COLLABORATION: What does collaboration look like?

Creative work is an effort to develop solutions to problems that are unique to each person, group or situation. The most effective and rewarding process to accomplish this is collaboration, or co-laboring. As a collaborator, my focus is to first understand the needs and goals of the group or project, making a conscious effort to not narrow the scope of possibilities by pre-determining “solutions” to unknown problems. Once the conflict is identified and the end goal, or intermediate goals are defined, all of my own experience and creativity, as well as an extensive network of professionals in multiple industries are engaged to develop solutions as we work in tandem.

Creativity is not limited to visual arts or graphic design, but can be applied to any industry, and a “creative” is solutions-based, solving conflict. This is best expressed in the term, “conflictionary”, which is the foundation of the type of work I do. Engaging a creative, versus a graphic designer, or other specialist, in the early stage of a project’s development gives the advantage of a wider, and more comprehensive approach to the conflict at hand. Different stages and facets of the solution(s) are developed and executed by specialists as needed, saving time and money.

This is my motto. To help you be creative, and to use creativity to help you achieve your goals and bring resolution to the conflicts you face. To me, creativity is not just about making things, it’s also about offering solutions.
This may be in the realm of visual arts, but I don’t give myself that limitation. Creativity is conflict resolution, no matter the field.