The iterative and improvisational nature of the creative process

Abstract

The creative process has often been conceived as a linear process that begins with preparation; is followed by incubation, during which one or many insights occur; then a selection stage where one of the insights is chosen as most promising; followed by an elaboration or execution of the selected insight. This paper argues that this linear view is inconsistent with conceptions of creativity in a community of creators: Artists and designers who teach in professional schools of art and design. These instructors, professional creatives themselves, teach a creative process that is nonlinear, iterative, and improvisational. To support this claim, the paper reports findings from a multi-year study of the pedagogical beliefs of the instructors and the practices they use in studio classes. The analysis results in eight characteristics of the pedagogy used and the creative process taught by these instructors: Iteration; ambiguity; exploration; emergence; failure; deliberation; reflection; and constraint.