R. Buckminster Fuller
In 1927, Richard was a suicidal drunk without a job. He was bankrupt and living in the slums of Chicago. He had been expelled from Harvard twice for bad behavior. The business he started with his father had failed. His daughter died after struggling with complications from polio and spinal meningitis. To say [...]

"Job" (In Progress)

"Hosea," by Adrian Hanft, II
My dad has been getting some recognition for his sculptures lately, so I thought I would brag about him a little bit…
The story of my dad’s sculptures is in many ways the story of what it means to be a Christian and an artist. The reality of our culture [...]

Up until that moment creating art was easy. Before this, all that was needed was patience and practice. You find something beautiful and draw it. Let your eyes absorb the beauty and then channel that vision onto paper. I was a junior in high school when my art teacher rocked my world.
The assignment was to [...]

It happens without warning. It just appears from nowhere. Where did it come from? How did you do that? You were just zoning out at your desk in a post Taco Bell coma and it hits you. Inspiration! Your brain is an amazing machine, and we really don’t know how it works. Where do great [...]

I suppose I have pretty much based my design career on my intuition. Through trial and error I have pretty much stumbled upon a set of concepts that work. While this has served me well, trusting your gut can only get you so far in the business world. If you really want to have an [...]

I just read an article on the Scientific American website called “An Easy Way to Increase Creativity. The article correctly points out that creativity has a great deal to do with context and outside factors influencing the individual. If you can identify the factors that increase creativity you might be able to increase your chances [...]

My last post asked if it is possible to increase creativity by taking notice of our dreams. I have wanted to document my dreams for a while, so I finally took action and built a website that makes it easy to record your dreams. The site is called Dream Feedr and it is open to [...]

I while back I made a post talking about the relationship I have found between how many hours of sleep I get and the quality of my creative output. I try to monitor myself constantly to see if I can find patterns to how I work. When am I at my best? When do my [...]

Yesterday Rian snuck past me as I worked in the basement with an envelope in his hand. When he reappeared without the envelope he told me that he had a surprise for me, but I had to find it. “Daddy, you are cold. Warmer. Warmer, hot, hot, hot!” I picked up the envelope and opened [...]

I try to keep track of when inspiration hits me. If I am exercising or driving or reading or running when the idea comes, I make a note of it. If I could find a pattern to when I have my best ideas then maybe I could hot wire the system when I need it. [...]