Thoughts on Creativity

By Greenleaf Team - Sep 09 , 2007

By Sheila Parr

Being a “creative” is hard. I cringe at the label. I’m the first to admit that maintaining the level of inspiration needed to constantly churn out good—no, great—ideas and execute them well is really tough. So I thought I’d share some thoughts on my creative process. Sometimes it feels like the planets are aligned and projects go super crazy well.

Everyone likes it when that happens. But there are so many factors that go into a great idea that projects often start more like this:

For me, creativity requires a fluid state of mind, a positive attitude, confidence in my talents, and the ability to let bright ideas come as they may. On a practical level, being well-rested, happy, fed, caffeinated, and hydrated is key.

I recently had the privilege of attending the HOW Design Conference in Atlanta, for which the theme “refresh” was perfectly suited. I was totally inspired by the speakers, and reassured that other designers (probably all of the 3,000 attendees) struggle with the balance of creativity–which is often on its own timeline–and reasonable workloads and schedules. For me the most destructive thing I can do during my creative process is stare at a blank screen/canvas/sketchpad and tell myself, “Think of an idea. Think of an idea. Think of an idea. Now. C’mon. IDEA.” (This soon degenerates into “WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME? THINK OF SOMETHING NOW!”)

I like this quote by Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling: “The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.” It’s sort of what artist and author Danny Gregory talked about at HOW. For a designer, if you only do one drawing, it better be really good. That’s quite a bit of pressure if you’re not a super master illustrator. But if you draw every day, just draw anything, you suddenly have this well of ideas to choose from, and some of them are probably great. So I do a lot of image research and make tons of word lists, even of seemingly irrelevant things so I hopefully never feel discouraged.

Everyone’s favorite part of the creative process is THAT MOMENT.

It usually happens a few times for any given project (since the goal is several great ideas, not just one). When it does, I know I’ve done my job and the project will be the best it can be. I design books, but whether it’s writing, drawing, cooking, painting, or any other creative field, don’t forget that your ideas are in there. You just have to find them. And when that happens, everyone’s happy.