A few years back, The Atlantic Monthly magazine set out to discover how creative ideas become concrete reality. For a “culture special report” headlined How Genius Works, the magazine asked artists as diverse as director Tim Burton, singer/songwriter Paul Simon and architect Frank Gehry to describe their processes. What they found may not make us all geniuses, but could inspire students to take a closer look at their own creative work.
Creativity starts on paper
One commonality among several of the writers, directors and designers in the article is the tendency to begin their projects on paper. Burton’s characters for “Alice in Wonderland” started out as sketches and watercolors. Simon writes his lyrics longhand in a notebook. Gehry starts with a model to help him understand scale and then sketches his buildings. Even auto designer J Mays of the Ford Motor Co. uses pencil drawings as part of the process.
In the age of increasingly complex digital technology, it appears the tactile still serves as both a spark and outlet for creativity. If students are struggling to create appealing layouts or design eye-catching modules on their computer screens, the experience of these professional artists and designers suggests they may do better to start with a pencil, a pica ruler and an old-fashioned layout sheet. Even an imprecise thumbnail sketch could prove a helpful starting point.
Collaboration is Key
Another element of the creative process these artists shared was the habit of working with others to expand and transform their original ideas. Photographer Chuck Close prints oversized Polaroids of his models so they can collaborate with him on the final images. Jennifer Yuh Nelson, the director of “King Fu Panda II” describes how “other people piled on with ideas and soon we realized it was really cool….” Sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy work as a team to create inspired fashion designs. “We start a collection by talking,” Laura writes.
The idea of collaboration, of openness to and appreciation of the ideas of others, is integral to the production of a strong publication. The more inclusive the process of creating the yearbook, the more the book will reflect the school culture and the student body.
Finally, an aspect all of the artists addressed was revision. While some students may think designing a layout or writing a feature is a one-shot process, the subjects of The Atlantic’s feature, to a person, described an extensive revision phase. They continued adding and subtracting from their original ideas, editing, altering and polishing before considering a project to be complete.
Advisers address these aspects of the creative process with their students on a regular basis. Sketch it out, the adviser says. Talk it over; look at it again; make it better. But sometimes it takes a word from outside the staff room to validate that advice. Words of wisdom from a slate of famously creative artists may provide that validation.
Find The Atlantic’s article at www.theatlantic.com/projects/how-genius-works/
