Creative Constraints

If I give you a 32 colour set of pens, and I ask you to draw a picture of a seascape by this time tomorrow, which colour do you grab to start?

Surely something that stands out on the white paper.

But not a black because it wouldn’t be a fit…

Maybe a dark blue?

What if I only gave you three colours: an orange, green, and violet?

And, what if we also introduced a new time constraint: you now have ten minutes?

Often when we are looking to create something different, or interesting, having too much choice can simply lead to a repetition of the past.

And ironically, when we start adding constraints, things start to get interesting.

In a world of abundance and availability at the click of a button, self-imposed constraints can be a power in themselves.

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