The first of an ongoing series of thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and tips around creativity and its inner workings.Biophilia, eco-anxiety, the unconscious mind, less-screen time, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the imagination in children and adults, 24/7 news cycles and elections, and more are covered.Music by Dirty FreudSupported by https://illustrationx.comhttps://ui.org.ua to help the Ukrainian InsitituteThe Creative Condition book is out now https://bentallonwriter.com/shopBen Tallon Illustrati...

We're heading into dark nights season. These panic-fuelled days can be tough. Here in the UK I often lament the dreary, soggy, TO-LET addled high streets and the way they assail already tested moods. So I picked up the colour psychologist bat phone and called Justine Fox.Justine is an expert in applied colour psychology and we're getting into the opportunity to do more with our urban environments, to promote more consideration for the impact of colour, and what needs to happen to shift percep...

Lights off, blankets on, The Walking Dead on, forget about the world's insanity for one hour. Many of us can relate to that feeling, but what are the deeper themes? I drill down into the sense of comfort I get when I watch survival horror, or played those old Resident Evil games. It's not that I want everything to collapse, but could there be a better balance? What is 'evolutionary mismatch' and what can we learn from this comforting feeling about the foundations of o...

I don't care what you do. I care who you are. What moves you, what excites you, what you're bad at, what you find funny, what trauma you've suffered. That's your brand. Not your logo, or website, or profession. These things matter, but without knowing yourself and projecting it in everything you do, they are irrelevant.Today I'm discussing a recent loss of confidence, how it was remedied, and what I learned about the personal brand I always trusted and made a creative industry career possible...

Natalia Talkowska is a Polish-born, award-winning CEO and Founder of the pioneering neuroscience-led strategic storytelling agency Natalka Design. Founded in 2012, Natalia and her team redefine how businesses communicate, using neuroscience-led visual storytelling for instant ideation and problem-solving to create strategic creative that really resonates with people. Working with renowned brands, including Google, Disney and The British Royal Family and leading agencies and consultancie...

Takeaway learnings from:The New Yorker staff writer and author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture Kyla Chayka details the trajectory of the internet from human-curated and cultivated passions to algorithmic conformity and sameness.Please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe to the show! And please, TELL A FRIEND ABOUT THE SHOW!To see the information on the group and individual coaching opportunities, head here!https://bentallonwriter.com/shop for The Creative Condition b...

The New Yorker staff writer and author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture Kyla Chayka details the trajectory of the internet from human-curated and cultivated passions to algorithmic conformity and sameness. Please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe to the show! And please, TELL A FRIEND ABOUT THE SHOW!To see the information on the group and individual coaching opportunities, head here!https://bentallonwriter.com/shop for The Creative Condition book and the brand new '...

The full length episode is also available now!The New Yorker staff writer and author of Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture Kyla Chayka details the trajectory of the internet from human-curated and cultivated passions to algorithmic conformity and sameness.Please take a moment to rate, review, and subscribe to the show! And please, TELL A FRIEND ABOUT THE SHOW!To see the information on the group and individual coaching opportunities, head here!https://bentallonwriter.com/shop for Th...

Creating a vision on paper helped me to make sense of a very scattered brain and regain some momentarily displaced passions, so I wanted to share the exercise with you.I was shocked at how many needs, hopes, and fears I brought to the surface during this exercise from The Creative Condition coaching program.Why have a vision? How fantastic can it be? And what about real-world constraints?I'd love to see yours, so share at [email protected] or on Linkedin or Instagram and we can discuss it!P...

Here are the key takeaway learnings about creativity from:After many years working as a full-time illustrator as Miss Led, Joanna Henly has grown. Returning to the show for the 3rd time, Joanna reflects on her 5 years helping others as a mentor, balancing it with her art practice, and the personal understanding and acceptance it's required.We get into sensitivity, the importance of 'white space' to think, process, and develop relationships with all things key to optimal creativity.Joanna move...

(The full-length edition of this show is also out now)After many years working as a full-time illustrator as Miss Led, Joanna Henly has grown. Returning to the show for the 3rd time, Joanna reflects on her 5 years helping others as a mentor, balancing it with her art practice, and the personal understanding and acceptance it's required.We get into sensitivity, the importance of 'white space' to think, process, and develop relationships with all things key to optimal creativity.Joanna moved fr...

(The highlights edition of this episode is also out now)After many years working as a full-time illustrator as Miss Led, Joanna Henly has grown. Returning to the show for the 3rd time, Joanna reflects on her 5 years helping others as a mentor, balancing it with her art practice, and the personal understanding and acceptance it's required.We get into sensitivity, the importance of 'white space' to think, process, and develop relationships with all things key to optimal creativity.Joanna moved ...

The full-length and highlights editions of episode 243 are also out now!What we learned about creativity from:Professor Carlos Moreno, a specialist in the intelligent control of complex systems joins me to discuss the urgency to rethink the design of urban infrastructure in the face of the climate crisis among other collective problems.Author and pioneer of The 15-minute City, Carlos is a huge proponent of humancentric design, putting communities, creativity, and collective voices over capita...

The full-length episode is also out now!Professor Carlos Moreno, a specialist in the intelligent control of complex systems joins me to discuss the urgency to rethink the design of urban infrastructure in the face of the climate crisis among other collective problems.Author and pioneer of The 15-minute City, Carlos is a huge proponent of humancentric design, putting communities, creativity, and collective voices over capitalism-led planning.He explains his vision, why we have become so discon...

The highlights episode is also out now!Professor Carlos Moreno, a specialist in the intelligent control of complex systems joins me to discuss the urgency to rethink the design of urban infrastructure in the face of the climate crisis among other collective problems.Author and pioneer of The 15-minute City, Carlos is a huge proponent of humancentric design, putting communities, creativity, and collective voices over capitalism-led planning.He explains his vision, why we have become so disconn...

You can listen to both the highlights and full-length episode with Erin now!There's a lot of fear out there. Pitching. Testing. Neurotesting. Data power. Nobody wants to fail and so nobody succeeds in the way those big, juicy, swaggering advertising campaigns can when the right balance of idea, risk, and attention to detail is struck.Erin Riley is moving up from U.S. CEO of TBWA/Chiat/Day, one of the world's biggest advertising agencies, to Global CEO of TBWA and we sit down right after the n...

There's a lot of fear out there. Pitching. Testing. Neurotesting. Data power. Nobody wants to fail and so nobody succeeds in the way those big, juicy, swaggering advertising campaigns can when the right balance of idea, risk, and attention to detail is struck.Erin Riley is moving up from U.S. CEO of TBWA/Chiat/Day, one of the world's biggest advertising agencies, to Global CEO of TBWA and we sit down right after the news to discuss why she wants to fight for creativity, to break through the a...

The full length version of this episode is also out now! There's a lot of fear out there. Pitching. Testing. Neurotesting. Data power. Nobody wants to fail and so nobody succeeds in the way those big, juicy, swaggering advertising campaigns can when the right balance of idea, risk, and attention to detail is struck.Erin Riley is moving up from U.S. CEO of TBWA/Chiat/Day, one of the world's biggest advertising agencies, to Global CEO of TBWA and we sit down right after the news to discuss why ...

The brand new tool for better consciously understanding and commanding your creativity is here. 'The Anatomy of Creativity' is a universe of components that inform, modify, and impact our creativity on any given day. By working through, and gaining a sense of how the components affect you, and influence one another, you can identify blind spots, opportunities for growth, and strengths to lead with.This is an explainer, and the map is available in print, or as a digital file for the price...

What we learned about creativity from multidisciplinary artist Sara Prinsloo!You can listen to the highlights and the full-length episode now.Sara Prinsloo tells stories across many different mediums. She's an artist who draws upon her working-class roots and personality and is not afraid to use her flaws to blistering creative effect.From 'trashy Barbie' installations to sculpture and drawing, we discuss the links between her personality and this spectrum of work, and why pride in who you ar...

Sara Prinsloo tells stories across many different mediums. She's an artist who draws upon her working-class roots and personality and is not afraid to use her flaws to blistering creative effect.From 'trashy Barbie' installations to sculpture and drawing, we discuss the links between her personality and this spectrum of work, and why pride in who you are and your people is a golden source of inspiration.Sara also balances full-time work in teaching, as a technician, and conducts workshops to ...

The full-length version of episode 241 is also available now.Sara Prinsloo tells stories across many different mediums. She's an artist who draws upon her working-class roots and personality and is not afraid to use her flaws to blistering creative effect.From 'trashy Barbie' installations to sculpture and drawing, we discuss the links between her personality and this spectrum of work, and why pride in who you are and your people is a golden source of inspiration.Sara also balances full-time ...

In the last episode, 'The Power of Naughty', I explored the benefits of chaos energy well channeled. But what do we do with the little f**kers? In this episode, I read the 'Dirty Energy' chapter of The Creative Condition book, in which several teachers, community workers, and professionals share thoughts on how we provide better tools for embattled young people to express themselves, and tap into a unique form of creativity.https://bentallonwriter.com/shop for The Creative Condition bookSpons...

Following on from the brilliant historian Professor Carl Chinn, I wanted to paint a layered picture of what it means to be working class, and the challenges we face in the arts in 2024. It is not a new phenomenon, but it is a problem that has been exacerbated over the 14 years from 2010-2024 under a Conservative government that preferred to heighten police powers and cut away arts and youth funding during a mental health crisis.As we move toward a glimmer of hope with a new Labour government,...