun, relax, and find new inspiration for upcoming projects. Our weekend was spent singing in old Scottish pubs, drinking lunchtime drams of whisky, eating deep-fried Mars Bars in the small hours, and getting spooked out on underground ghost tours. One thing that trips away will teach you is that sometimes the most creative ideas come when and where you least expect them! Returning to London feeling rested and re-energised, we are excited to take on 2018 with a renewed sense of creativity!

Listening to leaders in the tech industry discussing ground-breaking developments, certainly inspires your inner geek!

Events

Never underestimate the inspiration you can find in new people. Meeting other creatives within the industry is often the best way to learn and feel motivated to try new things. We have attended several events this year, including an event at Twitter HQ on artificial intelligence in the creative industry, and Good Girls Eat Dinner – our personal favourite! This fantastic, festive evening was filled with good food, great company, and incredible speakers. Meeting like-minded individuals, and listening to talks, tales, and the challenges that other people face, is one of the best ways to reignite your ambition. Events like this remind you of how much you love your work!

Sally also took a trip to Lisbon this year for Web Summit; the largest technology conference in the world. The event consisted of some slightly scary talks on how big companies now have as much responsibility as governments, how Artificial Intelligence is taking over the world, and a (creepy) demonstration of Einstein the robot interviewing Sophia the robot – which you can watch here. Not only was the conference a great networking opportunity, filled with incredible, creative individuals, but listening to leaders in the tech industry discussing ground-breaking developments in technology, certainly inspires your inner geek!

Systems to Improve Efficiency

In a small business like B1, there are a lot of admin and organisational jobs to be done, that may not always feel like the most creative or inspiring work. But this year has seen a huge period of change for the agency, and we have invested in several software systems which have dramatically reduced the amount of time spent on labour intensive manual tasks, freeing up a lot more time for us to focus on being creative for our clients. We have been amazed at how these changes have improved efficiency and are so excited to have more time to focus our energies on the exciting, inspiring, and creative work that we all love.

Let us know how you stay creative and inspired!

– Emi (Account Exec.)