Why Calvin Klein doesn’t sketch
Creativity is a cookbook, not an instruction manual.
When I open a cookbook, I don’t meticulously follow every recipe from start to finish. Instead, I flip through, looking for one of my favorite ingredients, for me that’s usually something with potatoes. It’s a reference book where you pick the solution that works for your preferences and current needs.
On the flip side, if I want to build the very precise LEGO model of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, I need their 500-page instruction manual. While relaxing and good for finding a flow state, too much structure means fewer creative benefits. There’s less decision-making happening. If we treat creativity like an instruction manual, the result is more reproduction than creation.
When we have a creative challenge, it’s pretty similar to looking through a cookbook for recipes we love. We skim through the reference books in our brains looking for the right interventions: random facts, brainstorming techniques, unique opinions, and our personal taste.
Your creative process is unique to you. This is true for the most successful creatives in the world.
Consider the fashion industry. Karl Lagerfeld is famous for quickly generating dozens, sometimes hundreds, of detailed sketches as the first step for a new collection. Many in the fashion world emphasize the importance of sketching as the first step in their creative process. This is what fashion schools teach.
And yet some of the most successful fashion designers do not start with sketching.
Marc Jacobs is known to begin his design process with intricate mood boards
Vivienne Westwood starts by deconstructing and reworking vintage garments
Calvin Klein selects fabric first and drapes them on a model or dress form
There is no wrong way to start a creative process. What works for you is what works. Creativity is about building your reference library of interventions. Your personal cookbook of ingredients and recipes that work for you.
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