Friday 27 April 2012

Being Creative

For our needs I certainly believe that being able to think of new alternatives and to see things from a different perspective are essential skills to be nurtured. 


There is a belief that our creativity can appear unique simply because of associated memory towards particular words. 


If for example I said 


"Haunted Cow"


And you recall an event from your past with a poor sick cow you might draw this - 


Ghostly Haunted Cow
"Moo!....wait...I mean Boo!"


Whereas I remember being chased by an enormous cow when I was a boy and would be compelled to draw this - 


Possessed Haunted Cow


Tapping into this reservoir of random associated word groups could lead to an extremely interesting body of work. 


Despite the cow metaphor it seems like a fresh approach.


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For a studio, creative solutions and a fresh perspective are key strategies to finding their place in the industry. Being innovative with existing development processes and technology is a sure fire way to get your company noticed. 




One of the most useful tools for generating creativity is defined limitations. The sooner these are established the better. 
Having constraints on a project can help you and your team focus. You will know exactly what is required of you which in turn allows you to add more quality to your work.


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As an artist your own 'voice' is a mark of creativity. How you interpret different stimuli and the 'world' as we know it is perceptually different from another person. This becomes your 'personal style'. It should be honed and refined as often as possible because this is how you will communicate to the world exactly what you can do.


Notable praise arises when a character is redesigned by another artist. This is simply a re-envisioning of an established, maybe even iconic concept. But it is conceived as being creative still. All art is an imitation so each iteration has it's merits. 
What is interesting is their perception of how the character should look, which traits they bring to the surface. 


This is a re-imagining of the 1980's animated cartoon characters 'He-Man' and 'Skeletor' by Mark Djurdjevic
Original 1980's He-Man
Original 1980's Skeletor

































There is such vulnerability in these new concepts as opposed to the 'hulked-out' over powered originals. Gone is his golden skin and voluminous locks. This new 'He-Man' has a grim disposition in contrast to the boyish features of the 80's. Like he's carrying a heavy burden.

I think the new 'Skeletor' has the creep factor turned up to 11. He certainly looks like the ruler of Snake Mountain



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One of the needs that is central to our way of living is that in practising creativity we are able to combat boredom.  










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Twisted Pixel are certainly creative with their developments. 




As a special move in 'Comic Jumper' you unleash the pounding fist of the whole dev team at your enemies. 
Finished off with CTO Frank Wilson deploying a screen shattering head butt. 
Possibly breaking the 4th wall along with it. 


Frank Wilson - Twisted Pixel's CTO
Turns and nods before delivering his finishing move.


As I was reading through the wikipedia page on creativity I noticed the terms "Little C", "Big C". 






Could this be where Media Molecule sourced the name of their BAFTA award winning game Little Big Planet






Psychologist James C. Kaufman defines these terms as - 


Little C - "Everyday creativity - everyday problem solving and creative expression."


Big C - "Eminent creativity - reserved for those who are considered truly great in their field.


I wonder? 


Media Molecule is now an acquisition of Sony Computer Entertainment and Twisted Pixel in respect has been acquired by Microsoft
Two great investments in my opinion. 

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