George Lois Quotes

I apply the term 'creativity' broadly... it's problem solving. We are all faced with problems, and we have to address them and think of something new, and that's where creativity comes in.

When you have one idea per year, it's already a miracle!

When trying to innovate, most people stop after 10-15 possibilities, failing to recognize that their first ideas are usually the most obvious ones.

When you have a creative mind it doesn't stop going.

I tend to wake up in the middle of the night with ideas crying to be documented.

Ideas rose in clouds; I felt them collide until pairs interlocked, so to speak, making a stable combination.

Imagination is the air of mind.

If we have a great idea, we'll go, 'Oh, this could be a cool movie.' Or really for us, it's more like, 'Oh, this is a really bad idea. Let's do this. This seems really stupid.'

I've often said that there's no such thing as writer's block; the problem is idea block.

It's when you've stopped writing and are doing other things, especially when you're asleep, that the real work is done.

When it's a sharing and improvisational meeting, where you're riffing off other people's ideas, that actually can be productive.

Whatever creativity is, it is in part a solution to a problem.

I do a lot of brainstorming with my editors.

The most creative person is not the person who can come up with the best idea; it's the one who can take that group of things on the table and assemble them in the greatest multiple of unique ways.

There are definitely times - and I think this is pretty common among cartoonists - where you spend an entire day trying to think of an idea, and you're like, 'I give up.' And then you go and take a shower or run an errand, and halfway there, you get an idea.

I'm always looking for the creative spark. Always.

I learned that creativity is all about being frustrated.

I usually think about titles. I'll hear somebody say something and write it down in my notes, and whenever we go into a room, somebody will start naming off titles, and whoever has the best title, that's what we start writing.

Procrastination gives you time to consider divergent ideas, to think in nonlinear ways, to make unexpected leaps.

Looking back at it now, it's almost overwhelming, the amount of work that went into writing 'Shine', and to come up with the ideas that we're doing now.

The imagination is how things get done. You have to cultivate creativity.

I try to seek out and surround myself with people who just percolate fresh, original, and creative ideas.

I have a good idea every two years. Give me a topic, I will give you the idea! [Reputed to have been a remark made to the head of his department at Caltech.]

Your success will be affected by the quality and quantity of new ideas you suggest.

One of the most common questions writers are asked is "Where do you get your ideas?" But the sad truth is, we don't know. Ideas can come at any time and from any direction: in the shower, waiting for an elevator, or while bouncing across Wikipedia pages.