A lot of myths and assumptions swirl around the idea of creativity. Some of them are helpful, most aren’t.
In this Marketing Conversation with Liana from Skillshare, Josh talks about the toxic idea that creativity is either something you have or something you don’t. In reality, creativity isn’t a talent or a personality trait, it’s a practice.
The Habit of Creating
Every filmmaker knows, your first efforts won’t be your best. But most of us are still proud of them, because without them, we wouldn’t have gotten where we are today. And without the work we’re doing today, we can’t get to where we’ll be in ten years.
Once you start, once you push through the initial discomfort, and settle into a lifestyle of creating things, you can start to improve. But first, you have to start.
A Poster a Day
Liana talked about one Skillshare instructor who embarked on a poster-a-day challenge, creating a new design every single day.
That instructor is Temi Coker, an artist and designer who’s worked with clients like Apple, Google, and The Oscars. If anyone could say they’re fully formed, creatively, it’s someone with that kind of resume.
But knowing that creativity is an endless pursuit, he set out to create, and share, one poster every day for a year. And then he did it again.
They’re beautiful, colorful, and sometimes startling. They do and then redo the same styles, working on perfecting an idea.
They’re an inspiring example of a creator at the top of their game remembering that consistently playing with their medium is more important than talent or inspiration.
What’s Your Poster a Day?
Anyone working in advertising is a creator of some kind. If you’re not the one choosing typefaces, or composing copy, you’re creatively solving problems, or being a creative collaborator.
And when you’re in the day-to-day grind of your job, it’s easy to view creativity as a means to an end. Because in some ways, it is. It’s a tool we use to accomplish things. But it’s also a skill that requires care and feeding.
Nobody is born more creative than anyone else.
So try new things. Do the old things in new ways. And don’t be afraid to share your work, or or your process, or take your brand to places nobody expects.