On The Algebra of Creativity

From the Inspirational Thought Unit

A man reached out to me who's working on an interesting problem. He's looking for a universal theory of creativity. You can see his work here: LINK​

I thought about it and realized I do have an equation that I think works:

C=a+c+s

C - Creativity

a - Accountability

c - Constraints

s - Skill

All creativity boils down to the cosmic interaction between constraints, accountability and skill. Take away one of those ingredients and you either get nothing or you get derivative, uninspired work.

An artist who has skill and accountability, but has no constraints will ultimately fail to deliver something meaningful.

An artist with accountability and constraints, but no skill will fail to deliver something beautiful.

An artist with skill and constraints, but no accountability will fail to deliver anything at all.

Take stock of your own creative work. What's best thing you've ever made? Did it come about because you had the skill to do it? Did you also have a deadline or limited resources to finish it? And lastly, was there something or someone you owed this work to?

Chances are you can check all those boxes. Something to think about as you start your next creative endeavor.

-Jake

Art in Architecture

From the Architecture Desk

There's a genre in sculpture that I've grown to love over the years and that's three dimensional art that's incorporated into architecture. My favorites are the abstract shapes that clearly represent a mood or ideal an otherwise boring building.

Just a reminder that when you're world building you can say a lot about the culture of the society you're portraying by one or two properly placed building sculptures.

Someone put together a fully stocked album of art in architecture over on Flickr. That's where I found these. Check out hundreds more here: LINK

-Jake

Exotic Alien Fauna of Lestoide

From the Illustrators Division

Chinese concept artist, Lestoide, is absolutely blowing me away with his creative vision. This is what happens when you see Avatar at a young age, then grow up learning all about animal anatomy and painting.

Though the designs look inspired by Avatar, I think he's bringing a lot to the table on his own. Gorgeous work.

More here: LINK

-Jake

The Blue Bird Russian Cosmonaut Retrieval Vehicle

From the Office of Wheels

The Russians had a problem. Launching a man in space, having them orbit earth and reentering the atmosphere was all figured out. However, since Russia really doesn't have an ocean it controls to easily ditch a spacecraft in, the landing site had to be somewhere on their vast sub arctic continent.

That means the returning capsule could land in almost any kind of terrain: mountain, tundra, snow, or lake. What kind of vehicle could race out to them in any of those situations, and in any kind of weather?

Enter the Blue Bird, a beautifully ugly artifact of Soviet design and engineering. I love this truck's utilitarian look with hints of retro futurism.

More photos and info here: LINK and LINK​

-Jake