Quote: “Real creativity”

“Real creativity . . . works best when we aren’t searching for outcomes but are simply allowing them.

“Not knowing is where we naturally start in infancy. From there we make our way to speech, to knowledge, to delight and love, to making an entire life for ourselves, and to communicating. . . .

“At some point in our early development, we turn from intuition toward analysis (prompted, perhaps, by the predilections of the educational system), and the training of our creative ability gets pushed to the side.”

—Sean Kernan, Communication Arts, January/February 2009

Kernan goes on to suggest that there are ways to wake up your creativity. Invoke spaciousness in your mind, “a kind of Buddhist emptiness full of potential.” Perceive without judging or categorizing or interpreting. Allow an experience to be absorbed into the emptiness in order to have it fully.

True creativity is not recycling the same old ideas with a predetermined intention. It happens when you make space for it. It requires patience because it can’t be forced. Results are “individual and unpredictable.”

“We can provoke creativity by setting aside knowledge, control, security, outcome, comfort and limits, thus making room for learning and creating to resume.”

Stages

“Butterflies are notable for their unusual life cycle with a larval caterpillar stage, an inactive pupal stage, and a spectacular metamorphosis into a familiar and colorful winged adult form.”

—from Wikipedia

Our creative life often goes through stages as well.

Rhythm

Rhythm is created by repeating elements at regular intervals. We all know what rhythm means in music. Expand the definition to include the windows on a building, the running heads in a book, or the veins in a leaf. A solid back beat gives structure to a composition. It can be strong or subtle, regular or rubato.

Graphic designers are familiar with the grid—an invisible framework that lends structure to a page. The underlying grid keeps the elements from devolving into chaos. Rhythm is like the grid, but perceptible. A rhythmic structure provides order and predictability. Once the audience feels the pulse, they move with the flow. It pulls your audience along.

Rhythm can take the spotlight, too, as in a drum solo. Repeating objects, shapes, or sounds can make a powerful impact. You can also have layers of rhythm for added interest and depth.

When your creative work seems shapeless, what you may be lacking is rhythm.

Contrast

The most effective way to draw attention to something is to contrast it with something else. A dark object looks even darker against a white background. A sweet passage of music sounds even sweeter when it follows cacophony. Including contrast in your work also keeps your audience interested. By avoiding monotony, their interest will not flag. The unexpected is fun for people to experience.

Contrast creates a strong message that is hard to ignore. We instinctively notice anything that stands out from its surrounding environment. Use this to your advantage when you want to communicate something powerful. Use contrast when your message will compete with others, when you want to reach the most people, and when they aren't necessarily receptive. Advertising is a realm where you will see the principle of contrast used almost universally.

When your piece has the blahs, what you are probably lacking is contrast.

Creativity and Parkinson’s Disease

From the Parkinson's Disease Foundation website:
“Do you find that creative activities such as painting, drawing, dancing, singing, making jewelry or playing an instrument actually ease your Parkinson’s disease (PD) symptoms? You are not alone in your experience. Many people with PD report that creative endeavors temporarily relieve their symptoms.”

Introduction

You were born creative. Humans are, by nature, creative beings.

Maybe in third grade you thought your picture didn't look as good as the "talented" girl's. Maybe in the hgh school jazz combo you never got the hang of improvising a solo. Maybe in your office culture, offering an unusual suggestion is ridiculed. Maybe your job requires you to be creative every day, and after many years your well has run dry.

You can be more creative. Whether your creative flame is glowing, flickering, or has been doused with water long ago, it can be sparked anew. This book is written to be the spark. You can read it cover to cover, or open it to a random page any time.

I am trained as a visual artist and late in life became an amateur musician. I noticed while studying music that many of the principles are the same as those I learned as a graphic designer. Even some of the words are the same: contrast, texture, rhythm, emphasis. No great leap was required to realize that these basic design principles run through all forms of creative endeavors: architecture, landscaping, writing, business planning, carpentry, programming, interior decorating, and whatever it is you do all day.

The source of these principles is nature itself. That's why the book is illustrated with images of nature.

The first step is to know that you were born to create. Remember the curious and playful child you used to be. You could imagine almost any possibility, from monsters in the closet to traveling through space and time. In that frame of mind, you are ready to create.

Words from the Music Glossary

• accent
• allegro
• andante
• articulation
• backbeat
• crescendo
• decrescendo
• dissonance
• downbeat
• duet
• dynamics
• forte
• fortissimo
• groove
• interval
• lick
• percussion
• permutation
• piano
• pianissimo
• polyrhythm
• pulse
• rhythm
• ritard
• solo
• tempo
• triplet
• virtuoso
• a cappella
• accelerando
• atonal
• augmentation
• blue note
• brass
• cadence
• chord
• coda
• ensemble
• fugue
• glissando
• harmony
• interpretation
• improvisation
• inversion
• largo
• legato
• leitmotiv
• melody
• movement
• passacaglia
• pizzicato
• polyphonic
• presto
• resolution
• retrograde
• staccato
• syncopation
• texture
• theme
• timbre
• tonic
• transpose
• tremolo
• trill
• variation
• vibrato
• white noise