TOW: The Creative Process

I have been thinking a lot about what makes me a creative individual and what I need to do to be creative.  I have decided I need a couple things:

1. Inspiration:  I need to feel inspired.  Usually I look at pictures for ideas, or I surf the web, letting my mind wander before I choose an idea.  Some of the best ideas I have had have come after discarding several ideas.

2. Process:  I need to fiddle in a workspace for a while on a backdrop that makes sense.  Whether it's a t-shirt mock-up, a sketch, or some kind of website item, I need to have some kind of paper or some area I can just let loose for a while. For work, I prefer to use Illustrator when doing digital graphics.  When writing, I (now) like to make charts and diagrams to refer my writing with.  I find it helps to keep a consistent narrative in view.

3. Designing:  Once I have an idea firmly in place, I try and provide several variations of the same idea.  So, this could mean I do a graffiti art piece (like today) and I do versions with different colour combinations and different item placements, but generally with the same 5-6 items.  This way I can decide where things belong, and think about what makes the most sense visually, or on page.  This applies to my writing process as well.  I find I'm constantly moving sections of words for placement value.

4. Editing: I mock-up several designs into a one sheet item (writing includes this, give or take) which I then print off to look at.  Sometimes the print really helps me decide on whether I like an item or not.  It helps to do this in varying sizes if I'm only considering slight variations to one design item. 

5.  Revamping:  I then take the one item I'm pleased with and I work on it until I feel it's a finished piece.  This includes writing.  For illustration, I find this is about 3 edits.  For writing, I find it takes me 5-7. Not sure if this has to do with my skill as a writer, or if it's because writing is more subjective than graphic design.

6.  Finalizing:  I then choose the item to present for approval or to use in day-to-day use.

This process can take me anywhere from 1 hour to 1 year.  On an average, however, this process usually takes me a week.