Tag Archives: ideas

Can Snow Days Boost Our Creative Capacity?

Posted on by
2

SnowDayThanks to this year’s unusually disruptive winter weather, we’ve probably all experienced a few days in which our daily routines have been disrupted, as well. If you’re like me, your first reaction to these disruptions is probably negative. This year, however, I decided to rise above that negativity and turn each disruption into an opportunity.

When my first “snow day” of the year appeared, I decided to take the upper hand and proactively change my daily routine. Instead of heading out to my local Starbucks for coffee first thing, I decided to stay off the icy roads and enjoy a cup of tea at home. And, rather than quickly jumping online, I sat at my kitchen table and began mentally mapping out my workday. This led to my grabbing a sketch pad and marker and drawing a “mind map” to help me think through a new client project.

It had been awhile since I had begun a new project offline. With all of our digital tools so close at hand, it can be easy to forget the power of even a crude hand sketch to sort out a process. I ended up sharing my sketches with my client and I think that helped him better visualize our process, as well.

On another snow day, when all of my meetings were cancelled or rescheduled, I decided to flip my routine. Instead of saving my work-related reading for late in the evening, I began that morning with a reading session. Not only were my eyes fresher, but I was also able to apply several fresh, new ideas to my design work immediately that morning. This new routine made me wonder how many fresh, new ideas I “sleep on” and promptly forget following a late night reading session.

These little changes in the workday routine pointed out how valuable it can be to change things up more often. Rather than arbitrarily sticking to a set routine five days a week, we should allow disruption in more often. It just may boost our creative capacity and help us come at a problem from a new perspective.

What do you think?

by Rebecca Cochran

Whatever Happened to Creative Homage?

Posted on by
Reply

One evening last week, while tuning in to American Public Media’s Performance Today show, I happened to catch Luigi Boccherini’s Symphony in d minor, Op. 12 No. 4, nicknamed La Casa Del Diavolo or The House of the Devil. As a flutist, of course, I’m familiar with Boccherini’s great output including his Flute Concerto in D, his trio sonatas with flute and his numerous flute quartets and quintets. I admire his cello concerti and guitar quintets — the Fandango comes happily to mind.

However, upon my first-ever hearing of La Casa Del Diavolo last week, I was truly incensed. It wasn’t the ominous name that bothered me, but the outright plagiarism of the allegro finale. It was obvious to me that Boccherini had stolen it, practically note-for-note, from Gluck’s opera, Orpheus and Eurydice. Now, Gluck is downright monumental among us flutists, having composed one of the most sublimely beautiful flute solos ever written in his opera scene, Dance of the Blessed Spirits. He precedes that blissful flute solo with pure chaos via his Dance of the Furies, making the flute solo that follows even more sublime.

So, I got online and did some research. I discovered that in Gluck’s and Boccherini’s time (the mid-to-late 18th century), imitation was common practice. The act of plagiarism was considered a sign of respect and, in fact, a way to pay creative homage to an artist one admired or looked up to.

Who knew?

I wonder when these sentiments changed. Just now, I conducted a search on the words “intellectual property.” Google instantly returned 1.8 million results. Perhaps we’ve gone too far in protecting each and every one of our thoughts, theories, ideas and inventions. Perhaps we’d all be more creative and productive if we weren’t so protective — if we freely shared and reused each others’ ideas as a matter of course.

What do you think?

by Rebecca Cochran

How Full is Your Creative Funnel?

Posted on by
Reply

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?