The idea of sitting down and reading a book is not really something id choose to do, however these past 2
weeks, I’ve had reading week for my course fashion communication and promotion
and these are the book we’ve been told to read:
1.DAMN GOOD ADVICE (for
people with talent!) by George Lois
2. WHATEVER YOU THINK EHT
KNIHT .ETISOPPO by Paul Arden
3. It’s not how good you
are, it’s how good you want to be. By Paul Arden
4. HEGARTY ON CREATIVITY
there are no rules by Sir john Hegarty (personally my favorite)
So I just want to go
thorough some of my favorite points that I’ve gained from these books as I
think some points make great life lessons in the world of creativity (yes a lot
of them are very pointless) but I like them….
So point number 1. Bad
Weather
“There’s no doubt creativity
flourishes in adversity. Make things too comfortable and the creative
juices stop flowing. We can all imagine the poor, starving artist working
relentlessly in their attic studio, painting away until they drop. And
while I’m not suggesting starving yourself is the best spur to great thinking,
I do believe one discomfort is worthwhile: Bad Weather.
Why? Because bad weather is generally great for ideas.
Now
I’ve got nothing against sunny locales. Sydney for instance, is one of my
favourite cities. But it is not, in my view, a creative centre.
The
problem with Sydney is its weather. It’s just too good. If you’re
working in Sydney and struggling with a creative problem, all you have to do is
look out the window, see the sun shining, and soon enough you’ll hear the
beckoning call of a couple of ice-cold beers waiting for you at the beach-side
bar down the street.
And
what are you going to do? I think
we all know the answer to that.
Great
weather is probably why Hollywood turns out some truly awful movies. Who
wants to labour over a cliche-ridden script in an effort to turn it into an
Oscar winner, when you could go down by the pool at the Sunset Marquis?
Sunny weather is great for shooting films but not so wonderful for
writing them.
In
comparison, London always ranks as one of the world’s great creative centres.
Why? Because
the weather is shit.
Rain
is London’s creative trump card. Want to go for a barbecue? Forget
it. Every summer thousands of barbecues are sold and every year they rust
away unused, ending up as landfill.
So
wherever you’re working, check the forecast. If you’re getting too much
sunshine and not enough rainfall, move somewhere where the weather is bad.
Really bad.
It’s
amazing what it will do to get your creative juices going.”
When you think about it, this
point makes perfect sense! It makes me want to go sit outside in the rain
hungry and cold just for the chance I might have a brilliant idea! (Maybe not
though) more realistically though, ill probably start doing work in a colder
room…. Baby steps Hannah.
Point number 2. Remove Your
Headphones
We’re all a sucker for having music on whilst trying to do work, I do it
all the time, even though I know I’m not giving myself the best opportunity to
be creative because I’m pertly distracted.
“Do you know what really upsets me? (Apart from peanut
butter.) When I see one of my creatives wandering through their day with
headphones on.
Why are they cutting themselves off from the world? Inspiration is all
around us.
All that we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell helps us to form new
ideas, even if we don’t always realise it. So why reduce the amount of inspiration
reaching you? Why wear headphones?
To be a successful creative person, you have to be fascinated by the
world and all its wonders, absurdities, failings and mishaps.
The world can be a constant source of inspiration but you must absorb it
through all your senses before you can hope to channel it into fresh ideas.
Without inspiration, our creativity dries up and we start repeating
ourselves”
-
Don’t
cut yourself off from your environment.
Point number 3.
Doesn’t need explaining -
“Read shit and you’ll think shit and you’ll create
shit”
Point number 4.
GET ANGRY
‘ When Picasso painted Guernica,
I don’t think he was whistling happily to himself. On the contrary, he was
angry – outraged at the Nazis and Italian Fascists who had bombed this
defenceless Spanish town, killing thousands of innocent people.
For most of us, anger amounts to stress, and the worst type of stress at
that. But for artists, anger can be a positive force. If focused and
channelled, it is capable of producing something of great profundity.
When you are intent on putting a great wrong right, creativity will
often exceed all expectations. Out of conflict comes purpose.
Take Charles Dickens as another example. He devoted himself to
chronicling the terrible injustices of his day in his novels. Do you think he
was whistling happily away when he wrote A Christmas
Carol? I don’t. The opening line of that book is: “Marley was
dead." It’s not exactly the light-hearted tone of “I’m dreaming of a white
Christmas".
Years ago I was working on an anti-smoking campaign and feeling upset at
the idea that secondary smoke was harming children. The poster I helped to
create featured a toddler smoking a cigarette under the headline, “How many
cigarettes a day does your child smoke?" It was hugely effective and being
angry made it happen.
So get angry but don’t let it eat you up. Instead, find a piece of
paper, a canvas, anything, and get it out of you. You’ll be amazed at how
therapeutic it can be. And how creative.’
Point number 5. When
you meet your mate, don't let her (him) get away. (Your creative juices will
flow forever.)
‘On my first day at Pratt, I spotted Rosemary
Lewandowski, a second generation Polish-American, who had come to New York City
from Syracuse, N.Y., to build an artistic career and meet cultured people.
Instead, she met me. I saw her face, and after a lo-o-o-ng check of her legs, I
knew she was the woman who would be at my side the rest of my life. For 60
years she has loved me, fed me, raised our kids, nurtured our grandchildren,
was one of the few female art directors of her time, has a career as a dynamic
easel painter, and sees (and okays) everything I produce and then some -
working with me as a thinker and copywriter on work I usually take credit for.
Having a mate who understands and contributes mightily
to your ethos of life and work is a blessing beyond measure.”
- I believe this to
be such a nice thought! And I believe it to be true as I’ve watched my parents
who are both creative flourish with each other on a daily basis, I think its
important for your loved one to be on a similar creative wavelength as you.
