Inventing unique SPACES

Creativity and design and the way forward

- Dorothy van't Riet, CEO of the IID

As newly elected CEO of the IID (The African Institute of the Interior Design Professions), it is a privilege to share some ideas about creativity with fellow designers and readers. I am passionate about the impact of creativity on design and the importance of design in our everyday lives.

DESIGN IS A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

Throughout the ages, people have wanted to create unique, personalised, inspirational, self-nurturing and rejuvenating spaces that invoke joy, counterbalance hectic lives, and encourage mindful living.

Being immersed in a creative task positively influences us, providing a sense of achievement, accomplishment, and psychological wellbeing.

Creativity lies within each person, paradoxical, constructive, courageous and perceptive; it can be inspired or suppressed. It is childlike, individual and universal, intellectual as well as artful, born of inspiration and made with determination. As understanding and knowledge of the creative process increase, we gain insight and confidence. We can create original, high-quality visual solutions and become known as creative, logical problem-solvers and thinkers. We are able to balance the needs of form and functionality to create effective design solutions and spaces of beauty and integrity.

Creativity is not a skill set; it's a mindset, an orientation that resists habitual thinking and invites courageous exploration. I believe that one of the reasons we fail to make a good or creative decision is because we don't allow ourselves the time to reflect on it.