It’s interesting that we are discussing creative process in this unit. It’s something that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately, particularly due to the collaboration that I have been doing in the process class. Below is (was?) my typical process for any project. It was a rather mechanical step-by-step process that I learned years ago when I was at Art Center. It’s a good process, it works as needed, but it’s a step by step process. There is almost a connotation that if you follow these steps, you should get a set of results and in most cases you do. Are these the best results?  possibly.

What I’ve started to look at and explore in my personal process was it’s lack of organic flow. In working with my collaborators I was noticing how others process was less mechanical than mine and a bit more organic and they seemed to get some what better results. I took a risk and attempted to be more organic in my process as well and discovered that I felt I got better results as well.

From there I questioned how can I combine these two methodologies in a way that makes sense and works for me. At this point I haven’t exactly found a process that I would say is a “constant”. What I’m discovering is that each project may have it’s own process. In one instance my more mechanical process may be the one that works, in another it might be a completely organic process and in some cases a hybrid of mechanical and organic.

Having said all that, what I’ve discovered through this is to always question my process. Not to rely on tropes and constantly challenge myself to be an even better designer.