Welcome to Everyone's Creative! Let's explore what it means to make things, challenge conventional wisdom about art, and invite everyone into the "creative" club.
After working professionally in various commercial arts for many years, and practicing art my entire life, I've come to the unfortunate realization that a lot of people just don't think they're creative -- that art isn't "for them," or that for some reason they don't get to have an opinion about it. As Everyone's Creative, I want to offer a window into the messy, complicated reality of being an "artist." I know from personal experience that, when we show someone what goes into making things, it helps them see that they actually are creative, too. You don't really have a choice in the matter, I'm afraid. So why resist it?
As a working professional in commercial art for the past decade, I've noticed a resistance I had to making art with any real meaning. So, to try to break that pattern I've decided to double down on what I think matters. Everyone's Creative is a rebirth of what used to be called Robot Fan Club -- a self-conscious name I used to avoid figuring out what I wanted to say, hiding behind shallow ideas to avoid saying anything deeper (and revealing who I am). Everyone's Creative is a commitment to this idea of exploring deeper meaning with my work.
What is Everyone’s Creative?
When I think about creativity, I don't see something simple or innocent. I see different philosophies of making clashing against each other, each telling the other they're wrong -- that there's a right way to make things. I see frustration at our humanity -- a desire to find efficiencies in the creative process in order to work more like a machine in the name of productivity. I see the struggle to use technology to enable more, and the resistance to technology for fear of being made obsolete. I see the often-ignored yet unavoidable politics that inform so much about what and how we create (and who gets to).
Creativity is messy, but it's also everywhere -- I want to show you the mess so you can see yourself in it. I want all of us to realize creativity is something we have in common, so we can work together to use our creativity to our advantage, and to make being creative better for us all.
Who is Everyone’s Creative?
Simon Peng is Everyone's Creative.
That's me! I'm Simon Peng! I'm an artist who draws, designs and animates. I currently work in marketing, making brands (among many other things) for people and companies that want to speak to who they really are and what they actually believe -- not just marketing to boost sales at any cost. I'm a teacher at heart -- having taught graphic design and illustration at Mohawk College and now bringing an educator's perspective to all the work I do. My aim is to lift the veil on the creative process, to show people that there's really no such thing as "natural talent" and that artistic "geniuses" are really just good at hiding their mistakes.
Why is Everyone's Creative?
Read the Everyone’s Creative Manifesto to learn the values behind Everyone's Creative. I want to give everybody a place to start thinking of themselves as an artist. Welcome to the club!
What you can expect:
Examples of some ideas we can explore here:
How is art made?
Is it all bullshit?
How is that gestures with hands creative?
How do we protect creative labourers from exploitation?
What happens when people use creativity to cause harm?
Should we pay money for art?
Can machines make art?
...and much more!
How this takes shape:
A mix of:
essays on big ideas and fragments of thoughts
conversations with other creative people (meaning anyone)
analyzing art and creative work to learn about ourselves
anything else that feels right
What isn't this?
Everyone's Creative isn't my personal blog. I won't do status updates on projects here, or "reviews" of art. It isn't about providing tutorials or step-by-step how-to's. It also isn't fixed or static - what it is will change, I'm sure.
