Who is Creative?

Last week I was at a Dreamstake event in London, and during the panel discussion the subject of "Who is a creative person" came up but the panelists didn't go into it in depth. I wanted to give our view on this very much talked about subject.

Traditionally, when people have talked about being in the creative industries, they refer to the following fields:

• Advertising
• Architecture
• Arts and antique markets
• Crafts
• Design
• Fashion design
• Film, video and photography
• Software, computer games and electronic publishing
• Music and the visual and performing arts
• Publishing
• Television
• Radio

These fields are also recognised by the UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Although these fields are traditionally creative I believe that working in these fields or out of them does not define wether you are a creative person.

According to the Oxford dictionary, being creative means to "relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, esp. in the production of an artistic work". Taking this into account I can think of a list of other industries and job positions that require you to be creative on a daily basis.

Throughout my diverse career I have always found that being creative has helped me when working in any field and job. To me, creativity has to do with being able to use your imagination to come up with new ideas and new ways to solve the problem that you are facing. Some industries are traditionally creative but not being in them does not mean that you are not creative as an individual.