Jul 18, 2005
It’s most difficult to be creative in the ________.
After a two week vacation with my family in Washington DC and New York City, I’ve decided that the hardest place in the world to develop innovative creative is the suburbs. Suburbs are a creative wasteland.The architecture is bland, the typography is homogeneous and most other visual elements have been neutered. Where can a designer draw inspiration? A strip mall? WalMart? Oh wait, I know. Barnes and Noble. Or a design annual. If most graphic design studios are in the suburbs (anyone have any statistics?), this may explain in part why most design today is so average (including my own).
In large cities like New York, DC, Chicago, London, etc., how can one not be inspired? The art, architecture, signs, clothing, fabric, food, sidewalks and even the smells are all amazingly unique. I was stunned by the diversity, ethnicity and creativity of everyone in the city. While I wouldn’t want to live in the big city, the environment alone is enough to start creative wildfires.
The same creativity can be sparked in the country. The beauty, colors, textures, changing seasons of nature offer limitless fuel for creative fires. What better place to draw inspiration than the great Designer’s work himself?
I wonder how suburbia has influenced the creative heart and soul of design. Is design more palatable to the masses? Is it less powerful? Is it less human? Has it sterilized? I fear the worst. And you?
Excellent Post. I live in the suburbs, and am finding my designs to be more average lately because of a lack of inspiration. Then when I travel, I become inspired again. Thanks for this great post.
Jarrett
I think you are absolutely right on. I’ve thought this a million times and am convinced that large cities contain essential elements for creativity. The suburbs lack creativity in a major way.
Our last day in NYC. We went to the Empire State Building. Architecture is amazing. Hit a few paper stores around Union Square. The quality and selection was mind-boggling.
One designer friend has a theory that only cities over 150,000 are condutive to graphic design. I think you need a city over 1 million. Regardless, the easist place to be creative is the city. Hands down.
Thanks – this is a thought that has occurred to me. I’m not quite sure whether its entirely true in my case as I suspect I quite often tend to get inspiration from sources other than my visual environment, but nevertheless I think there is some truth in it. Will add a link.
Absolutely true. A good observation. Having lived 10 years in NYC (in the 80′s) and more in the ‘burbs and now in the country, I believe the diversity of cities is what makes them more conducive to creativity. The ‘burbs, and much of Christianity, are bent on the lowest common denominator; so is a lot of marketing for that matter. As artists, creativity does matter, but to a lot of others, doesn’t it kind of get in the way of “safety” and reaching the largest market??
I post fotos every day on my website. I was influenced by the photobloggers in NYC and Toronto. I saw how they made the “ordinary” look beautiful and so I launched my site and tried to create a pleasing style. But I live in suburban Phoenix, AZ – and it doesn’t get any more sterile than this. The advantage, however, is that it forces me to look hard for subjects that are worthy of showing my viewers. I now take extra pleasure in many of my shots because I had to work so hard to see something extraordinary in what was very ordinary. I agree that surburbia is boring and saps creativity, but I’d rather not bemoan that fact and instead challenge myself to eek out the creativity that is within me no matter where I find myself…. even in Phoenix.
Abe from pinholemedia dot com
Abe, I really enjoyed your work in suburbia at pinholemedia. I’m creating a website for a client right now that sees the same opportunity for creativity in the common.
Abe, I really enjoyed your work in suburbia at pinholemedia. I'm creating a website for a client right now that sees the same opportunity for creativity in the common.