Combinatorial Creativity

“Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” - Steve Jobs

"the things that inspire me the most are the intersection points, kind of intersections between two things that were never intersected before... Steve Jobs did this fantastically with calligraphy and computers, James Terrell with astronomy and web architecture..." Josh at the Browser Company on the Moth Minds podcast

Innovators are usually synthesizers—they synthesize everything they know and add their own personal talents, and out comes something new.

James Turrell took inspiration from astronomy and perceptual psychology. Coco Chanel was most influenced by nuns and religious symbols. David Adjaye drew from Yoruban sculpture, and Steve Jobs from Zen Buddhism and calligraphy. We could continue this list forever, but that’s not the point. The point is to look outside the confines of our industry... See more