Build Design Systems With Penpot Components
Jul 21, 2:15 AM
Penpot's new component system for building scalable design systems, emphasizing designer-developer collaboration.
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UX Planet — Medium | Cassius Kiani Icons by Eccentricons
To most of us, creativity seems like a magical and mysterious force that only comes around once in a blue moon.
Occasionally, we get these magical light bulb moments where inspiration pops into our head and suddenly we can create masterpieces.
We can create for days on end and then (as if nothing happened) the light bulb will turn off, and we have to wait again to be inspired enough to create something magical.
The reality is that’s not how creativity works.
Creativity (like most things) is a process, and if you work towards the process (looking after your body and mind in the interim), you’ll find that being brilliant on a moment’s notice and having incredible creativity isn’t tricky at all.
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Creativity Starts in the Kitchen.
Creativity ultimately derives from how well you look after yourself.
How you eat, sleep and manage your free time will make a world of difference.
You can turn around tomorrow and say, “I’m going to get eight hours of sleep tonight” and take the steps to get eight hours of sleep.
Or, you can reverse engineer the process. Put lavender oil on your pillow and make sure your phone is off by 9:30 p.m, making yourself ready for eight hours of sleep.
The same can be said with food, “tomorrow I’m going to make sure that I eat more greens and fewer cheeseburgers.” People often forget that they’re in control of these simple actions, and it’s these simple actions that make a world of difference.
Whatever you put into your body is the fuel it uses to create, contribute and improve your creativity. You don’t have to see a dietician and you don’t have to make any life-altering changes; little things will make a big difference. You don’t need a lecture on eating better and sleeping more, all you need is to put it into practice.
If you’re already brilliant when you’re eating cheeseburgers and functioning on 3 hours of sleep per day, imagine how incredible you’re going to be with a few simple tweaks.
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And Then With Inspiration.
Without great inspiration, creativity is much harder to manifest.
You should aim (in whatever you do) to keep a record of what inspires you. This counts for anything (and everything) that you see that you would like to replicate or steal in some way.
In Austin Kleon’s book Steal Like an Artist, he describes how a great artist will steal and improve on existing work, while a bad artist will copy and make no improvement. There’s nothing wrong with being heavily inspired by something, as long as what you’re doing adds value (or a new perspective) to the previous version of it.
Without inspiration, all you’re left with is your own ideas and experiences.
If nothing inspires you, you’re essentially saying that you have seen and done everything in the world that could possibly happen.
That’s not true or possible. Look a little harder; there are great people in the world, and it’s worthwhile to be inspired by them
Having a great folder of inspiration or a ‘swipe file’ is pivotal for creativity because it gives you something to work from, reference and generate ideas. Make a collection that you can easily revisit whenever you’re in need of ideas.
As always, make sure the sources you’re being inspired by are a league above where you are now. If you’re inspired by work from the best people then you’ll raise your game and learn from the best too.
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Next Comes Understanding Time.
Something that we’re all guilty of (especially in the beginning) is using our time like coins into a slot machine.
We assume that if we put time into a myriad of random areas (at different times in the day) then eventually the slot machine will pay out.
The reality is we can’t look at time this way.
Not only is this unsustainable and basing your entire life on complete potluck, but sporadically splitting our time between five things at once doesn’t work in the real world.
In reality, we need to be brilliant on demand.
It doesn’t matter if you’re working a full-time job or you’re working on a freelance client project, there’s always deadlines and things that need to happen. If you’re not using your time as effectively as possible, how can you be sure, or even hopeful that these things will happen?
Sometimes the very thing that’s blocking you is the best way forward.
Rather than running in circles and putting coins into slot machines, take the appropriate steps to work through and break down the problem in front of you.
Look at your time as if you were investing it into a portfolio of stocks and shares. When you invest your time into the right places, over time it’ll pay off 10x in dividends. Investing means that when you need to make a hefty withdrawal (crazy deadlines or hardcore workloads) you’ll be in a better place to do so and you’ll still be able to be brilliant afterwards. If you shallowly invest in loads of different, unrelated options you’re unlikely to see decent returns (if any).
With the slot machine approach, in a bad situation you’ll run out of coins? Then what? Burnout.
On days when your creativity isn’t flowing or things are feeling a bit slow, make sure you’re still investing your time into the right places. Trust in the process and use your time well on what matters to you.
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Then There’s Actionable Feedback.
Even if you’re looking after your body, you’re surrounding yourself with fantastic pieces of inspiration, and you’re managing your time efficiently, you’ll always need feedback.
You need an actionable way of seeing if what you’re doing is working or if there’s a better way of doing things.
In some instances, you’ll be lucky enough to work with a bunch of incredible designers where you can get incredible feedback, quickly.
They’ll tell you if something needs more negative space or if you need to balance whatever it is you’re working on.
In some instances, you’re not going to be so lucky. But that doesn’t matter.
If you want to surround yourself with better designers, it’s simple. Contact them and ask for help. They’ll always be more than happy to lend an experienced hand (people are nice if you’re nice).
But don’t fret if you can’t find these incredible designers to give you feedback, anyone with eyes, ears and a good heart is worth still worth asking. You can get the right feedback by asking the right questions.
For example, if you’re stuck with a tricky visual balancing issue and it doesn’t feel right, then ask someone, but ask them in a way that they can give you a response which would be useful.
When asking your 46-year-old mother to let you know why a signup box is looking a bit weird, don’t say to her…
“Hey, Mom, this signup box is a bit weird. Should I move things five pixels to the left, 10 pixels up, or should I just scale everything by 120%?”
…she’ll look at you like you’ve got three heads.
Instead, try asking…
“Hey, Mom, what’re the first thought that come into your head when you look at this?”
Tailor your language and questions to your audience as much as possible. You’ll be amazed at how much insight even a technophobe mother can impart.
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And Finally, Blockers & Enablers.
The last part of being brilliant on demand is understanding what blocks you and what enables you to do the best work that you can.
At the end of every day, week and month, write down what your blockers are and what your enablers were.
A blocker is anything which stops you creating your best work:
- the fact that you don’t understand the tool you’re using
- the fact that you were tired and feeling lethargic
- the fact that you’re having difficulty getting feedback from people.
These are all common blockers that plague even the most accomplished creatives from time to time.
Identifying blockers is good practice because it makes you mindful of what you can do to stop them occurring again. If you’re tired, get more sleep. If you’re struggling to use a tool, pencil in some time to learn it.
Once you remove a blocker, it’ll stop impeding your ability to be brilliant on demand.
Of course, you can’t control everything and if something completely outside of your control is blocking you from moving forward, find a workaround. It’s important to tell yourself (no matter what the problem) that you’re able to work and get through anything — that’s an attitude that breeds brilliance in itself.
Enablers, on the other hand, do the opposite. They help you be brilliant and do your best work. If you find and identify an enabler, do your best to hold on to it for as long as possible and use it in a mindful way to continue improving what you do.
For some, enablers could be surrounding yourself with the right people, drinking more water or having a cup of coffee before work. Be wary, you can have too much of a good thing. While one coffee might improve your performance, one per hour might be detrimental to your health.
Life is about balance and you need to bear in mind how enablers could affect your health and happiness as much as you need to be concerned with how they’re used.
So what’s next? Well, it’s time to be brilliant.
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How to Be Brilliant and Create Amazing Work at a Moment’s Notice was originally published in UX Planet on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
