Thoughts on Creativity and Creative Thinking
If I have learnt anything at all about creativity and creative thinking…
…it is that people (consumers) want to see something that is genuinely different – something genuinely new, fresh, and highly original. What they don’t want to see is same-old-same-old – old ideas rehashed and reworked to be your own. People will talk only about what is new, cutting edge, genuinely different and conversation-generating. I think about this statement constantly, in terms of art, design, engineering, product design, music, performance, commerce, consumerism, scientific problem-solving and ways of thinking.
So do not copy. Do not imitate. Do not seek to do as others have done before. Do not do what is ‘in vogue’, fashionable and already being done. Look deep into the innermost recesses of your very being, excavate the mines of your soul, and see what nugget of newness you can find there. Strive to be utterly original in thought and in action. And don’t be afraid to be bold in this approach. ‘Fortune favours the bold’. It is so hard to be truly original, and few will achieve groundbreakingness, but it can not be impossible. It is not just a ‘desired’ aspect of creativity; it is much more important than that: it is a necessity. It is very necessary to be truly ground-breaking and original in art, design and technology.
Annie
Sign I hang ironically from my office door. Copyright Annie Copland.