Collaboration is key to success in the arts, and especially so in digital projects and transmedia, but how do you do it, and what does it mean. In this blog I will discuss some of the key elements which are critical to the start of any collaborative work, and frameworks for helping you become a good collaborator, when you start out.
To put in context it is worth watching this short interview with musician Nate Ruess. The note to take away here is to see that one person will inevitably have the beginning of a work, but the key point is that others contribute and in the end the final work results form everyone. Recognising this, and not worrying about who started. who did what, and whether your ego is more important than the project are key essentials to good collaboration. However, everyone needs to get the credit for being part of the process.
The process can be challenging, and not always creating great work the first time around. Watch these three art students make their first collaborative work and you will see many of the issues the process throws up. From brainstorming to organising a idea, through to agreeing individual contributions and being pushed out of your comfort zone. The latter is one of the cornerstones of originality in the creative process.
Also here is Nick Park – creator of ‘Wallace and Gromit’ talkimg to BCre8ive about the process of creating work.
Organising this process, and supporting other creatives is something all members of creative teams have to engage with but for arts lecturers it is an essential part of the educative process. Listen to Fred Deakin designer and part-time Professor of Digital Interactive Arts at the University of the Arts, London talking about the process. He reinforces the point about egos, and the need for lots of ideas – see Dave Sproxton’s and Chris Trengrove‘s blog.
Finally on managing collaboration a quick comment from Steve Jobs and the importance of ideas rather than committees or individual people to success in design – an approach based on collaboration between creative people.
