Can AI Design?
Artificial intelligence is neither intelligent nor creative. My experience with AI has revealed it to be like an eager high-school intern. It delivers something that is really trying to look good or sound smart—but without expertise or finesse. AI tools can only recombine existing content. GPT—generative pretrained transformer—is a more accurate acronym than AI. ChatGPT […]
Do Drugs Enhance Creativity?
On the second day of class in my first semester teaching Graphic Design, one of my students asked this question: Do drugs enhance creativity? Many creative people experiment with drugs because their nature is to be curious. Some great works of art are known to be inspired by substance induced trips. But my answer was—and […]
Quote: “All things are created twice,” says Stephen R. Covey
“There’s a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things. “Take the construction of a home, for example. You create it in every detail before you ever hammer the first nail into place. . . . “Then you reduce it to blueprint and develop construction plans. . . . “You […]
How to Spend More Time in Flow
Book Review: Finding Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi I’m intrigued by the idea of flow. I’m certain that I chose graphic design as a career because getting lost in my work brings me into the flow state. When I was a child, my father called me a macher, which is German for “maker.” I am still […]
Become the Creative Force in Your Life
Book Review: The Path of Least Resistance by Robert Frtitz What does a musical composer know about creativity that he can teach the rest of us? Robert Fritz knows enough to be able to say, “You can be the predominant creative force in your own life.” My own experience bears this out.
Creative Process
“Think about it . . . deeply. Then forget it. And and idea will jump up in your face.” —Don Draper, Mad Men The creative process can be used to achieve any goal, whether business or personal. Once you have a clearly defined goal or problem follow these steps:
Design Strategy
design: to form or conceive in the mind for a definite purpose strategy: a plan for obtaining a specific goal or result More and more companies are using design strategy as a business tool. Design is more than making something look nice superficially. It is a creative process that has a clear goal in mind, and […]
Creative Advertising Gets Results
Creative advertising gets more attention from consumers and fosters positive attitudes about the marketed product. Ask any marketing professional, and they’ll tell you that creative ads are more memorable, more cost-effective, and build your product’s fan base faster.
Anyone Can Be Creative
Creativity is not a trait limited to artists and authors. Anyone with a goal or a problem to solve utilizes creativity to find novel solutions, whether in business or in their personal life.
Designing a Logo
This is a real world example of the creative process at work.