My Creative Checklist

We're all dying to know the secrets of the creative geniuses around us, so being one myself (cough...), I thought I'd share one. A secret, that is. Well, it isn't really a secret. I just said that to keep you interested. It is a checklist that reminds me of the obvious, but easily forgotten, principles and elements of art. Which I do tend to forget. Hence the list. Here it is:

• Accessible
• Balance
• Clever
• Color Harmony
• Composition
• Continuity
• Contrast
• Curiosity
• Direction
• Fun
• Goal
• Humor
• Inspirational
• Lighting
• Meaning
• Memorable
• New
• Own it!
• Patterns
• Personality
• Quality
• Realism
• Rhyme
• Rhythm
• Simple
• Story
• Subtle
• Texture
• Typography

With these reminders I have avoided more than a few crimes against aesthetics. Remember—it's not about what you know. It's about what you remember. So if you need to, make a list. Or swipe this one...

~Tom