by Janine Calise, Creative Director, 4Design, LLC


You have just been introduced to a dynamic opportunity. A heart pumping, adrenaline boosting project that has your mind exploding with ideas. So many possibilities skyrocketing in every imaginable direction. You get back to your desk and try to sketch these ideas out as fast as possible as not to forget any of the details circling in your head, then.....Boom – a distraction comes into play, another call, an email, whatever. Now you get back to it after only a couple of hours and where did your creative energy go? How can you regain that spark? You start to sift through your notes to regain that excitement but it feels as if you’re staring back at a blank canvas. Sound familiar?


You are not alone! Many creatives deal with this every day. Why does this happen? Because a creative mind is always “on.” We are thinkers, problem solvers multi-tasking in the areas of creation, administration, sales, marketing, etc. Our constantly changing roles and time limitations can cause us to make things more complex than they need to be. There are a few basic rules to help define your parameters so that your focus is clear and your race to deliver brilliance is more productive and gratifying.


When faced with this challenge we need to think about: Why this project? What is its purpose? Who is our audience? What are we looking to accomplish? When is it due? Where will the end project be? How will this be pulled together? Then you are ready to roll. Next stop – table fear and mediocrity – be far reaching and take creative risks.


Use your resources. Other creatives can help get the pulse started, give you persepective or potential solutions you may have overlooked. Resist becoming a slave to task driven items, invest in the more important capacity- building work and establish a formal time to generate ideas, both necessary and unnecessary. This gets that creative rythm established and broadens what your creative output will be overall. Take a deep breath, open your mind and allow your imagination to soar.


Vol. 2 Issue 3 | 29


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