Allison Biggs - Graphic Design » Musings

Why Print Design Isn’t Going Anywhere.

Allison — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:56:53 +0000

Print design is my first love. I love the way that holding a book, a magazine, a piece of paper in your hand feels. I love to disconnect myself from the constant world of electronic devices, and flip through a catalog. As newspapers and magazines have begun to die off, I admit to feeling a little nervous. Would I be forced, as a designer, to cross over to the digital side? To give up my love for print?

It’s nice to see that other’s share my belief. Print design will always be around in some form. Some needs just cannot be satisfied virtually.

Turning Creativity on it’s Head.

Allison — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:13:57 +0000

It’s high time we redefined creativity. You don’t need be an artist, a musician, or writer to be creative. We were all born with the capacity to be creative. Let me say this another way. You are creative. And I can hear you saying, “No, I’m not.”

Creativity is all about coming up with new ideas. It’s about seeing, experiencing, and savoring the world around you. It is a way of life.

The Born Creative workshop series will be starting on March 4, 2010. This 4 week course aims to help people reconnect with their life through creativity and curiousity. Even for those of you that say you’re not creative. Especially for those of you that say you’re not creative.

Take a stroll on over to the Born Creative Facebook Fan Page. Once you’re there, become a fan! You won’t just get boring old updates about the course (because the course is fun and exciting!), but also fascinating information on how people are using creativity in ways that you never imagined.

Below you’ll find a list of the workshop descriptions, and all the necessary details. If you know someone in the Western MA area that would be interested in being happier and more effective in their career (isn’t that everyone you know?) then forward on the details!

Schedule

Thursday, March 4 – 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Overcoming Obstacles to Creativity
In this class we redefine creativity, conquer old stories and beliefs, bust through creative roadblocks, learn to trust our ideas, and grow through play.

Thursday, March 11 – 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Developing Awareness
Learn valuable techniques to help you become
more mindful in your everyday life, and how paying
attention and being an active learner can increase your joy and creativity.

Thursday, March 18 – 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Gaining New Perspective
Begin to see different possibilities and points of view. Understand how looking at things from a new angle
can aid in generating new ideas and in building and maintaining relationships.

Thursday, March 25 – 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Creative Problemsolving
Creativity isn’t just for artists. Pick up new
brainstorming strategies to assist with challenges at
home, and in the workplace.

Pricing

Classes are available in a 4 week package for $100,
and can also be purchased individually for $25*.
All prices include materials.
Please call to reserve your space.
Limited seats are available.

*we recommend the package plan (like people, the classes work better together!)

To sign up for this workshop series, simply send me an email at BornCreativeWorkshops@gmail.com.

Payment will be accepted through Paypal, cash, or check.

Born Creative Workshop Series.

Allison — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:48:23 +0000

I’ve hinted at a new project that I’ve been working on for a few months a few times on this blog. It’s finally ready to be unveiled, and I am very excited to share it with you!

Beginning in March, for those of you in Western MA, I will be presenting a new workshop series called Born Creative. I believe that we are all born with a capacity for creativity, and by reconnecting with it, we can live happier and more productive lives.

Below is a description of the series, as well as all the details for any of you that might be interested.

Live a more joyful life. Have fun.
Build better relationships. Be a problem solver.
Become a better job candidate (yes, you heard right!).

Overview

Creativity is all about coming up with new ideas. It’s about seeing, experiencing, and savoring the world around you. It is a way of life.

In this four week workshop series, we will uncover the simple
acts that creatively inclined people do everyday, and learn how to incorporate these acts into our own lives. Each class will include special exercises, projects, discussion, and of course, fun!

You won’t become an artist. You’ll simply change the way you see the world.

Schedule

Thursday, March 25 – 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Creative Problemsolving
Creativity isn’t just for artists. Pick up new
brainstorming strategies to assist with challenges at
home, and in the workplace.

Pricing

Classes are available in a 4 week package for $100,
and can also be purchased individually for $25*.
All prices include materials.
Please call to reserve your space.
Limited seats are available.

*we recommend the package plan (like people, the classes work better together!)

To sign up for this workshop series, simply send me an email at BornCreativeWorkshops@gmail.com.

Payment will be accepted through Paypal, cash, or check.

Become our fan on Facebook!

Lost Generation.

Allison — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:04:42 +0000

This video was submitted to the AARP contest “u at 50″. The video can be read forward and backward, but completely changes it’s meaning. Even though the video was second place, it is still awe inspiring. Creativity is helping my generation develop a voice that will be heard.

Living Out Loud.

Allison — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:09:34 +0000

I have been doing a lot of research lately on creativity. Why some people have it, why certain people think they don’t, and what activities we can participate in to foster the creative mind.

One name that keeps coming to me over and over again is Keri Smith. You may remember her from when I mentioned the book, How to be an Explorer of the World. I recently picked up Smith’s book Living Out Loud, and turned each page with sheer excitement. This book, much like How to be an Explorer of the World, offers exercises in creativity. These are not exercises meant to make you a better drawer, or painter, but to get you to pay attention, see the world from a different perspective, and conjure fresh ideas.

After visiting Keri Smith’s website, I have to admit, I have a little professional crush. Her ideas are fantastic and witty, and I only wish that I thought of them first! Take a trip to her site, and make sure you take a look at the Artist’s Survival Kit.

All images are property of Keri Smith.

How To Be An Explorer of the World.

Allison — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:39:49 +0000

Most of my friends know me well enough to know that once the Borders coupons come around, it’s difficult, if not down right impossible for me not to buy new books– whether I need them or not. So I know that no one is surprised to know that when my Borders coupons arrived in my inbox this morning, I was buying books this afternoon.

Today I picked up How to be an Explorer of the World, a book I’ve been meaning to pick up for quite some time, and now that I have it, I’m pretty excited about it. It’s filled with endless exercises in creativity. Not art projects, but projects designed to make us mindful. Most of creativity, after all, is paying attention.

For A New Beginning.

Allison — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:12:00 +0000

I was cleaning off my computer today, and found a text file entitled “For A New Beginning”. I hadn’t remembered creating it, or saving anything with that name, so I was somewhat curious. When I opened it, I found the poem below. It was a great reminder of where I’ve been, where I am, and where I’m going.

I’ve decided to pay it forward. Hopefully it will be as meaningful to someone else as it has been to me.

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

for a new beginning

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

-John O’Donohue

The Cost of Abundance.

Allison — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:08:12 +0000

We live in a time of great abundance. As much as we may focus on the things that we don’t have, and fear and fret on losing things, or worry about not having enough, our standard of living is better than it has been in history. We have things that just 100 years ago were never even imagined. We use these items everyday, and most likely take their whole existence for granted. I’m not just talking Ipods and Tivo– think refrigeration and indoor plumbing. There is a cost for this abundance though. We don’t often think of this fact; when we have more, we discard more.

At the Daniel Pink lecture last night, I was introduced to an artist named Chris Jordan. With his photography, he has put this notion of waste into a form anyone can comprehend. His photos give us an unsettling view of just how much we waste. How many cell phones get tossed when the next best thing comes along. How many cars make it to the junkyard when we trade them in for the newest model. We have all heard the numbers before, and not even batted an eye. After viewing these images, no one can argue the gravity of the situation. This is the power of visual art.

Cell Phones- copyright Chris Jordan.

Oil Filters- copyright Chris Jordan.

Crushed Cars- copyright Chris Jordan.

Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future.

Allison — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:30:12 +0000

Today I learned that Daniel Pink, the author of A Whole New Mind, How Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, will be speaking (for free!) at Westfield State College on October 5th. Color me intrigued.

From the publisher:

“Lawyers. Accountants. Radiologists. Software engineers. That’s what our parents encouraged us to become when we grew up. But Mom and Dad were wrong. The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind. The era of “left brain” dominance, and the Information Age that it engendered, are giving way to a new world in which “right brain” qualities — inventiveness, empathy, meaning — predominate. That’s the argument at the center of this provocative and original book, which uses the two sides of our brains as a metaphor for understanding the contours of our times.”

I am looking forward to this- as a creative and a businessperson. According to the book, I may be living in the best of both worlds.

I Was Born Creative!

Allison — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:18:44 +0000

Ken Robinson makes the point that we are all born creative, but because we were brought up in a society that decided that art is not practical (for supporting ourselves at least), importance is not placed on it in our school systems. We are constantly reinforced with the idea that making a mistake is the worst thing that we can do, and so people don’t take chances– and how can original art exist without chances?

I am currently working my way through The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, and after discussing it with some of my artist friends, it’s amazing how many people have had this experience, and are working their way through it now. If I had a nickle for the amount of times I’ve heard, “I’m not creative”, or “I’m not good at art”, well, you know. I encourage anyone who does not believe that they are creative to really explore the idea, and don’t accept it merely because it was what you were told. If you were supported in your creativity as you grew, appreciate your experience as one of the lucky ones!

“We don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it. We are educated out of it.”