There’s the macro space of where we create: the city, the field, the street, the post-industrial refit, and so on. And then there is the micro space: the desk, the drawing board, the edit suite, the sofa, the corner table in the coffee shop, and so on. Alex Grieve, Global Chief Creative Officer at BBH, takes us up close to his most immediate personal environment, where inspiring memories and reflections are made visible.

Here’s the truth. I have practiced creativity for over 35 years and I still have no idea how ideas happen. Sometimes it’s fast, mainly it’s slow. It’s always hard. Sir John Hegarty had a sign above his desk that said, “An idea is a thought or plan formed by mental effort”. Hemingway (no offence, John) put it even better – “The art of writing is the art of arse in chair”. That being the case, I invested in a good chair. Mine is a classic Eames DSR with sheepskin rug to provide my bony arse with a bit more comfort. And because a chair on its own is like beans without toast I bought an accompanying desk. I opted for one designed by Ercol. Simple, elegant, useful. If only my copy were the same. I prefer my desk tidy. “Be regular and orderly in your life, so you may be violent and original in your work,” said Flaubert. Amen to that, Gustave. Because I spend the majority of my time staring into space questioning my existence/sanity, I like to have objects on my desk that inspire me, however hopeless it seems, to carry on. Here are a few of my favorite things. Ten, to be precise. In no particular order.

The first award I ever won

A Campaign Press Silver for Copy in 1995. And the cork from the bottle of Vintage Churchill Champagne I popped (on my own, at home. Winning during Covid was particularly bad timing) when AMV won Agency of the Year at Cannes in 2021. It’s good to remind yourself that if you’ve done it once, you can do it again.