Quote Posts are thoughts and reflections that come to me when making quote images for social media. There is always a reason why a quote resonates with me, and I decided I wanted to share my observations with you. Many quotes are about design, but some are not, even if applicable to design and designers as well. Would love to hear what you think.
Maya Angelou: You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.
What is creativity?
What happens when you tell yourself (and others) again and again that “I am not creative”. Then, the Universe and your subconsciousness answer:
“OK – order registered. No more creative challenges will be sent your way!”
To be creative is an important part of being a graphic designer.
To “enjoy being occupied with colors and shapes” is useful for us, and I believe many of us can trace this way back to, a past as “child-drawers”.
Maybe that is why we have managed to keep in contact with the regenerating loop of creativity that always bites its own tail.
You may wonder: “What is a “child-drawer”?
It is a person who drew continuously as a child, and who was stimulated to remember in a visual way. Child-drawers draw about things they see and their own experiences. Without self-criticism, they keep a visual diary.
After a certain age, children stop drawing. WHY?
– they start looking around and see that others are “better” drawers than themselves.
– they start putting too high demands on their own drawing and slide into an idealization.
A “house”, a “car” or a “horse” can only look in a particular way, which is the way they look in popular media, cartoons, and advertisements. It kills the spontaneous creative drawing when one constantly compares what one achieves with a stereotypical ideal. This goes for every area where children are boldly creative. “It should not look like that!” effectively stops all attempts and when the teens arrive it is no longer very cool to draw, either…
A Child Drawer is a grown-up person who went on drawing when everyone else stopped.
Because they continue using their creativity, it continues to grow.
The loop constantly bites its own tail – round and round it goes.
“The more you use, the more you have”
And it is never to late to jump into the loop.
