Getting out and getting creative

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about creativity and what makes us creative. To jump ahead to the end somewhat, I think experimentation is the key. Finding a new technique, style, or solution generally comes from doing totally unrelated things, like that moment in House where he figures out what the patient has while having a chat about life with Wilson. Our brains seem to work best when allowed to roam free, whilst keeping a note of our current issues somewhere in the background. As we go through our day, as we do different things, see different things, our brains are constantly searching for useful tidbits. They make new connections, add new bits of information to new categories and eventually, forge new ideas based on the new data. I’m sure we’ve all been there – you just can’t figure something out and the more you think about it, the harder it gets, but give yourself a break from the problem, allow some new input and some new connections to be made and the problem solves itself.

And herein lies the issue. To be a great designer, I think one needs the time to experiement, to browse the internet, to sketch, to mess around with illustrator and photoshop for hours on end, to pick out things they find interesting and put them on a wall and look at them; but time is always of the essence. When a difficult project crops up and inspiration is needed, it feels wrong to walk away from it and give yourself time off. It feels like skiving. You feel guilty for taking time out from your deadline.

If, however, you allow yourself this time for experimentation, guilt-free, you *know* that it will help, that your work will improve, that you will have happier clients. Guilt-free doodling and research time is an essential part of creativity and needs to be worked into a designer’s working day. Sometimes you just need to get away from your computer screen and see something new.