Generating Creative Ideas Across Multiple Formats

Stop asking AI to “brainstorm.” (Do this instead) If you type “Give me 10 creative ideas” into ChatGPT, you will get the average of the internet. You get generic, safe, vanilla patterns. The sea of sameness. To get breakthrough ideas, you need to force the AI off the beaten path using proven creative frameworks. I created this visual guide to replace unstructured requests with 8 specific techniques. Here is the full breakdown to upgrade your next session: 1. Divergent Thinking Focus on volume, not quality. Ask for 20 unique, unconventional ideas without judgment to clear the pipes. 2. Cross-Pollination Take two unrelated concepts and force them together. "Combine the hospitality of a 5-star hotel with the efficiency of a pit crew." 3. Constraint-Based Ideation Creativity loves constraints. "Generate ideas assuming we have only $100 and 24 hours to launch." 4. Role-Playing Scenarios (🌟 My Favorite) This is the most powerful unlock on the list. Pro Tip: Don’t just type this prompt.. use the Voice Mode (Siri-style) in ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude. Tell the AI: "You are my angriest customer. I'm going to pitch you my new idea, and I want you to tear it apart." Having a literal spoken conversation with a persona surfaces objections and nuances that text prompting often misses. 5. SCAMMPER Technique Don't invent from scratch. Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, or Reverse an existing idea. Modify twice! 6. Mind Mapping Ask the AI to explore the semantic web around your topic to find related sub-themes you haven't considered. 7. “What If” Scenarios Explore the extremes. “What if we had to 100x the value to our customers?" “What if it becomes free?" 8. Visual Brainstorming Switch modalities. Ask for visual concepts, scenes, and imagery descriptions rather than strategic text. Lazy prompts get lazy results. Treat the AI like an expert creative partner that needs direction, not a search engine that needs a keyword. Save this cheat sheet for your next strategy session. ——> Follow along with Matt Savarick to grow 💡 Repost to help your network grow ♻️

I generated 25+ campaign ideas for my client without using AI. Here’s my 6-step creative ideation process: ➡️ Step 1: Understand the End Goal Before anything else, you should understand the overarching marketing and business objectives. Ask yourself the following: Who do I want to reach? Why? What impact do I want to have? What would success look like? ➡️Step 2: Discovery & Research To think strategically down the line, use this step to gather info: 📊 Internal content audit → Examine what’s been done so far and look in depth at what has and hasn’t worked (and why) 🔍 Competitor analysis → Dive into your competitors campaigns, their effectiveness, and how people are reacting to them ➡️ Step 3: Empathise Get to the root of your target audience’s needs so that you can address their pain points. This means you can show how your product/ service solves a problem they’re facing. (Ex - A personal branding agency recognising that their ideal client struggles with lead gen. They use social proof to demonstrate how they’ve successfully created content that positions their current clients as industry leaders). ➡️ Step 4: Inspire Creativity Through Brainstorming Creative thinking is all about experimentation, imagination and curiosity. Let your mind run free here and allow yourself to spontaneously brainstorm. Quantity > quality is best at this stage. Some examples of brainstorming techniques: 💭 Create a mindmap, drawing branches from each idea 💭 Reframe and reword your target audience’s problem, looking at it from different angles 💭 Think outside the box i.e. ask ‘how would a child solve this problem?’ 💭 Test the waters of constraints and aim to brainstorm 10 rough ideas in 10 mins ➡️ Step 5: Relax & Unwind Giving yourself breathing space after so much thinking. It can stimulate subconscious ideas. ⛅️ Walking 💭 Meditating 🚿 Taking a shower 🎶 Listening to music It’s often in these moments that we connect unexpected dots and ‘lightbulb moments’ are triggered. ➡️Step 6: Unlock Your Creativity It’s solution time! Having completed steps 1-5, you’re now ready to generate innovative ideas to test. Evaluate and select the ideas you think will have the greatest impact. At this step, you want to whittle the best ideas down so it’s quality > quantity Quick idea generation checklist ✔️ 1. Understand what you want to achieve and why 2. Research internal content & your competition 3. Put yourself in the shoes of your ideal target audience 4. Get inspired through brainstorming techniques 5. Schedule downtime and give your mind a rest 6. Generate, evaluate and select ideas P.s. don’t just take my word for it that all of this planning & prep is worth it. Take Einstein’s advice: “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” What helps your creativity when it comes to ideation? 💡

Slicing one piece of content into multiple assets is only scratching the surface. Creative repetition isn't just about: - turning long-form to short-form - using a different format - distributing on different channels It's about taking a single idea and rinsing it through different lenses so you can amplify your messages and recognition. This is something I focus on with every client to help them escape the constant cycle of chasing new ideas and become top-of-mind for specific topics. Not sure where to start? Use these 5 categories and prompts: 💡 Bust a myth - "What’s one widely believed misconception about the idea that limits progress or results?" - "What 'best practice' related to the idea that actually leads to poor results?" 💡Zoom in - "What’s one overlooked related step that leads to better outcomes?" - "What’s a related micro-problem your audience faces that you can provide a quick fix for?" 💡Reflect back - "What’s one failure you’ve experienced that taught you a critical lesson about the idea?" - "What’s one unexpected insight you’ve learned from applying this idea in your own work?" 💡Link it - "How does your product or service address the biggest pain point tied to the idea?" - "What’s one way your solution directly enables your audience to implement a specific part of the idea?" 💡Show the win - "What’s a specific customer win that illustrates the power of this idea?" - "What feedback from a customer proves the impact of applying this idea?" Now, you might be wondering how to choose the right option[s]. If you've been here for a while, you won't be surprised by my answer: - Work backward from your goals - Consider the stage of awareness of your audience In the end, creative repetition works best when paired with intention and strategy.

Here's another one for my graphic recorder / illustrator / visual consultant / designer tribe! How do you draw tricky concepts like 'disruption', 'engagement', or 'diversity', without falling back on the same ol' icons from image libraries? If you want to draw these non-tangible topics in a more creative, meaningful, impactful way, and go beyond the bleeding obvious, 🔥 FLARE 🔥 is for you. Axelle Vanquaillie and I developed this method 3 years ago. It's a set of 5 prompts to help you think deeper about what to represent in images, whether you draw them by hand or search for them / generate them. Here’s how it works 👇: 🤔 Start with a concept/topic you want to draw, and then ask yourself: - F: Feel - What does this topic feel like? What emotions does it trigger? - L: Look - What does it look like in the real world? Objects, scenes, situations? - A: Another - What’s another way to name it? A word, metaphor, synonym, or reframe? - R: Result - What’s the outcome or impact of it? What changes because this exists? - E: Experience - Are there steps or actions that could be visualised that represent this? Instead of anchoring on your first idea, FLARE helps you generate _many ideas first_ so that you can refine and combine into one better image. Richer, clearer, and more intentional. We’ve used FLARE in our work a lot, and taught it with beginners and seasoned visual practitioners alike, and every time it unlocks more creative confidence and better visuals. 🔥 If you want to draw abstract concepts with more depth (and more joy), FLARE is a great place to start. #visualstorytelling #sketchnoting #graphicrecording #creativity #innovation #visualthinking

Stop asking AI to “make it better” or “make it more creative”...Try this instead. 🎯 🤯 I used to get stuck in endless loops with AI chatbots: → "Make it better" → "Now make it more creative" → "Actually, can you change the tone?" Sound familiar? 💡𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲: I started asking my chatbot buddies like Copilot, ChatGPT, and Claude for multiple options upfront. For my creative, ideation, and writing tasks, instead of one response, I now ask for 5-10 variations with different approaches. Each option explores a different angle, style, or direction. For example, when a paragraph in my product blog post feels flat, I ask for 5 different approaches to rewrite this section. ✨𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁? I find 1-2 solid options that match my vision – often needing minimal tweaking. Saving me minutes of dreadful back and forths. 🧠 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸? Research shows that single AI outputs can limit creative diversity, while generating multiple options lets the AI explore different solution spaces. It mirrors human brainstorming – when you ask someone for ideas, they naturally offer several possibilities, not just one "perfect" answer. 💪 𝗧𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝘁: Next time you're using AI for creative work, add "give me 5 different options" to your prompt. Your future self will thank you for breaking free from the "make it better" spiral. What's your go-to strategy for getting better AI outputs? Drop your tips below! 👇 🫂Follow Derah Onuorah for more practical AI tips! #AI #Productivity #ChatGPT #Claude #Copilot #Ideation #WorkSmarter #Innovation #TechTips #DareToDO

Generating ideas Over the past few years I’ve taken up the practice of bonsai. One common response to that revelation is “Oh! You must have a lot of patience!” to which I replay “No, actually, it’s why I thought it would help.” One of the lessons I draw from that practice is that ideas take a long time to come to fruition and require a lot of maintenance along the way to keep them on track. Another lesson, though, which came up for me again yesterday, is that generating ideas, critiquing ideas, selecting an idea/ideas, and cultivating ideas are distinct activities that should remain separate in space and time. In the context of bonsai, that means allowing a tree time to grow and looking for which branches are showing energy/growth before pruning/shaping. Those are three distinct activities. Growth; inspection; shaping. Ideas are similar. When we’re generating ideas we should focus on generation. Good, bad, silly, inspired should all just be thrown out onto the table without judgement or interruption. The activities we use should be geared towards that singular goal. When that’s done we can begin the process of critiquing and sharing. There should be clear criteria, and we should be trying to assess potential, not the idea’s current form (because of course it isn’t well-formed yet). This is why it can be a good idea to have these activities occur on different days, if your timing allows - or separate them with a break. It allows everyone to sit with an idea for a while before beginning to judge it. This activity should include a discussion around what work an idea needs next in order to prove itself. What does a prototype look like, or a pilot program, and what would those tell us? How do we get more confidence in the idea’s merit? Finally, selecting which ideas to take forward and which to cut. Good ideas don’t necessarily make the cut. There might be too many, or there might be a few that are similar, which can be combined or treated as one. An idea might be objectively good, but not suit the right audience, or not be feasible within the given timeline. It might contain too many unknowns and not feel worth the effort to build confidence. And it might not be aligned with the direction the company wants to take. When ideas are generated, critiqued, and cut/accepted all in one activity, I see groups quickly devolve into defensiveness and anchored thinking. Ideas are debated rather than critiqued and the creative side of the activity is quickly lost. Morale ebbs away as ideas are discarded before they’ve barely seen the light. And the whole activity falls flat. #innovation #creativity #facilitation

As industrial designers, we constantly strive to find better, faster ways to ideate and iterate. One of the most exciting developments in design workflows recently is leveraging AI tools like MidJourney’s Edit & Retexture functionality to transform basic CAD forms into high-quality visual concepts in minutes. It was a while since I used Midjourney. But thanks to seeing one of the LinkedIn posts by Hector Rodriguez , I was itching to try it. I recently experimented with this approach using a foundational CAD model. I had made this as one of the form explorations through CAD for a coffee machine.I prompted MidJourney to retexture and visualize it in various material and finish combinations. The results? A series of diverse, photorealistic outputs that allows me to explore design possibilities I may not have considered otherwise. This workflow highlights some key strengths: 1. Speeding Up Concept Ideation: AI tools can generate multiple aesthetic directions from a single CAD base almost instantaneously. This means you can explore and test design ideas quickly, without committing hours to detailed rendering or material adjustments in software like Blender or Keyshot. 2. Streamlining CMF Exploration: Traditionally, exploring different colors, materials, and finishes (CMF) can be a long-drawn-out process, requiring meticulous work in rendering software or Photoshop. With AI, you can bypass this step and instantly visualize multiple CMF options. This not only saves significant time but also allows for rapid iteration and refinement. 3. Accelerating Design Evolution: With rapid outputs, you can visualize the potential of your design’s form and materiality in real-world contexts. This allows for informed decision-making early in the process, saving time during later-stage refinements. 4. Enhancing Creative Exploration: By integrating AI tools, we can step beyond our usual design instincts and uncover unexpected design solutions. This not only enriches the process but also pushes boundaries in creativity and innovation. For industrial designers, this hybrid approach—merging CAD fundamentals with AI-enhanced retexturing—opens up new opportunities to iterate faster and more effectively. Once the most promising directions are identified, we can dive into refining the details, ensuring manufacturability, or rendering them perfectly in Blender, Keyshot, or similar tools. This newfound workflow feels like a game-changer to me, especially for balancing creativity with tight deadlines. What do you think about this tool? #industrialdesign #ConceptIdeation #CMF #CMFExploration #productdesign #MidJourney #ai

Your team creates great content. Then you publish it once and forget it exists. Your competitor takes the same content types and turns each into multiple assets that reach different audiences across different channels. 15 ways to repurpose what you already have: Webinar → LinkedIn carousels (break into multiple slides, one insight each) Case study → Video testimonials (customer success stories) Blog post → Short-form videos (TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts) Webinar → Podcast series (break into multiple episodes) Internal research → Press releases (data-driven announcements) Customer interviews → Thought leadership articles (CEO bylines) Case study → ABM one-pagers (sales-ready assets) Blog post → Email nurture sequences (educational series) Webinar → Quote graphics (social media posts) Team discussions → Behind-the-scenes content (culture posts) Blog insights → Interactive polls (engagement drivers) Case study → Industry-specific variants (vertical messaging) Research data → Comparison infographics (visual storytelling) Presentations → Sales deck templates (enablement materials) Competitor analysis → Market positioning content (differentiation assets) Stop leaving content ROI on the table. Which format would give you the biggest reach? [🔖 Might be worth saving this for your next content planning session]

Brands we're scaling to 8 and 9 figures aren’t running more ads. Often, they run fewer than some 6-figure brands I audit. Instead, they’re running more distinct ads, built for fundamentally different people. That difference matters. Creative diversity isn’t volume. It’s intentional variety across: • Messaging • Angles • Formats • Avatars • Awareness levels Let’s make it concrete with a familiar example: Loop Earplugs. Different avatars. Same product. • Festival-goers protecting their hearing • Light sleepers with a snoring partner • Remote workers in noisy homes • Parents craving calm without isolation • Frequent flyers trying to survive long-haul flights One SKU. Completely different jobs to be done. Different angles per avatar: • Festival-goer: Protect your hearing without killing the experience. • Sleeper: Sleep through snoring—finally. • Remote worker: Reduce noise without disconnecting. • Parent: Lower the chaos, stay present. Same product. Different emotional entry points. Different awareness levels: • Unaware: What years of festivals did to my hearing. • Problem-aware: Tried melatonin, white noise, everything—nothing worked. • Solution-aware: We tested 3 earplugs against toddler-level noise. You don’t sell the same way to all three. Most brands still try. Different creative formats: • POV moments • Comparisons • UGC listicles • Street interviews • Lifestyle integration Creative formats aren’t there to “look different.” They exist because people absorb information differently. Some need proof. Some need comparison. Some need to see themselves in the situation first. That’s why one message rarely scales. The mistake most brands make is hammering a single audience with variations of the same idea and calling it testing.

We imagine great ideas arriving fully formed. They almost never do. In reality, they show up as a tangle of disconnected thoughts—surrounded by noise, hidden inside half-formed possibilities. In the middle of a creative project, the challenge isn’t finding input—you’re buried in it: briefs, constraints, data, reports, interviews, wishlists. With so much in front of you, it’s tempting to start creating. But the real skill? Sifting through the layers to find the spark others miss—hidden in the materials or buried in your initial ideas. Experience helps. The more problems you’ve solved, the more patterns you’ve seen—and the quicker you spot the flickers, the details that don’t fit neatly but might lead somewhere interesting. And while experience takes time, there’s a way to accelerate your insights: Push your volume. Generate 10, 15, even 20 genuinely different creative ideas—not 1 or 2 with layout or typeface tweaks. The first few feel obvious, the next wrong—then something unexpected surfaces. You pause. That’s the one to explore. Not because it’s perfect, but because it’s promising—the kind you’d miss if you started too quickly or stopped too soon. The real edge in creativity and design isn’t just generating solutions. It’s spotting the spark worth chasing—and fueling it until it burns bright.