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11/01/08 Create Not Consume
SINGAPORE - My father spent Christmas building a new kitchen in our family home. He’s a woodwork expert, pretty much everything in our house is DIY assembly or cut-fresh fresh in the garage. I regret never picking up many manual skills or trades myself. I enjoy the resulting outcome of all of them as a consumer, but not as a creator.
Role reversal - With Ditigal Media (Photos, Audio, Video, Apps, Text) I enjoy creating it more than consuming it. Last night Hugh said,
“Tis more blessed to make than to consume”
After work, I’d much rather create in photoshop or code a new app feature than watch television, chat on IM or surf facebook. I often feel guilty for wasting “production-time” when out, hiring a DVD or going to bed early. The only time I feel free from this is when I can get out of the cloud and away from a data connection. When I disconnect.
I’m not sure why this tipping point occurs for me. With no other activity or medium do I ever feel compelled to create more than consume. Does a carpenter prefer to build chairs than sit on them? Probably.
-Robin.
(Image Credit: Skiing last month in Vail, Colorado - I couldn’t take a break from ‘the create’. Yes - that’s a homemade MPEG4-cam strapped to my helmet.)
Tags: consume, create, digital media, General
2 Comments
Interesting. I don’t disagree, but I think one must consume to be able to create (within one’s area of expertise). E.g. Tarentino wouldn’t be so good if he didn’t consume so much movies.
It’s often said of designers that the best are culturally aware and use the products they are designing. I suppose it’s a balance: if you create more than you consume, your work will be irrelevant and potentially useless; if you consume more than your create, you’ll have very little work at all.
I don’t watch TV and very rarely watch movies. But I consume a hell of a lot of good design and I think this helps my work.
Good point Eoghan, and probably proof why we all subscribe to a multitude of blogs. It’s all to consume info. Indirect I know, but you’re gaining knowledge/insight though this.
the catch of course is finding the right things to consume, leaving as much time to create. It’s also another point that you can’t create all the time - you have to take a step back to re-energise……
And on top of all that, you’re probably getting more than just chill-out time with a DVD, ideas to create with will come from the most unlikely of places!
