Situation
The modern world is saturated with a consumer-led celebrity culture whereby everyone looks the same, and everything is for sale. Descending from all four corners is the vermin-tongued conformist or the separatist armchair analyst and tiger parent who strikes out to crush your imagination, inner voice, and hope.
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This reality is counter-intuitive to how creativity works. Imitation is not creation.
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Creativity is the ability to make the invisible visible by making unique connections between past and present to light the way into the future. Manifesting what is inside yourself and around you in everyday life by influencing your innate point of view and talents to transcend the obvious, ordinary, and routine.
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It is a process that infuses imagination, taste, style, even a little mess, and in which desperation, sacrifice, adversity, struggle, experimentation, failure, persistence, and the acquisition of skill and practical know-how are more valuable than receiving instant fame. Continuously swimming against the tide in search of the authentic and new, staving off false promises of easy gratification and immediate success. Crafting poetry in a world where there is only prose, gracing the world with art. Believing in yourself and your ideas, always moving forward, and never giving up!
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Creative leaders are the outsiders looking in; rebels with a cause. They are people of action who are always future-oriented. They are the doers, the people who start things, move the world forward, and inspire others to do it too. To be one, you must be comfortable taking a stand against oppressive forces, articulating your opinions and ideas, and creating without fear.
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Aspire to be as great as the things that are influencing you. Not to be like them, but to be as influential. Don't let the world or anyone within it define you. Be purposeful and mission-driven. Having constraints, barriers, principles, and standards are critical in expressing yourself by what you are and what you are not. Appreciate the differences.
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Be aware of your taste and emotions. Be excellent at your craft – what you dream, make, and do has substance and integrity. Be clear about yourself as it will guide you where to go next and attract the right people into your life and creative circle. The most precious gift we have is time—make the best of it and love yourself and your work.
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Our outputs are the next generations' inputs! That comes with accountability and responsibility to pass the baton to the next generation by leaving the world in better shape than you found it.
Manifesto
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Knowing that ridicule is nothing to be scared of
If your efforts are met with ridicule, all you have to do is find your inner conviction that you are doing the right thing, navigating toward invisible horizons by anticipating future trends inspired by culture and aesthetics to drive sustained discovery, invention, and innovation. It's a sure sign that what you do is bold and innovative if you're dancing to your own drumbeat. Pay no mind to ridicule.
2
Never be "Another Brick in the Wall"
Dream, make, and do. Be in the moment. Push forward for the greater good with true grit. Conformity never leads to progress. If you have something authentically different to offer, you'll excite and inspire others and ultimately thrive by lighting the way to the future.
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Lead without frontiers
Fearlessly lead by example and win the crowd by navigating territory where no one else has ventured. Avoid the mainstream and work to develop a deeper relationship between yourself and your audience. Be authentic, live in the moment with conviction and confidence, and always stay true to yourself.
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Keeping true to the dreams of your youth and create outside the boundaries
Reject conventions, constantly analyze, and question and challenge the status quo in your everyday life. Provide an alternative and bring it to life. People who achieve greatness do not fit a formula or follow a structure. They break the mold by following their own path.
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Provoking actions that change minds
Pablo Picasso believed all children are artists, but they lose their creativity when they grow up. Grow into, not out of, creativity. Don't give up the dreams of your childhood and your approach to the world through a child's eyes. Learn, innovate, and never waste a second on anything that seems to restrict you.
Purpose
Unknown Origins is on a mission to unlock everyone's creative potential by providing innovative solutions that build capability, drive audience engagement and capture brand love.
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Enabling the creative, education, commercial, and public service industries to build capacity to drive sustained discovery, invention, and innovation.
Leading toward invisible horizons by lighting the way into the future by taking what is not and making what is by blending the art and science of aesthetics through excellence in craftsmanship.
Roy Sharples
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Unknown Origins. Roy is on a mission to unlock everyone's creative potential by providing innovation solutions that build capability, drive audience engagement, and brand love. He has eclectic experience in building beloved brands, bringing new products and services to market, and creating growth businesses at scale and start-ups from the ground up.