Creativity is a resource – you can buy it

You’re about to learn how much of a nerd I really am. I recently bought Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty. Most people forked out around $60 for this game – I spent $100 for the collectors edition. You might ask, ‘really Scott? An extra $40 for the exact same game? Was it worth it?’ and my response is this: it will be.

Why did I do it? Creativity. As a designer, I am constantly looking for deposits of creative and inspiring material. It’s my fuel. I doubt there’s an artist out there that would dare say that they don’t owe a large portion of their success to other creative influences. It’s quite simple: creativity fuels creativity. So the question is, do we invest in creative influences?

I bought the collectors edition because I knew it would be full of all kinds of eye candy, storyline, and beautiful illustrations. Whose to say that the extra $40 won’t lead to me making thousands more on a particular illustration? Whose to say it won’t make me hone my skills to a level that lands me my next job? The fact is, we can’t see what kind of impact these things will have on our future. At least not immediately. But I’m willing to bet that each of you can look back and pinpoint very significant sources of creativity that seemed insignificant or trivial at the time you were exposed to them.

Finding creative resources

So, what else do I do to expose myself to creativity? I make a point to see good movies in the theater and subscribe to netflix. I go to concerts and visit art exhibits. I read comic books and design publications. I pay extra for good packaging, and several other things that carry good graphic design.

I know what you’re thinking. You get this through your rss feeds and the websites you visit. You’re right, those are excellent sources of creative fuel. But don’t be afraid to step outside of the box. Go to a concert. Buy a few apps simply because they look pretty. Go buy a cd – not from iTunes – buy the hardcopy and enjoy the cover art, the layout, and the inserts that are designed with it. Buy an action figure to sit on your desk. There are plenty of examples out there, and what works for me might not work for you. So explore them. Don’t be afraid to shovel out some cash for them. Don’t be afraid to rearrange your schedule for them.

The point of this post isn’t to say that I’m doing it right and that you’re doing it wrong. It’s to encourage all of us to look for sources of creative inspiration in our lives. And once we find them, to make them a priority. They are not expenses – they are investments. I would have very little imagination if it wasn’t for the thousands of legos I had as a kid. Most people would call those toys. I call them tools.

Visual Metaphors, at their finest, can be the most powerful forms of communication. They are made when a subject is portrayed in relation to another unrelated subject or context. These visual metaphors are all around us. They are found in the most memorable and witty advertising campaigns and political cartoons. In the case of Banksy, they are also very effective in street art.

Banksy is a graffiti artist that hails from Bristol, England. He often uses stencils to produce highly provocative imagery,usually regarding politics and capitalism. Over the last decade, he has become a sensation that has swept through contemporary culture. His work has been featured in galleries–and empty walls–around the world. However, only a select few actually know who he is. Despite his popularity, he has managed to maintain his anonymous identity. Little is known about his early history, but he has released some information through several select sources and interviews. According to his story, he began quite unsuccessfully. He was too slow at graffiti and would get caught or forced to abandon his work before it was finished. The idea of using stencils to produce detailed images efficiently came to him as he hid from the police under a train carriage and he noticed a stenciled serial number on the carraige.

He has come a long way from those humble beginnings. His work is now widely popular. He has expanded his mediums to also include sculpture and installation pieces, and several of his exhibitions have even featured animatronics. The artwork that finds its way to auctions usually walks away with a six figure price tag. He has also done artwork for several album covers and even published his own book entitled “Wall and Peace.”

How did this artist become so popular? Well, there are several factors that have played into his success. His anonymous identity has certainly had an effect. The fact that his work is usually only available for a short time because of censorship makes it rare; thus, people everywhere are desperate to grab any part of it they can. However, neither of these reasons give enough credit to Banksy’s ability as an artist. Anyone can become an anonymous graffiti artist. Cities everywhere are full of them. Banksy is more than a no name thug spray painting his name on park benches. Instead, he is an artist that has mastered the use of visual metaphors. That alone has pushed him above others in his field.

Visual Metaphors are powerful because they are images that are far from ordinary. They use two things that we normally don’t see in context of each other. Hence, they stand out in our minds. In fact, the more unrelated the subjects, the better the metaphor. But selecting two objects and putting them together is only the beginning. In order to create a lasting impression, it is important to select subjects that already carry strong meaning. For example, Banksy could have simply painted a dove on a wall in Palestine. It would have a strong message of peace. On the other hand, he could have simply painted armed guards on the wall to imply war or hate. Instead, he used both: a dove wearing a bullet proof vest. Suddenly, the image has deeper meaning. It’s no longer just about peace or war. It’s about peace under fire. It’s about peace being threatened by hate. Suddenly peace isn’t only an ideal, it’s a delicate object that can easily be killed unless we protect it.

These metaphors can be found throughout Banksy’s work. His ideas are clear and powerful. Artists and designers that learn from his example can create good visual communication. Communication that anyone can relate to. Communication that everyone will remember and be moved by.