Creativity Decoded

Creativity is the ability to recombine the minute details of nature into new forms and ideas. Over time It's becoming more and more strenuous to create combinations that contrast their predecessors, since the earth is only so big and the combinations are finite.  Like an outfit, if you have 6 pairs of pants and 8 shirts, you will have only so many possible combinations. If you throw a tie in the mix, your world of possible combinations expands vastly. I am looking forward to the day that an object from a distant universe lands on our earth. Something completely un-relatable, a new colour, a new texture, a new concept.  Just having laid eyes on an object that has no recognizable physical or social qualities would expand our creativity immensely.   -  D Calen Knauf  (designer)

 " Creativity is mostly not wasting time thinking about creativity but instead sculpting a massive framed middle finger from the ashes of your art school diploma and selling it to Oprah for millions while you crack a shit on the International Space Station." - Mink Couteaux & Sjef van Gaalen  (artists/founders of Largetosti design studio )

"Creativity should exist in everything we do, across the whole spectrum of human activity.   Creativity is not always art and art is not always creative."  - Marco Cianfanelli (Artist)

For us creativity is the fusion between intuition and rational. -  Luisa & Catarina Lente ( creators of Puxxle )

"Creativity is the fact to translate a new idea on a communication support.  So someone who is creative is not just someone with new ideas, but successfully translated this idea on a communication support, and that's not so easy." - Capsus Team  (creative/media company)

"Creativity is a skill, it is to be able to see more in all that surrounds us and go beyond." -  Alessandro Di Prisco (architect/industrial designer)

"One might define creativity as a process that creates something new. However, in my opinion, when it comes to art, creativity cannot be captured or defined. It only can be experienced, witnessed and communicated. Creativity is a balance of action and reaction.Uncertainty ignites Creativity. Love fuels Creativity.    Creativity is a form of exploration into unknown worlds." -  Myles Kwesi Hutchful (photographer/filmmaker)

"The great thing about creativity is, there are no mistakes, only research" -  Meagan Hyland  (Graphic Designer//Photographer)

"Creativity is a language, it gives you the power to express yourself to the world.  It is untouchable, mostly personal and declares in one way that you are a free man." -  Marie Bergeron (graphic designer/illustrator)

"Creativity is the anticipation of things that always happens, but rarely seen." - William Coupon (photographer)

Creativity is doing things that interest you. Just do it and keep doing as many as you can.  One day others will find that this is something different and creative.  Because when you start doing the things that interest you, in back of the mind, your brain will automatically start creating ideas that will differ from others. -  Yogesh Mankame (graphic designer/visualizer)

" Creativity is the ability to allow another person to see inside your mind. It's what allows us to travel to impossible places, to daydream, to feel emotions we've never felt before.  It's what makes this world interesting, setting everything apart from the boring and droll. " -  Kim Herbst (illustrator)

"Creativity calls for a sense of fearlessness, it can only help you as a designer. After all it is our job to be creative, to create innovative spaces. It is important not to let your imagination dull because your creative edge dulls. Creativity is more than just a word. It describes your thought process and describes you as an individual. There are so many endless possibilities when you exercise your creative muscles. The more you fill your mind with new things the more interesting life and design can be. Inspiration is everywhere, don’t pass it up.   Everyone has heard the phrase "think outside the box." It's a simple phrase that implies you to push yourself creatively. Challenge yourselves to not be afraid to go beyond what you think they know. I feel that the more one challenges the self the better designer they will become. Often designers are afraid of the unknown because they don't want to mistake. Mistakes are good because that's how discoveri...

"Simple. In color. That feeling in the middle of the night when you can't sleep because your mind is moving at warp speed with fresh ideas. Passion. Physically running and miles go by like feet because all you can think about is the next idea. Silence. Noise. The sound rain makes on the window. Digital. Shapes. No matter which form it may come in, creativity can arrive when you least expect it or when you need it most. You can't "will" creativity, it shows its face in many different forms and when you have it, you need to hold onto it and move in its direction. Creativity is a state of mind and it's up to you to determine its outcome." - Kyle Menard ( founder/publisher/editor-in-chief of Brink Magazine ) 

"When life possesses you and expresses itself through you, that to me is creativity." -  Edward Ofosu (Artist)

" For me, creativity is a process, a state of mind and a lifestyle.  Creativity is to dream and doing what you want.  Creativity is to make design a part of your life! " -  Caroline Gomez (designer/photographer/co-founder of Studio Slo )

"Creativity to me is creating something out of nothing. I think creativity is one of the most spiritual things an individual can posse. Another thing is that it is really hard to bottle and control. You can’t force creativity, so it is really a hard thing to manage.  But to me creativity is about creating something that has not been seen before.  Creating something new and innovative "  - Christian Andersen ( artist/founder & editor of creative future magazine)

"It's not just about picking up a material to create a work of art,  it's who you are, when you do so that makes all the difference." - Jonathan Bartlett (illustrator)

 "Pour moi la créativité, c'est donner de l'agrément,  de la vie et de l'émotion, à un objet, une forme, un mot,  qui à la base est ennuyeux" english :  "For me, creativity is giving pleasure, life and emotion to an object,  a shape and a word all which initially had a boring base" - Bruno (designer and owner of BMD Design )

“I am creativity. I/You/We are the best definitions of creativity, who we are and the tools we use to express and channel ourselves through Music,Blogs,Art work,videos etc. is creativity." - Igboin Lade (art enthusiast/blogger)

"To stay creative, Stay Young & Never Stop being Inspired" - Samuel Mensah Bonsu (graphic designer/creative artist & creator of SMB Studios )

"Creativity begins by observing the world around us.  By taking any subject matter or concept, the artist re-interrupts it into something new and hopefully unique.  It is this process that drives me to create art…to share a part of myself and to connect with the viewer." - Edward Pun (Artist)

"Creativity, to me, is about innovation, thoughtfulness and passion.  It is something that everyone has and is all around us. As designers it is our job to utilise our skills and talents to bring new products into the world.  Creativity is the process that was required to make something and the satisfaction is grants to the user.  Being an industrial designer I tend to let my creativity flow from my imagination onto the page and keep my inspiration coming from my blog." - James Bennett (industrial designer and creator of Take Over Time )

"Creativity is a translation of intuition, putting out something that only you know and understand and being able to make it a reality for all to see and understand." - Kwabena Boakye (mechanical engineer)

" Creativity, underrated by many, over used by the hasty, only truly realised by the few & never as an adjective only ever as a verb. Creativity gave us poison gas, Volkswagens, Jersey Shore, Dark Side of the Moon & the light bulb - but it always does something. Creativity has to have an output & never a byproduct.  It's not the be all or the end all - it is the area in between - Seeing what everyone has seen, but able to arrive at a thinking that has eluded everyone else.  Where we take that thinking is the application of creativity & that's where it gets, messy, sexy, exciting, dirty, thrilling, unexpected & wonderful.~ hopefully..." - Giles Phelps (creative director & founder of Tommy Spirit )

" It takes courage to be creative.  It means getting out of your comfort zone, stop over thinking and just trusting your instincts.  It is something that children do so well, and we as adults have to relearn how to do." -  Biljana Kroll (art & graphic design instructor)

"Creativity is what you make of it." - Kim Pimmel (photographer)

 "Creativity is the only escape. It is a release. I can’t imagine what I would do if I couldn’t get my thoughts from here to there in one piece. Even if what I write or design doesn’t make sense to some people, it will always make sense to me—and isn’t that what every artist dreams? To create something with meaning? Creativity helps me let things go while keeping me obsessed with other things, and it’s that constant pull that keeps my life interesting." - Megan Portorreal (Editor-in-Chief of  Cliché Magazine )

" I think creativity is the tree of life!  Art created from our creativity will exist forever, even after we die. So I can say it is equal to gaining eternal life :) " - Natsuki Otani (illustrator)

" I believe creativity is essentially about finding solutions, whether it is how to minimise cost when your business have been bad or how to edit your photos to give them a vintage feel. Creativity is the ability to find new or different ways to do something. " - Tiffany Phan (photographer)

"Creativity, for me, involves pulling pieces out of the infinite stream of images and ideas that flows by each day, and putting them together in some new way.  Sometimes this happens with an intention in mind, such as promoting a certain idea or style, and sometimes things just seem to spring up on their own from long-forgotten seeds that fell into the cracks of my imagination."  - Ellen Beeler (designer and owner of Visuaria )

" Creativity is what makes life more interesting! " -  Jón Helgi Hólmgeirsson (Product designer)

To me creativity is more like a living process. Creativity is not something someone can teach you, its something you can discover yourself by keeping your eyes and mind open to everything the world offers. From cultures, languages, colors, textures, sound and so on. Then use that as source of inspiration and keep on practicing, trying and working.  - Leandro Senna (graphic designer/art director)

" Creativity is not in the final form, it is the creation of intuitive reason. "  - Peter Simonik and Elena Bolcekova (Founders of ALLT design studio)

"Creativity is  the ability to generate something new,  different, imaginative and original with particular skills" - Ben Heine ( Visual Creator)

"Creativity is a tangible expression of ones innermost fantasies.  It is defined by the individual." - Whitney Osei ( founder of Prolific Perceptions )

   " It's hard to describe creativity, it has a unique entity, it comes within inspiration, observation and discussion.  I t always looks like a bit of magic happening suddenly but it's easily re-traceable to the things that your mind has been fed with. In some other way it could be seen as a dialogue between the elements of a situation where things, objects and colours have to find a way to talk together." - Gautier Pelegrin (designer and co founder of Noon Studio )            " I feel creative when I find a new way of thinking a project. A new approach which makes me able to change what seems established, a new perception about things, a new relationship with an object and my environment." - Taiani Vincent (designer and co founder of Noon Studio )

"Creativity is this warm part of my brain that silently talks to the world.  I question it and think about its perspective.  Once understood, I re-imagine it in different ways;  which by that point in the conversation seem so clear." - Ben Tubby (film director)

" I think creativity is something primitive and wild. It is born in all of us and inside our brains it can transform to infinite things.During the Stone Age era, humans created amazing pictures with blood and mud. Today, we construct magic crystal buildings. Creativity is looked, observed, created and founded. It is the way of making infinite ideas possible." - Elia Fernández (illustrator)

"Everything is creativity. You can find it with almost very action" - Nathan Sawaya (brick artist)

"Creativity is using what you see around you and turning it in to something unique and visionary. It is also picturing the impossible, and exploring every corner of your imagination." - Georgia Harris (founder and editor of Base Magazine ) 

" Creativity is acting out your curiosity."  - Katya Moorman (creative director of Style Defined NYC )

"A unique creativity is generated by strong attitude and hard work." - Man-Tsun (illustrator/graphic designer/creative manager)

 "Creativity dosen't exist. Open mind, two eggs in the morning  and admit that you can do whatever you want." - Pau Garcia (Artist)

" I think creativity is like your personality, sometimes its flamboyant sometimes it’s quiet.  I love designing creatively but it’s not always requested on each project in my industry. Because of this I am thankful otherwise I think I would burn out, also when the ability to be creative is released I appreciate and enjoy it so much more!  I enjoy seeing what the world does, I love my blog and every new trend I find I can either make part of my personality as a whole or ignore.  To revert back to the beginning, i believe creativity is like your personality it is there in everything you do, it is part of my unique design fingerprint on everything i touch and make.. sometimes it’s in a good mood and aloud to reign free and sometimes it must behave but it is still who i am and one cannot escape who you are.  Some designers try to copy others or base their works on other products, but it’s always an awkward tune when someone tries to be something they are not...

"Creativity is a big scary word for those who do not use that much of the right side of their brain. I think everyone can be creative. It's a way of thinking, more than a gift.  To be creative, you first need a problem to solve,and when you find a new way to pass through it, people say you are a creative person.    As an illustrator, it's the same. I get a pitch and I have to deliver an idea, concept and originality. Those three last words are part of creativity. But there's nothing magic about that. I have to work, make thumbnails, play with images, metaphor and cliché. Suddenly, I get something original. Something I like and want to share." - Stéphane Lauzon (illustrator)

"Creativity is a tricky thing to get a hold of; it’s constantly changing, constantly evolving. Creativity is a part of every person’s life, whether they realize it or not. It makes us think and challenge our circumstances and gives us hope that things can change." - Jordan Maurice (designer)

"Creativity is the thinking that comes once you're backed into a corner." - Edward Saltau (filmmaker)

"I always find it odd when an idea I have or an artwork I produce is called "creative".  What is being creative? Isn't everybody at some point being creative? Isn't it human nature to be creative? I feel we inherently have a tendency to use whatever is available to us to make our lives more interesting, but its the "creatives" among us that end up actually doing so. Children use anything they can find as play things and create their own narratives. Its when we grow up and put limitations and rules on ourselves that we lose that sense of freedom.  It's time to follow Picasso's example and try to think like children again and find the wonder in our everydays." - Shehzil Malik (illustrator/graphic designer)

"Creativity. That inspired moment that keeps me awake while others sleep."  - Lisa Krowinski (designer and owner of Sapling Press )