Maintaining Child-Like Simplicity

Elsie Nanji's maintaining simplicity lecture encourages us to embrace the inner child within. Nanji was disheartened by the calculated nature of the advertising industry, which she describes as being full of charts, explanations and objectives. The advertisements being churned out had completely lost any sense of simplicity. There was simply too much information to convey and too many objectives to achieve, leading to a cluttered mess. This prompted Nanji to wonder if we were losing our sense of childlike simplicity all together.

Through a range of funny, touching anecdotes and examples of her own advertising work, Nanji shows us how we can regain the purity of communication that's synonymous with childhood.

Nanji relates a quote of Picasso's, which states, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when you grow up." Her solution to maintaining our childlike artistry is to eliminate the unnecessary and focus on what you like. By doing so, Nanji found a sense of freedom in her life and work; she whole-heartedly advocates that we try the same.