TORONTO—Only some people are born creative, right?

Not according to FITC Toronto speaker Jason Theodor, who himself has been in the creative industry for 17 years or so.

"There's no one out there that isn't creative," he said, noting creativity is "not about romantic ideals… it's about a ton of work. To become more creative, you just have to want to become more creative."


From birth we figure out new concepts and that takes experimentation and creativity, he said. But there are, of course, barriers to creativity that can pop up along the way.

People who don't consider themselves creative probably don't think their ideas are different or unique enough, but "deviation" — the word Theodor used to describe a unique voice or perspective — is a very small part (one percent) of the creativity formula, he said.

His formula, which also includes connection (around nine percent of the formula) and action — at 90 percent — is not scientifically based, he admitted.

Action, he said, is the key. "(Writer and speaker) Malcolm Gladwell said it takes 10,000 hours to become a genius at something," he said. "The things that keep us from acting is fear, self-doubt, and distractions."

He presented eight types of creatives, noting that for some of them, action comes naturally.

Here are the eight types and his explanation of each:

• The Taker (The Consumer): Desires to be creative, but succumbs to inertia. Craves meaning and voice, but dreams of winning American Idol. Needs patient mentor and a full toolkit.
• The Mimic (The Xerox): Most of us begin as mimics, especially designers. Need to work on deeper associations, storytelling, research. Need to experiment more to find their own expression.
• The Producer (The Machine): Get things done right, unstoppable. Fundamental understanding of the work. Have difficulty with self-expression, but love teamwork.
• The Empath (The Geek): Live primarily in books and online. Prefer the comfort of their thoughts. Get caught in rabbit holes.
• The Dreamer (The Wannabe): Filled with lofty, creative ambitions and ideas. Have trouble with inertia. Talk the talk but can't walk the walk.
• Crazy (The Wildcard): Passionate, filled with wild ideas. Lacks understanding, can't focus ideas on a project. Too scattered to finish projects.
• The Outsider (The Recluse): Very creative but insecure, try lots of different things. Haven't found their passion, the meaning behind their work. Often feel like a fraud, an outsider.
• Maker (The Creator): Have a well-balanced skill set. Make cool stuff of their own. Work, learn, play.

There's even a chart he designed to show where one falls in the classifications, which can also be viewed on his website.


Theodor was joined in a later session by graphic designer Aaron Draplin (Draplin Design Co.), Riccardo Giraldi (creative director of B-Reel London), and Dr. Ivan Poupyrev (director of an interaction technology group at Walt Disney Imagineering) to discuss kickstarting the creative process.

Both Draplin and Giraldi said always carrying a notebook and jotting thoughts is a good start, but Poupyrev, a "high-tech inventor," scoffed at notebooks and shared his less conventional method to get inspired.

"As a kid I had a theory to stare into space and something will come," he said. He added with a smile, "this didn't work for tests in school."


But he argued that staring is a very creative process. "It's not empty. I spend a lot of time looking at stuff."

And when it comes to which ideas to push forward with, Poupyrev added, "It has to be relevant. Relevance is most important. People think if it's interesting to them, it's interesting to everyone, which is wrong."

On a question about how to not become jaded in the design world, Poupyrev said it's a "privilege" to do something he enjoys and get paid for it. "I meet people who work from 8-5 and then when they come home, their life starts."

"You have to love what you do."