SEPTEMBER 2019
COMPUTERARTS.CREATIVEBLOQ.COMA
lmost everyone would like to be more
creative. But at the same time, the more
creative experiences we have, the less
original we become. How does that happen? Either
way, understanding the nature of this process
today will definitely help you to become a more
creative individual tomorrow.
Too many of us believe that you have to be born
an artist. And the myth that it has something to do
with the creative right side of the brain still hasn’t
been busted. In fact, both hemispheres of the brain
are responsible for logical and creative thinking
at the same time. Individuals with larger brains
show higher intelligence on average, but what truly
matters is the complexity of neural connections.
This way, individuals who deal with creative tasks
daily solve them faster and in a more creative way.
My path was winding, and I wasn’t any good
at the beginning. I was curious about design, but
my parents insisted that I should study computer
science. It was a great asset, but I still became
a designer, nevertheless. This ‘it’s meant to be!’
attitude is something we all would like to believe
in. But for me, it was simply something that I
enjoyed doing for a long time. The more I repeated
the same kind of thinking processes, the better I’d
become. Looking back, it finally becomes clearer that
creativity and design thinking are not gifts, they’re
simply the development of your brain. Thus, you can
train it and shape it to work how you want it to.
An enjoyable repetition turns into a habit. And
habits are extremely important in the long-term. But
doing something many times isn’t always enough!
Your brain has to consider the process as something
worth repeating. As for me, I was inspired to do
something unusual. I loved the process of creation –
and good, enjoyable results pushed me to repeat this
process again. But you can’t force yourself to enjoy a
process simply to turn it into a habit. You need to be
inspired to enjoy the routine.
Inspiration is a complicated chemical process of
the human brain. Where does it come from? How
can we make it come to us more often? The main
misleading opinion is that we need to seek it out,
but in reality we need to look for inspiration within
ourselves. There’s a simple, yet elusive formula:
you’re inspired when you’re living within your values.
We find it when we’re looking towards our dreams or
something that truly matters to us.
From there, creative habits get even more
complicated. Recently, I’ve faced another problem:
with time, my creative thinking began to turn into
pattern thinking. The thing is that the longer you
work in a particular industry, the more you begin to
think just like everyone else there.
Did you notice that children sometimes say things
that might never come to an adult’s mind? That’s
because they don’t know much about the world just
yet, and they often assume anything. Children are
trying to make sense of what’s going on by using
pattern recognition. We learn to recognise words,
colours, facial expressions and shapes. And we begin
to build associations, such as ‘green means nature.’
Then, more and more patterns are developed that
block our unbiased childish curiosity.
You’re thinking ‘out of the box’ when you’re not
familiar with the box. In that situation, you don’t have
to try – you’re doing this effortlessly. Once you know
too much, you have to constantly remind yourself to
break your patterns.
The best advice that I can give to help you learn
to think outside the box now, is to consider as many
variations as possible. Don’t make an opinion, don’t
argue on what’s wrong or right. Simply consider
everything. Remind yourself to be unbiased and keep
your mind open.
On the whole, all creative
ideas are either blind guesses,
discovery, or your own
synthesised knowledge that’s
processed and output in an
original way. But how can
we define which idea is truly
creative? Did you notice that
not everything you find exciting
seems so to other people? The
problem is that we interpret any
creative idea through a prism
of our past experiences. Under
this idea, the majority likely
wouldn’t understand a truly original idea. Even if you
take a product that’s considered to be creative for most
of us, some people would still find it boring.
It’s important to be surrounded by people who share
the same values as you. Your mental development will
be inf luenced by people and the surroundings around
you. Creative ideas would likely be appreciated more
in a company that’s driven by creative people where
original ideas are cherished and shared.
To conclude, creativity is an abstract and long-
term process. It needs time, love and passion to be
developed and pushed to new levels. Sometimes, you
might feel helpless by not knowing how to become
someone you want to be. The path ahead is always
hazy, but you have to take a step into the unknown.
Just remember one thing: when one door opens,
another one opens, too.MIKHAIL SHARANDAR
What approaches do you take to hone your creativity? Tweet
your insights to @ComputerArts using #DesignMatters“All creative ideas are either
blind guesses, discovery, or
your own synthesised
knowledge that’s processed
and output in an original
way. But how can we define
which idea is truly creative?”