I was taking guitar lessons some time ago, and I was working on soloing (improvisation). It's really hard when you are first learning to know what to play, even if you can hear it in your head. Novices often try to play as many notes as they can! Actually some experienced guitarists try to play as many notes as they can as well, but if they don't think of the space between the notes as being as important as the notes themselves, it doesn't sound like good soloing. So anyway, my teacher told he would play a chord progression and that I could only play three notes (he told me which ones), and that I could do anything with those three notes, but I couldn't play any but those. It was amazing! I started paying attention to all of the other things about soloing—dynamics, different combinations of those three notes, space, time, all of that stuff. The perfect example that shows how setting limitations can be freeing. I totally felt it firsthand. At the time, that type of exercise really helped me improve my soloing. (By the way, unfortunately I'm still not good enough to solo in public.)
Another thing that comes to mind is negative space being as important as elements on a page. All good designers know about that. And yet another is in fiction writing (and I learned this while writing my first short story) it's best not to tell everything to your reader; some things you intentionally leave out and other things you "show" rather than tell. It makes it much more interesting. I could go on and on as I keep thinking of more creative situations for which this concept about limitations holds true.
Constraints can definitely help you become more creative. Creativity is about finding solutions to challenges, problems, and so on. Let's say, for example, you are asked to design CD covers for two different bands. Band A has unlimited funds and is willing to pay you very generously with no real limitations, and they give you complete artistic control. They have a basic concept in mind, but they trust you to come up with whatever you want within that rather vague concept. You can use as many colors as you want with full bleeds, and you also have as long as you want to complete the project as they aren't in any hurry. Band B, on the other hand, has limited funds. They have a fairly specific concept, but they want you to use your own style to execute it. You can only use two colors, and they give you about 6 from which to choose. Also the deadline is two weeks from now. Which band's project do you think you will be more creative with? For Band A, there are just too many choices. It's overwhelming. It doesn't feel freeing at all. For Band B's CD cover, you have a definite starting point with constraints in place from the start, time being one of them. The design problem will have to be solved within the limitations that have been set for you, and you'll really have to delve in quickly and work within those boundaries...but it feels so much more freeing than Band A's CD cover project. Limitations help us understand what we can and cannot do from the start, and it helps us to be more creative when we know and understand these constraints. And, if it's not easy, it's a way to learn how to be more creative!
It was suggested that we assign ourselves a project with some constraints and post the results. I am still trying to come up with something keeping in mind the massive time constraints I have right now! I will post my results once I figure out what my self-assignment is and do the assignment. To be continued....
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