What's your creative process?

[DG web consultancy]

Serious answers please.

Anything that involves creating things or working with people requires thinking about where to improve and this happens from finding ways of solving problems. For example James Dyson does his own housework because this provides him with insight into the same everyday challenges to solve that a lot of average people experience.

I also try to think like the end user since one part of the work I do involves user interface design so I find just watching people try to work with technology in an everyday context can be one of the most insightful ways for me to learn.

Different perspectives and ways of thinking are useful so I also listen to various different types of podcasts, so one day I might listen to programmers talking about something a bit over my head then listening to a technophobe bemoaning "the kids today" the next.

 

[APW]

I find my best ideas come to me when I’m not thinking.

Go out for a walk do some sport/gym once I’m totally relaxed things just start to come into my head.

I think if you sit in your office and try and force creativity then you only suppress it more

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I run but forget work then but I also walk a few miles and good ideas appear then
It is difficult to be innovative in this game
So I like to ask new customers what are they not happy about using our competitors
At the moment not being able to speak to a human right away is the biggest complaint
Not cutting edge and so obvious but people are neglecting the basics so we aim to answer within 3 rings or return an answerphone message in two minutes

I'm sure I came to this conclusion when walking in the hills

 

[Gecko001]

Ideas about how my business will tackle general problems are usually done when I am relaxed say at the weekend or early in the morning say when I wake up early and before I have to get up.

However when I have to be purely creative as part of my work, I find that perspiration rather than inspiration is what is needed. I have to go through a process which I know that works rather than wait until I suddenly get an inspired idea while I am doing the dishes or going for a walk with my dog, although that can happen on occasions.

In the music industry you hear stories of writers coming up with a number one hit in about 15 minutes, but many of the prolific song writers worked say nine to five, five days a week to come up with their hit songs. For example in the 50's 60's many of the greatest hits of the day were written in the Brill building in New York by people like Carole King, Marvin Hamlisch and Neill Diamond. This was a building where song writers in separate rooms with a piano wrote songs pretty much in the same way as an accountant or any other office worker produced work.

 

[Ed Swain]

Serious answers please.

Anything that involves creating things or working with people requires thinking about where to improve and this happens from finding ways of solving problems. For example James Dyson does his own housework because this provides him with insight into the same everyday challenges to solve that a lot of average people experience.

I also try to think like the end user since one part of the work I do involves user interface design so I find just watching people try to work with technology in an everyday context can be one of the most insightful ways for me to learn.

Different perspectives and ways of thinking are useful so I also listen to various different types of podcasts, so one day I might listen to programmers talking about something a bit over my head then listening to a technophobe bemoaning "the kids today" the next.

I find listening to pod casts with themes around my own personal skill set i'm trying to develop very helpful. In an hour long podcast you may only pick out 2 things that you can leverage in your own business but (for me) this kickstarts my brain into thinking differently.

I also use a lot of mindfulness / meditation to clear my thoughts before starting a new project. This isn't for everyone but I find it helps with my creative process.

 

[BerberLeather]

When it comes to our bags it's sometimes a very practical thing. What isn't my current bag providing me? What do I want from this product in terms of how much it can hold/how secure it is? That's how we started anyway.

Now we are a bit more established we take a lot of customer feedback and often act on that. If people are asking us if we have it in a different colour or size for example, it would be something we look into because there could then be a market for it that we can tap into.

We also do a lot of market research, look at the trends and colours that are out there at the moment and although a lot of our bags are a more classic style and design that we hope won't go out of fashion in a year or two it's good to know what is hot in terms of our competitiors and what is showing on the catwalks. Having an interest in fashion anyway always helps with that!

 

[Paul Murray]

Primarily I do website design/builds and branding. With UI/UX work, I tend to think like a user – if something about a website or interface annoys me or is confusing, then chances are it annoys others too and I make a note to avoid that in future. I also keep a swipe file on my desktop, basically poor examples from other websites – poorly designed forms, constant pop-ups and animated CTAs, things like that. I also have another with examples of solutions or design patterns I like, though there's far more poor examples than good ones.

If I'm stuck on something, I find boring, remedial work helps me daydream and get into a different headspace. Most ideas come when I'm washing up or hanging laundry. Talking to someone else is also often useful. Sometimes a solution is obvious but you just don't have the experience to see it on your own.

 

[Jay Shields]

I have a friend and he's an artist. And we talked recently on a similar topic. I remember his words, he said next thing: I throw away a lot of work. I experiment all the time and I throw a lot of work away that just isn't up to standards. I just recently threw away over 300 canvases/works on paper that weren't bad, but weren't good either. (My neighbors were in the dustbin pulling a lot of them out. Mediocre art for free!)
I hope this helps.

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

I find when I’m doing something alone that’s repetitive or with nothing else going on around you is when I’ll just turn ideas over and over in my head - e.g. out walking, in the gym, driving long distances etc. I’m quite happy to not have company and work problems or ideas through.

That is however a curse in that I can’t switch off! I remember last year actually walking up mount vesuvius...a really amazing thing. Breathtaking views, somewhere I might never visit again...

....and in my head I was busy deliberating How we could cook, keep warm and portion control our frozen peas more efficiently!!

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

That’s possibly the most tenuous link a spammer has ever made.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

This will go on all day now spamming every post Then them lot up in Bristol have to spend all their bank holiday unspamming the site

 

[stelannios]

yep

 

[Jessica A.]

Ideas flow freely when I am in my happiest state -when my heart and my mind are not stressed. Stressed being defined as psychological and emotional turmoil that goes way beyond physical aches and pains. Stress that consumes a positive mindset and only leaves behind a negative attitude towards life. Being happy and living healthy both contributes to a creative, thinking mind.

 

[KarenBridges]

Not sure what the "spammers!" alert in the previous messages was about.
In case the topic is still on, my personal favorite is going through forums. 99.9% trash, 0.1% pure diamonds.