Originally Published on Nov. 2009 – try it

While interviewing Will McFarlane I was reminded how critically important it is to avoid getting caught up in the nuance of our creative fields.  “Music can be math without feel or tone” is one of my take away quotes in part II.  Extending that, any field can be dry when devoid of feel or tone”.

It’s way more about what we do with what we know, than what we know.  How extraordinarily remedial is that?  Yet, how much time do we all spend in the pursuit of technique at the sacrifice of feel and tone?  Some players get more feeling out of 3 major chords than others do with a full knowledge of music theory.  Some photographers have an intangible spirit to their work that leads others to a fruitless study of lighting technique.

Technique is great.  Lack of it is limiting.  Then again, tone and feel is worth a constant reminder of its importance to great work.

Biography:

It’s hard to imagine how many 12 year old young men watched the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1963 and were inspired to pick up the guitar saying, “I want to do that”. Many, I’m sure. Voice lessons at six years old and piano a year later, young Will was clearly better primed than most.

Motown’s R&B captured Will’s imagination in High School while

growing up on Long Island, which helped him develop as a fine rhythm guitarist.

Bonnie Raitt enlisted the 23 year old college escapee McFarlane as a member of her band one night when she heard him play at a Cambridge, MA night club. He toured with her band from 1974 – 1980 before leaving the road to move into the studio.

While with The Bonnie Raitt band, Will shared stages with living blues and folk legends. That’ll do wonders for your playing but more importantly, Will learned to listen for what guitar licks to leave out to best play up the band.

In 1980 Will McFarlane joined the famed “Swampers”; He moved to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to play and learn from Jimmy Johnson and the boys. Bobby Blue Bland, Little Milton, Etta James and Johnnie Taylor are a few that get off hand mention as clients of Muscle Shoals Sound.

Since 2001, Will McFarlane, his Wife Janet, their three children, and five grand kids all live in North Carolina’s Triangle Region. The Will McFarlane Band plays regionally but Will continues his studio work in Nashville and Muscle Shoals as well as live gigs both nationally and abroad.

Frank Stasio, WUNC Radio interview of Will McFarlane

Many of us are heartbroken.  We love artifacts of design: the photo, the logo, the brochure, the packaging.  As uncomfortable as change feels, our economy has moved away from industry or information and into ideas.  Design thinking will replace designing artifacts as the focus of our creative institutions.

Designers are moving upstream or risk being mistaken for floating fish.  It may be time to stop promoting objet d’art and rediscover our value to both emerging and evolving companies.

Fast competition makes you question who you’re going to be next.  Disruptive ideas with smart clear design thinking helps us with answers and understanding; it goes beyond the artifact but nonetheless tells a compelling story with real value to courageous forward leaning companies bent on survival.   - Bruce DeBoer

In part I of the interview for PermissionToSuck.com, David Burney begins to explain how he thinks design is changing.

Biography (via NEW KIND website)

David has nearly 30 years experience building and leading creative services organizations. Most recently, David served for 4 1/2 years as Vice President of Brand Communications and Design at Red Hat—one of the most disruptive technology brands in the world. David led the company’s overall brand communications strategy, including all creative communications functions.

Prior to Red Hat, David was the owner of Burney Design, partner and Chief Creative Officer at Capstrat, and Chief Designer at the NC Museum of Art.

In addition to serving as Red Hat’s brand executive, David also created an internal innovation program to drive the power of design thinking throughout the company. The program fast became an integral part of quarterly executive meetings. It was subsequently leveraged across the company worldwide to create departmental and individual goals that align with annual corporate business objectives.

David is an active and long-time member of AIGA, the professional association for design. He was a founding member of the Raleigh chapter where he has served as President. He has also served as the Chair of the National President’s Council.

Your frozen mental picture is attached to a narrative.  Dreams feel like movies but the meaningful moment is a photograph in your mind with an ascribed story.  Precise and complete recall isn’t called video graphic memory now is it?

It’s a snapshot not perfectly composed with delicate shadow and highlight detail, yet, you’re emotions are there to support it; memories of smell, touch, and sound embedded in a feeling about the narrative.  It’s a mind frame of your first kiss with a memory of how your eye glasses got in the way and how you felt tentative, exhilarated, transformed, yet clumsy.

They bring us memories, tell us stories and illuminate paradox.  Without our own account we rely on the photographer to fill the narrative void.  Some photos are dismissed and some are arresting; you can take a bad photograph of any scene but at what point does a bad frame become reality well rendered?

Other than the fantastic or the fantastically tragic, nearly every scene is ordinary to someone. The talent of a great photographer is turning an ordinary scene into an arresting photo that helps illustrate a story, as well as doing it on demand regardless of circumstance.   A professional does this all while smiling.         - by Bruce DeBoer

In this TED presentation, David Griffin , photo director for National Geographic, offers examples of what gives talented photographers the ability to make human connections.

“Photography stands up amidst the media onslaught because it emulates how our mind freezes a significant moment”

View more of the Photographers Work featured in this presentation:
Michael (Nick) Nichols, Bruce Dale, Sam Able, Paul Nicklen, Chris Johns, William Albert Allard, David Alan Harvey, David Doubilet, Emory Kristof, Steve McCurry, Jonas Bendiksen, Brian Skerry, Randy Olson, James Nachtwey.

David Griffin’s Biography (via Director’s Pick Blog)

David Griffin is the Director of Photography of National Geographic magazine headquartered in Washington, DC. He is responsible for the overall photographic direction of the magazine, working with a staff of photo editors and photographers from around the globe.

Previously he was the Creative Director of U.S.News & World Report, Design Director of National Geographic Books, Associate Director of Layout & Design at National Geographic magazine. Before magazines David honed his journalistic skills at a number of newspapers: The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Hartford Courant, The Everett (Wa.) Herald, and The Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune.

David has been honored by the National Press Photographer Assoc., University of Missouri’s Pictures of the Year competition, Assoc. of Magazine Publishers, Ohio Newspaper Photographer Assoc., the Hearst Collegiate Photojournalism Awards, the Washington Art Directors Club, the Society of Newspaper Design, Print, and Communications Art.

Ask creative folks how their talent was revealed and you’ll probably hear a story of happenstance: my uncle gave me a camera, I got crayons for Christmas, my preschool teacher was a dancer or a likewise charming story of discovery.

It seems as though opportunity found them.  The fit was good; Aptitude harmonizing with occasion led to passion.  Not everyone has talent to be a musician, artist, or writer but we all have talent for something if we can find it and – with luck – get the education that enhances the find.

Historically our education skips this important discovery step.   Schooling gives priority to Math, Languages and Humanities in that order, followed distantly by the arts.  Did we ever have a creativity class?  Mostly we were taught to fear failure and follow formula.

Sir Ken Robinson’s TED presentation video has been widely distributed.  Permission to Suck is only the latest since its release in 2006 and won’t be the last.  Regardless, it would be almost irresponsible for a site devoted to creativity to evade posting a Sir Ken Robinson presentation.

“If you’re not prepared to be wrong you will not come up with anything original.” – Sir Ken Robinson

Here’s an alternate presentation of you’ve seen the TED video:  Sir Ken Robinson: A New View of Human Capacity

BIOGRAPHY (via Sir Ken Robinson website)
Sir Ken Robinson, PhD is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources and a New York Times Bestselling author. He works with governments in Europe, Asia and the USA, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the world’s leading cultural organizations. In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the UK Government. All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education (The Robinson Report) was published to wide acclaim in 1999. He was the central figure in developing a strategy for creative and economic development as part of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland, working with the ministers for training, education enterprise and culture. The resulting blueprint for change, Unlocking Creativity, was adopted by politicians of all parties and by business, education and cultural leaders across the Province. He was one of four international advisors to the Singapore Government for its strategy to become the creative hub of South East Asia.
For twelve years, he was Professor of Education at the University of Warwick in the UK and is now Professor Emeritus. He has received honorary degrees from the Open University and the Central School of Speech and Drama; Birmingham City University and the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. He was been honored with the Athena Award of the Rhode Island School of Design for services to the arts and education; the Peabody Medal for contributions to the arts and culture in the United States, and the Benjamin Franklin Medal of the Royal Society of Arts for outstanding contributions to cultural relations between the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2005 he was named as one of Time/Fortune/CNN’s.Principal Voices. In 2003, he received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to the arts and education. He speaks to audiences throughout the world on the creative challenges facing business and education in the new global economies.

Michael doesn’t consider himself creative. This isn’t a strange thing to hear, it’s a native thought to at least half the population. Maybe there’s something to it. After all, the average problem solver will adhere to formula and process. Is adding a+b to get “d” all that creative when your given both “a” and “b”? Question and answer – call and response – is the comfort in most zones.  When clients come to us with a photo layout, when an illustrator receives a rough sketch, or when musicians are handed a string chart, parameters are tight enough to apply something that looks and sounds creative enough to pass. Vibrancy resides in the problem not the solution. Solutions are sold as commodities. As well, we can find solutions waiting for problems, but who finds the problems? The tough creative challenge is defining a problem – finding the insight – inspiring the pen. Fact is, the solution may actually be in the problem once the discipline is found to define it. This is what Michael Bierut speaks of when he claims not to be creative. “I feel like I’m a Doctor and I can’t just practice medicine on myself, so I need patients that are sick, the sicker the better in fact.” Treatment in itself can be creative, yet the real nuggets remain in diagnosis. Without defining the problem we are doubtlessly treating the wrong ailment.

According to his online website Design Observer, “Michael Bierut studied graphic design at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, graduating summa cum laude in 1980. Prior to joining Pentagram in 1990 as a partner in the firm’s New York office, he worked for ten years at Vignelli Associates, ultimately as vice president of graphic design.”

In this video from the idea centric website The 99%, Michael Bierut offers a peek at his design philosophy and examples of treated ailments. Regardless of the opening disclaimer about his creative nature, Bierut is a first-class problem finder.

Using the word creativity is getting convoluted and possibly overused.  Semantics aside, creativity is basically an enigmatic black box in no urgent need of explanation until it serves a client, and then we need answers; we need witnesses.  We need presentation worthy processes and flow charts, or a portfolio of results so success rich it requires no authentication.  Rare is a product portfolio rich enough with creative triumph that testimonials are no longer required.

Testimonials are equal exchanges: nothing is more powerful than familiarity with greatness when attempting to strengthen a network. When I ask you to like me, you feel the emotional risk immediately unless I have a network of allies sending a clear message that my greatness is authentic and tested.

It takes years to develop skills enough to consistently deliver powerful messages.  Artists, musicians, writers, photographers all spend lifetimes glossing talent so the amperage will propel their massage above the din of a crowd.  It takes equal time to gain witness to those skills.

Networks are built because the hub gains equity as spokes are added.  Cynically speaking, testimonies are offered because a witness wants to be part of your greatness – it’s principally a selfish act.

A viral video co-created by a temporary assemblage of operators gains no testimony because there’s no expectation of repeat performances.  Discover the conductor of such an orchestra and in a flash we’ve found greatness with which we can associate.

At the risk of introducing a soundless tree riddle: we need witnesses to measure the imagination with which we use our skills to a creative end, but this is only necessary if our creativity is at the service of a client.

Honestly though, is there ever a circumstance where there is no client at all, and is it fair to claim that if a witness we seek, therefore a client we serve?

- by Bruce DeBoer

We create things. The value of those things can seem whimsical or at least slippery unless we accept entirely tangible remuneration. Naturally for creative professionals cash is a relatively small part of the deal; at times diminutive. Value whimsy, for lack of another label, is the alternative part of creative’s profit.

The whimsy comes from how we perceive our own work – guaranteed unrealistic – it’s either too high or too low. Art looks better framed on museum walls. Music sounds better live played by loved ones. Our own creations can fill us with pride or suck the life out of us – or both – but how we perceive it changes with context.

What intangible changes the perception of your work?  What changes the real value?

Rory Sutherland, the Ad Man not the Cyclist, is the current Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, joining the agency’s planning department in 1988. He’s also the Wiki Man at The Spectator and writer of his own blog .

In this video Sutherland reveals what I love about advertising. At its best, advertising adds value by altering our perception of the product. This may sound dirty but increasing your work’s whimsical value would do wonders to your emotional health regardless of form, would it not? Adding intangible value can be just as satisfying as “real” value according to Rory Sutherland.

A Manifesto for Creative Professionals.

Somewhere in your personal history a decision was made to forgo a “real job”; one your parents would understand.  Artist, creative director, writer, musician, photographer, actor, fine artist or pick one – you got attention for a talent or liked doing it so much that there was just no room to commit significant time to a profession less flattering gratifying. You became one of them sensitive types whose ego is vulnerably bonded to their work.  True objective distance is pointless but it’s best to have a survival strategy.

Let’s start here:

1.    Snub expectations.  Excitement needs space; throw a few elbows if required.  Picasso’s friend and art critic, Guillaume Apollinaire, encouraged his cohorts to “innovate violently!”   Much more risky for creative professionals, is to abide by rules.

2.    The boss is the problem; the puzzle to solve, the idea to create, the crowd to excite, or your soul to satisfy.  Don’t piss off the boss.

3.    There’s NO plan “B”. Quit moonlighting.  Put in the hours; work without a net.  If you have a plan “B” it’s too easy to bail, and you’ll want to.  Part timers can’t keep up with the guy who’s bustin’ it like a sex crazed school boy.

4.    It’s a passion play for pay. You’re a whore, or not, it all depends on how much money is in the bank.  It’s a crucial balance that keeps sanity from escaping.  Your clarity of purpose resolves the left and right hemispheres.  Ultimately the decision for what kind of creative you are going to be is up to you, but don’t let the vision go blurry.

5.    Industry best practices are not creative. Best practices are maintenance and benchmarking is linear: this leads to that, variation is less professional.  The state of the art didn’t arrive by formula or recipe.

6.    Your creativity is about your heart, not their surface. Creativity is your world view filtered through your talent. It’s your passion, experience, expertise, inspiration and your rules that drive you to create wonderful things that you’re destined to hate because they’re not good enough, and others are open to admire because they couldn’t do it.

7.    The committee is usually wrong; however the crowd is commonly right but incredibly dull. If you’re part of the crowd you will be sourced and forgotten.

8.    Ideas are like lightning strikes hitting you unaware after you’ve been rubbing a cat balloon on a wool carpet for months.

9.     Everyone is creative but only a select few can deal with the risk of ego crushing rejection that inevitably comes from the direction you least expect.  If your work is worth more to you than the safety of groups or a secure fortune then you’re “a creative”.

10.    That road block was dropped there for a reason; it’s so you learn how to maneuver or to accept the pain of hitting it.  Either way, if you don’t survive the test, it wasn’t worth the trip.

11.    Find a way to turn your weaknesses into strengths, but don’t tell anyone you’re doing it.

12.    Putting creativity into words dilutes the idea unless you’re a writer.  It’s only creative if you actually create it.  “I could’ve done that” doesn’t count.

13.    If you have a style, be sure it’s following you and not vice versa.  If you’re chasing your style, you’ve taken a wrong turn. (see  #5 “best practices”)  Follow your muse, let others call it your style.  Don’t borrow from yourself too often.

14.    Don’t let anyone talk you out of your passion. If you have passion for an idea, don’t lose it by asking others if they think it’s good.  They probably won’t.

15.    Lose the habit of being successful.  Success can doom your career to mediocrity. Embrace the fact that you’re never going to make it and find comfort in other things.  Once success becomes your work, it’s over and if you’re a creative professional, success looks an awful lot like cash and cheering crowds.

I’ve seen time lapse before, who hasn’t?  Maybe it’s a shaky seedling sprouting from the ground or a street scene with jittery people.  Yet, there’s an emotion to Ben’s short films that I find unexpected.  Not only is the still frame that captures the motion well considered but the motion itself has a power beyond the usual “cool” of time compression.

The shapes and movement are the definition of organic power and fluidity.  The movement of nature contrasted by the immovable man made objects and the planes landing at LAX like alien space craft as nature stays still.  The feelings from the hours fills a single frame.

“It’s a pretty organic process.  I don’t have any specific work flow or rules that I follow.  I shoot all my own footage, and I shoot *a lot*.

When I’m doing a shot, I’m out there standing in the cold, or the heat, or the fog and it kind of embeds a feeling of a place that
carries on with you on into editing.  I don’t go into a reel with a
plan – I’ll often try lots of different music and quick edits until I
find something that feels “right” and then roll with that feeling.

When I watch my earlier work, “Montipora” for example, I find that I get bored.  I felt that way when I was editing it too, but figured it was unique enough that it wouldn’t matter – however, in hindsight, I should have just gone with instincts.  Now, the moment I feel like something isn’t up to par, or boring, or doesn’t go well with the rest of the film – I just delete it and never think about it again.  More than half of the stuff I shoot ends up on the cutting room floor.

When I go out shooting, often I’ll have a vision for what I want to
capture, but I’m never afraid to ditch my vision for something
unexpected or beautiful.

For example, for the Golden Gate Bridge shot where you see the moonlight on the water (in “Another Cloud Reel”), my vision was to get a telephoto shot of the moon rising behind the tops of the Golden Gate Bridge towers (similar to the moon shot in Koyaanisqatsi).

You can’t get shots the Golden Gate Bridge from every angle without a helicopter, so I had to plan it out so I was there when the moon was in the right spot and mostly full, etc…  I lug all this stuff up there, take one look at the bridge and the moonlight on the water, and I immediately ditched the moon behind the towers idea for something incredibly more beautiful.

Nature is always doing incredibly beautiful things – a lot can be said about being in the right place at the right time and being flexible.”

- Ben Wiggins

Go here for more of Ben’s work: Delrious on Vimeo