Creative Building-Blocks Model
Give creators stronger starting assets so they can build more ambitious work.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 90%
Use generated media as a partially assembled set of building blocks rather than as a substitute for creativity. A blank canvas consumes effort on basic construction, while a relevant starting artifact lets the creator spend more time on composition, narrative, refinement, and differentiation. The Lego analogy explains the mechanism: a child given loose pieces may build a basic house, but a child given the house as a base can add something more elaborate. The same principle applies to images, video, copy, and prototypes. The model succeeds only when people transform and extend the starting material; publishing the untouched first output leaves the potential creative gain unrealized.
Origin
Extracted from Marketing Against The Grain through Kieran Flanagan's Lego analogy for AI-assisted creativity.
Core principles
- 01Starting assets reduce the effort spent reaching a basic first draft.
- 02Creators can invest saved effort in higher-order decisions.
- 03Generated output should be treated as material, not the finished work.
- 04Better inputs expand what people can attempt within the same constraints.
How to run it
- 1
Define the creative target
Clarify the audience, purpose, constraints, and desired effect before producing any starting material.
Pro tip Write a one-sentence creative brief that can evaluate every later choice.
Watch out Without a target, faster generation only creates more irrelevant options.
- 2
Create the base
Generate or assemble a usable draft, image, clip, structure, or prototype that handles basic construction.
Pro tip Ask for an editable or modular artifact whenever possible.
Watch out Do not mistake technical completeness for creative quality.
- 3
Inspect the building blocks
Check relevance, factual accuracy, visual defects, consistency, provenance, and usage rights before investing further.
Pro tip Discard a weak base early rather than polishing structural flaws.
Watch out Generated assets may contain hidden errors or derivative elements.
- 4
Add higher-order creativity
Improve the concept through narrative, juxtaposition, taste, customization, and domain knowledge that the base does not provide.
Pro tip Make at least one substantial change that reflects the creator's distinctive judgment.
Watch out Minor cosmetic edits do not necessarily create meaningful differentiation.
- 5
Compare and iterate
Evaluate whether the completed work is more ambitious or effective than what the team could have produced from a blank start under the same constraints.
Pro tip Retain useful components as building blocks for future projects.
Watch out If the base constrains the idea, return to a blank canvas or generate a different foundation.
In the wild
A child given loose Lego pieces may construct a basic house. If the house is already assembled, the same child can use it as a foundation and spend effort building something more elaborate on top.
→ The starting structure raises the level at which creative work begins.
A marketing team generates a rough storyboard and placeholder visuals, then applies human judgment to the narrative, pacing, product truth, brand style, and final footage.
→ The team spends less time on basic assembly and more time on distinctive execution.
Common mistakes
Publishing the first generation
A raw AI output is a starting block; treating it as finished work forfeits the model's creative advantage.
Letting the base dictate the idea
Starting material should accelerate the intended concept, not narrow the creator's thinking around whatever appeared first.
Skipping provenance checks
Generated or reused material still requires review for rights, accuracy, and inappropriate resemblance to existing work.
Is it for you?
Best for
Designers, marketers, and media teams using generative tools to accelerate drafts and prototypes.
Not ideal for
Work where provenance, originality, or legal restrictions prohibit generated or externally sourced starting material.
From the transcript
“this is just build-in blocks, right?”
“if you give people better build-in blocks, they can be more creative and build on top of that on those building blocks.”
“So I think it actually is going to help us be much more creative.”
From the episode
Why Snap MyAI is the Sleeping Giant of AI Chat (#148)