the secret of sums
About
just another kind of old
To quote the late Jeroen Brouwers: Niets bestaat dat niet iets anders aanraakt. (free translation: everything is part of something else). The entire known universe is made out of stardust, rearranged into a particular order. New is an illusion. Everything is a sum of other things.
This plus that
So, you too, can be incredibly original. All you need to do is take two âoldâ things and mash them together to make something ânewâ.
alternative math
Interestingly enough, not all sums are valued equally. In some cases 1 + 1 doesnât make 2, but 3! In other words: some combinations appear to be more than the sum of their parts. This phenomenon has both fascinated & frustrated creatives (and mathematicians) all over the planet. Is math wrong?
letâs try it out!
I developed a quick exercise for you. Take a famous cartoon character: such as Minnie Mouse, or AstĂŠrix, and dress them up as a different famous cartoon character (as though they were going to Comic Con). Just in your head. How many great ones can you come up with? When you get stuck, let my randomizer machine help you.
Beauty dressed up as Lisa Simpson
Difficult, isnât it?
Sure, generating combinations may be as easy as pressing a button. But once you have to make a choice, things get more vague. Ideas in your head can only take you so far. To really judge how well combinations work, you need to test them. You can do this by sketching. Or, even easier: by making a quick collage.
Congratulations! You just found the next element we need: Doing. (âtu dois faire des chosesâ, as you may have seen in Liesâs part of the masterâs exhibition)
Not in a creative mood? My students were so kind to make you a few examples ... Have a look! âââ
I asked around, and in doing so, we learned a few remarkable lessons:
lesson 1: tastes differ
When I asked people about their favourites, I got many different answers. Iâfor instanceâlooooved these. Especially the Over the Garden Wall + Pocahontas & MĂŠlusine + Smurfette/ Gargamel combinations. When I asked students who didnât choose these: why they didnât .They replied: âI donât know the characterâ. This is incredibly important. If you use symbols and codes your audience isnât familiar with, the idea loses out on a great moment of connection. So, research your intended audience. Co-create with the community it is intended for. And donât assume you all share one dominant (pop) culture. Or make what you like, there will always be an audience for it. Sometimes that works too.
lesson 2: donât be too logical
Princess Fiona has a Barbie-like appearance in the first half of Shrek 1. When she ultimately becomes an ogre, she still wears her dress. Shego looks so believable in her outfit, she looks like a character from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (especially to old people like me, who grew up Disney Festival in the 90s, well before Kim Possible). The Pink Panther, then, is just visually so far away from Lilo, he just looks like heâs on a holiday in Hawaii. If your audience âfeelsâ like theyâve seen this before, it has an effect of how they perceive your work. All 3 students who made these were top of their classâand these were good creationsâonly, this time they were slightly too logical. My advice: never shy away from trying the obvious, but be honest during your initial tests. If doesnât look fresh, just try a few more things.
lesson 3: unluck exists
My students grew up with Disney Channel. That much is clear. The sheer amount of Kim Possible, or Phineas and Ferb submissions was staggering. If then, two students also have the same costume idea, on top of their similar character choice, itâs very hard nĂłt to compare them. Usually with trends the following happens: if youâre too early, there is a bigger risk and few people will get it. (That is why the Advertising industry moves generally slower than individual Pop culture instigators and artists. Their stakes are higher.) However, the more copies of a style or idea exist, the less each individual copy is valued. ExcĂŠpt, if one of them was first, and the next ones are widely understood to be copies. (That is the true meaning of originality: being the first of many. i.e. âthĂŠ originalâ.) These students were unaware of each otherâs work. In student competitions with hundreds of participants, this kind of bad luck too often means defeat. Totally sucks and I feel for them.
lesson 4: form is function
The Bauhaus had this saying: âform follows functionâ. But when the function is just âbeing communication or artâ, form becomes invaluable. That is why painters learn about shape language and rhythm. All the most popular creations had that in common: a similarity in shape between the character and the costume. Look how Patrick has all the makings of a baby poof with his round belly, big eyes and pink color. Look how similar the Powerpuff Girls look to Huey, Dewey & Louie (Kwik Kwek & Kwak). Look how the baggy style of Rocket Power compliments the clothes Ash wears in PokĂŠmon. So, when youâre combining visuals, try looking for visual similarities.
Lesson 5: leave a gap
The way Brian (Griffin) looks to Stewie (Griffin) says it all: âhereâs another nice mess you got me into.â TasmanianâTazâDevil who dresses like Donald Duck is probably up to no good. Images tell stories. Especially when there are multiple characters involved. If you leave some part of that story slightly open, the audience can make the rest up themselves and they get warm fuzzy feelings about how creative thĂŠy are. Andrew Stanton, the director of Wall-E and Finding Nemo, said about this: âthe audience actually wants to work for their meal, they just donât want to know that theyâre doing thatâ. In my experience these small details we pick up on, are difficult to manufacture. Theyâre usually âhappy accidentsâ you find, instead of making. My advice: experiment with an open mind and youâll find cooler stuff than your logical mind can produce.
Lesson 6: do thĂs
There was one image that really immediately stood out. When its maker showed to the rest of the class, you could hear silent swears popping up all over the classroom. He hadnât even made Patrick at this point. That âdamn I wish I had done thatâ feeling that haunts creatives (and their Directors) for months, is the kind of jackpot weâre all after. Jef, if youâre reading this. I think you are a genius. But what makes this particular. combination so strong? What can we learn from it? Letâs see ⌠It has both the subtext, ĂĄnd the shape similarity. It is entirely non-logical. With Jommeke he uses IP nobody else even considered, yet everybody knows. It ticks all the boxes. (except the first one, outside Flanders, Jommeke is relatively unknown.) But the one formula Iâd like you to take away from this is: similar in shape, opposite in meaning. Squidwards looks sarcastic and cynical, Jommeke is happiness personified. His characteristic head compliments Jommekeâs iconic hairdo, and even the clothes match his style. Patrick is, to put it mildly, an idiot. The pose Jef chose emphasises this. Yet somehow, his shape, colour, and pose are also reminiscent of the brilliant Professor Gobelijn having a confused moment of epiphany.
So: similar in shape, opposite in meaning. This simple pattern, lies at the core of many great ideas. We see it in memorable puns, memes, story plot twists, ads, cartoons, designs, comedy routines, song lyrics, ⌠everywhere. So, if you want to train your mind in finding it, go look for it in existing pop culture and art . Youâll be amazed. Or donât. Your choice.