I almost didn't go to Cre8Camp Portland yesterday. It was Saturday morning. I was feeling lazy. But I'm so glad I went.
I really wasn't sure what to expect. Most of the topics sounded interesting, but none particularly groundbreaking. I was reminded, though, that when a group of brilliant people gets together and engages in brainstorming and discussion, any topic can produce inspiration and fresh ideas. Every session exceeded my expectations.
Here are some of the things I jotted down in my notebook. I didn't have names, so won't be able to attribute things to who said them.
Session 1: Creative Rituals (getting the creative juices flowing)
- I talk to myself a lot to clear the fog and get things moving
- I paint my nails
- I do the dishes or something else I know I can succeed at; that puts me in a place to take on other things
- I like to bounce ideas off someone else; it helps to talk through ideas
- I clear and organize my workspace for a fresh start from my previous project
- Before gas prices shot up, I would go out for a long drive to think and get the creative juices flowing
- I use Julia Cameron's "three-pages a day" method (from her book The Artists Way)
- Visual journaling is helpful for visual creatives
- I recommend the book Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
- Someone asked for tips on how to come up with ideas quickly
-- don't allow yourself to be rushed or put on the spot for ideas
-- turn the pressure around and ask the client more questions; reclaim your space
-- the creative ideas won't resonate unless they come from the client
- Brainstorm keywords and work out from there; keywords are quick and easy to come up with and will get things flowing
- I always need time to percolate; I ask a lot of questions and write down what the client has to say
-- a lot of ideas come to me in the shower or in the middle of the night
-- a friend has a waterproof mark and wipe board in the shower
- It's helpful to tell the client how you think (I come up with my best ideas when I sleep on it, etc.)
- It's important to let the client know when I'm just throwing out ideas as they come to me, brainstorming; I come up with some really horrific ideas in the process, but some good ones, too
- Take your focus off the negative, off what you don't want because you can end up dwelling on and being blinded by that
- Don't ever work from a blank canvas; if your canvas is blank, ask more questions
- Get away from the computer; it's too constraining. I find it helps to sketch on paper
-- my sketches may be crappy, but I'm working toward something
-- the client is less likely to get overly invested in rough draft ideas if they're just sketched on paper rather than mocked up in Visio or something
- A number of people said they use Google Image Search or other image search services for visual stimulation and cues to get the creative juices flowing and get ideas
- Google Notebook, used with the Firefox add on, is a great tool for capturing bits of web pages and images from the Web
- It helps to recite back to the client exactly what they've asked for and what restrictions they've imposed; what they've ruled out
[More to come in follow on posts]
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Cre8CampPortland was held at souk
