7 Things Nobody Tells You About Being Creative
A response to Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon
After finishing Kleon’s Steal Like An Artist, I had a good reflection session.
There are seven more tidbits I have to contribute of things I wish someone told me when I was studying design and first starting out. Steal Like An Artist was a great read with a refreshing perspective on the life of a working creative. I wanted to share what I have learned in the past few years.
Here goes!
Process is Messy
If only the design process was as a linear path from research to implementation. This is often not the case. Whether you are scrambling with last minute deliverables, trying to collaborate with a team that forgot how to communicate or balancing deadlines from every side — its easy to forget about process and just be in a mindset of making things work. On one hand, this is how the real world is drastically different than academia. We no longer have regular set hours for critique, we don’t meet to discuss how a project could succeed if we did more of this or that.
Real process is messy. It needs to be built into our hectic schedule so we can make products that inspire and enlighten, even when we are time crunched.
Learn about how to do guerilla research testing or how to steal like an artist.
It will come in handy.
Finishing big projects takes so much time that we often kind of lose sight of how far we’ve come in the process. And unfortunately there’s no built in progress bar.
— Jocelyn K Glei
Stay Fresh
We can easily turn a deaf ear toward the complaints of our longest customers. We can become jaded by problems that are inherent in our organization’s architecture, history or culture.
It is important to stay fresh, whether by being in a new environment, chatting with someone new or taking a vacation. Re-assess whether the things you’re working on matter to your career.
If not, switch it up!
The term “growth mindset” seems to be the latest buzzword in the corporate world, but the concept behind it is a positive attitude and approach to lifelong learning. This is practical and useful advice in an industry that is active and changing.
Be Playful
Play to your emotions, make things in your spare time. Be a creator and maker outside of your profession.
And have fun! Not everyone is so fortunate to work in a creative field and produce new ideas.
Relationships Matter
Opportunities come in the form of other people. Luck or chance do play a part — and its what you do with the chances that you are given that create luck. Whether or not you enjoy networking, it is undoubtedly the best way to find out about the latest and most exciting opportunities.
The best jobs will never make it to a job posting site. They are relayed through word of mouth. You need to build a network of strong relationships to share what you’ve learned and be enlightened by your peers.
Make It Useful Then Beautiful
Great creative work can be boiled down into the useful and the beautiful. Combine the two and you have something awesome.
Less is More
Always choose to boost value. Reduce clutter.
Re-Prioritize
We tend to reproach ourselves for staring out of the window. You are supposed to be working, or studying, or ticking off things on your to-do list. It can seem almost the definition of wasted time. It seems to produce nothing, to serve no purpose. We equate it with boredom, distraction, futility.
— The School of Life
As we rush through our busy lives, it’s important to take time to re-prioritize and determine if the things we do are adding more or less value to our lives.
If we want to add to our daily happiness, are we doing things that actually matter in the long run or not? Whether its in your role as a designer or outside of your career, determine a set of priorities and re-evaluate every 6 months or so to see if what you’re doing matches your long term goals.
When you have purpose, you don’t have time for negativity.
— Mark Victor Hansen
