Reply To: Just Curious…

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

Necessity does not displace creativity. Creativity is what needs to be used to solve problems. It is not limited to unbridled whims.

 

When necessities are overlooked in order to be expressive it is a lack of creativity. It is no different to ignore the parameters of an office or a market place than it is to ignore a soil condition or climate.

 

Use creativity to solve problems whether they are aesthetic or job related. Marketing takes creativity. Design sales takes creativity. Tailoring scope of work in a limited economy takes creativity. I assume that hiring practices and compensation packages for employees that still keep the company profitable takes creativity as well.

 

Getting to the point where you can survive on your own like Alan suggests (and I agree with) takes creativity as well. No one wants to train their next competitor. No one wants to invest time, money, and effort in people who will quickly move on. No one wants to lose good help.

 

One thing that is very overlooked in this business is that one Principal (or any other LA in the office) has enough design creativity to apply to multiple projects at one time. Few are looking to hire more design creativity while many have staff to do the production work to support that creativity. It does take creativity to support the design creativity of others.