Archive for November, 2007
Need 20 ways to come up with new ideas?
Posted on November 27, 2007, by dazzer67, under creativity basics, inspiration, links.
Well look it seems you may be in luck, take a trip over to the link below and you’ll have a ready made to do list to prime that creative pump - so to speak. The post is written by Leo Babauta who keeps Zen Habits ticking along quite nicely, but he has also created this post.
The Top 20 Ways to Come Up With Amazing Ideas
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Dealing with disappointment
Posted on November 20, 2007, by dazzer67, under perspiration, preparation, quick tips.
Being a dedicated creative isn’t all fun, frivolity and artistic fecundity - yeah sure. Sometimes you have to deal with disappointment. This can come in a variety of ways, the piece you have spent hours on is actually quite crap, or you pitched for a commission and someone else got the job or you’ve gone for a promotion within the creative department you work and you didn’t get it. How we deal with disappointment can be the difference between later success and continued failure. Here are are a few thoughts to help you overcome and come back fighting.
- Why did you fail?Whether in something you created, or something you have strived for, you need to ask this question.
- What can I do to avoid this in the future? Once the first question is answered you can then list things to do to avoid following the same route.
- Be direct in who you ask. To find out exactly why you didn’t win the pitch or get the job, don’t be afraid to ask direct questions to those who made the decision. Quite simply you need to now why you didn’t succeed and what would you need to do to succeed at the next opportunity.
- Don’t give up.It is all too easy to see yourself as a failure and give up, we can do this in a big camp way or we can wallow in despair. There is nothing wrong with being upset, but we shouldn’t let it control our destiny. Keep going, find out what went wrong and work toward succeeding next time.
So dry your eyes, and go create.
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Giving creativity a helping hand, with a kiss
Posted on November 16, 2007, by dazzer67, under creativity basics, inspiration, preparation.
Stuck for that creatve idea to push the project forward? Has the muse flown the nest and taken your imagination with it? Are you struggling to find the idea to hang your assignment on? Well have a kiss.
KISS, or Keep It Simple Stupid is a maxim creative people need to keep close by. Creative people often exist in one of two spaces. The scenario I outlined above or letting our ideas run away to end up with something so complicated you need a study guide to explain it. In both examples it can be helpful to rely on a KISS.
Simplicity may be the solution your client is looking for, or perhaps the idea you need to convey needs to be blatantly obvious. Clever campaigns are fine, but are useless if only those in the know understand them.
One KISS approach I have found useful in the past is to look for something else that does what I am trying to achieve and then adapt it for the media I am useing or current project. Take for example web design. You need to design a news page for a client. One way that news has been delivered in the past, that everyone knows about is a newspaper. Therefore why not use the newspaper as your starting point? What about designing your links page? Again one way that people recognise the concept of linking is on train maps, so why not use this as your creative starting point?
The point is to start simply and at square one. The muse may be gone but you can kick start your imagination by doing a little thinking and making some very basic connections. Fancy a KISS?
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Another apology but creativety abounds in the zone
Posted on November 6, 2007, by dazzer67, under creativity basics, inspiration, news, perspiration, site info.
As you may have noticed by the lack of posts I have been a little busy of late and I don’t see any let up in that in the foreseebale future. However, I will be pressing on with things here.
One thing that often happens with creative poeple is that they get engrossed in what they are doing. The focus is total on the creative task at hand. Whilst this is great for that task, the more routine and mundane tasks that life often demands get left to one side. [Please note that I am not suggesting for one moment that !maginality is a mundane task.] It is no wonder that creative poeople can be hard to live with as they focus on what they are doing rather than the relationships they have.
The danger with such a strict focus is burnout. Creatives will seek the to stay in the zone and the more they cling on the more it can damage. It is all too easy to then look for external stimuli to stay in the zone, excess caffeine and even something a little stronger.
What any creative needs to do is make sure they take downtime, this doesn’t mean they can’t be playing with ideas, taking notes and doodleing, but they should take a break. The batteries need recharging. There is more than one masterpiece in us all.
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