I write this newsletter to structure my experiences and ideas around creativity. It’s mainly a personal exercise in writing, but I’m sure there is something for you as well.
My name is Juho Vesanen and I’m a co-founder of Veli Studio. I’m also editing the studio’s annual passion project Attraction Magazine – a printed and online exploration dedicated to the appreciation of visual curiosity.
#02 The Twenty Percent
I’ve always been lucky enough to be able to pursue things that I’ve been curious about. I was brought up in an environment where I wasn’t pushed to do any sports, or hobbies in general, but there was always lot of stimulating things, stories and places that I could tap into. Naturally, I got interested in various different sports, hobbies, things, stories and places. I was quite curious about everything and my parents fuelled that in a way that I’ve just recently started to properly appreciate and understand.
The line between pushing and facilitating is thin and I’ve found that the same principles apply to various aspects in our lives. If you can create an environment which is safe and creatively stimulating and have enough discipline to not push too much, curiosity will prosper. People who are curious are almost always very engaged in the things that they are curious about. This kind of curiosity is contagious and attracts like minded people together.
Being curious creates meaning in our life, at least in mine. And it is usually the small things. No one approaches every part of their lives with full curiosity. But those who can find something personally interesting in the most mundane tasks, are most likely quite happy.
I wrote this a couple years ago:
Let’s say that you have 100% of creativity to give for a project. You will spend about 40% of it to interpreting the brief from the client and thinking of ways of making it happen. Which leads us to another 40% spent on creatively managing the resources (money, time, people). Now you’ve used 80% of your creativity, which is a lot, and you don’t really need to use any more of it.
By being a professional and taking great care of translating the clients brief into reality within the given resources you’ve done a good job and the end result matches the needs of the client. The remaining 20% of creativity is something that is not necessarily required to complete the project, so if you choose to use it that 20% essentially represents your curiosity. Using the remaining 20% doesn’t mean that you necessarily try to make the project perfect, but rather to make it mean something for you.
There are many ways how curiosity and the use of the twenty percent can be seen around us. At work, the most powerful way that I’ve noticed this manifesting, is when I’ve witnessed how the curiosity and care of one person can completely transform an entire project from difficult to inspiring. One individual can make an enormous change, and this gives me hope and perspective.
What I currently pursue in life is to find my way to the presence of as many people who care enough. While this might sound naive coming from someone running a business in a commercial environment, I can tell you that it’s totally possible to care about work in a deep and meaningful way. From a business perspective, that might not be be fastest way to grow – which is ultimately a good thing in the long run. Enjoy the slowness, enjoy the process 💆♂️
CURRENT INSPIRATION
The collaboration between Paul Thomas Anderson and HAIM.
I remember seeing an article some years ago about PTA directing and shooting a music video for HAIM. Now, there is nothing surprising in Oscar nominated directors working on music videos for big artists, but I found the backstory interesting. Apparently he had been very into HAIM’s music and when he got in touch with them, it turned out that the HAIM sisters’ mom had been his art teacher in graduate school – with whom he had had a very close and important relationship. Since the first dinner together, they have made nine music videos together and most recently Alana Haim starred in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest feature Licorice Pizza, which he wrote with Alana in his mind.
Interview of Mounir Neamatalla on Apartamento #29
Collaboration is 10 times better than competition. A natural way to live is to see what we can do together to be better. But this idea of elevating competition to the point where it becomes a divide in education, in business and sports – what’s wrong with playing a game and losing? What’s so euphoric about winning? You do your best. And you should be pleased if you lose and congratulate the one who won, and the reverse. Who gave the right for anyone to assume they’re better than another?
Arriving With Every Step by Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder for Emergence Magazine
Emergence Magazine is perhaps my favorite magazine at the moment. It’s an annual print edition that feels more like a book with several hundred pages. It’s so intentional in every way that reading through it makes you gasp and appreciate the holistic approach that the editorial team put into it. It also has one of the best digital extensions of any magazine that I’ve seen, with beautiful coding and multimedia content that is in conversation with the articles. Arriving With Every Step, is a beautiful and inspiring guide, or practice, on how to pilgrimage.
THE STUDIO
Veli Studio is a full service creative studio based in Helsinki and London.
Website – Instagram – Behance – Linkedin – Attraction Magazine
LET’S CONNECT
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If you feel like we should talk, hit me an email – I promise to get back to you.