So in big news today, this is my last design! Project, it’s been a pleasure. Loyal lookers, this is to you. Designing…blogging…creating… is scary stuff that bares bits of your soul. I haven’t always done it well, but I’ve developed a greater respect for it.
I would encourage all of you to do whatever creative thing scares you most, and do it in public so you can’t hide. The literature says we may not all be creative and we may not be able to change that, and if you believe the literature, your beliefs will be validated in a thousand ways. But most scholars also concur that if you reject the literature and pursue creativity anyway, your beliefs will be validated and your life will be richer.
Last week, I was feeling pretty good about this. Things I’ve read suggest that creative genius may not be achievable by everyone, but certain creative abilities probably are. Within that, everyone is likely born with creative potential (just like they are born with the potential for a certain physique or intellect) but only the right environment allows them to fulfill that potential. The forces of conventional society often work against creativity, so most people never realize their full creative potential, but the encouraging thing is that we all have room to grow.
Last week, I felt like I had successfully “enhanced my creativity.” I’m probably not en route to be a creative genius, but I could achieve dependable results after the ritual preparation, incubation and illumination stages of any given daily design.
Then Martin Parker asked me, “Well, isn’t that not creativity then? Isnt’ that just work?” At the time, I shrugged and thought maybe so. Now, Martin Parker, I have your answer. No. It is not just work, because if it were, it wouldn’t have been thrown completely off balance by my second guessing. In the last week, I’ve been preparing, I’ve been incubating, but the illumination has eluded me. What is work is that I’ve had to throw something up here anyway. Maybe the difference is purely personal; maybe no one else can tell which works were creative and which works were just work.
There are (at least) two reasons I do not despair. First, I agree with the psychologists who distinguish between psychological and historical creativity. Psychological creativity is that which is novel and useful to you, even if thousands of other people have done the exact same thing before. And a lot of this project has been creative to me. Second, some good literature on creativity points out that confidence, or “mental certainty,” itself often stands in the way of creativity. The building blocks of creative ideas are often random or unrelated ideas, and descending into that chaos can shed new light on a problem at hand. When you do regain your sense of balance, it will hopefully be a new and novel one which lends itself to seeing the world in a different, “creative”, way.
It’s been a really rough week for Pakistan.
Not my words. Julian Assange’s.
I know BP is not to blame for this one, but I just couldn’t resist. It’s been quite a season.
Robert W. Weisberg, in the Handbook of Creativity
Also…Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston Get Engaged…Again.
And this idea is inspired by one here, which is so much even better. I wish she would just do this project for me.
I am about to post what may be one of my favorite designs. Possibly for sentimental reasons rather than technical ones. What’s so sentimental about a double decker extra bacon cheeseburger, you ask? (Like it’s not obvious…)
Well, unlike other double decker extra bacon cheeseburgers, this double decker extra bacon cheeseburger was drawn entirely by yours truly in Illustrator. And while the double decker extra bacon cheeseburger probably deserves a sonnet of its own, this post is actually to you, Illustrator.
Illustrator, 41 days ago we were practically strangers. I was skeptical of you. I thought I had a favorite Adobe program. But you’ve made me realize a had a hole in my life. Under your placid exterior is a treasure trove of useful tools. I think I might just like you.
Thanks for today. Here’s a little picture reminder for you to put on your wall and think of me.
I owe Juan Pableo De Gregorio for hooking us up; he made a very convincing argument in Vector Drawing Mistakes.
I’m sure we’ll be meeting again soon. Until then…
I’m yours,
Katie
It’s current in the other sense.
This is also partially about the “US soldier charged in Wikileaks case” as well. I think both stories are being focused on for the wrong reasons and no one (that I know of) has stood up for these two voices (allegedly) of dissent. In both cases, the speaker was standing up for the truth, or at least a truth, knowing it wasn’t in keeping with popular belief. Is that not a valuable trait? Admittedly, they deserve certain reprimanding from their employers, and perhaps they didn’t have the noblest intentions and weren’t setting out to be martyrs, but why is nobody championing the vital shreds of truth they revealed? (For the record, Nasr says she was refering “to Fadlallah’s ‘pioneering’ views on women’s rights.”) The American McCarthyism toward anyone the least bit willing to reach out a hand to our “enemies” is exactly why we have so many.
This could be about any number of current event, eh? This particular lesson is just too painfully obtuse.
A little too typical it would seem. It’s hard to say if they were very good or very bad at their jobs.
Christoph Niemann is my new favorite person.
I’ve been waist deep in Design Methods (which he did not write) and a similar book (which he also did not write) that say basically, there are lots of methods you can use to design which should be carried out rationally and systematically. But at some instant, the design comes to you in a flash of insight which is not part of the formula but (hopefully) catalyzed by it.
The authors of said text-in-proportion-to-pictures-heavy books clearly did not know about this.
And even better than his portfolio (but not so relavent to this project), his blog for the New York Times is truly something genius to behold.
Oh that vicious, sneaky, bastardly Swiss army…But that’s not what this is about.
A few things about this little exchange strike me as contradictory. Who is really shocked that the hardened old man selected to lead a major military operation doesn’t wax eloquent about life, love, and all his colleagues? You mean to tell me his number one priority isn’t getting the troops out so they can have a nice lounge on the grass and get on with being vegetarian? Since when does the president read Rolling Stone and fire everyone who says anything insulting and/or stupid? Finally, according to this, the ill-fated interview was conducted in Paris where the writer and McChrystal were stranded by Eyjafjallajökull. You think you hate Iceland? I bet McChrystal really hates Iceland.
“…
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John Chris Jones, Design Methods
Ah, but when is then?
This was going to be about Aung San, but it turned out to be more about her message, heeding her own words, “Please use your liberty to promote ours.”
These are some rad dads I know. But I will say, it’s a shame National Shirt Shop is no longer with us.
My favorite thing about the World Cup is its ability to bring people together. I think most conflict comes from cultural differences, but–unless you’re the referee–the World Cup is practically free from interpretive pitfalls. Not only can you congregate and enjoy the games regardless of your age, language, or income bracket, but I’d go so far as to say it keeps a large numbers of would-be protesters and soldiers and general hoodlums from protesting and soldiering and general hoodwinking. Although good for everyone else, I may be scrounging in the dusty corners of the cupboards for news here soon.
I know I’ve been negligent lately, but I’m back in full force. And now with added source imagery! It keeps getting better and better.
iPhone photo credit to The Pug Father on Flickr Creative Commons.
Ratings were down because this year was so unfortunately…normal.
North Korea claims the torpedo that sunk a South Korean warship wasn’t theirs, even though IT HAD ITS NAME ON IT. For all their ominous talk, I think we could take them in a war. We being…just about anyone.
Changes to Facebook mark the modern existence, making news and provoking outcry enough to rival any major natural disaster. Funnily enough, this recent round of whining about privacy controls has authorities up in arms but users (at least on my news feed) less so. I say it’s because, if you’ve stuck with Facebook thus far–through the ups and downs of the news feed addition, countless redesigns, attack of the apps, and lesser privacy scares–you’ve experienced much bigger shocks and complained your fair share, but have always survived and are glad of it. For all our threatening to quit it, not many have the walk to go with our talk. Then again, we may just not know about those who do commit facebuicide because their bragging about it doesn’t show up in our news feeds.
Who knew that Facebook used to the “The Facebook”? Thank goodness that died.
Unions–a bit like democracies–seem like poor safety nets under regimes assumed to be untrustworthy. Unfortunately, everyone proves them necessary.
Headlines about this are littered with phrases like “playing God” and “biological warfare”, but the meat of the article boils down into run of the mill genetically modified vegetable soup. Basically, crops could be made more productive. New diseases could show up but vaccines for them could be made just as easily.
Mad scientist photo credit goes to crowolf on Flickr Creative Commons.
I only recently learned about poppies growing in the battlefields after WWI, but it is a story that pops into my mind now on a regular basis. This is one of those times.
Officially, the Thai protests ended yesterday and we all breathed a sigh of relief. Unofficially, the political situation still teeters on a wire and most of us are in danger of death by asphyxiation. So the war is over, but what will sprout up in the battlefields remains to be seen.
This is for all of you who are in the depths of exams. Good luck!
People power ain’t what it used to be; actually, it never was
This is based roughly on this Economist article about the wave of protests to swamp Asia recently, including those in Thailand, Nepal and Kyrgystan. It gives interesting reasons for them occurring en mass though prompted by seemingly unrelated causes. However, it fails to make the (I think valid) connection to the other riots of late–such as in Greece–which is that people are just moodier when they feel economically insecure. On top of that, all these protesters seem to have a lot of extra time on their hands. Coincidence? Probably not.
Photo credits to Ibai Lemon, rileyroxx and Sun Pictures / Lakshman all on Flickr Creative Commons.
Happy Limerick Day! Also, happy birthday Edward Lear, great populizer of the limerick. Also, happy day for Virginia Campbell, who wrote the limerick in the video above. Her story is here.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The cherry blossoms are blooming and the summer jackets are coming out!
Here’s one for the moms, many of whom had a day yesterday!
For those of you grief-stricken by the lack of new art, I am still here. I have not thrown my hands up. I have not thrown over all hopes of a degree.
I’m just taking the weekends off.
(But “72 Days of Digital Design” just didn’t have the same ring to it. The name stays. It’s not a degree in counting.)
The last four days, I have had creative breakthroughs. I’ve spend more time designing and less time dreading. I’ve had the style of each design pop into my head from nowhere. I’ve done totally new-to-me things in both Photoshop and Illustrator, but not used a single outside tutorial for inspiration. To anyone else, this would be kid’s stuff. But to me, these are big.
Specifically…
- I made my first custom type in Illustrator using the pen tool for “Line Up”.
- I finally wrapped my head around paths in Photoshop back in “It’s a World of Laughter”.
- Adjustment layers COMBINED with layer masks are the greatest thing ever. How am I just now realizing that? Case in point, “Upset” in its entirity and the fallen god in “Bankrupt” who started out a gray stone statue.
- I’m also about a hundred years late learning to define patterns in Photoshop. Again, that was the magic behind “Upset”.
I know becoming more creative was the whole point of this excruciating exercise in discipline, but I’m still slightly surprise to see it working…even the smallest bit.
Presenting Britain’s new prime minister elect.
To avoid politics is good policy, but a terrible lifestyle. I generally try to take a nonpolitical stance, which is a bit like being a pacifist activists or fighting for peace. Please don’t think I’m advocating (or criticizing) any one political system over another. While the system has its flaws, I think most important changes start with you. And shucks, maybe even me. In the words of a rabbi quoted on a blog I read, “Few are guilty, but all are responsible.”
Right, today was the British elections. Tomorrow we’ll learn that the Tories (most likely) won.
Happy Cinco de Mayo, another holiday all about exploitation and bastardization. It turns out, Mexicans don’t even celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but Americans have adopted it for the same reasons they’ve adopted St. Patrick’s Day and Oktoberfest. To get drunk and mock stereotypes. Here’s to you, America’s beard!
And here’s an infographic showing lots and lots of things we have imported to the other’s culture.
Greece is on the brink of bankruptcy and plans to massively cut public spending in exchange for a bail out by the Gauls, Romans and Saxons.
I have no idea where ideas come from. More than me waking up and making a pretty picture everyday, that is the point of this project. There is an inspiration vs. perspiration debate in the design world that questions essentially whether creativity is somethign you’re born with or it’s something you can work at. And like all debates, the answer is probably some combination of both…but that is a big secret that no one can know until I spend at least 50000 moments of missed sunshine researching, writing, and finishing this project.
All signs point to me not having been born with inordinate amounts of natural creativity. Maybe for some things, but not for making pretty pictures. A career coach once told me that I had all the abilities to make a good artist, except this one called “idea productivity”. So what do you do when you’ve been told you’re bad at something? You put your whole university career on the line and force yourself to be good at it.
My buried confession here is that, so far, I’m relying rather heavily on tutorials and spending all too much time reading newspapers and magazines looking for inspiration. I’m hoping that this forced march through a few disciplined days will lead to a fitter cerebral cortex that starts bursting with ideas of its own. That is, of course, subscribing to the perspiration school of thought.
More research on that to come. And more cruel experiments to perform on myself.
Last week’s massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to evoke love and kindness.
Here I am at day 2, not quite sure what I’ve gotten myself into. All visions of an indulgent summer have plunged to their death out my third-floor window.
For those who don’t know, this is my dissertation project for my master’s degree. When I divided the number of hours I’m supposed to spend working on it by the number of days I have to do so, I thought I would still be able to squeeze in the occasional outing or extravagant shower. The last two days indicate otherwise.
I would be less worried if, on top of my daily designs brought to you by this here blogomat, I hadn’t also committed to at least 6000 fancy-sounding words about the origins of creativity. These are just some of the things you and I have to look forward to.
Volcano photo credit to James Farmer on sxc.hu
So, Iceland went broke and then had an unpronounceable volcano erupt which grounded thousands of airplanes all over Europe because of the ash and stranded the entire population of Scotland in Ibiza because a train strike in France kept anyone from getting home overland but eventually the aviation authorities were like, “Screw it. Let’s start flying again.” Haha!
