Universal creative techniques

Across all creative skills (music, writing, design, etc.), some techniques seem to be universal. Here are some.

1. Different mixes of “content” and “non-content”
2. Emphasise ”important” elements, de-emphasise less important elements
3. Minimalism (as few elements as possible) and maximalism (as many elements as possible)
4. Make something harder to understand on purpose
5. Simplicity of execution vs complexity of execution (i.e. how much effort went into an element)
6. Use a style that is intentionally out of place in culture (“from the past”, or intentionally do something wrong)
7. Lean into a style choice more than would be expected
8. Intentionally remove something from the majority of the work so it will have more impact when you introduce it.
9. Do something unexpected in the context of the work (e.g. use colour in one scene of a black-and-white film).

← anthonyhobday.com