The Hindu Business Line : Start by scribbling

How to get better ideas? The best creative people have their own personal methodologies, writes Jim Aitchison in Cutting Edge Advertising, third edition ( www.landmarkonthenet.com).

“One of the ways of getting going is to walk away from it, to go and think about something else,” reads a quote of David Abbott on how to handle creativity jams. “Over the years, you learn not to panic.”

Start by scribbling ideas, instructs Bruce Bildsten. “I do these little drawings which only make sense to myself. Even though I’m a writer, I like to think very visually. I know I can always write a line later.” Another question: How to know when your ideas are great? “Developing a personal creative methodology is one matter, being your own critic is another,” differentiates Aitchison. He cites Mike Lescarbeau for the insight that it is easier to tell if you have done a good ad. “If you have to wonder about it too much, it is probably not good.” Sometimes you may not be sure because the ad is too far ahead of its time, too weird, and perhaps you have pushed the boundaries. “It’s good to be unsure,” reads a reassuring thought of Antony Redman. More fundamentally, one may ask, why be creative. Because it is the essence of humanity, asserts John Hegarty. “Beyond individual aspirations is a bigger picture,” observes Aitchison. “Creativity is the external face of the advertising agency. Every piece of creative work builds the agency’s brand as well as the client’s brand.” Look inside yourself, exhorts Nick Cohen. For, you’ll then disturbingly realise it’s a young person’s business! Therefore, what you did a few years ago is irrelevant to what’s going on now.

Ideas that sharply cut.

Malls and problems

Malls in India: Shopping Centre Developers & Developments
Amit Bagaria and Susmita Dasgupta

It can be gratifying to know that before the end of the current decade nearly 600 malls are likely to be up and running in India. Not so flattering, however, is the thought that more than 90 per cent of the current and planned malls fall way short of international standards, especially in terms of design and security, as Malls in India: Shopping Centre Developers & Developments ( www.imagesfashion.com) highlights in one of the essays included in the book.

The essay’s authors, Amit Bagaria and Susmita Dasgupta of Asipac Projects, list the nine most potentially dangerous areas in Indian malls, as follows: pedestrian vs vehicular movement both inside and outside the mall buildings, lifts, escalators, parking areas, fire safety, health and hygiene in food preparation and service areas, railings and similar fixtures around atriums and cut-outs, public restrooms, children play areas and entertainment zones.

In the section on ‘parking spaces,’ the authors inform that most global building codes for malls require 1.5 sq. ft of parking space for every square foot of rentable retail space. Another ratio is five car parking spaces (CPS) per 1,000 sq ft of retail space, which needs 1.7 sq ft of parking space for square foot of retail space. When driveway widths are compromised, and pedestrian pathways not well defined, simple acts like reversing can lead to even fatal accidents, the essay cautions. “Lighting, either too little, too much, or the wrong kind, is often a problem in parking lots … In closed lots, because the ceilings are low, the light does not get dispersed evenly, and corners usually remain in darkness.”

A book that throws some much-needed light on malls.

D. Murali

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com