creating scents

playtime creations

Today’s picture is a quick photo that I took in the airplane while landing at Zurich airport 8 days ago. In the row in front sat a boy who could not wait to get down, got a bit nervous, too and the toy bear/mouse/hedgehog was jumping forth and back and together we watched the ground coming closer.

That’s what kids do.

We adults watch the ground and worry about the pile of paperwork waiting in the office or try to figure out what laws of physics allow this miracle to happen right now or we juggle sales figures in our head and think hard how to come up with the next big thing.

I am pretty sure: The more we plan the next big thing the bigger the chances will be that that we will fail. Except -maybe- if we are a brand like Chanel with a gigantic marketing budget that allows them to render aqua banalis into a big blue success. Big things happen, and when creating perfumes, big things can rarely be planned, except you have the resources to really push things.

And to create a big perfume: This cannot be planned, too. Like in all other creative fields: It needs a good dose of little boy play time. Not only, as at some point the lines need to be put together and even the most creative ideas need “reason, sense, intellect” to materialize. I feel that this is one of the most amazing facts in the industry : Even after 100 years of perfume creation not even the biggest brands can tell what will sell and what won’t. Amazing.

Of course, it is not only the perfume by itself: Other factors such as packaging, colors, names and and and play an important role, too. Think about all the launches of the last years and judge for yourself: How many of launched fragrances are still there? Not many. Fascinating.

And, by the way: Totally ok. As a creator, I do not feel that everything that I create needs to stay for eternity. The act of creation and presenting it to the world might be enough.

Finally, I think that I have to admit, that some of my best fragrances came out of the blue, without me thinking too much about them, playtime creations. In that sense: Happy playing everybody. I will do so later today. First: Serious adult business with shipments and logistics and all.