The Art of Looking Sideways

When I first joined Bluhalo, a member of the management team told me that one of the reasons I had been employed was because I knew how to think outside of the box.

Funnily enough, a week or so ago, it finally dawned on me that I’ve spent the past four years doing not just that, but also learning to master the art of looking sideways - daring to challenge the way I look at the world and my work.

This blog is thus designed to give you an insight into how I do just that. By using curious facts, useless information, and various oddities, this will hopefully challenge and inspire you to use creative processes as a visual metaphor for good working practices.

For me, design is not just a job, it’s a lifestyle choice. When I get up in the morning, I visualise an outfit that will best suit what I’m trying to achieve that day. When I go for a meal with friends, they understand I will recognise a restaurant not only because of the food they serve but also because of their branding and décor. And when I shop, I’ll get excited not only by the style and fashion, but also by the typography, interior design, and advertising. These are all examples of looking and seeing and as Tak Igarashi once said, “seeing is the equivalent to knowing, thinking, and also understanding. It is with this intuitive insight that I create.”

As a designer it’s important to be visually aware of everything… and then steal anything that inspires you! Remember, as Jean-Luc Godard quoted, “it’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to”. After all originality is pretty much non-existent in this day and age.

However, in order to visually digest everything that is going on in the world around me (and so that I can look at things from unlikely angles) I believe it’s integral to regularly reassess the way I think about it! Two of the most important design influences in my life sum this theory up beautifully. In ‘The Art of Looking Sideways’ Alan Fletcher (renowned graphic designer) points out that we are, “blinkered by habit” and only “glance around rather than look with acuity”. Paul Arden (Executive Creative Director of Saatchi and Saatchi during the late 80’s, early 90’s), wrote a book that reinforces this hypothesis - “whatever you think, think the opposite” – my design bible!

The book itself examines the art of making wrong decisions, describes how risks are the security in your life and explains how unreason is better than reason! To give you a few examples, Arden encourages you to fail, fail again and then fail better. He suggests that you should not seek praise but seek criticism. He is also an advocate of the PG Tip - “Make Tea. Influential people like it. It will give them a good opinion of you, and they will want to help you in return”.

In my mind, these theories of visual intelligence and original thinking are not only theories that I can use to influence me creatively, but can be applied in a business and life context as well.

Design for me is not just about thinking outside the box anymore. As Banksey so elegantly puts it, “Think outside the box, collapse the box and take a f**king sharp knife to it…”

Natalie, Senior Digital Designer