Principle 5 - Managing a creative environment

Creative environments have a big impact on the way that we work whether we are a photography, illustrator or graphic designer. It is ok to be creative but if you have a specific place in which you are creative then you will work best there and it can often be surrounded by things that the person likes, enjoys and depending upon the person it could be crazy chaos or nicely organised. We all work better in different ways so our creative environments are very personal to each individual.

Some people may find that outside spaces can be used well as a creative environment you could take your tools and go and find a sunny bench by a river and that could be an interesting and inspiring way of working. People also like to collect things and if it is something which you enjoy it could later inspire you for a particular idea and could also be used to decorate your creative environment.

This is an image of one of my creative environments, I love this space because it is just somewhere I can sit for hours and feel totally comfortable and allow my imagination to run wild. It is quite a simple space and I don’t like to have too much around me because I feel that I get distracted from what I am trying to do if there is too much going on. I love the pink of the room, I feel as though it gives it a lovely warm glow and really allows me to be creative.

This is my second creative environment, I use this for when I am doing the computer side of things such as using Photoshop or creating my blog. I always have my drink of water and a notebook so that I am always aware of my notes and what I need to be doing. I have the pens there as well in case I come up with a creative idea and I feel as though this is also an environment in which I feel comfortable and also spend a lot of time here. I also like the screensaver on my computer as if I lose inspiration for a moment I can just sit and watch it and gather my thoughts and then continue with what I was doing previously. This is totally different to my other creative environment however I feel I need to use both of them evenly and my computer is obviously needed but this is again quite simple and allows me to concentrate easily.

I think it is really important as photographers, illustrators and graphic designers for us to all have our own individual creative environments and I think it is very interesting how no two creative environments are the same as they are a very personal thing. We could look at someone else’s creative environment and totally not understand it however it is very unique to each individual.