What I think Creativity means
Creativity is a state of mind where you surpasses your normal level of thinking and your brain imagines extra ordinary possibilities with relation to the output you are trying to achieve and when finally you land on something, the same process runs in a recursion.
How to kick-start it
I personally belive there is no way to teach someone creativity, it comes from within (it is exactly not like a hard learned skill), you need a free flowing mind for it, hence here is a guide to how to kickstart it (and not to learn it). some people donât want it, so they donât do it, they like the logicality of the world rather than the possibilities which is all fine. if you want it here it is :
see -> implement -> experiment -> analyse
and this process goes on and on. to describe it in details Varun Mayaa (my favourite interpreneur/CEO) made a fabulous podcast on it and i canât agree with it more. Here it goes :
The actual Process
- See : by see, it means following the works of others who are great at it. suppose you are trying to be a graphic designer, so you first go to dribble or behance and then see what top 10% of your field has been designing. Mimmicking from the best is still the best way to learn.
- Implement : you then try to replicate one of their simple works. in this process, you learn individual pieces of the same. letâs say you are desiging a banner then individual pieces can be a good font, shapes that are involved, themes and color scheme applied to it. and then you put those pieces together to build the whole thing (similar to the original).
- Experiment : and the next time you try to build something else, you twist something in those pieces and purposefully make a mistake. in this way you get to learn what works, what doesnât, whatever is working, when and how it is working.
- Analyze : finally, you compare your work to the similiar works of other good designers, you send them to peers for review and suggestion.
And now after doing this process again and again, you will develop your own pattern of doing things and habbit of everytime experiment and find a better thing will be with you forver. with another example : a good photographer when starts, he follow othersâ works, then he tried to find a place like that, a lighting like that, a frame/angle like that, and finally captures his first try. He then realises the things that looked changed from the original, he then tries to get into orginal photographerâs thought process, then he tries again and again and again. when he gets nearest to the original, he tried changing some elements, what if change the pose to this, what if in the editing i give another tone and color etc. This is exact process I have gone through to become whatver little skilled photographer I am today. but to see this process bearing its fruit, go and check instagram of Smruti, he is the man I blindly belive (in any work), that he is going to kill it. Get to him on a chat and ask him how he developed his own pattern. and lastly donât get hesitate to be inspired from anotherâs work and try it. Here is exactly what Varun said about the same thing :
No one does it from scratch. everyone takes inspiration. the most creative person in the world? Yes, he too. we just donât know his source of inspiration
How creativity is mostly seen
Most of the world think of creativity like an on and off switch, it comes when demanded, it comes within their clauses and conditions, but NO. They think creativity just same like Data. letâs see how Creativity and Data is way apart. Recently, Product designer of Nothing said this in a video :
This is our chance for expression and to create something different. in some companies, everything needs to be backed by data and then you almost stop thinking and at Nothing, there is space for expression and there is space for humanity. we are not robots. we are humans making products for humans
And this is the exact reason why in every era creativity will win over Data (also it is one of the reason why Nothing is my dream company). When you give peopleâs creativity a chance, you are creating something what no one has ever seen and if this isnât beauty, then what is? by your work, you are making them realise of something that they will love, but they never knew about. if this isnât creation then what is?
Data is not feeling humans, it is based on what they have alredy felt, while creativity is about creating a new feeling. Give me same salary, I will alwys choose a creative job rather than a data based job (even if prior has more working hours). So, what is stopping you from giving it a try? Pick up your passion, break those so called rules and roll the creative curtains. This is me signing off here, catching your eyes in the next blog.