Are you a fan of Project Runway (a reality show where fashion designers compete in various design challenges to get the chance to showcase their collections at Fashion Week)?  If you are, you know that before designing their collections for Fashion Week, the final four contestants will start the design process by collecting little things that they think will give them inspiration for designing the new collections.  These little things can include a picture of a building, a landmark, a place etc.   They can also include a piece of jewelery, a swatch, a flower,  etc.  You get the idea.  Then they put all these little things together such as pinning them on a board.  I call it the “collage of inspiration.”  From their collage of inspiration, they might get inspiration for the color scheme of their collections.  They might get inspiration for the silhouettes of their collections. They might get inspiration for the story that they want to tell with their collections.

Creating a collage of inspiration is an effective and proactive first step towards a creative process.  Introducing the conception of “collage of inspiration” to your kids will give them the tool they may need to start any creative process.

I recently introduced the concept of collage of inspiration to my two-year-old.  The first collage we made used various department stores’ colorful fliers that we received in the mail.  The holiday season is approaching, most department stores’ fliers are filled with beautiful pictures that are Christmas related.  One day, I took out a stack of department store fliers and asked my two-year-old to pick out the pictures that she liked in these fliers.  She pointed at a Santa Clause figure, a ginger bread house, a ginger bread cookie, a snowman, and a few other things.  Then I cut them out for her (I don’t feel safe to let a two-year-old use scissors) and asked her to glue them on a piece of paper in whatever arrangement that she liked.  She even made some scribbles on the paper.  Here is her finished work:

This collage is the beginning of a creative process.  It can inspire the storyline of a book.  It can inspire the design of a holiday cake.  It can inspire the subjects of a painting……..

Do you make a collage of inspiration before you start a design or art challenge?

(For those of you who don’t know about the Project Runway show but are curious about it, you can go to its website:   http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway )