Creative Incubation –
it’s importance WITHin creative PROBLEM SOLVING.
When the creative problem solving process is completely fleshed out, it usually consists of 4 very important stages, 1) Preparation, 2) Creative Incubation, 3) Illumination, and 4) Translation. However in our fast forward world, often times the second stage “Creative Incubation” is omitted out of necessity, but when it is, the end translation, idea or product suffers.
We all know the basics of the 4 stages itemized above and how they relate to our individual “Problem solving process” whether it’s account work, design, writing, etc., because we all use it. What I’m calling attention to is the illusive “Creative Incubation Process”. It’s when you’ve mulled over all the relevant information with your rational mind and you just decide to let it simmer. This “Simmer process” is when you get a great insight or idea that you’re not consciously thinking about – "out of the blue" – while walking the dog, reading the paper, or just watching a movie.
I’ll share with you an experience from college that illustrates this process. I took an elective class in printmaking and the local paper company donated a huge amount of paper to the school that we used to create illustrations and fine artwork on, as well as clean off our ink plates in printmaking class. And yes, the later is precisely what I did which led me to create my most prized piece of artwork that hangs in my living room today. One day in class I was doing a lot of editions from a plate that I constructed, as a result my glass ink plate was so covered with ink that I couldn’t clean it off with the smaller paper towels supplied. So I grabbed a large sheet of the 36” x 48” paper and unconsciously wiped, swirled and swished the huge piece of paper across the plate to absorb as much of the ink as possible. Once saturated I grabbed the top two corners that were not covered with ink and hung it out in front of me with my finger tips as I headed toward the large trash can about 10 feet away. In my path was my teacher who convinced me to not throw it out and hang it on the wall to see how I’d like it tomorrow.
Well the point is that I liked it once I removed myself from the process. My teacher not only had the vision to see what I couldn’t that day, but also taught me how important it is to step away from the process. We all have to remind ourselves to step away from time to time. It’s the same as that tired and over used buzz phrase, “Think outside the box” that everyone always recites.
To conclude this discussion about the importance of “Creative Incubation” within the advertising and marketing business I leave you with two universal statements; “Creativity is what happens between your thoughts", and similarly, “It’s the space between the notes that makes the music”.
Margot R. Luby
Associate Creative Director
Great. Another “artist” that works in advertising.