Practice discovered through Research and Inspiration!

Practice is commenced through gathering research from different forms of elements and media that are found inspiring to you as a creative practitioner. Through the use of taking advantage of the tools and things that surround you influence you to broaden your minds as to finding raw materials to generate a creative outcome. Looking at the technical and conceptual side of things helps you to respond to the emotional and the appreciative sides from these influential materials that inspire your constant creative thinking, and the work you produce. Research is a fundamental aspect of design practice and an essential part of problem solving, research can be carried out through many forms of materials and media, collecting, drawing and images. By surrounding yourself with things that inspire you is the key to basic primary research and brings you one step closer to being a creative practitioner.

Secondary research is a method of which I tend to use when coming up with an initial idea, through this preference I choose to explore, examine and digest numerous things, people and different forms of media that surround me this supports my way of creative thinking and analyzing. Exploring and analyzing these interests and themes makes me capable of contributing to a deeper and in-depth understanding of the subject. By demonstrating this particular way of practicing is by recording these ideas in your own personal reflective journal.  Taking pictures, scanning, and Photoshop them is what helps me to imitate my idea’s and inspirations through experimenting and manipulating with images, my preferences and interests are what describes my own personal visual vocabulary and this helps me to generate new and fresh idea’s and use it as a source material, and helps me to challenge myself to create an ongoing creative process of enquiry.

Many creative designers find inspiration and idea’s from collecting, observation, drawing and other forms of techniques, by relating and understanding how visual communicators work and produce one is capable to progress and advance one’s own practice. The significance of a person’s practice is to be knowledgeable of other people’s practices and question how they come up with idea’s and generate a creative outcome through various resources and preferences. Assess other artists and how they challenge their mindsets to follow through their creative process. Inspiration is around us collecting helps stimulate things and reignite our thinking of fresher ideas and help us to work hard to gain the role of a practitioner.

“The ability to think visually and the development of a personal visual language comes from learning the basics, being open-minded, hard work, sustained practice and taking risks”

Mark Wigan - Thinking Visually 2006

Through the research and observing your surroundings and finding inspiration echo’s your practice and your fundamental thinking. Fundamental practice is seen through inspirational materials that are recorded and manipulated in your own style. Don’t recycle but invent in stuff and interpret your own designs and ideas. Being aware of your surroundings support the process of fresh new ideas. Recording in your RVJ that are relevant to your work represents your practice and understanding of where your inspiration and ideas come from. .. For instance i have used Andy Warhol as my inspiration as he produced the visual Movement through Pop Art which has influenced me over the years. His influence of bright printmaking skills has inspired my magazine work and helped me develop new ideas and learn new skills along the way.

Bricolage and its use in contemporary culture and Notions of Originality

Learning the historical background of any medium or artwork affects the way the meaning can be approached. Although recreating a contextual reference requires a narrative of initial intention of the reconstruction, it signifies a piece to be shown in depth and refined quality. Many designers use bricolage to come up with innovative and unique ideas and is an important aspect in visual communication. Through the acceptance of bricolage the remake of existing ideas or imagery can suggest a lack of originality, but the intention and meaning behind it can be used as an inspirational reference or an established theme which can lead to the development of a new concept or imagery. The use of bricolage in photography is prevalent in original imagery.

 For example Rankin’s interpretation of Richard Avedon’s Dovima with Elephants shows its true intention of how images changed the fashion expression. This shows its use of appreciated photography and suggests the in depth intention of the content and the use of originality in the promotion of the theme of the reference. The idea initially is conceptually different only to reference the meaning recreated for different purpose of imagery. It can also suggest a pastiche reference through being put across as superficial, however the original content and the initial intention can help create new meaning’s and inspirational focus to uncovering unique talent through appreciated conceptual reference. By appreciating past reference can you development of thought occur in any idea.

To get the zest of recreating contemporary imagery, the notion of originality should be explored. The lack of conceptually originality can be justified by referring to the inspirations and utilize it effectively, this shows that their intended meanings differ substantially. Referring to the ideologies behind the idea acknowledges the use of the concept or image for your own purpose supports your knowledge of contextual art. The inspirations noticed and the personal proximity to it creates originality. As the population evolves and changes the more practitioners can digest historical context and interpret into unique and sophisticated styles and ideas. Therefore the analysis of bricolage imagery and the notion of originality tie together and create a new kind of visualization that differ the initial idea to something original.

Overcoming Mindsets whilst Managing a Creative Environment

Creativity is more than a way of thinking.  It encourages you to broaden your minds and assist you to explore your general curiosity of coming up with fresh new idea’s that create an element of surprise,  than giving into our traditional way of doing things. This supports a creative practitioner to challenge their initial connections or idea’s we would typically make when problem solving. When being creative one must overcome negative attitudes towards creative thinking, overcoming mindsets helps you to tackle your everyday problems, social life and relationships. By a conventional approach to avoid habitual thinking. It serves a purpose to support a person to go beyond the predictable and easy road and find u- turns to help broaden the mind to all possibilities and be given the opportunity for true creative expression.

To be creative is to take risks and learn from our mistakes and being able to get out of our comfort zone.  Being safe with an idea prevents the skillful and spontaneous thinking that most negative people lack, to avoid thinking of the bad things, prevents an individual to take risks and be crazy and enthusiastic in their work, which will help them gain creative results. Limitation prevents the true creative expression of a brilliant idea. To truly become a creative practitioner within the creative industry you must overcome negative attitudes towards things and let go of perfectionism. To challenge oneself to produce a creative art piece is to have the desire to be inspired by it. As students we are encouraged to cross boundaries and break rules to remove ourselves from familiarity and to work towards originality.

A working environment influences you to experiment and work creatively. The availability of a stable working environment assists in the production of coming up with creative idea’s and your development of creativity and originality. A stimulating place can allow creative individuals to interact and broaden their minds.  Culture is an important part of our lives it motivates unique and creative idea’s and helps us to keep up with changes in society and our lifestyle. For example Popular Culture not specifically art in western societies are coming up with new ideas and inventions that stimulate our environment, to reveal what is around you helps you to see things in life from a creative perspective and is centered on freedom of expression. Collecting helps you to appreciate and be passionate about a subject. It can help you to reflect your own interests within your idea’s and be inspired by your surroundings, for example my working environment helps stimulate a secure space to experiment and bring new and fresh idea’s to the table challenging typical mindsets.

Utilise Creative Brain and Drawing in Visual Communication!

Being creative is a way of thinking, and a way of thinking is drawing. Drawing is an essential part of creating and developing idea's as it allows us to visualize them; this enables us to generate an initial intention and theme of an idea. It helps us to see the advantages and disadvantages and create visual solutions of further development to improve on them. It is an entirely different process of thinking in words or drawing with the simple materials like a pencil and paper.  

When working creatively it is significant to make use of both sides of your brain, as it supports your intentions of generating ideas, and to reach your full potential by aiming towards your goal. Both inputs allow you to progress your creative side that is linked with the logical side and helps narrow down the evaluation process and be open to improvements to help produce new solutions. 

This helps identify the problems with the design/idea, and encourages us to play and organize; with the input of both sides of the brain it enables us to visualize the problem by planning ahead using your RVJ. Planning your idea’s across the page gives you a chance to explore and experiment ways in which to present your design in forms of different angles. This compliments where the focus of the design is, and points to how to solve the design problem. It encourages opening your mind to the possibilities and using the pages in your reflective visual journal to plan big in the open space given rather than plan your idea’s small that won’t be seen. For example, for my magazine project we had experimented different ways as to prepresent facts about birmingham here i have illustrated all of the Bullring Shops within the shape of the bull.

Both sides of the brain work together in order to produce an apparent solution to the problem which conveys your initial idea, both sides compliment one another by working together as it supports your problem by pointing towards the solution. Having general awareness of when these modes occur supports how effective the creative process will develop. This is shown by creating your ideas with connotations of the use of the design this helps you to pinpoint the solution and evaluate again.  It supports your visual vocabulary to develop further and helps you to reflect your initial idea with more idea’s and helps you to improve your creative thinking.

Working by hand helps you to engage a connection with your creative right brain, and helps you to convey idea’s visually. Although in various cases drawing emerges by means of working by hand. When visually exploring idea’s it enables your creative side to explore beyond the initial barrier’s and store your ideas, drawings and experimentations using all kinds of elements and forms of mixed media across the pages of your reflective visual journal. Numerous individuals have negative behaviours towards drawing; this limits their ability to work to their full potential. The RVJ provides a safe environment, as it allows you to take risks and work beyond your comfort zone. It guides you to explore ways of challenging your skills in mark making into developing ideas further.