Guest Post: Creativity

Today I'd like to introduce you all to my friend Clare! Clare is an Australian graphic designer and illustrator with a passion for making puppets (and they are awesome puppets, too). Samples of her work can be found at www.clarebarnes.com.

First off, let me say that I am not a writer.

Well that is not entirely true. I mean, obviously I can write, but writing in and of itself is not the core of what I do.

So you might well be wondering how I came to be following and writing a guest post on an authors blog…

Well let me explain.

In the last few years as I have been studying graphic design, I have come to recognise that as a creative professional, it is incredibly important that I not only explore my own creative field, but that I also develop a habit of exploring the creative fields outside of my own.

Whilst this can be a time consuming exercise (and a wonderful tool for procrastination) I have found that exploring other fields enriches my understanding of the world around me and inspires me in ways that I would miss out on if I restricted my field of vision solely to that of graphic design.

The main reason for this is that most people are just plain inspiring. I am continually amazed by the countless ideas, techniques, stories, experience etc that people all over the world develop and share on a regular basis.

Another reason for exploring outside my own area of expertise is that I am constantly reminded of how many different ways people can view the same sorts of topics, and that problems can be solved from more then one angle. If I am able to remember this, then I become more understanding of other peoples perspectives, and if my own solution for something isn’t working I can try solving it from an angle I may not have thought of if I had not been exploring.

For example, I have discovered that some of the world and character building techniques that are used when writing, can also be used to generate ideas for illustrations.

By giving my mind access to all this information I am allowing my imagination to be sparked by concepts that it may not normally come across. And whilst not all of the information that I find will be immediately useful, I know my brain is able to store bits away in boxes and on shelves, in readiness for when I need it.

Here is one simple way to think about it:




As creative people we are like the little box. As we explore new or different areas, we collect information and inspiring ideas and store it away. Then, the next time that we need some of it, our brain is able to pull bits from here and there and somehow combines information in ways we might never have thought of otherwise to create an Awesome Idea.

Pretty cool huh?

So next time you are stumped for ideas, how about going exploring? You never know exactly what you’ll find….