Creativity as Evolution

By Jonathan Halls

New ideas can grow out of old ideas. The motor car is a great example of this because while it never really changes its purpose, it constantly evolves.

Cars have always been used to drive us from A to B; however, over the years, the car itself has evolved. The original Model T Ford is a far cry from today’s Ford Taurus or Escort.

The shape is more streamlined, seats more comfortable and it drives faster. But guess what? Both models still get us from A to B.

Since humans began driving, new needs for comfort have evolved.  Today, many cars are sold with air conditioning because passengers disliked the heat on long journeys. 

Cruise control was invented because drivers found it tiring to keep their feet on the accelerator during long journeys.

Today GPS satellite navigation systems provide electronic maps and directions.

Creative Discontent

Creative evolution is driven by a sense of creative discontent. This sense is not driven by a belief that something is inherently bad but because we believe we can always do it better.

Visual design is often the recipient of evolution. Our television networks change their logos over time.

Even websites evolve their look and feel as executive producers and graphics designers work to make the site look even better and become more functional.

Television programs have evolved considerably over the years also, and some may argue that this is the result of us understanding our medium better.

When TV started, producers presented television on a stage, treating it as if it was a theatre show.

It's about questioning the way we do things today

As TV producers constantly questioned the way they made television, they started to incorporate interesting production methods.

TV stopped being about staging drama on a stage.  Producers incorporated outside broadcasts, satellite feeds, telephone inputs and video phones. This is evolution of the TV program.

Big Brother, broadcast as a concept program all around the world, is a good example of a television program that has evolved from a traditional story idea into something far more complex and interactive.

In Big Brother, cameras watch a group of people live in a house together for some weeks with the audience voting off certain people each week.

The format uses television in a traditional non-linear way but expands the delivery and enriches the story by telling it on other platforms. 

The other platforms include the Web, mobile phone text messages and interactive buttons on set-top boxes.

Doing traditional things differently

Using different platforms allows the program makers to develop a non-linear storyline and allow real-time interactivity. 

Without any of the interactive and cross-platform features, Big Brother is still a compelling story idea for analogue television.

The concept tickles the voyeur spirit in audiences and their desire to hear the latest story about people with whom they have some sort of relationship with (whether it be pseudo or not).

The audience interacts with the story by voting on who is thrown out of the house. They do this using their remote controls at home.

The internet adds to the power of interactivity by allowing viewers to look at any room in the house by changing cameras. You can watch a character sun-baking outside on the patio or eating a sandwich in the kitchen.

Mobile phone technology takes this even further allowing you to receive a text messages when something significant in the story occurs, like when a house member is expelled.

With Big Brother, a traditional story concept has evolved from a linear television idea into a cross-platform story allowing non-linearity and interactivity to create the path of the program, bringing it closer to the audience.

Can I do this better?

Evolutionary creativity is led by the question, “how can I make this better?” Constantly asking this question, and posing problems that need to be solved, opens our minds to new ideas.

If you want to create something, be clear about your purpose. To evolve an idea, keep asking, ‘how can I better achieve that purpose?’