Topics: Process: Creativity
Catch a fire. Get inspired. Stay inspired. Developing creative processes, overcoming creative block, fighting inner demons, working with others. (15 articles)
Artistic Distance
by Paul Burton
Issue 347March 27, 2012
Pimpin’ ain’t easy; neither is self-critique. If you are passionate about what you create, it is impossible to completely disassociate yourself from your work in order to objectively evaluate and then improve it. But the ability to achieve “artistic distance”—that is, to attain a place that allows you to contemplate your design on its own merits—will enable you to improve your own work immeasurably and, ultimately, to cast off the immature shackles of ego. Learn to let your work shine by letting go of it. Acquire the knack of achieving artistic distance.
An Important Time for Design
by Cameron Koczon
Issue 342January 17, 2012
Design is on a roll. Client services are experiencing a major uptick in demand, seasoned design professionals are abandoning client work in favor of entrepreneurship, and designer-co-founded startups such as Kickstarter and Airbnb are taking center stage. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that design has a massive role to play in the evolution of the web and the next generation of web products. The result, says Cameron Koczon, is that designers have now been given a blank check—one that lets web designers band together as a community to change the way design is perceived; change the way products are built; and quite possibly change the world.
Reigniting Your Creative Spark
by Denise Jacobs
Issue 336October 4, 2011
Creative is as creative does, except when your creative spark fizzles out. Looming deadlines, over-fussy clients, dull projects, or feelings of fatigue that may signal the beginnings of burnout—any of these everyday afflictions can tamp down your creative fire, making it tough to come up with creative ideas just when you need them most. But fear not! Denise Jacobs shares sure-fire strategies to reignite your creative spark.
Banishing Your Inner Critic
by Denise Jacobs
Issue 335September 20, 2011
Everybody has one: the inner critic that tells you you’re just faking it, that others have more talent, that you’ll never achieve the success you seek. The inner critic is an unconscious deterrent that stands between the seeds of great ideas and the fruits of achievement, making you hate your designs, giving you “writer’s block” as your deadline looms, keeping you stuck in a project’s initial thinking stage because something isn’t quite right. Denise Jacobs anatomizes and shows how to quash your inner critic, giving you the mental space and energy to let your true talents emerge.
Sketching: the Visual Thinking Power Tool
by Mike Rohde
Issue 322January 25, 2011
You don’t have to be a great singer to write a great song—just ask Bob Dylan. Likewise, you needn’t be a Leonardo to draw your way to more and better ideas. Sketching helps you generate concepts quickly, exploring alternatives rapidly and at no cost of resources. The looseness of a sketch removes inhibitions, granting clients and colleagues permission to consider and challenge the ideas it represents. Mike Rohde outlines the practice, surveys the tools, and shares ways to become confident with this method of brainstorming, regardless of your level of artistic ability.
The Miseducation of the Doodle
by Sunni Brown
Issue 322January 25, 2011
The teacher who chastised you for “mindless doodling” was wrong on both counts. Far from shutting down the mind, the act of doodling engages the brain in the kind of visual sense-making people have practiced for over 30,000 years. Doodling sharpens concentration, increases retention, and enhances access to the problem solving unconscious. It activates the portions of the visual cortex that allow us to see mental imagery and manipulate concepts, and unifies three major learning modalities—visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Doodle Revolution leader Sunni Brown introduces strategic doodling and presents the ABCs of our shared visual alphabet.
Design Criticism and the Creative Process
by Cassie McDaniel
Issue 321January 11, 2011
In every design project, at some point we quit what we're doing and share our unfinished work with colleagues or clients. This begs the question: Just what does the critique do for the design and the rest of the project? Do critiques really help and are they necessary? If so, how do we use their inconsistencies to improve our creative output? Cassie McDaniel explores how critiques can help us navigate complex processes and projects and collaborate effectively to create original and engaging work.
Habit Fields
by Jack Cheng
Issue 305May 4, 2010
We have the power to bestow our abilities onto the things around us. By being conscious of our tools, habits, and spaces, and actively conditioning them to help us behave the way we want to behave, maybe we can more efficiently tap into the thousands of hours of creative genius embedded in our everyday objects. Maybe we’ll be able to maximize the capabilities that new technologies afford us without being overwhelmed by the distractions. And, just maybe, we’ll remember what it feels like to be utterly engrossed in our daily work.
Redesigning Your Own Site
by Lea Alcantara
Issue 289August 4, 2009
Redesigning your freelance website is an exercise in masochism. There are no colleagues to share the pain: It’s just you. As the designer who wrote The Art of Self-Branding, freelancer Lea Alcantara knew her site had to be just right. People were bound to scrutinize any update to the design, and she couldn’t afford to damage her credibility. Follow her process as she experiments to find the perfect balance of change and consistency.
Taking the Guesswork Out of Design
by Daniel Ritzenthaler
Issue 283May 5, 2009
Clients, like other humans, often fear what they don't understand. Daniel Ritzenthaler explains how sound goal-setting, documentation, and communication strategies can bridge the gap between a designer's intuition and a client's need for proof.
Look at it Another Way
by Indi Young
Issue 267September 9, 2008
Before you can solve a user's problems, you must see them as that user sees them. Once you understand what drives people’s behavior, not only do new ideas flow freely, but the ideas that flow are appropriate and useful. Indi Young tells how to get out of your own way and hear what your users are telling you.
On Creativity
by Andy Rutledge
Issue 254March 4, 2008
As designers, we're wrongly perceived as custodians and exponents of creativity. This matters because business currently overvalues creativity. To avoid the inevitable backlash, we must lead our clients' perceptions.
Understanding Web Design
by Jeffrey Zeldman
Issue 249November 20, 2007
We'll have better web design when we stop asking it to be something it's not, and start appreciating it for what it is. It's not print, not video, not a poster—and that's not a problem. Find out why cultural and business leaders misunderstand web design, and learn which other forms it most usefully resembles.
Get Out from Behind the Curtain
by Sarah B. Nelson
Issue 245September 11, 2007
Client input: positive process or creative noose? Many designers would probably say the latter. But it needn't be that way. Adaptive Path's Sarah Nelson shows how to create collaborative work sessions that take the clients' needs in hand while leaving creative control in yours.
Staying Motivated
by Kevin Cornell
Issue 243August 14, 2007
Been stuck in a creative rut so long so you've started to decorate it? A List Apart’s Kevin Cornell drops his crayons to share tips on developing and maintaining a productive creative routine.
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