Three things we learnt at July’s Nicer Tuesdays

We were back in sunny East London last week for the latest Nicer Tuesdays event, which played host to four refreshingly honest creatives who revealed the inspiration behind their work and how they tackle the creative process. They also gave us a sneak peek at their latest projects.

London-based design studio Flat-e talked about their immersive animation design process; illustrator Nadine Redlich revealed the story behind her quick-witted drawings; photographer Vicki King gave us a sneak peek at life through her enchanting lens; and Animation Director, Sophie Koko Gate introduced us to her weirdly wonderful characters before performing with her band, John Daker.

Here are the three main takeaways from the night if you didn’t manage to make it down:

1. Revisit old ideas – it’s not just about starting from scratch

‘We’ve got this obsession with the new,’ stated Rob Slater, one half of Flat-e, who likes to get his creative juices flowing through the simple process of ‘sitting in a room and messing around.’ Specifically, he likes to reuse items around the studio and revisit old techniques and previous work for inspiration.

Their view is that animation and art shouldn’t be created, shared and forgotten about – it should be reused and developed to continue the design process. One such example is an immersive visual animation the studio created to accompany Daniel Avery’s latest album ‘Song for Alpha,’ which used old film rolls to generate different effects.

2. Procrastinating stimulates creativity

Dusseldorf-based Nadine Redlich is a cartoonist and self-proclaimed ‘stable genius’ whose illustrative work covers everything from hangovers and procrastination, to general self-doubt and everything in between.

When developing ideas, Nadine recommends thinking of it as putting a seed in your head, then simply leaving it there and letting the brain harvest the ideas over time. That’s exactly the approach she took when creating her latest book ‘I Hate You, You Just Don’t Know It Yet.’

3. Don’t be afraid to experiment

London-based animator and director, Sophie Koko Gate’s latest project for Adult Swim has seen her create some weirdly wonderful characters – Caz, CC Jane (her favourite), Gus Gus 69 and Darcy (a manifestation of all things disgusting and perverted).

Her characters are influenced by the people and things around her and she creates them by playing with zoom and scale, styling 2D animation that feels 3D. This constant stream of experimenting and creation is where she sees patterns evolve which she brings to life with a mix of hand sketches, Photoshop and After Effects.

The best ideas can literally occur from anywhere as long as you’re willing to commit time to relax, experiment and consume.

Guests at the event as experimented with the Adobe Hidden Treasures fonts, where they printed out their own piece of mini art to take home. If you fancy exploring the five new undiscovered Adobe Bauhaus fonts, get involved in our latest Adobe Hidden Treasures design challenge, download the fonts for free and start creating.

Find out more about Nicer Tuesdays talks and to see when the next event is taking place.