John Hunt’s The Art of the Idea was launched at The Book Lounge in Cape Town on Friday. Introduced by Random House Struik’s Stephen Johnson - who has known Hunt since he was an ad man for Exclusive Books, before he conquered the advertising world at TBWA Hunt Lascaris - Hunt spoke about the simple but powerful ideas that underlie his hard-to-pigeonhole book. The idea’s the thing, Hunt tells us - and the possibilities are endless if we simply put ideas first.
Here’s Johnson on Hunt:
Video: Stephen Johnson introduces John Hunt
Taking the microphone, Hunt used The Art of the Idea as an example of how ideas can be successful even while resisting easy categorisation. His handsomely cloth-bound “business self-help art book general interest thing” being a prime example:
Video: John Hunt on The Art of the Idea
Hunt’s life, he says, has been about having ideas, and helping others to have them. What he’s discovered is that the process can be controlled to a certain degree, just like other endeavours which can be said to admit a certain degree of “art” into their practice. Ideas will come if organsiational structures are in place to receive them. It’s not magic:
Video: John Hunt on the patterns that underlie why ideas happen
At the close of his talk, Hunt mentioned that proceeds from the sales of The Art of the Idea will go toward supporting the South African branch of Room 13, an organisation that builds spaces for the creatively-minded who haven’t had many advantages in life, and helps develop them into entrepreneurs. Another reason to get your hands on a copy of this stimulating, inspiring work!
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