More thoughts on creativity and freedom…
I got a great note in response to Friday’s post: “I totally agree with your line of thought. I believe that creativity lies within everyone. I grew up in a rural area where people constantly innovate to meet their daily needs, fix things, and entertain themselves.
To me, design is a profession that has developed tools and methods to express and communicate ideas and innovations. The actual differences between disciplines are actually slight. Mostly, it’s the “tools” we use that are different. For example, industrial designers’ tools include materials and molding processes while a graphic person has imagery and fonts. A writer uses words. I found it kind of comical when I came to [my agency] that the only people considered “designers” are people with graphic design training.”
Along a similar vein, Bob Moore, chief creative officer at Publicis USA, is quoted in the 4.30.07 Ad Age as saying his agency doesn’t hire people without digital in their portfolio, the hoped-for net effect being not two classes of creative but one. The challenge is getting people to think about it as a blank slate, he said, and “the irony that creative people are the slowest to recognize this is grating on me. Terribly.”
The point - again - creativity isn’t the sole domain of anyone. We all need to be charged with being creative, innovative, and free to solve problems. These days, the “right” canvas (or the context) isn’t nearly as important as telling the right story - wherever and however it connects to people most effectively.
