Creative Genius.....or Utter Madness?

A look into the creative mind of Kalico Design's junior designer, Jen Tyler...

When it comes to the creative process we all have our different ways of going about getting the solution. I’m always looking at different solutions for creative problem solving. This helps me to understand why sometimes it’s so easy to come up with profound and simple solutions to creative problems, and other times I might as well be banging my head against a wall. Do we all share some kind of common method? Are there key points to our madness?

I recently came across a book titled The Creative Process Illustrated: How Advertising's Big Ideas Are Born it includes the personal illustrations of design processes for many famous designers. In the beginning of the book the authors mention a man named Graham Wallas who proposed one of the first creative process models in 1926. It is as follows:

Stage 1. Preparation: The problem to be solved is carefully considered and resources are gathered in order to confront the task. The conscious mind is focused on the problem.
Stage 2. Incubation: Drawing upon these resources, consideration of the problem is internalized and becomes a largely subconscious activity. The mind makes connections more freely and abundantly.
Stage 3. Illumination: Possible solutions to the problem transition from subconscious to conscious thought. This is a moment of insight and optimism.
Stage 4. Verification: Solutions are tested and may be applied if shown to be viable.

My creative process model follows this with slight variations.

Stage 1. Preparation:

Read project brief. Immediately start brainstorming. Word association. How could letters merge and make shapes. Picture a rainbow. Stare into space. Freak out because I’m not in school anymore and don’t have two weeks to sketch one comp for a client!

Stage 2. Incubation:

Put the project out of my mind. (Or try to.) Go home. Watch TV. No, those commercials are not some kind of magical insight into this particular clients problem. No, not everything has a deeper meaning just because you want it to. Try to focus on the project before going to sleep. Maybe dream about the solution.

Stage 3. Illumination:
Wake up. Didn’t have an epiphanic dream? OK, now its crunch time. Back to step one. That sketch still looks the same as when I started – I can do better than that! More sketching. Lets clean it up with our mad computer skills. Apply color theory.
Stage 4. Verification: 

“Presto Chango!” Finally! Give self a hand. Beer anyone!

What is your creative process? We'd love to hear!

(Image courtesy of central)

Can I Get 25 Hours in a Day!?

Last week I attended a Women's Business Lunch through the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. (and yes, if you've noticed from my last few posts—I've been getting around the town lately. I'm workin' it, baby! I'm enjoying meeting new people and businesses!) OK, so back to my story…

At the recent business lunch one key thing most of us wanted help with was better time management and increased productivity. Who doesn't want that, right?  I'm always searching for ways to better my time management skills—I hate that feeling of being so overwhelmed you don't even know where to start, it's the worst. SO, I was very interested to hear the advice of other successful businesswomen. Here's a few ideas I liked and will try to implement in my everyday tasks (business OR personal):

• For email productivity, one women suggests the "FAD" technique. A way to quickly sort through your email: F-file it, A-act on it, D-delete it. It seems simple enough, right?

• Create a work log to track all the large tasks you've completed. A few women did this and said that after reading through the tasks they actually had completed, they felt a great sense of accomplishment. It's a way to focus on the positive, celebrate the tasks you've completed instead of stressing about the ones you didn't.

• Throw in the towel! As women, we tend to want to do things on our own and have a hard time asking for help. One women's advice was to basically to get over ourselves and know when to ask for help. If someone in your business is better at a certain task than you are—ask them for help, so you can focus on the tasks that you are best at. It's more productive for everyone that way.

• Get the "ick" out of the way. Set an hour each day (preferably towards the beginning of the day) to take care of the tasks you don't want to do. You know, the ones you keep putting off but are still weighing on your mind because they need to get done. 

• Don't be so reactive. Work on distinguishing the things that need to be address immediately versus the ones that can wait. Don't immediate react to something, especially if you're already in the middle of another task.

• And last, but certainly not least: Learn to say "No". Along with most women, I constantly struggle with this one!

So, what do you do that helps you with your time management and/or productivity skills? Have you tried any of the suggestions above? How did they work for you?

Multitasking, Schmultitasking: Improving Your Productivity

I recently sat in on a teleforum by Design Coach On Call discussing how creative professionals can improve their productivity. Holla! As a micro-business owner who balances just about every part of running her business, I can say first hand that it can be overwhelming at times! I'm constantly looking for better ways to discipline myself to be more productive. Pam Bryan, the forum facilitator, had some great tips and advice. Here are my favorites, all of which I hope to start implementing within the next few weeks (seriously, can someone hold me to this?)

1. Multitasking is Worse Than a Lie: To sum it up, multitasking, or more appropriately called "switch-tasking" just isn't productive. Switching from one task to the next, back and forth, and so on can cause you to loose up to 28% of your time. So, try to discipline yourself to make changes in your work day that will deter you from switch-tasking as much as possible.

2. Gather Your Gathering Places: A "Gathering Place" is any place where unprocessed work items go. This can include your desk, your briefcase, your office, even your car…any and every place where you might do work. The key is to consolidate all gathering places so that you only have one physical "inbox". Then, set a time each week or day to sort through this inbox, usually 30-60 minutes. Obviously, sort through the more pressing items first…this way you won't be stressing about them throughout the day, so you're able to focus on other tasks throughout the day.

3. Conquer Your Digital Space: These days, your digital space can be a real time sucker throughout the day! Digital Space includes your email, social media accounts, voicemails, etc. Similar to your "Gathering Places", try to consolidate your digital space as well. For instance, direct all your emails (personal and business) to one account. You'll still have the separate accounts, but you'll only have to check one master email account, thus saving you time logging on and sorting through various accounts. In addition, Pam recommends turning off your email alarms and setting yourself a schedule. Check your email 2-3 days per day, answering all inquiries during your set timeframe. Use this time to check your social media accounts like facebook and twitter as well.

OK, so these are a few of the changes I'll be making here at Kalico World Headquarters in order to increase my productivity throughout the day. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. What changes would you like to make? Let me know!