Your next brilliant idea is waiting to be discovered. This thoughtfully crafted notepad features 100 pages, each with an inspiring thought about creativity and ideas. When you capture those fleeting sparks on paper, you free your mind to receive even more inspiration.
Our minds can only hold so much at once. Release your ideas onto these pages and watch as new ones flow in to take their place. Carry creativity with you. Let ideas find their home.
Length
121 pages
Size
A6
Paper
Thick, 300g/cm2
Cover type
Hardback
Sometimes the deepest truths hide in the simplest places. The origins of words can reveal more about reality than volumes of philosophy, so let me invite you on a journey through time to rediscover what "idea" truly means. Our time machine will be these pages—not the finest technology, but sufficient for our purpose. Just expect that the further back we travel, the hazier the picture becomes. But it will give us enough clarity.
Around 4500 to 2500 BC, there lived an ancestor to many of the languages that now populate our Earth. We call it Proto-Indo-European. I like to think of languages as living creatures—this small shift in perspective gives us a better feeling for what they truly are. This ancient language had a root: "weid-," which directly translated to "to see.”
As this linguistic creature evolved, split into separate beings, and continued growing as independent entities, this root shaped words familiar to us today: advice, déjà vu, druid, evident, guide, idea, idol, kaleidoscope, provide, veda, view, vision, wise, wit, and others.
Follow this family tree across the world: Sanskrit gave us "veda," meaning "I know." Greek had "oida" (εἴδω) with the same meaning. In Old Irish, "find" meant "white"—as in "clearly seen." The same clarity appears in Welsh "gwyn," Gaulish "vindos," and Breton "gwenn." Travel east and you'll find Gothic and Old Swedish "witan"—"to know." Russians developed "vedat'" into the modern "videt'"—"to see." Polish has "widzieć," Bulgarian "vidya," Lithuanian "vysti"—all meaning "to see." Return west and you'll find German "wissen" and English “wise."
Now, having met the family, let's examine "idea" itself. Like "veda," it's borrowed—from Latin in its pure form, which took it from Ancient Greek: ἰδέα. This evolved from that same εἴδω (oida) we encountered, "to see," tracing back to our root "weid-." In Greek, "idea" meant: form, the look of a thing, kind, sort, nature, mode, fashion.
Today's dictionaries offer seven different definitions, from "formulated thought" to "plan for action" to "transcendent entity" to "image in consciousness." Seven meanings for one word—quite a journey from simply "to see.”
The Revelation Hidden in Plain Sight
Here's what this linguistic archaeology reveals: at its deepest level, an idea is not something we think—it's something we see. Not with our eyes, but with that inner vision that recognises patterns, possibilities, and connections invisible to ordinary sight.
This shifts the way we approach creativity. We don't manufacture ideas through effort alone; we cultivate the ability to see what was always there, waiting to be noticed. Every breakthrough, every innovation, every creative leap begins with this ancient act: learning to see clearly.
The notebook in your hands, then, becomes more than a collection tool—it becomes a lens for sharpening this most fundamental human capacity. Each idea you capture is practice in seeing, each page a step toward clearer vision.
The question isn't whether idea comes before creation or creation before idea. They are one movement—the eternal dance of seeing and bringing forth what we see.
The Science Behind the Magic
Here's a fascinating discovery that could change your perspective on creativity: according to Miller's Law, the average human can hold only 7±2 objects in short-term memory. This conclusion comes from one of psychology's most cited papers. More recent studies have refined this further, showing that our central memory store is actually limited to just 3 to 5 meaningful items in young adults.
Now, I bet you can relate to what this means in real life. We're constantly losing ideas. When inspiration strikes but your mind is already juggling other thoughts—that work deadline, concern for a loved one, or a few ideas already swirling in your mind—there's literally no space for the new idea to take hold. According to the research, as few as four major thoughts can block new insights from entering.
Where the Real Power Lives
But here's where it gets interesting: the moment you capture that newborn idea on paper, your mind doesn't need to carry it anymore. It's like clearing space on that overcrowded mental desk. Your mind's capacity suddenly frees up, creating room for the next innovation to emerge.
This is why I designed this book in A6 format—small enough to carry without burden, ready whenever inspiration calls. It's not just about remembering ideas; it's about creating the mental space for better ones to find you.
When Ideas Feel Elusive
But here's where it gets interesting: the moment you capture that newborn idea on paper, your mind doesn't need to carry it anymore. It's like clearing space on that overcrowded mental desk. Your mind's capacity suddenly frees up, creating room for the next innovation to emerge.
This is why I designed this book in A6 format—small enough to carry without burden, ready whenever inspiration calls. It's not just about remembering ideas; it's about creating the mental space for better ones to find you.
The art of ideation isn't about forcing thoughts into existence—it's about creating conditions where ideas naturally emerge. Think of these techniques as different lenses, each revealing aspects of a problem that might otherwise remain hidden. Like our ancestors learning to see patterns in nature, we're training our minds to recognise possibilities in the chaos of challenges.
Problem tree
As the name suggests, this technique branches problems into ideas like a tree spreading its limbs toward light. It works beautifully for group brainstorms but proves equally powerful for solo exploration.
Every project begins with whispers—those vague, fragile thoughts floating at the edge of consciousness. To kindle this ideation process, capture one of those whispers on a sticky note and place it where you can see it. This becomes your tinder for the flame.
Let's follow an example: imagine we're designing a better way for elderly people to stay connected with family. Our starting whisper might be "Grandma feels isolated." Place this at the center of your wall or paper.
Now, branch outward. Ask: What causes this isolation? Physical distance? Technology barriers? Hearing difficulties? Each cause becomes a new branch. Then ask: What could address each cause? Video calls? Simplified devices? Regular visits? Each solution spawns its own branches of possibilities.
The magic happens in the branching—one idea about hearing difficulties might lead to visual communication methods, which could inspire gesture-based interfaces, which might evolve into something entirely unexpected: a family storytelling app that uses pictures instead of words.
6-5-8
Elegantly structured, deceptively simple and quite fun for a group: 6 people generate 8 ideas in 5 minutes. But don't let the numbers stop you—it works just as well with 3, 2, or even 1 person.
The power lies in the constraint. Five minutes isn't enough time for your inner critic to wake up and start editing. Ideas flow without judgment, quantity without quality filters. Run this exercise 2 or 3 times, and you'll notice something remarkable: the second round often produces more creative solutions because your obvious answers are already exhausted.
Consider how Post-it Notes came to be—3M engineer Art Fry needed bookmarks that wouldn't fall out of his hymnal. In a rapid ideation session, he connected a "failed" adhesive (weak enough to remove easily) with his specific problem. What seemed like a constraint became the breakthrough.
Power play
Here's where we play with power. Assume your team possesses a specific, extraordinary capability—how would you solve the problem using only that gift?
If particular powers don't come to mind, warm up with superheroes. How would Spider-Man approach urban transportation? His web-slinging might inspire zipline networks or elevated walkways. How would Professor X handle remote education? His telepathy could lead to brain-computer interfaces or immersive empathy training.
The real magic happens when you assign capabilities closer to home. What if your team could only use materials found in a kitchen? What if you had unlimited time but no money? What if you could only communicate through music?
This technique works because constraints force creativity into unexpected channels. The iPhone emerged partly because Apple's team asked: "What if we could only use one button?" That constraint led to the revolutionary multi-touch interface.
External stimuli
Introduce a random element into your discussion and observe how it shifts the conversation. Pick an object, character, or tool—ideally something within your reach, even if remotely—and let it influence your thinking.
Working on a scheduling app? Introduce a cooking timer. How does its simple countdown function inspire new features? Perhaps time-blocking that counts down to create urgency, or automated transitions between tasks.
Redesigning a workspace? Bring in a plant. How does it change the conversation? Maybe it leads to biophilic design principles, air quality monitoring, or natural light optimisation.
The Beatles discovered this accidentally when a tape machine malfunctioned during recording sessions, playing loops backward. Instead of fixing it, they embraced the accident, leading to revolutionary sound techniques that influenced decades of music.
The deeper principle
Remember: ideation is about quantity over quality. Wide exploration opens ranges of possibilities never before considered. Even seemingly impractical ideas can shift perspective enough to reveal practical solutions hiding in plain sight.
Like the ancient practice of "weid-"—learning to see—these techniques train your vision to notice what others miss. Run multiple short sessions rather than one exhaustive marathon. Twenty minutes of Problem Tree, then switch to 6-5-8, then try Capability Based. Each technique illuminates different facets of the same challenge.
History is filled with "obvious" solutions that took centuries to see. The wheeled suitcase wasn't invented until 1970—despite wheels and suitcases coexisting for millennia. Sometimes the most revolutionary ideas are simply combinations of existing elements, waiting for someone with the right lens to finally see them clearly.
The ideas are already there, waiting. These techniques simply help you develop the vision to find them.
