Discovering Creativity in the Remnants
Leftovers: there's more than meets the eye
Scraps. Remnants. Leftovers. It’s the bits that we often discard, but what if we made the choice to hold onto it, unleash the creative potential and mold it into something extraordinary? The idea of leftovers came randomly to me as I opened my fridge and saw all of the leftovers from Christmas dinner, but here me out. It’s about finding the beauty in the cracks and crevices where no one often pays any attention to. What once was pegged as having little to no beauty, can suddenly become the focal point of your creative vision, and reshape the way we use everyday items, such as the peel of a mandarin, the wrapping paper from Christmas presents, or a shipping box from an online order. Is it really useless? Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to overlook it. It just might add a clever approach in our storytelling.
What are Leftovers?
We can go down the literal lane, such as unused ideas, a box of items that have been forgotten and packed away in storage, or simply ‘your recycling bin’ on your computer, or an every day household object. Or what about a more metaphorical approach such as honing in on emotions that have been felt but not yet expressed, and channeling suppressed emotions into your creative project. What would that look like, for example, an advertising campaign? Or, an artwork? It forces your mind to wander into the unknown and harness the discarded by reimagining it, molding it, and giving attention to, perhaps an unfinished design or an overlooked visual asset. By doing so, you change the perception.
The concept of leftovers becomes the driver of the creative concept.
Leftovers as a tool for Storytelling
Using scraps to weave into your vision harnesses the power to connect on an emotional or cultural level. Are you selecting clashing patterns to evoke an emotional response? Or using leftover fabrics in order to be resourceful and sustainable? Or a nostalgic item from the 1990’s, like a CD-ROM? Or a food item from your childhood? Lexicon Love, a digital artwork, uses a clever approach in her digital artwork by obscuring the faces of vintage portraits, for example. Reviving items that have had an impact on your life, but are no longer used, adding a modern twist, and using that as the centerpiece for an advertising campaign can be an unexpected way to pull at the heartstrings of millennials while creating a visual narrative that’s provocative and fresh.
Limiting yourself to work with a potato chip and juxtaposing it next to a beautiful piece of jewelry, forces innovation and showcases unexpected combinations, but it works! I love the non-conventional approach used in this example, and the different emotions I feel when I look at it. Finding unexpected beauty in everyday items can reinvigorate your creative vision.
Time to get a little personal. I was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (living abroad now for 8 years), there are items that stick out like a sore thumb in my mind. Pop tarts, the no name brand from the Real Canadian Superstore, or the timbits from Tim Hortons…if I were to see any of the fore-mentioned in a fashion or beauty campaign, I don’t know whether I would laugh or cry! It would, without a doubt, stir up an emotional reaction. Or, a nano pet paired next to a luxury brand accessory, I would get all of the feels! And, I love that! Expect the unexpected. Cultural ritual that’s been forgotten? Highlight it. Scraps of food, textures, textiles? Use it. Outdated archives? Incorporate it. What does it look like when added into your vision? What does it feel like? We are a culture driven by excess and mass overproduction. Sometimes the shiny new thing is just an illusion, so I invite you to go back to the drawing board and see what fragments you can muster up to recreate your own extraordinary creative vision. In between the cracks lies something beautiful patiently waiting to be discovered. Fold in those cultural forsaken items that never garner any attention and use them in your work in a way that’s just too good to ignore.
And that’s a wrap! I want to say a massive thank you to all of you who have subscribed to this little creative community of mine. It brings me so much joy – and I sincerely hope that Reserved for the Creative Mind can be used as a source of inspiration to help you in your creative journey (whatever that may be!). Creatives deserve to take up space, feel seen, heard, and appreciated, and that’s what I’m wishing for you as we raise the curtain to 2025. Come and join this table, we have a seat reserved for you.