Mar
17
2010
But I’m Not Creative! – Part 2
By Lora Frecks
Yesterday I promised to share the first little steps I’ve found useful in becoming more aware of design and how it influences businesses and consumers.
Before you read any further, I need to tell you that I’m by no means an expert in this area. I’ve struggled myself and am merely sharing what I’ve found helpful. At the very most, take what I’m giving you as a suggestion. My ultimate goal is to help you feel comfortable and confident enough to experiment and find what works for you. Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it too – and probably far better and definitely in your own unique way.
One last thing before we begin, I’ve realized that there is a major assumption underlying my steps. Namely, each of us is a unique individual who can make contributions to the world that no one else can make because of our uniqueness. I believe this uniqueness and our resulting contributions are part of a larger plan. You may not agree with the idea of a larger plan, but I suspect you agree that unique individuals are capable of making unique contributions to the world.
So here we go. Read, think and then in the wise words of my favorite fictional green character (sorry Kermit), “do or do not, there is no try.”
- Keep track of what you like and what you don’t like. Take a little time when something strikes you and try to figure out what it is about it that causes you to like or dislike it.
- If you’re not able to figure out what elements of things cause you to like them or dislike them, collect and group examples of your likes and dislikes. When you have enough (at least 10 and preferably 20), look at either your group of likes or dislikes and identify the commonalities between most of the examples. Ask a trusted friend for help if you can‘t see the themes.
- Pretend that you’re not yourself and imagine what a grumpy old grandpa, a precocious child, a busy mom or someone else would think of whatever it is you’re looking at.
- If pretending is too tough, start asking the opinion of people around you. Ask “what do you think of this whatever it is you’re looking at – car, table, statue, window covering, etc. You’ll be shocked by how much everyone likes to share their opinions. Listen to how they express themselves. Determine whether you agree.
- Accept that you’re going to make some mistakes and encounter some embarrassment. Resolve that what you learn and gain from these “failed” experiments will be worth the price. Remind yourself of this every time you start to waiver.
- If you can’t accept that you’re going to make mistakes, daydream about what the worst possible outcomes could be and rationally consider whether whatever that may be is worth not bringing into the world the ideas that only you and your unique experiences can create. I sometimes like to exaggerate these worst possible outcomes just to give myself a laugh.
- If you’re still too fearful to act, consider feeling guilty for not stepping up to share what you could with the world. This is a harsh step, but you might need to take it.
It’s not much of a list, but it’s what I have for now. Hopefully I’ll continue to learn and have something more to share soon. In the meantime, please let me know if the more artistic and design oriented of you out there have any advice for the rest of us.
Below is Kermit’s impression of Yoda.
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