Cross Process Creative

I blend the imaginative with the analytical to create experiences that communicate.

Collaboration

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about collaboration and the impact we have on each other when we endeavor to create together or even just share candidly – what we think, what we’re after, what we’re into. As an artist, I’ve noticed in myself, a tendency to want to make everything myself. In school I made my own canvases. Now I mix my own paints. But art is different than design and the distinction is always becoming clearer for me.

With art I am expressing a singular point of view. MY point of view, and that is all. Of course I want as much of my creation to be made by my own hands as possible.

But in design, I am usually expressing the point of view of someone else, often an entire group. I’m stepping outside of my perspective to create a voice and visual language for a brand or sometimes, just an idea. This is where collaboration becomes the art form even more than the finished product.

To gather the ideas, input and expertise of two or more people leads to surprise. And surprise is one of the things that makes life entertaining. I’ve always had the most fun and made the best work, when I’m collaborating with other people who have a unique point of view and an overarching desire to contribute to a collective creation.