Class Assignments
For two of our class assignments we were required to find both a webpage designer and a creative genius to find out how they view creativity. Below is their responses.
Questions:
- How did you get into what you do?
- Do you think you would be able to teach what you do?
- What inspires you?
- What do you do to get into the creative zone?
- What is your favorite accomplishment?
- Do you ever create hidden meanings or messages in your work?
- If you had the option, would you prefer to share your work with others, or would you prefer to go unnoticed?
- Do you pay attention to other's strong reactions to your work? Does that affect what you create?
- Who do you define as visionary?
- If your creative work was edible, what would it taste like?
Webpage Designer: Christian Sparrow
1. I bought an Apple G3 back in 1998 on credit, invested in a bunch of graphic design and software books, researched and memorized industry acronyms and terms as they evolved, and generall hunkered down between 6 and 16 hours a day until I started knowing my stuff.
2. Sure. I used to be a teacher before switching over to design. I love teaching.
3. Just about everything. And I mean that literally. The ocean and people obviously. Also, other people's thoughtfulness and creativity that's not aimed at their own egos. That's worth noting. Mostly the little things that go unnoticed though; like the texture of a sidewalk or the behavioral patterns of a critter, or maybe a person sitting on a crowded bus who squints every time light shoots through the window between city blocks, lighting up their face. That sort of stuff is where ideas are waiting to be discovered.
4. I put on noise-cancelling headphones and music. Sometimes I go for a quick walk if it's a real cruncher for an important client. Forced creativity is very hard, especially because it's counter-intuitive.
5. My marraige. In terms of design stuff, I think it's the fact that I got where I am today by never lettin gup on learning new things, and never doubting that I could get better over time if I kept at it.
6. All the time.
7. I don't like terms like "rock star" or "hero." They are trendy, obnoxious, and narcissistic. I think people try way too hard to get noticed by appending these kinds of titles to their personal brands, when all they really need to do is share their work openly with the community and let others decide whether or not they deserve to be recognized of their creative contributions. Sharing work helps us all. It celebrates our creative thoughts as individuals, and lets others evolve them into new and potentially better iddeas. It's too bad when some people think they are cooler than kool-aid when they do something original. For me, the process is the prize.
8. Yes and yes, but it depends. I don't know everything. So when I make something that I think is intuitive and easy to use, only to find out that it confuses the crap out of people, I change how it works. Humility is a powerful learning tool. I use it often. Also, failure is a part of being creative. Not all ideas are good ones. But that fact should never get in the way of brave and adventurous creative thinking. Failing often is healthy. It thinkens the skin, and helps us to see and avoid potential issues.
9. My dog, Oscar. The way he masterfully and tactfully begs for a cookie is something I just can't get my head around. No human could ever pull it off. It's pure genius.
10. Sushi.
Visit Christian Sparrow's Website to Learn More
Creative Genius: Joe Patrick
1. I got into web desgin for the world creation because I have always been a big fan of video games and computer simulations. One of the first games I remember playing for many hours was a simulation game called Sim City. In this game you build a large city and run all the day-to-day affairs, just as in the real world. The models were very crude by today's standard but I was hooked on the ability to control this city and make it blossom or burn to the ground. It suits me because I was once told by a friend that I have a god complex. When I told that friend later that I was designing and creating games she knew said that I must be very happy because I am satisfying my god complex. Now, instead of building a city, I get to create entire worlds for other people to run around and have fun in.World building is extremely exciting and fun for me. I get to design every aspect of a player's experience and can turn it into anything I want.
2. Yes I could definitely teach other people to use the software that I use. I have done this before and am still involved in teaching other people to use the software. However, I do not think that I could teach someone to be creative because I am not a muse.
3. It may be hard to believe, but I try to take some sort of inspiration from everything around me. I made a few music videos when I was in school because I was inspired by the songs. When someone sees my work and makes a woo noise, that inspires and motivates me. When I build a world and can actually run around in it, knowing that I built it inspires me. Having a great idea and knowing that I have the ability to materialize it inspires me the most.
4. When I am getting ready to start a project, I spend a few weeks thinking about everything that is going to go into it. I write down everything I can think of and I build every model in my head to see if it is going to work or not. Once I feel that I have thought it out and I know how I want the flow to go, I smoke to cool my nerves. This has the effect of calming the storm of ideas that are in my head, when I am about to start a new project, and helps to slow my mind in order to choose a starting point. Smoking does not make me creative, but it does help to clear my mind and think of one thing at a time, instead of the crashing ocean of ideas that I usually have in my brain.
5. My favorite accomplishment is a music video I made for my first animation class. To me it is very crude and simple, but for some reason everyone who watches it, loves it. I posted it to Youtube, which was a requirement for the project, and before I showed it to the class it had already had over 5,000 hits. As it sits now, it has been up for 3 years and has had 188,109 hits. It has a 5 star rating, and has been rated 389 times. What surprised me the most is that in 213 comments, not one said that the video sucked. It is my favorite accomplishment because some creative people will go through their entire lives and never get that many people to view their work
6. I always put hidden messages and meanings in my work. I call them Easter eggs. Anyone who is familiar with gaming knows what Easter eggs are. I have some good examples of some of the Easter eggs I have put into my worlds. One of the levels that I have built had a medieval theme. It was a castle with high walls and the proper decor. However if you took a rocket launcher and aimed it at the moon you could shoot it out of the sky. It would fall down and you could push the moon model around the level and do whatever you wanted with it. In that same level I placed a hidden room. You would not know this room was there as the player because you had to stumble onto it. If you did find it you went down a set of stairs and into another hidden room where I modeled and built an indoor marijuana grow room, complete with plants and lights. The hidden message there was Legalize it!!
7. I love sharing my work. One of the biggest motivators for me is that hundreds, hopefully even thousands, of people get to see the work that I put hundreds of hours into. If they like it, that is a big thrill.
8. Everything I have created has been for myself. So if others like what I have made that’s nice. If others don’t it’s no big deal. I enjoy constructive criticism. It helps me learn. I believe that one brain can think of a lot of things but five or six can think of almost everything.
9. Stanley Kubrick in my mind was a visionary. In 1964 a movie was released called Dr. Strange Love or: How I learned to stop worry and love the bomb. The climax of this comedy is the destruction of the planet with a dooms day device. At a time, when in response to the incidents involving U.S naval vessels U.S.S. Maddox and the U.S.S. Turner Joy, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passes the "Gulf of Tonkin Resolution," allowing the President "to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force" to prevent further attacks against U.S. forces. This man produces a comedy about the cold war and the end of human kind as we know it. I always loved a story where everyone dies in the end.
10. One of my favorite television programs is called Hell’s Kitchen. If you don’t know of it, twelve chiefs compete for a heads chief’s job at a restaurant in some fancy hotel. The host is a madman named Gordon Ramsey. If my work were edible it would be on that show, maybe Pan-Roasted Scallops, or a John Dory. Whatever it was Chief Ramsey would critique it as spot on with good flavor and I would get through to the next round.
Joe Patricks's First Animation Video (His Favorite)
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