The Creative Process

What is the Creative Process?

Ever since I became familiar with graphic design, I have always been intrigued to know the process on how a creative thought was changed to an advertising campaign or a poster display. I find myself questioning the creative process with a number of ideas I research on a daily basis, and sometimes get over confident with myself indicating I could easily match or better that standard of response to a brief with little effort. My first steps on a project is to gather a good understanding of what is being asked for then after some research, focus on a number of ideas and turn them to solutions relating the briefs requirements. As I recently discovered, generating ideas is much harder than I first thought as thinking of a clever solution within a logo or a typographical element requires a high level finding a creative answer. After conducting a number of interviews with designers within the industry, it had come to my attention that there are different stages towards thinking and finding a solution towards a brief.

As I investigated the creative process deeper and evaluated the interviews, my overall response was the most important element within the basis of answering a brief was the idea. Craig Oldham and I discussed the elements of the creative journey and the emotions you go through as a designer. Craig explained that moving on from a failed idea can be hard for a designer as your emotionally attached with that concept. When a solution may not be working to levels of how you wished it would, it then becomes a matter of time before you as a designer decides to let the idea go and start again. The creative process involves making that failed idea work but sometimes, their my not be any positive outcome and it’s your decision as a designer to let go and move on. I began to understand what the elements of an idea are. Thinking of a great answer to a brief is a key part within the creative process as without a solid idea, the project will not be successful. This is how an idea can evolve, as the design is a fortress around it for the concept to work.

Another topic Craig and I discussed was how the creative process can be affected when working with clients. Craig explained that the course of the brief can be interrupted by the client editing the content and changing the deadlines and final requirements for the artwork. I decided to contact Rebecca Low from the Chase in London to discuss her motivation and what first steps to take when starting a new project. She explained reading through the brief thoroughly gives you a better understanding what the client is asking for. Highlighting certain elements, which are important is helpful as you can refer back to these areas later on in the project if you need to. Rebecca also explained that graphic design is growing everyday. Wanting to better ideas or producing work that people engage in and talk about is all part of being a designer.

After gathering more research, it was becoming clear that the creative process was different for each individual and as designers, our decision making and how we react to certain mistakes or findings determines our experience. A design studio in Canada called Sage Media had an interesting blog referring to their working methods as they explain the steps they take when working with a client and progressing a brief. Altogether, Sage discussed seven elements within their creative process, from defining the project goals of the client, to developing further ideas after the project is completed. As I rationalise my research, I have become more aware of how hard the thinking process of generating an idea can be. I myself have experienced the challenging process of finding a solution for a brief as I sketched over a hundred ideas before being confident of pursuing the right one.

Samuel Beckett stated ‘‘Fail, fail again, fail better’’ which I believe is the creative process as exploring an idea and learning whether the outcome will be successful or not will determine the answer to the brief. Being attached to your work, as a designer is normal as the emotions you go through shows in your attitude, as the passionate belief you have when answering a brief will show in your ideas. I believe the creative process consists of learning from the mistakes you make. That is the beauty of design and how we are all different. We answer each brief individually, which also highlights the lessons we learn along the way.