Employers and clients want to hire nimble thinkers: People who are not only content experts, but who also are agile in adapting to new technology and new directions in their fields. With rapid technological changes and globalization, the ability to think creatively and strategically is crucial. How does a creative professional flourish in the digital age?
Prepare Your Imagination:
• Consider everything you see, hear and learn as content. Listen. Observe. Connect.
• Problem find: Do things (make, draw, paint, write) for their own sake, as opposed to doing things that are merely a means to achieve a design solution.
• Go old school. Pick up a pencil and draw. Go pre-school. Play.
Think Critically:
• What are the parameters? Would it be advantageous to reinvent the boundaries?• What are you trying to make happen? What results do you want?
• What are possible alternatives and their respective advantages or disadvantages?
• Look at the problem from the audience’s point of view. Seek an insight.
Think Creatively:
• Work backwards: Make stuff and then deconstruct the content for meaning.
• Would changing the context or reframing it change the outcome?
• Pose any or all of the following: What if…? If only… Suppose you could… If you combine x and y, then you might get…
• Can you create content that is entertaining, informative, useful or beneficial?