Think Beyond the Template

A few weeks ago, I shared a conversation between Vikram and Hanna about creativity and templates - “Why Do We Have Templates? They Limit My Creativity!”

To begin, everyone is creative. A designation or a role doesn’t limit your imagination or how you can convey a message.

Look around you. Life is often about templates. You wake up and go about your work in a seemingly structured manner, despite the traffic and other assorted issues that come by. You drive on a side of the road (not any way you like) – for example, left on the road if you are in India and right if you are in the United States. You eat breakfast and other meals at specific times and in certain quantities your body can digest. That does mean you can't try another mode of commute or eat a different dish.

Frameworks exist for a reason.

-      To give communication shape and form

-       To help audiences believe and view your brand as consistent and reliable

-      To give stability to our senses

-      To find balance in a world that is complex and busy

-      To reduce cognitive load and simplify life

That doesn’t prevent you from challenging the status quo or the guidelines if they overtly restrict.

Nor does it stop anyone from creatively expressing the messages. In fact, it can only help you focus on the parts and pieces which need attention rather than the entire puzzle.

Use the space within or outside the template to bring your ideas to life. Your portfolio is more valuable when you show how you worked with constraints and yet improved the understanding among your audience. Your work is worth its weight in gold when you have come up with an idea to transform how people see the world.

Putting designs and content on a template may not look the prettiest although they are effective and efficient. Go beyond the brief.