Creatively Creative

Monday Mind Games #2 - Manifesto

Your Monday Mind Game #2 is to take about 5 minutes and create your creative manifesto - why you think creativity is important and how you plan to bring creativity to your slice of the world.

Here's the creative part: you have to do it in 140 characters or less (the length of a Twitter post).

I invite you to share what you come up with, and I'll post to my Twitter feed (@mwsladek)  

Onwards,
Michael 

My Monday Mind Game #1: Personal Mantra

Here's what I came up with for my personal mantra (see here for the exercise explanation).

CPA: Creativity. Passion. Always.

I love acronyms (they help me remember) and I love the limits they impose. I really enjoy juxtaposing the stereotype of the staid CPA (Certified Public Accountant) with my new words. I like that this reminds me that there's creativity in places and professions that I don't typically think of as being creative. 

What did you come up with?

See you next Monday!  

Monday Mind Games

Let's try something new together.

Here's what I'm thinking: each Monday, I'll share a new creative exercise. They should only take ten to twenty minutes each. 

I'd love to see what you come up with during these activities, so please share in the comments. I'll be posting what I come up with by Wednesday of each week (have to put my money where my creative mouth is).

I'm calling them Monday Mind "Games" as I hope these have a playful and fun element that engages your creative side in new ways.

Let's get started!


Monday Mind Game #1:  
Personal Mantra

A mantra is a short (three to seven word) phrase or collection of words that gets at the ESSENCE of what you're trying to get across. It's the ultimate distillation of your point. No fluff. No hiding behind meaningless multi-sentence paragraphs or borrowed bits from someone else. 


This is about you, and what you're about. 

Step 1: Take ten minutes and write down words and phrases that describe you and what you care about. 

Step 2: Sort those words and phrases into the ten that are most important to you.  

Step 3: Create a three to seven word phrase, or grouping of words, that is "YOU". 

Please share what you come up with in the comments below!
 

For more on mantras, read this excellent post by Guy Kawasaki  

Summer Mood Swings

Summer has a much different creative cadence for me.
 

There's lots of external reasons for this change in rhythm. My son is no longer in school, so he's home hanging out (ahhhh, to be 17 again). I usually have a major event to attend that takes lots of energy, both before and after the event. Most of my clients go into semi-hibernation and focus on more straight production oriented (change this text, move this here) type of projects.
 

And then there's my mood. I tend to want to just watch baseball, read books, enjoy a movie (or two or three). I'm beginning to realize that my mood is maybe (finally) getting in sync with the rhythm of work. Since my customers are not seeking lots of new creative projects, I like to think that I'm resting and recharging my creative batteries a bit. 

It's a given that creative mood swings will happen. Sometimes they're seasonal, and sometimes they're situational (and badly timed). I'm learning not to "fight" this place I'm in, and to go with this flow as much as possible.

Do you have creative seasonal mood swings? How do you respond to them? 
 

P.S. Check back on Monday, 8/10 for a new weekly feature!

Recharging

It is finished.

The big project is done.

Now what? 

I often find that at the end of a big project there is a bit of a letdown combined with the sense of accomplishment. I'm realizing that part of the letdown is that I've got nothing left in the creative tank. The batteries are drained. I need a recharge.

In hindsight, I realize that I have informally developed a creative recharging process. It looks something like this: lots of meandering around the internet, poking around on my iPhone (games, text messages, Mariners scores, weather, etc...), diving into a book (or two or three) and more movies in a weekend than I usually watch in two months. 

Of course, work goes on, but not at the same pace. I used to feel guilty. I used to feel I was being lazy. 

Now, I look at this time differently. In all of my post-big-project down time activities, there is a common thread: I'm soaking up the creativity of others. I'm seeking inspiration - that spark that says, "Time for YOU to create something." 

How do you feel when you're done with the "big project?" How do you recharge your creative batteries? 

1,826 Days

Impression Media Group (still just me!) turns five today.

I've been richly blessed to have been given so many creative opportunities by the wonderful clients I am privileged to call friends. The journey so far has been amazing, and I look forward to what's ahead.

I'm going to indulge myself and say "Thanks" to a few folks:

First, to Debbie Sladek for ALL the support these many, many years. Your confidence in me has meant so much. I'm so glad to have the opportunity to support your new adventures!

To Dave Ellingson at Trinity Lutheran College, who gave me my first paying design job in 1992 and got this whole ball rolling. I'm so grateful for all the connections you helped me with over the years and for the opportunity to do a bit of teaching at Trinity this year.

To Lesley Elliott at Capital Benefit Services for coming along with me when I left my previous gig. It was great to have a "launch" project and here we are working on a new ad campaign again! 

To Bob Sambrook at Diversified Systems Group, Inc., for the investment of your trust, support and friendship. I cant' wait to see the new large-format inkjet printer!

To Kris Bjorke at InterServe Ministries for over 20(!) years of friendship and introducing me to the folks at the ELCA Youth Ministry Network.

To Todd Buegler at the ELCA Youth Ministry Network for being my brother from another mother, the late night online chats, and for trusting Connect to my care and feeding.

To Scott Maxwell-Doherty at California Lutheran University for asking me to join in the fun that is Extravaganza Planning Team. 

To Dawn Trautman at Dawn Trautman Associates for your listening ear, great humor, and the insightful questions that help me keep moving forward.

To David Hunstad at Old Lutheran for the funniest Lutheran-themed novelty items on the planet and for making it so fun to work together.

To Amy Twito at Seattle Public Library first, for all the volunteer support back in the youth ministry days, and second for the opportunity work with the library. 

To Rod Boriack at the ELCA Youth Gathering for flying to Seattle to get the logo just right and for making the edits painless and full of laughs.

To Theresa Smith at CHILD for the brand new opportunity to be involved in getting the word out about this amazing place.

To Mary Holmes of Holmes Design Studio and Laura Worthington, former colleagues, now semi-regular lunch buddies and ongoing sources of inspiration.

Who's on your list of people who help you be most creative? What would you say to them?

Clutter Creep

I walked into my office one day last week to find this:

Desk? What desk? Oh, you mean that wooden thing holding up all the other crap, junk, and mess? Sheesh! No wonder I was stuck (again) in a particularly uncreative space.

I'm amazed at how quickly clutter accumulates. One or two pieces of mail to be filed later quickly becomes a stack six inches high. A bag full of miscellaneous stuff from the last out of town trip becomes a dust bunny magnet. Those cool Ikea shelves for CDs become the landing pad for Nextflix red envelopes, old check books, and all the other stuff that will get put in it's right place "someday." 

For me, there was something very unsettling and uncomfortable working in this clutter (of my own making). So, time for some spring cleaning, reorganizing and clutter clean up. 

Four or so hours later...

Ahhhhh! Much better! The clutter is gone (believe it or not I DO use all that "stuff" just about every day), and as a bonus, I discovered a bag of fun-sized Peanut M&M's left over from Halloween. 

The lesson learned for me should be to take the two to three minutes each time to put stuff where it belongs and keep on top of the clutter rather than letting it slowly creep up on me and getting in the way of my creative "vibe." 

Of course, the mental clutter is a whole other story...

What is cluttering (literally and figuratively) up your life and getting in the way of your creativity? What habits can you change or start to help you better deal with clutter creep?

Limited Inspiration

The camera in the iPhone stinks.

At least I thought so until I came across this portfolio. Go ahead and take a peek. I'll wait.

Wow! Right? 

This is a great example of acknowledging the limits imposed and then being creative within the limits and in spite of the limits. It's also a great example of always being ready to be creative with the tools at hand.

There are some limits (budget, deadline, etc...) that are really easy for me to embrace and be creative within. There are others (technology, client specific colors/photos/text, etc...) that are much harder for me to deal with. I tend to see those limits as infringing on my creativity, rather than a jumping off point for a unique idea. 

My project for next week is to take some photos every day with my iPhone, all the while embracing it's limits. Stay tuned...

The camera in the iPhone rocks!

How do limits impact your creativity?

How have you been creatively successful even when limited in some way?

Pencil Potential

I'm rediscovering the pencil.

Growing up, pencils were the writing utensil of choice, pretty much all the way through high school. Pens were reserved for essays, while pencils were used for notes. And doodles. I used to doodle a lot in those "down times" in class. 

Using a pencil reminds me of those days when I doodled my perfect car, starships, and even designed (I realize now in hindsight) my first logo. I used to fill pages with stylized scribbles of my initials "MS". I still remember how I did it (see photo above). In other words, using a pencil takes me back to the place where there was only potential, and I hadn't set limits on what was possible.

So, I'm using a pencil more. For notes. For my to-do list. For doodles (again).

What can you do to rediscover the potential of the time(s) you were most creative? Is there some symbol or artifact form those times that you can use to help you recapture that potential?

The Power of Trust

Never underestimate the power of trust in the creative process.

Creativity is about risk. A trusting environment gives a safe place to land if the risk results in failure. 

Trust goes both ways. The one creating has to trust that the audience will understand what was intended, and the audience has to trust that the creative person has their best interests in mind.

Trust inspires trust. The more trust is shared, each party thrives on the trust of the other.

Trust takes work. Communication that is open, honest, and direct leads to clearer expectations and understanding of what is hoped for.

What can you do to increase other's trust in your creative processes? What do you need from others to trust that they will receive your creativity?