Defining creativity
Creativity as a practice
Creativity
has to be practiced regularly
If creative techniques are not used
then they are lost.
Creativity
is a habit rather than a trait
The repetition of creative techniques
leads to new habits.
The
constant and repeated practice changes creativity from a habit to a skill
The more the tools are used then they will start
to become unconscious.
Creativity as seen by others
Creativity is understood by other
fields as the process of creating things on demand.
However there are many other
aspects to creativity and factors that affect it, such as insight, culture and
ethics.
It is wrongly considered that to be
creative means being active in the process of generating ideas, however
stimulating creativity is just as important.
Elevation of creativity
The idea of transcendence has
created impossible definitions and expectations for creativity.
Rather than focussing on originality as an indication of creativity,
passion, insight and intrigue will be more important.
What is Originality?
Originality
Nothing is original and things always come from somewhere, instead new
work is built on what came before.
Originality will become an additive process in which old and new
combine to make something.
By accepting that originality is not possible, influence can be
embraced to allow creativity.
Reworking ideas
Being successful creatively does not
mean regurgitating other peoples ideas but instead creating their own ideas.
Creativity
has become the process of reworking old ideas
Accessibilty of information
Technology has allowed collective
knowledge to be accessible to anyone.
Within the information age access to
technology has meant knowledge has become available to everyone no longer the
few.
More creative or less?
Engelbart wanted to increase
collective intelligence of groups making them more creative.
The constant accessibility of
knowledge in the information age can lead to blocks in creativity.
Infinite recall and originality
The rise of technology and its
ability to automate processes has increased the efficiency of searching the
domain.
By knowing lots there is little room
for imagination. Infinite recall
A world of infinite recall is being created, where nothing is
forgotten because everything is digitally stored and accessible changing
originality forever.
True originality is rare because of infinite recall, with no
forgetting, therefore influencing what we create.
Democratisation of Technology
Availability of tools increase
The
availability of design tools and their ease of use has increased.
Increased accessibility of ideas
and technology to achieve aims allows us to be more creative.
Experimentation and Generating
ideas
The computer is not good for generating ideas because it encourages
perfectionism and editing of them before they are formed.
It takes little effort to
experiment with concepts with technology which increase the likelihood of
creating something good.
Reduction in process time through
automation
Technology has allowed elements
of the creative process to be automated which has increased productivity and
allowed for more creativity.
Technology allows a wider amount
of possibilities and time between intention and finalisation is lowered.
Generative Creation techniques
are allowing the democratisation of creativity allowing the amount of time it
takes between idea and product to be lowered.
Machines allow the hand increased precision and speed making things
easier to create although there is an aesthetic cost.
Computer and skill
Technologies reproduction abilities have changed how creativity and
originality are viewed.
Combining ideas lacks skill
because the process has been automated, requires less work and because of this
is not associated with human expression.
More time to be creative
Technology makes it possible for
people to put more time into being creative.
Assisted Creation Systems allow
people to spend more time being creative, whilst making lowering the price of
creativity.
As society becomes more
technological it will also become more creative because it reduces time
consuming repetitive tasks.
Move from technical skill to way of
thinking
The role of the machine has led to creativity being shown through
thinking rather than the hand.
Design
needs to be redefined as a way of thinking that solves problems creatively,
rather than viewing design solely as a technical skill.
Through access to technology the skills of a graphic designer are
devalued.
Anyone can use creative techniques
Suggests
design has been turned into a design process rather than a way of thinking that
anyone else can use.
Creativity has been turned into a
technique so it is 'open' to anyone.
Thinking and concept more important
The thinking and concept of a solution is the foundation and future
of design.
Imagination is more important than
ever because many left brain jobs are being taken by high technology.
What effects is democratisation having on design practice?
Redefinition of design practice
The changes in the industry question how design is practiced and by
who.
Escalating creativity allows
creativity to be highly accessible, therefore redefining skill levels and what
design is as a whole.
Anyone can be a designer – learning
skill much easier
Democratisation of technology allows everyone to become a designer.
Technology enables the public to have a go at designing.
Technology is accelerating the
time it takes to learn a skill and democratising creativity.
Originally mastering a creative
skill was only available to a few, however with technology creativity is easily
accessible.
Rethink on how design should be
Designers
do not have ownership over design, it is not a physical thing but a way of
thinking.
All aspects of design are changing because of the democratisation of
design, including how it is produced, accessed and learned.
Development over time of tools
Tools have been used to increase
creative possibilities for thousands of years.
When new technologies are introduced there is initially resistance
then accomodation, leading to integration into the design practice.
Collaboration
Social media has allowed users access to different parts of the
design process democratising creativity.
Technology has allowed people to
connect making it easy to collaborate and meet people.
Creativity is a collaborative
process that is helped by technology.
The need for creativity
Need for creativity in Business
Creativity has become a commodity for businesses and individuals
Creativity within the design
process allows for competitive advantage.
To be successful in business today
you have to be an effective idea generator
Within business there is value seen
in original thinking however it is seen as difficult to achieve.
Need workers to use new
technologies to compete individually.
By
making other people better designers businesses and design teams will be more
successful.
Need for creativity in the Industry
The
creative industries as well as others look for people who are creative
The industry looks for the most
productive and creative.
Within work there is more
expectation to be creative.
Need for creativity in Country
'immaterial labour' (knowledge,
information, imagination, ideas) is needed for capitalism to thrive. Creative
thinking is no longer restricted to certain people, companies or disciplines.
Technological and economic
successes linked to creativity.
When
everyone in a company is better at design thinking then collectively people are
more successful.
Role of Education
Change in education set up for
industry
Arts education is being used for
capitalist purposes and is being pushed to satisfy industry / job expectations.
Curriculum focus on creating
students who can meet needs of modern society and help economic growth.
Curriculum provides tools to
solve problems posed by teachers / employers.
Design education provides a skill
set aimed at industry with digital technologies important and necessary
Problems are becoming more difficult so students need a broad
knowledge and skill set to respond.
Critical thinking
Critical and creative thinking are vital for students to be equipped
for a changing industry.
There needs to be a focus on critical and creative thinking in design
education now and in the future.
There has been a move to teach
creative approaches to solve problems.
Multidisciplinary approach to
design
A
multidisciplinary approach is need within design.
Multidisciplinary education and engagement with other disciplines are
needed in a changing profession.
Creativity Research
The need for Creativity Research
Creativity
research aims to help with the creation of tools for a more efficient and
successful creative process
Models of creativity have been
constructed in order to help with the creation of creative support tools
There has been an increase in
interest in the development of technologies to aide the creative process.
Democratisation of Creativity
Creativity has been turned into a
technique so it is 'open' to anyone.
Defining creativity objectively
is difficult however studying creativity has meant different industries have
been able to use creative processes at scale.
Techniques and the design process
More work = More ideas
There is a correlation between
the output of work and the amount of quality work produced.
Creativity is mostly failures so
an increase in output, increases the amount of good work
There is a direct link between
the amount of initial ideas produced and the quality of the final outcome
There is a focus on the
quality of an idea, rather than the quantity of ideas.
The unknown
Thinking in the known does not lead
to new ideas, however considering the unknown leads to creativity.
Being able to accept uncertainty
and openness of design / art and not shutting down ideas because of this
uncertainty.
Inspiration from a range of domains
Synthesizing understanding from
different areas allows for increasingly creative work
Combining areas of knowledge
leads to innovative work
Ideas are a mix of multiple ideas and are the
sum of influences.
The
problems domain needs to be researched in order to create concepts
Accepting
mistakes
If something
happens that wasn't expected don't dismiss it as wrong.
Happy
accidents can lead to interesting results but creativity cannot be left to
chance and luck is not a strategy.
Define the problem
For creativity to begin there
needs to be a purpose e.g. brief . Having this intent means constraints can be
established allowing creativity to kick in.
To be creative a problem is needed to
for a solution to be found.
