How I Do That “creative” Thing

By Author: Larry Tang
Total Articles: 512
Comment this article

I have been trying to figure out why recently I've been able hit a home run with new projects, when in the past it was difficult to find the creative juice I need. I think I've figured out what motivates me into digging down into myself and connecting with the universe (life-stream, God, or whatever you believe in that gives you power and motivation), and channeling the energy that fills that blank canvas I am looking at.

It can be designing a website, writing a book, programming, drawing a picture, painting, or whatever it is that I need to be creative with; there are usually 5 similar conditions that present when I do my best work. I am going to do my best to explain them.

Environment

The environment I work is in key. Speaking for myself there are certain times I could not be creative and I found out why. I figured out that if there too many distractions like cell phone going off, emails coming in, people talking to you, instant messages, TV on in the background, etc, they can all hinder your ability to come up with ideas.

I found that my best ideas and my most proud of projects happen at night, ...
... usually around 11:00pm to 4am. That is when everyone is asleep, and there is no one to possibly bother me. I can sit there with my thoughts. But then sometimes that becomes eerie to, so I turn on my favorite music. I found listen to my favorite music artist, Jay Z, have been able to evoke a sense of great worth and inspiration to attempt to do great things.

Some of my favorite one-line lyrics from him are Difficult takes a day, Impossible takes a week., and I can't forget I had to get off the boat so I can walk on water. Arrogant, maybe, confident, definitely, overconfident, I don't think I agree.

It's like playing a basketball game, if you don't have the confidence to take that 3 point shot, pass the ball. When an NBA player takes that shot, can't that be considered arrogant? In his mind, he knows the ball is going in, if he didn't KNOW it, then he would pass the ball. That's the mentality the Michael Jordan's of the world feel, and if you can create the atmosphere of being invincible, you can do anything.

I found that listening to my favorite music gives me that Allure that I need. Others have to find their button that inspires their soul to do great things, most find it through their music.

Another important thing I had to figure out was a way to clear my mind. I found out that playing Tetris at Level 10 gets you to the level of not worrying about anything except getting the blocks to fall in the right place at a rapid speed clears the mind of any lingering thoughts or worries that maybe blocking me from getting started. Getting immersed in a quick computer game that requires quick action does the trick for me.

Inspiration
The curious mind is a powerful force. All we have to do is create a void and it automatically rushed to fill it.
- http://before-after.com/blog3/2007/11/01/jump-start-the-creative-process/

Sometimes when I jump on a new project, I feel like I'm staring at a 100 feet brick wall and I believe is that hardest part. What I do at these times is look at what others are doing.

For example if I am completely clueless on a website design, I usually go to http://bestwebgallery.com/ to find some inspiration for ideas. They feature a lot of crazy designs that work. I look at a couple of see what I can borrow from their designs. I usually scroll through about 100 or so websites and gather as much pieces as I can for my project.

I get very curious as to what level I can take a new design to, it soon becomes cluttered when applying all the ideas that I borrowed.

At this point I always going back to a quote I embedded into my head from a young age.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
-Antoine de St. Exupery, Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939

I look at the design from a user's perspective and ask myself these questions.

Will they understand where to go and what to do?
Is the design too in your face and too much?
What can I take away so that the design is not bombarded with too many messages?
Is the design to the point?
Did I add anything that really wastes time just because it looks cool?
And once again, Will the user understand what to do?

Once I get rolling it's putting on the brakes that are the hard part.

Time
There used to be times I would wait to the last possible second to do a project. I did it with homework, and studying for test, and I figured out one thing about myself, that I think differs from a lot of other people, when it comes to cramming. It worked for me. I used go over all my notes in class literally 1 hour before a test, not studying the night before and ace the test. I was able to train my memory to hold a lot of information for an extended period of time all at once then as soon as I walked out of the classroom it was like clicking empty trash on the computer, GONE.

What I've learned is that it is different with design projects; I found out that if I work on a project little by little 7 to 10 days up to the day it is due; it's an even bigger home run. There are of course still projects that I do at last possible second but if I take my time and perfect a design, my client is always happier when they see it.

Now I would say 60% of my big projects run way past the due date, but I found that people don't care once they see a great product in front of them, and if they are really upset at a missed deadline I found no matter what I gave them they where going to have a problem with. That leads into Pressure + Stress.

Pressure + Stress
Many times people put unnecessary pressure on others to get creative or get things done. I found out that in projects when you are given an open canvas, the client doesn't have any preconceived ideas, but almost always love the outcome. These are usually projects that get done earlier than expected. Clients are happy and I succeed when I feel that my work makes the client happy.

When people set deadlines and exert pressure to create something great and creative by Dec 31, 11:59:59 pm, disaster is inevitable. They usually have something in mind and want you to read their mind on what they want. The added stress doesn't really help, and in situations like this, I figured out how not to respond to pressure. I can't respond since pressure leads to stress, which always seems to lead to failure.

What I do in these situations is know the deadline and not respond. It's psychological a lot of people in the world apply pressure to either (1) appease a person to get what they want, or (2) to get pushed back. I find no response and no comment leave the ball in your court so you don't do something to react. They now have to wait on you for your response.

Some people think pressure is good, get people to get things done. That might work for a manufacturing job, where one is doing physical labor and it helps the company make a couple of extra sales, but putting unnecessary pressure on the creative process does one thing botches the end result. I've seen it time and time again, the pressure gets to the team, developers, designers, etc, and you end of with a half-ass crappy product/design. There has to be a certain amount of leeway and space that should be applied if you really want a great creative product.

I have been able to feel out how certain projects are going to end, and completely reject projects that I know aren't going to go well, and 90% of the time it is due to unnecessary pressure. I always go for the open canvas freedom to do whatever approach I want. Otherwise the design not going to be creative and I might regret doing it.

Freedom to Fail
I've failed miserably with several projects. Some due to environment, time, pressure and stress, but I think the #1 reason for my past failures where from lack of Freedom to Fail.

It's hard to example when in the creative process, so I will use an analogy.

I'll give you an example; I play a lot of Halo 3, a video game. I have won 71% of my games played. The only reason I believe I am most likely to win is because I have no fear of failure. That why in Halo 3, I will probably have the most deaths in a game on my team, since I constantly keep going after the enemy like the Energizer bunny.

The enemy will keep seeing me going after them, capturing their flag, arming bombs, etc. In the post game lobby, I usually make friends with the enemy because they love my persistence. That is important in the game, having someone that keeps going after the goal in spite of all odds.

Sometimes it has been 2 versus 6, and we came out on top. Since the other team was arrogant and thought they were going to win, they didn't stay focused, and they ended up losing.

What does having constant focus in a game have to do with the creative process? Not a whole lot physically, but mentally it is the mindset of having the freedom to fail that gives you freedom to achieve a higher level of superiority. Whether you are creating a new kick ass web design, walking into a contract meeting and closing it with your terms derives from having the freedom to fail.
Reward
The greatest reward is getting paid for a great job or project. Yeah having a client feel happy and have a smile on their face has a good feeling, but in my opinion none of that means anything unless it converts to something tangible for you.

From my experience, projects that I jump on quickly are usually because of the end reward. It keeps the creative juices flowing.

That's why I don't do low budget projects. I've been there done that. I've given clients great web designs on a low budget so I can get rewarded later, but what that usually transferred into was more low budget projects. That makes the client very happy financially, but leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I've learned that to me if a project is not going to be rewarding, I don't bother, since I simply won't be motivated, and that will make the client in the end unhappy with the outcome.

Everyone should be happy when in any deal, and I learned to make sure that I, most importantly, am happy otherwise I reject the project.

Conclusion
I believe this is what keeps me creative and constantly hitting home runs. My ideal projects all have the perfect environment established, right inspiration for design, time is considered, pressure and stress is reduced, and the freedom to fail is there, with a handsome reward in the end.
Optimum7.com is an Internet Marketing Consulting Company with primary focus on Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises (SME's). Optimum7.com offers a rich consultative approach that our clients find refreshing. We actually listen to our clients to learn exactly what their problems and objectives are. Through a proven process, we collaborate with our clients to truly understand where they are and where they want to be next month, next year, and in 5 years. How I Do That "Creative" Thing.