Creativity is just connecting things

I’ve been reading a lot about Steve Jobs recently. So many quotes stick out but this one is particularly good…

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.”
Wired, February, 1995

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Design for the issue at hand not the medium

Erik Spiekermann talks with Elliot Jay Stocks about how typography is used in the digital domain and what digital designers can learn from traditional print techniques.

“In two years we wont have a distinction between web deign and print design… The way to design is the same, you give content form, and the medium is really always different anyway whether it’s plastic, paper, cardboard, I don’t really care.”

Meta Serif is totally awesome.

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Tham Khai Meng on his creative process

“It’s a process, not necessarily linear, it’s orthogonal, it’s everywhere, it can be chaotic, and it’s actually very messy, the whole creative process is actually very messy”

“Creative people are insecure, not about the job but about ideas, it’s frightening to look at a white piece of paper.”

“All ideas have parents, you are actually putting two things together, and you get the third thing”

“I’d rather someone challenge me; because I know they are helping me get up there, to fresh ideas”

“It’s not a doable job”

Tham Khai Meng is Worldwide Creative Director of Ogilvy

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John Jay on creativity

“You don’t hire an agency to have their thinking totally imposed upon you – The greatest thing that we can do is to be great listeners and to have empathy for your culture, to understand what is the truth.”

John Jay is Creative Director Worldwide at Wielden Kennedy.

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Using your mind to have a good time

Come on guys – Let’s get creative!

True creativity is a very messy process.

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared was made by THIS IS IT.

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