Specialization in Creative Mastery: From Inspiration to Professional Path

Sources of Inspiration / Sara Ricciardi

I will lead you into my inspirations, which are the humus of my life and my work.

Some of my influences are: Tibor Kalman, Marcel Duchamp, Fischli & Weiss, Chris Burden, Tom Sachs, Charles Ray, Nam June Paik, and Dadaism. I also find inspiration from friends like Ivan Cash and Christoph Niemann. Here are some of my favorite Instagram pages: @christophniemann, @jackwatteau, @subfolder and @pablo.rochat.

My Influences / Ji Lee

Influences / Magic Jungle

As a collective, there are a few authors we absolutely love for the way they share their thoughts and insights on creativity. The themes that we align on are authenticity, creativity, community, and material success.

Module 2

Start your artistic, visual, and conceptual exploration and learn how to generate and implement ideas

13 lessons (2h 2m)

What will we do in the course?

In this lesson we will see what things unite art and design. We will also talk about the final project that we will do in the course: a crazy notebook. The important thing is that at the end you can transfer the tricks that we are going to learn to future projects.

Exploring: you, environment and people

In this lesson I will explain to you how I did the research on the MN6 project and I will talk to you about how other people who move between art and design approach an investigation and that search process.

Creative blocks

It is important to feel comfortable before getting down to work, we have to have a clear mind and ready to create. In this lesson I will show you which are the most frequent creative blocks and I will teach you how to combat them.

Me: reference tree and mood board

In this lesson I will talk about how your background and references influence what you do. I'll show you how you can build a reference tree and an mood board .

Environment: selfless search

In this lesson we will see the environment that surrounds us and we will look at the details. We will also see that many images can help us to represent a concept.

People

In this lesson we will choose an audience for our project, we will see how the designs are influenced by people and we will learn some technique to obtain information through observation.

Ideas and inventions

In this lesson I will tell you how I collected ideas for my project, what paths I could have taken and how I organized them to be able to choose the most valuable ones. I will also show you photos and documents of the whole process and how other authors generate ideas. I will also tell you about some exhibitions that have influenced the history of design.

Defining an objective

In this lesson we will choose an objective for our user and I am going to give you a structure to help you create a notebook with that person in mind. The objective we choose will guide us throughout the course.

Alternative uses

In this lesson we will see what are the functional properties that make an object what it is. We will do an exercise that will help us assign alternative functions to what they really are.

Impossible relationships

In this unit we will see how two things that a priori do not fit together can create a third new thing that we had not imagined before.

In this unit we are going to look at the interiors of the notebooks. They generally carry a weft. We are going to make an idea about how a plot could help to fulfill a function and vice versa. What plot could we choose for a specific function?

Frames

In this lesson we will look at ways to land ideas through sketching and prototyping. We will also see how the project that we have seen in other lessons ended and how the sketches and prototypes helped. I will also show you how I have projected my notebook and the sketches that I have made to generate the prototype.

Landing the idea

We will give the notebook to a user and see if it meets the objective we had set. We will note things to improve in future iterations.

Giving it to try

Module 3

Discover techniques to encourage lateral thinking and explore a method to enhance your creative projects

11 lessons (1h 55m)

Tools and Materials

In this lesson I will show you the tools and materials to use that you can find at home or in any stationery: everything you find even by chance in your life!

The "Fantastica": The Art of Inventing

It's time to tell you what "Fantastica" is! I will show you how solid foundations can be given not only to science, but also to the processes of fantasy.

The Creative Process and the Imagination

Now I'm going to tell you about how to nurture and maintain your creative potential and how to put it and visualize it in a notebook.

Who Am I?

In this lesson I will show you what you need to feed the "Fantastica": first of all you need to have the desire to interact with yourself, without taking it for granted that you know each other. Who am I?

14m

Identity and Body

We arrived at the second theme: the exploration of one's own body. To activate your "Fantastica", I will now talk to you about how to feel the low vibrations, the ones that often remain silent in the body.

In this lesson I will delve into the relationship between body and object, exploring new ways to relate to it.

Proxemics of the Object

10m

Psychogeography

In this lesson instead I will explore the body in relation to space thanks to psychogeography.

Identity and Words

In this lesson I will explore the theme of language and play with words and storytelling!

In the beginning it was chaos: don't be afraid of delirium! Here I will show you how to ride it and create something new.

Ride the Chaos

Poieo: To Create for Me and for Everyone

In this lesson I will explore the last theme of the creative process: poetry. And together we will learn to give it to others.

The Notebook of the "Fantastica"

Now I will show you all the suggestions collected so far: here is my notebook of the "Fantastica"!

Module 4

Find inspiration through simple creative exercises and turn your ideas into shareable stories

13 lessons (2h 10m)

What will we do in this course

In this course, you will explore your surroundings, find inspiration in mundane things you may have overlooked in the past. You will photograph everyday objects, then create new things with them. You will make things to make someone happy. Then in the end, we will discuss how you can name and package your project and pitch it to the media outlets so it may get published.

Interesting things I found in my block

For this lesson, you’ll walk around your own block and try to find interesting things to photograph. Try to find things you didn’t notice before. Try to really look at every detail of what catches your attention. Maybe it’s an old sign, maybe it’s a crack on the wall, or something hanging on a wire. Look up, down, and take your time to really notice everything and take as many photos as possible.

Photodrawing

For this lesson, you’ll walk around your city, look around and find objects and structures, that could become part of something else. Take photos, then when you’re back home, either through photoshop, pen, paint, draw something on top of them to transform them into something else.

The transformative power of personal projects 1

Personal projects are done for passion, not profit, often take on a life of their own and end up resulting in creative and professional growth you could’ve never foreseen.

14m

The transformative power of personal projects 2

The transformative power of personal projects 3

The transformative power of personal projects 4

The transformative power of personal projects 5

Make Someone Happy / Personal Happy Birthday Wish

For this lesson, use FB or your personal calendar and make a custom birthday card for your friends and family (or even strangers). Use your creativity and your skills. Draw, make collages, objects, find out what sorts of things make that person happy. Then post the result on the person’s FB page, IG (with tag), or give them the real thing in person. If possible, document the results and share them on your social media page to inspire others to do the same.

“Better World” project

Observe your surroundings, find something that bothers you and create a project that fixes / improves it.

Naming & Packaging

Time to think about a very simple, memorable name for your project. I’ll give you some tips to make it easier and once you write a brief description for it, it will serve as a quick explanation of the project too.

Now you are ready to share your project with the world.

Pitch to the media

Are you looking for exposure? I’ll give you simple tips to reach the bloggers, journalists, and editors, and help your projects get published.

We will start by teaching you how to create your internal and external space, including your mood, physical space, and inner world. Remember that you’re not alone as you watch this workshop. Take some time to think of all the other creatives watching this video simultaneously as you.

Module 5

Build your creative career by finding your authentic voice through inner exploration and journaling techniques

12 lessons (2h 51m)

Making Space

During this lesson, you will get to know yourself and what truly matters to you by thinking about the people you admire.

Style Icons 1

19m

Style Icons 2

In this second part of the lesson, we will show you the process we made to identify who are our style icons and why.

Brand Pillars

As an artist, separating yourself from your work is nearly impossible. You can’t just walk into a room, clock in, write, paint, or design something without considering your life experiences, core beliefs, and values. This is an easy, fun, and intuitive way to create a cohesive direction through which you chart your path.

14m

Your Personal Archetype

This process continues to create clarity for you in the overall direction of your work. You will see how to explore the color vibe, tone, and voice. Then, you will learn how to use these ways to express and align with your brand pillars… or not!

Every color exists in different hues and tones. They can all be softer, muted, textured, stronger, and more intense. This is why season color archetypes are the way to establish the brand look and feel and start narrowing down the colors. It is a form of color psychology that is simple, intuitive, and works.

Your Color Season

Creating Your Color Palette 1

Let’s start making it real! First, you'll learn everything you need to know about the world of color, that way; you'll make better decisions about color in your projects.

Creating Your Color Palette 2

During this second part of the lesson, you'll see how to take all the information you’ve discovered in the past lessons and create a color palette that feels true and exciting. Feel free to use the tool of your choice.

Dream University

It’s time to open to your true creative interests. This workbook activity will allow you to explore your unfiltered curiosity. By being curious, you can effortlessly find what fascinates you!

Artist Review: Artists Case Studies

Let’s look at four artists creating in a way that is aligned with who they are, connects with their audience in ways that feel good to them, and are experiencing business success.

18m

Money Talks

There are so many ways to make money as a creative! That's why here we will talk about all the business models you can use as a creative.

20m

The Complete Vision

Now you have clarity on your pillars, values, tone, voice, color season, interest, and a new view of all the possibilities around making a living with your art. We’ve come all this way together! It’s time to put everything into one space and make it beautiful.

Here I will tell you the anecdote by which I began the exploration of the method that we will learn in this course; why it is necessary to work with a method, as well as, the reasons why it is going to be useful.

Module 6

Learn to weave a web of innovative ideas, creating original stories with the help of technology

24 lessons (3h 53m)

What do I do here?

The new behaviors of users and their consequences

From a personal example, I will tell you how technology is becoming invisible and what consequences this has for users.

In this lesson I will talk about the very specific role that technology plays today.

The role of technology

The exponential growth of technology

The technology grows exponentially, in this lesson I explain how and what is the importance of it.

10m

Technology, the digital world, marketing and advertising

Technology also came to advertising and communication, and look what happened ...

Creatives who did not know about technology

For many creatives, technology is no more than a resource to show a message, without considering very important factors such as scope or ethics.

The engineers who did not know about storytelling

When an engineer does not know how to tell stories, the stories he tells are what the software he has just created allows him to do.

Innovation and the world of communication and advertising

Innovation reached the world of communication and advertising ... in the form of PR.

The importance of stories

Stories are one of the tools that make us human, in this lesson I tell you why.

Storytelling tools

Telling stories is a job within reach of everyone, it's just a matter of discipline.

Storycubes

I'll show you some toys to start practicing with your stories: the Storycubes.

We will see one more technique to practice your stories, the mental maps.

Mindmaps

Seenapse

Another tool to find better associations for your stories is Seenapse, here I will talk about it.

The narrator

In this lesson, we will analyze the importance of the narrator in a story. We will see how we can generate hundreds of stories simply by changing the narrator of it.

The hype cycle

In this lesson I will tell you what the hype cycle is and why it is important in our stories.

Technology over the years and how to use it

In this lesson I tell you how to use the technologies in the stories we are going to create.

One of the best ways to narrow a problem and reduce its complexity is to use inverse brainstorming. In this lesson I tell you how.

Reverse brainstorming

Problems of brands and problems that surround us

Is this method used to fix problems and for the brand I work for? Yes, find out in this lesson.

Problem selection

Once we have broken down our big problem, it is time to select the most important, those with whom you identify with, and then compare them with your work team.

Ideas, stories, concepts, formats and executions

I'll tell you what advertising concepts are, the difference between ideas and formats, and what is an execution.

Some good stories with technology and storytelling

I will show you some examples of students who have already used the method we are learning in this course to generate stories.

Transform your story into an idea

Here I am going to tell you the difference between history and idea, and how to use the first to obtain the second.

Creation and presentation of an idea to improve your city

What we think are problems of the place we live in are often actually symptoms of deeper problems, worthy of being studied and revised to find a true solution and not a purely cosmetic one. As a final project of this course, we will first detect what are the problems that surround us and, later, we will look for solutions for each of them, applying the techniques learned.