Brainstorming. It’s a bit of a buzzword in the creative industries, but it really is the start of the process for us. With any project, we follow the RIBA plan of work, working and communicating with the client at every step of the journey. Brainstorming happens right at the beginning, so that we have multiple creative routes to choose from as we learn more about the project and the client.

Here's how we brainstorm and generate top-quality ideas at Bell & Swift.

Understanding your needs

At Bell & Swift, we prioritize ensuring we have a comprehensive understanding of exactly what our clients need and their objectives right from the outset in order to provide bespoke results every time. We delve deeper by familiarizing ourselves with their brand and conduct extensive research, including desktop and on-site investigations on the local area and the history of the building if it is a refurbishment project. This approach helps us develop a tailor-made design narrative.

Once we have all the necessary information and research, it's time for the fun part: brainstorming. We gather and discuss our findings, exploring ways to incorporate them into a bespoke design experience that reflects our client's brief, their brand, the local area, and the building's existing structure.

This process is essential to ensure that every Bell & Swift project is unique and stands out.

No idea’s too big

Ruling out creative routes comes later in the process – when it comes to brainstorming there truly is no idea that’s too big or too wacky; so long as it’s relevant to the brief. Brainstorming sessions aren’t the place to be critical; open conversation, in an informal environment allows us to think big, break out of the box, and break away from the constraints of previous projects or industry expectations.

Collaboration is key

The focus here is on quantity of ideas; we want to have as many viable options as possible, so, the more brains the better! After all – no two people think the same. And it has to be said that our best brainstorming sessions happen in person. There’s something about being together in the same space, that makes the output so much better. 

Time to prepare

We kick-start every week with a team meeting, which allows us to highlight any brainstorming requirements, for any of our clients. By highlighting the need for a brainstorm well in advance, we can give those involved time to do a bit of desk research on the client, read the brief, and come to the session prepared. That lets all of us start generating ideas that are relevant to the project.

Develop and grow

Brainstorming isn’t a place for ownership, as we said before – collaboration is key! Developing and elaborating on another’s idea is encouraged. After all, by combining your concept with another’s, you could come up with the ideal creative route for the project.

Dedicate time

Brainstorming can take time. And in projects with tight timescales and deadlines – you have to make a conscious decision to give it the time it deserves. We want to give our clients the very best design solutions and so we place brainstorming, limitless thinking, and acceptance of each other’s ideas at the heart of our creative process. It’s how we get the best output.

Bespoke to you

Once ideas are generated, it’s time to take pen to paper. This means building a bespoke document to present to the client that tells them the story we have in mind for the interior and how we plan on actioning this.

Whilst this initial design narrative is still in the development state, we continue to hold regular brainstorming sessions, focusing on reviewing and refining the proposals.

If you want to find out more about our creative process, you can read about it here.