TrippingWords unalterated verbiage

A Primer on Keeping the Creative Flame Alive

Ever felt trapped in an insipid rut devoid of creative inspiration? Every designer has faced his/her fair share of barren spates – phases which remain unproductive, lacklustre and rather stagnant. Creativity remains a valuable commodity in the design industry, a prized asset that, if used carefully, can reap substantial professional gains. This article aims to unravel the ways in which to preserve and nurture creativity amongst design practitioners. How can the all-discerning designer keep that creative flame alive even during periods of perceived dormancy? Read on to find out.

Creativity Isn’t Simply about Coming up With “New” Things

Creativity in its contemporary (mainstream) usage refers to the ability to innovate and transcend traditional boundaries to formulate original and meaningful ideas. While the definition is theoretically correct, it falls short of describing what creativity means in the field of design. If a designer suffers from a lack of fresh ideas and perspective, then he seems to be suffering from dearth of inspiration rather than an inadequacy of creativity. The concept of creativity, as it pertains to the domain of design, involves much more than the capacity to innovate. 

Creativity is about having the intelligence to see an idea or design proposal through right from its incipient stage till the finishing touch is applied. Creativity demands consistency – how closely is a designer able to follow the prescribed design philosophy that was planned for a particular website? 

In certain cases, creativity can involve exercising a sense of restrain; a curtailing of self-expression to allow client requirements to be met. It thus follows (rather ironically) that creativity has less to do with ‘creation’ and more to do with ‘cohesion’ – the ingenuity of designers in connecting independent ideas into a single cohesive and meaningful entity.

In previous entries, I have stressed that every website has to be supported by a running “narrative” which explains to the reader/client what its primary objectives are and how does it plan to achieve them. The essence of creativity lies in the manner in which disparate design concepts/ideas are assembled and interweaved together to tell a poignant tale of its own.

Originality is dead. Accept it.

Every now and again people from the design community have boldly proclaimed that creativity bears a synonymous relationship with being original. Apart from the statement being rather un-original and clichéd, it also fails to make any sense. We live in a derivative world where every work of art is to a certain extent a copy of another. Originality (in the strictest sense of the word) is dead, like it or not.

The ability to connect existing ideas in different ways is however something that we have active control over. So if you feel that your ideas aren’t ‘original’ then tell yourself that true originality is a fallacy. The key to being creative lies in how adventurous you are in linking different (existing) ideas into exciting new assemblages.

 

Think of Creativity as a Quilt

When knitting a quilt, it is common practice to weave together uniquely patterned and textured fabrics. Creativity is about choosing the right kind of fabrics to blend. If you are running into roadblocks thinking about possible ‘creative’ solutions to a design problem, then you should look at individual ideas in isolation first and seek various ways in which connections can be formed between them. When working on a design project, I often break it down into independent chunks before conceptualising how these bits will eventually connect to express a ‘story’ of its own.  Never be reluctant to mix and match on a trial and error basis because there is a good chance that one of the many ‘combinations’ that you have conceived might prove to be the winning formula. 

Creativity isn’t a “One-Man” Show

As creative professionals, we often work for a diverse cliental ranging from corporate establishments to small-medium enterprises. More often than not, a design proposal will be drawn up during a coordinated brainstorming session between designer and client. It is crucial to note that, under normal circumstances, the ideas churned out during these meetings will usually deviate significantly from your own design principles. The level of control you have over the end product is ultimately influenced by the resources and requirements provided by the client.

While a certain degree of initiative is required by the designer to actively transform these ideas into concrete works of art, the creative licence rendered is very much limited. This point reiterates the argument I’ve brought up earlier; creativity also concerns restrain, knowing when to limit your sense of self-expression and absorb client-based ideas and concepts. An experienced/seasoned designer knows exactly how to negotiate between self-expression and external collaboration.

Look Beyond the Superficial

Throughout this post, I’ve stressed on the importance of seeking unique connections between disparate elements/ideas. This process however can only be sharpened by conscious practice. When faced with a work of art (your own or someone else’s), inculcate the habit of looking at it beyond its aesthetic value. Identity various concepts and ideas that inform specific design choices (E.g. Understand the rationale behind the utilisation of specific colour schemes and identify the type of typographic skills applied to specific components on the page.) and make a mental note of how the designer in question, has formed a seamless (or not so seamless) integration of these various internal “ideological” components. If you are able pinpoint a single connected thread of ideas in any particular artistic project, than it is beyond doubt that you have witnessed a truly creative masterpiece.   

[ Creativity - Design - Design Environment - Inspiration ] Subscribe to the Goodness >>