Understanding Creative Processes and Why it’s Important
1. How can creativity happen?
- Lateral thinking
- “Why do some people always seem to be having new ideas while others of equal intelligence never do?” – Dr. Edward De Bono
- A few creative traits:
o 1. Cultural awareness
§ Passion and interest in culture via art, science, history, sport, politics, society, or anything else reality
§ Ability to deconstruct events, and crystalize opinions and communicate opinions
§ 월드 이벤트에 대해 aware하고 있고 의견을 가지고 있는게 중요, potential implication
o 2. Communication Skills
§ Ability to form a hypothesis to clearly articulate their point of view
§ Ability to provide thoughtful feedback on other creative work. And, able to thoughtfully navigate external feedback and viewpoints.
§ Competence in negotiation through empathy
§ Feels constructive, being able to sympathize, find potential alternatives. Compelling solution.
o 3. Lateral Thinking
§ Ability to problem solve through indirect or creative approaches
§ Interest in exploring all possible stimuli to a problem
· What are all the inputs? How can we diverge? Stimulate unexpected sources?
§ Openness and flexibility to dive deep into problem areas and uncover solution while minimizing preconceived ideas and bias.
Lateral Thinking
2. How can creativity happen?
- Vertical VS Lateral Thinking
- Vertical:
o A sequence of direct / logical steps that are used to come to a conclusion
o A method of problem solving through very linear and specific pathways
o Each step must be precise, necessary, and correct
o IE. How to change a bike wheel
- Lateral
o Process of using disparate information to bring about creativity and insight restructuring (It’s Generative, first you diverge, and you converge)
o Generative method of problem solving through indirect and creative approaches
o Reasoning that is not immediately obvious and ideas that are not necessarily obtainable
o IE. Mindmapping or brainstorming
o Non-Linear, Indirect problem solving, Generative
- Design Thinking
o Define Promblem >> Collect facts and data: Analyze portrait of problem under its various aspects
o Divergence >> Brainstorm: Use generative thinking to express a large number of ideas
o Convergence >> Selection of best ideas: Transform the ideas stemming from divergence into solutions
- Divergence is a method used to generate many ideas by exploring many possible solutions
- Divergent Thinking methods:
o Reverse thinking
§ Rephrase the question so you’re looking for more ways to create problems, instead of solutions.
§ EX) How can we design the most attractive poster to get people to attend our music event?
· Rephrased: How can we design the worst poster to keep people away from our music event?
§ Offer possible answers. Choose at least two, but more can illuminate lost of possibilities
§ Elaborate on your solutions: what are their most important parts?
§ Some of your logic paths might end here, and that’s ok. But dig deeper if you need to.
o Mash Ups:
§ Based loosely around the subject/project you’re working on, choose two or more inputs to create a new concepts. For your inputs, think about anything!
§ This exercise should be fast
§ Give the concept a catchy name and capture it on a sheet of paper
§ Explain your concept and defend its utility
o Crazy 8s < 교수님 favorite
§ The idea is to generate as many ideas as possible within a short timeframe, focusing on quantity of ideas not quality
§ Choose a subject, project, or problem to solve
§ On a sheet of paper draw or fold eight boxes on it and set a timer for 8 min
§ On each sheet, sketch 9 quick ideas each in that timeframe
§ By generating a multitude of ideas, you’ll force yourself to consider the project from all possible angles and think critically about areas you may not have previously explored.
Intro to Branding
1. How can creativity happen?
- Branding: How did we get here?
o In the beginning, there was just products.
o People bought them simply because they filled some sort of need
o Then, big companies noticed that other companies were offering similar projects. And that there was a lot of them.
o So they had to find a way to communicate to people why their products were better. And what made it different from their competitors
o The brand began to help products stand out and help customers easily understand and find the best products for them
o It began to act as a symbol that communicated a multitude of messages
o They quickly learned that if they could communicate to customers that their products were different and better than their competitors, they could charge more for them. Customers came to believe and understand why their products was better.
o They also remembered it and began to trust it
o This was usually communicated through packaging, radio ads, newspaper ads, and television ads. (Now more social media, artist collaboration, culture and communities)
o These ads would communicate the advertiser’s “brand promise”
o As long as the money they invested in ad was LESS THAN the money they mad selling their products, they could continue to invest more and more in ad.
- We can’t be everything to everybody
- It’s way easier to communicate something very specific to a very specific audience
- Let’s focus on the type of work that you show, the type of work you seek out, and who you want to work with.
- Your brand = Your point of view + Your work + Your professional reputation
- “Your brand is what ppl say about you when you’re not in the room.”
- We all have a brand. But brands are hard to work on, especially without a brief or constraints.
- Let’s dive in. Let’s consider the type of questions we might find on a creative brief.
o What are your goals?
o What is the look and feel of the brand?
o What does the brand stand for?
o What is the brand the opposite of?
o Who is the brand for?
o What are similar brands doing well?
o Where are similar brands falling short?
- Remember, brands (like people) are fluid and they change.
- Don’t change yourself or your style to fit a brand.
- Your brand should be a distillation of who you are.
Branding – How It Works For Us
- The Following could inform your brands:
o Your work:
§ Your style(this will evolve and change over time)
§ The type of work you do (gallery shows, editorial, digital, animation, etc.)
§ The media you use
§ The subject matter (cultural references, art references, pop culture, etc.)
o How your work:
§ How you collaborate with other disciplines and creatives
§ How you give and receive creative feedback
§ Are you able to guide others towards making great work?
o How you communicate:
§ Are you able to write clear and concise emails?
§ Are you prompt to respond to people?
§ Are you able to respectfully defend your work?
- Some ways to communicate your brands:
o What you tell people
§ What information is contained in your bio?
§ What do tell people your speciality is?
§ How much information about your process do you share?
§ Do you actively share opinions and work-in-progress on a blog or social media?
o Your work
§ How do you personal interests inform your work or projects?
§ What interests you? And how does that impact your work?
§ Do you have any side-projects?
§ Do you do any work just-for-fun?
- Where else is your brand communicated?
o Your work
§ The work you choose for your portfolio
§ The clients you choose to work with
§ Where your work is shown
§ Your style
o How you work
§ Email correspondence
§ Process work
§ Collaboration skills
§ How you respond to feedback
§ How you speak/write
§ How quickly you work
- Where else is your brand communicated? (con’t)
o What you tell people
§ Bio
§ Website design
§ Email correspondence
§ Process work you share
§ The work you choose for your portfolio
§ What you say (and don’t say) about your work and process
- Most of your brand is experienced or communicated implicitly
- 2 types of communication : Explicit & Implicit
o Explicit
§ Your bio
§ Your process descriptions
§ The sort of work you tell people you do
§ The quality and style of the work that you put on your website
§ What you post on social media
o Implicit
§ How you write emails
§ How you act in meetings
§ How much you charge for your work
§ How you work with other people
§ How (un)organized you are
§ What you post on social media
Example:
- Raymond Pettibon
- Marcel Dzama
- Chloe Wise
- Petra Collins
- Jason Polan -> fast drawing style, gestural, consistent. 스케치하고 위티한 드로잉 스타일