What am I doing for ideas that are different from others? (Part 2)

Hirota: Mr. Fujimoto, what do you pay attention to (in order to generate ideas that are different from others)?

Fujimoto: Personally, I'm way too much of a night owl to be considered a normal person, but I try not to forget that I'm an outsider (laughs). Well, I think "normal" itself is kind of a fiction, so I guess it's about properly identifying the shared ground, the points of contact, between myself and the world. I don't think copying something I haven't truly experienced myself will ever really resonate.

Also, I'm careful not to go for that "feels just right" kind of thing. That "nice" or "clever" feeling is dangerous. It might be polished and stable, but that's just a style established by those who came before—something you've seen somewhere before. No matter how well done it is, that sense of déjà vu discounts everything by a certain percentage.

Planning late at night in a family restaurant.

Hirota: Sometimes you hit "Like!" just to say "I read it, at least" (laughs). Maybe you shouldn't get too excited just because your post got a lot of "Likes"...

Fujimoto: Yeah, that might be true.
By the way, when we track ad reactions on social media, things that feel off or jarring actually get better responses. Before, I always avoided anything that felt "kind of creepy..." and chose clean, polished expressions. But if it's too polished, it doesn't work. Things that feel "weird" or "creepy" just stand out. Plus, people want to see things they've never seen before. Because it's unfamiliar, they want to share it with others.

Yagi: That's incredibly helpful! I tend to gravitate toward stable layouts too, but my seniors often tell me to design more intuitively. It's interesting to aim for that "weird" factor in design (laughs).

Hirota: Mr. Fujimoto mentioned that "normal" itself is a fiction. Yet, everyone's approach to generating ideas is distinct, and the ideas that emerge are incredibly unique. And yet, they're deeply relatable. Relatability doesn't stem from averages or norms; perhaps it arises from something utterly individual—and a little strange.