(Image couresty of Dalydose)
I saw this over at Yanko Design and it did a good job of bringing to light the foundation of creativity. Often times, the base-level concepts of life are quite simplistic, yet they’re not always immediately apparent; Hidden and surrounded by a number of other non-relevant elements. It’s up to you to figure it out for yourself or have somebody gently point you in the right direction. I think reading over these 5 rules which relate design and creativity, not one will strike you as being super-ground-breaking yet it probably never crossed your mind in such a concise manner. I think even from here, there are concepts you can take and apply in so many other ways in life. My favorite is probably number 3, long-term grown and sustainability requires foundation and often this is something that is facilitated by resource-sharing or working together as a team. In many ways, I like to associate West Coast streetwear as embodying this whereas the East Coast is probably a little more enclosed where they prefer to do their own thing. I don’t necessarily know what each brand’s goal is at the end of the day… but equate it to each region’s respective cultures and I’ll go on a limb and say that the West Coast brands boast probably the more well-known brands on the whole from their ability to work openly amongst everybody.
1) Creativity does not exist in a vacuum.
The thing about creativity is that it cannot exist without a baseline, starting point, trigger or input. In other words you will not be able to come up with a design or a design solution if you do not set the parameters or boundaries first. A good clear brief and/or design strategy is always required to start the ball rolling as it gets everyone excited. Therefore I am a strong believer that nothing beats the freedom that comes from a tight brief. The trick here is to ensure the boundaries are set wide enough so that it gives designers enough space to maneuver.
2) Creativity is free, work is where the value is.
I highly believe that everyone is creative in his or her own way. Given the right conditions and stimuli, great ideas can rise to the surface. Therefore I find ideas are overrated as almost everyone can come up with some – often without much effort. The problem is when you have to convert creativity from an idea into reality. This is the hard part. So hard that it pays to do it well. The genius sketch is an urban myth, the real heroes are the designers in the trenches that realize it and make it happen.
3) Creativity is better shared.
One nice thing about creativity is that an idea can somehow grow into much more powerful idea if it gets shared. Bouncing ideas around with each other or in your creative community really works. I always look, with sadness at close-minded individuals who refuse to share or overly competitive design students hiding in their holes. They do not know what they are missing. This goes back to Point 2: Ideas are cheap, execution is the key.
4) Creativity can be fostered.
If you want to be better at being creative, you can. All you need is know how and practice. When you start out in design, getting a designer’s block is a very common thing. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, you just cannot get a design right, or out of your head. A small part of this is confidence, but is all about practice. As you get better in design or when you do it more frequently creativity seems to flow a lot better. Getting into a mental state of design readiness also helps keeping you from getting rusty. At the end of the day, you need to use it or lose it and a busy designer is never stuck.
5) Creativity is not Design
I find people who look at a product or sometimes a piece of art and say “even I could do it” are pretty naive. My usual response is “why didn’t you?”. That is the thing, while having creativity is a prerequisite of a designer, being creative does not equate to being a good designer. There are a certain mix of elements that make a great designer. Some of these skills include having the right training, story telling, EQ skills, people management, analytical thinking, synthesizing ability, perseverance etc., the list goes on and I am sure you can come up with more. Being creative is a good start, but I have never heard of successful designers that are creative and lazy.
Have a good weekend…