We are often asked where we get our creative ideas. And it usually looks like the askers are hoping we’re going to respond, “Creative ideas? Actually, you can pick up a half gallon of them at Stewart’s for $1.39!”

But it’s not that easy. It’s easier. Our ideas come from our imaginations, which are open 24:7, and everything in our imaginations is available at the bargain price of…free.

Of course, keeping our imaginations well stocked with unique thought bubbles does require a little work. We have to read a lot, view art a lot, play a lot, dream a lot, sing a lot, and occasionally do our best to remember what life was like when we were three years old.

Three Years Old?

Of course.

Next time you’re in a creative rut of any sort, watch toddlers. Toddlers’ imaginations are bursting at the seams with ideas. Give a toddler a spoon, and he’s got a microphone, a missile, a catapult, a drumstick, a toothbrush, a phone, a key, a chew toy, and a doll. Then, he’ll lick it, throw it, bite it, balance it on his thumb, and look at it from every possible angle to come up with more fun games. Why? He’s not limited by what’s been done before with that spoon – he just looks at the possibilities. What could I do with this? What could this be used for? And he’s not afraid to try out his ideas and see if they work.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, each of us gets scolded for using a spoon the “wrong” way, and little by little we lose the capacity to turn any object into a brainstorm of fun, new ideas.

But since we were all toddlers once, we’ve all got the potential to see all those possibilities again. So at imPress, to keep ideas plentiful in our imaginations, we try to look at things from the perspective of little guys and girls sometimes. When it’s time to put together a project, we try not to think about what everyone else does or what we’ve done before. We think, What could be done? What would this look like from a different angle? What does this brochure taste like?

And before we know it, creative ideas are abundant in our imaginations, and all because our inner toddlers reminded us about the world of possibilities.