Category Archives: Creativity

How Full is Your Creative Funnel?

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Funnel (PSF)

by Rebecca Cochran

As a designer and creative thinker, I’ve learned the importance of what I call “filling my creative funnel.” It’s not always an easy thing to do.

I’ve realized that I function best, in my work and in my personal life, when I allow myself to regularly experience bursts of art, music and other thought-provoking events. When my body and mind become depleted, I can usually attribute that lackluster feeling to a near-empty creative funnel.

It’s not always easy to spot this depletion as it’s happening. The process is gradual. Amidst the workday routine and the rigors of running a business, the emptying funnel often sneaks up on me. With experience, however, I’m learning to seize meaningful opportunities to recharge that funnel.

Being a musician as well as a designer, I’ve learned to troll the key online portals to keep abreast of music and performers of interest to me. I also use Twitter to stay current on who is performing where. And, I follow my favorite museums to learn about special exhibitions and other events. I also allow for serendipity to play a part.

The late summer cultural desert is usually tough for me to get through. After the excitement of early to mid-summer music festivals, by late summer my funnel is running on empty. Once the fall performance season finally gets fully underway, I’m typically deluged with opportunities for a cultural and creative recharge.

Take, for example, the last ten days. It began with a Hindemith Lives! celebration at UNC School of the Arts to commemorate 50 years since composer Paul Hindemith’s passing. The UNCSA faculty presented an entire evening of seldom heard chamber works by Hindemith, the majority of which I was unfamiliar. It provided a welcome burst of creative insight.

A few days later, I was at UNC-Chapel Hill enjoying pianist András Schiff’s performance of the Bach Goldberg Variations (along with Beethoven as an encore). The next evening, I was on the edge of my seat taking in Opera Carolina’s performance of Verdi’s Aida.

Wedged in between these music performances, I attended two events sponsored by my local AIGA chapter, as part of Triad Design Week. The first was a screening of the Design & Thinking documentary. (In fact, I was invited to deliver the opening remarks.) The second was a keynote by Doug Powell, designer and studio lead of the new IBMDesign group out of Austin. He delivered an excellent talk on Enhancing Brands with Design.

As Monday morning has rolled around, my creative funnel is full again. I can’t predict when these creative bursts will happen for me, but I have learned to seize them when they present themselves. I’m much more centered, creative and focused when my creative funnel is stoked. I also have fresh stories to share, more opportunities to connect more dots and, best of all, a big smile on my face.

What are your experiences? How do you keep your creative juices flowing?

Walk. Look. Create.

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by Rebecca Cochran

Walking alone.....I’ve been walking daily since I was a little girl. I have my father to thank for that. I relished our evening walks together from my adolescent through teenage years. We’d set out, just the two of us, every evening after dinner, walking, sometimes talking, always observing the world around us. When we’d return, we were ready to tackle the dinner dishes and I was ready to tackle my homework.

Walking is a gift. It is something most of us can do for free. Walking doesn’t require any unusual talents. We don’t have to buy any special clothing (although a comfortable pair of walking shoes is recommended). Most of us can simply head out the door of our home or office and just walk.

Walking is nature’s cure-all. No matter how I feel when I set out on a walk, I always feel better by the end. If I’m tired when I start my walk, I’m rejuvenated when I finish. If I’m feeling overwhelmed with work or personal issues when I begin a walk, I am clear-headed and focused by the end. And, of course, the long-term physical benefits of moderate-impact aerobic activities like walking are well-known.

As an adult, no matter where I’ve lived – city or suburban setting, no matter the climate, I’ve always kept up my walking ritual. A daily walk, even a short one, is a must for me. I’m not one to listen to music or the news while I walk. I focus on my stride (to create a sort of natural rhythm). And I focus on my surroundings, trying to notice things that I’d miss if I were driving the same route.

I walk best alone. (Sorry, Dad.) Friends regularly invite me to join in their walking rituals, but I usually decline their offers. The benefits I derive from walking come when I’m able to think and observe in silence.

The simple act of a daily walk allows me to solve problems. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve begun a walk thinking I had a big problem to sort through, only to determine, 10 minutes in, that I’d been blowing the issue way out of proportion.

And, best of all, I regularly experience creative breakthroughs when I walk. These breakthroughs happen when I’m not even trying. The act of walking and focusing on my stride clears my head. Ideas flow naturally. Dots connect themselves.

Walk. Look. Create. It’s really that simple.