Less Virtual, More Tactile.
A meditation on the embodied approach to creative research — and why it might be the antidote to burnout.
Over the past few months, I’ve been spending more time immersed in physical creative research, digging through old CSM sketchbooks, boxes of magazine tears, and lookbooks I’ve collected from brands I’ve worked for and admired. Some I’ve kept for nearly 20 years.
I’ve returned to my favourite bookshops and magazine haunts (though many have sadly closed). Still, the act of browsing brings a comforting familiarity—a kind of homecoming. It takes me back to childhood afternoons spent in my mother’s bookshop, surrounded by stories, paper, and possibility.
Printed matter has become a kind of meditation: a ritual, a self-soothing reconnection with creativity. Something that, before the digital world took over, was simply how research and development happened.
A visual meditation.
A somatic meditation.
A creative ritual.
Just the act of entering a shop, letting my eyes wander, picking up a magazine or book...
Turning pages. Letting images and words — the language, the pacing — sink in.
I highlight.
I Post-it note.
I underline.
I notice patterns and make connections I wasn’t looking for.
My hands are involved. My senses are awake.
Is this a thing of the past?
A form of nostalgia for a slower, pre-scroll world?
Or simply a much-needed recalibration, a return to the tactile?
Originality, instinct, and integrity matter more than ever.
In a world of trends, templates, and remixes, digital research often leads to recycled thinking:
Quick inspiration. Fast content. Familiar references.
It’s efficient, but not always original.
A Return to the Hands
If you’re a creative leader feeling stuck, burnt out, or uninspired by the algorithm, take a virtual step back.
Let your hands be part of the process again.
Handle the pages. Circle the margins.
Let something physical lead you back into your creative body.
Less virtual. More tactile.
You don’t have to disconnect forever.
Just long enough to remember:
Creative research doesn’t always start with your IG saves or a Pinterest search. Sometimes, it begins with a chair, a book, and a quiet moment, free from distractions and notifications.
Here are some of my favourite Bookstores in London.