Issue 1: A bulletin for big ideas and better business.

OPINION / IDEAS

A creative direction for 2024

💬Sir John Hegarty

“So, what’s the idea?” This phrase is the equivalent of a starting pistol for anyone who has spent time in a creative company. It signals the moment when a team must unveil a virtuoso means of overcoming a specific problem. The question itself quickens the pulse of anyone called upon to answer it, but it energises too. So far in 2024, I’ve found the sentence has interrupted my thoughts with alarming frequency.

The coming eleven months will leave a profound mark on civilisation. For instance: The global battle between democracy and authoritarianism will rage on as over 70 elections are fought. The world will come to terms with what it means to coexist with AI. And businesses are staring down the fact that sustainability is now a matter of survival. In the context of all this newness and complexity we are at risk of overlooking our most effective resource: creativity.

Credit: Clo’e Floirat

Creativity isn’t about finger painting, bean bags or made-up words like ‘ideation’. It’s a way of inventing our way to a better world. An understanding of its importance results in progressive countries, valuable companies, and happier people. A glance at history shows that behind humanity’s greatest achievements is unorthodox, deviant, fanatical creativity. It’s time for a revival.

That’s what this newsletter is about. The Business of Creativity is a weekly briefing on how big ideas are shaping our world. We’ll look at the effect of creativity in areas where its impact is often overlooked; and offer up some pointers on how to use it to squeeze more from life. Every Tuesday we’ll serve up a miscellany of stories, viewpoints and analysis that does this.

So, what’s the idea?

Find out below. 👇

THE AGENDA / SEASONAL FASHION AND FESTIVITIES

1. Berlin Fashion Week sashays into the German capital. While it lacks the size and stature of the ‘big four’ trade shows (that’s London, Paris, Milan, and New York), BFW offers an edgier snapshot of the industry. Expect themes around protest, club culture and inclusivity. Sounds supergeil.
5th – 8th February

2. In Japan, the Setsubun festival is like New Year’s Eve, but signals the arrival of fairer weather. The national shindig requires the scattering of beans around one’s house, while shouting “One wa soto! Fuku wa uchi” (which means, “devils out, happiness in”). After that, it’s customary to eat one bean for every year of your life. Does this make you more creative? We’re prepared to give it a go.
3rd February

3. The Grammy Awards is about celebrating great musical achievements. But almost as much attention goes to artists and genres that receive the cold shoulder. Upsets in the making include the fact that rap and country aren’t represented in Song, Record or Album of the Year (reports Rolling Stone). Tempers might be soothed by the presence of folk songstress Joni Mitchell taking a turn on the main stage.
4th February

4. Last year it emerged that a surprising number of men harbour a secret preoccupation for Ancient Rome. Staff at The British Museum will be preparing for an overwhelmingly masculine showing at its exhibition Legion: Life in the Roman Army. The display will explore the chronology of life as a soldier in the first modern (for then) Western fighting force.
1st February – 23rd June

5. The largest classical music festival in France is La Folle Journée, in the city of Nantes. This week the jamboree celebrates its 30th instalment. Cultivated visitors will gather for a symphonic few days in the proximity of the Loire River.
31st January – 4th February

US / TECH

Credit: Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS/Alamy Live News

Spoiling the barrel?

Apple built its image around creativity. When messianic CEO Steve Jobs was brought in to help reverse the company’s fortunes in the late nineties, its products blended functionality with artistic flair – and helped the devices market move beyond its grey box era. Then Apple’s period of panache gave way to an altogether duller future. Tim Cook took over from Jobs in 2011, and has presided over thirteen years of consistency, boredom – and breath-taking profits. The effectiveness of that approach is about to be tested in a landscape of geopolitical stress and antitrust laws. On Thursday the company will report its quarterly earnings and these are expected to be less bountiful than shareholders would like. The following day, the company will ship its long-touted augmented reality headset, the Vision Pro. The success of the launch won’t determine the company’s future, but it will demonstrate something else: whether or not Apple still has the creativity chops to unveil a world-changing product.

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EU / ETHICS

Too unlimited

How much is enough? According to a new book, the exact figure is £10m. Limitarianism: the case against extreme wealth will be published in English next week. Its author Ingrid Robeyns reasons that some people having too much is causing harm; to our politics, our environment, our mental health and – surprisingly enough – to the extremely rich themselves. Tomorrow professor Robeyns is to appear on a panel at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) weighing in on whether a limitarian future is viable in practice. Indeed: if putting a limit on wealth is possible, is it advisable? Some worry that such a cap would extinguish invention, put a yoke on freedoms and create a future that few would wish to live in. Creativity is about life without limits. That’s our two penn’orth.

Credit: can yalcin / Alamy Stock Photo

JAPAN / GAMING

Get pally 

In the last week, Palworld has become the most talked-about game of 2024. It has many of the conventions of the monster-fighting genre. You collect animals, roam around an open world, where your furry friends compete in death matches. For anyone calling Pokémon plagiarism, the developers have wrapped in a few touches that makes the game unique: firstly, your character is armed with a gun. But rather more worryingly, players are able to place animals in labour camps, or devour them. This aside, the construction and popularity of the game impresses a central point about creativity – that sometimes the most effective work is a refresh, rather than a work of originality.

GARAGE / ART SPECTATOR

Credit: Sir John Hegarty

UK / CULTURE

Barely regal

Credit: Bettina Strenske / Alamy Stock Photo

Have you ever dreamed of riding in the Gold State Coach? Or striding into a gala dinner in Princess Diana’s ‘revenge’ dress? Perhaps your house frontage could use a ministerial makeover – with an exact replica of the façade from Number 10 Downing Street. If any of this appeals, February is to be a blessed month. Auction house Bonhams is to put props from the Netflix drama The Crown under the hammer next week. Proceeds of the sale will go towards a new scholarship programme at the National Film and Television School. Increasing the creative capital of the UK? That’s something that deserves mad props.

You can’t use up creativity.The more you use,the more you have.

/Maya Angelou