Embracing the Basics: Why True Creative Inspiration Lies in Simplicity, Not High Culture

I spent the first decade of my career labouring under the misapprehension that working in ‘creative industries’ meant that I was under some obligation to spend my spare time building a deep understanding of the arts, culture and creativity.

As a consequence, I chose to spend most of my spare time visiting pretentious art galleries, reading niche magazines about typography, and trying to find joy in obscure subtitled documentaries.

Then one day I realised that, in fact, the very best outputs of our industry have little to nothing in common with this kind of intellectual niche high culture. The things that most people love, and that therefore create the kind of emotional connection with large audiences that is required to deliver commercial impact, are founded on that which is simple, popular, and universal.

This realisation enabled me to let out a huge sigh of relief and return to my natural state: being 100 per cent basic.

What follows is a list of all the basic stuff that I turn to for inspiration. No need to travel to some dimly lit exhibition space or stay awake for an 11:30 pm showing at an underground cinema. You can find most of it almost anywhere:

Greasy Spoon Cafes

Staring into the deep truths of humanity over Richmond’s Sausages and fried bread never stops being a profound source of insight and inspiration. Read The Sun from cover to cover, watch the city stir into life, and listen to the music of life. Definitely don’t sit there with your headphones in, and leave your MacBook Pro well out of it because they don’t respond well to grease or ketchup…

Long Railway Journeys

Because of my lifestyle choices, I spend 500+hrs/year on trains. Every train journey is in many ways an unstructured, unguided focus group. Young people. Old people. Stressed people. Relaxed people. Every day people do their everyday commute. Every day people on exciting, life-changing journeys. Travelling by train is a great way to take in the meaning of life in a way that makes you stop, think, and put down your preconceptions.

English Village Facebook Groups

I’m sure many of you will have listened to ‘Welcome to the Village’ on BBC Sounds. Take a virtual walk through someone else’s village and you’ll find all kinds of interesting insights about what it means to be part of Modern Britain in 2025…

Spotify

I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but at some point in the mid-90s buying/owning a compilation album became socially unacceptable. But now that Spotify exists you no longer have to ‘commit’ to some artist or buy the entire concept of their latest album. It’s never been easier to tune into whatever bottomless megamix you feel inclined towards. Most of the time in my case it is something utterly generic like “UK Hot Hits” because my kids have near-total control over in-car music choices, and I have to thank them for introducing me to lots of amazing music I’d never have known about otherwise….

Walking

There is no strategic problem that doesn’t benefit from a long walk. Obviously, you have to time your walk carefully - I’d personally choose not to do it during the prime hours of shareholder value creation because it’s a tough sell to the people trying to manage your diary. But the long walk before the day really gets going, or at the end of the day is one of the things that never ceases to serve up inspiration and ideas that are useful and wouldn’t have come about sitting at a desk.

Ben Worden is the chief strategy officer at VML UK