The Craft: Exploring the Creative Process

In this episode, Carter asks Colby about what he learned from reading Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport.

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Cover art was designed by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewelldesign.com or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby discuss Cal Newport’s Deep Work. The conversation begins with a summary of the book’s main idea: the pursuit of meaningful, deep work. This practice simultaneously represents a marketable skill as well as a way to accomplish personal and creative goals. After contrasting the characteristics of deep and shallow activities, they distinguish the concept from “hard” work, noting that deep work is not always frustrating or difficult; it can be effortless. The conversation engages a number of key ideas, including the power of scheduling and the dignity or sacredness of craftsmanship. Additionally, Colby charts Newport’s paradigm of lagging and lead metrics, offering a more encouraging and measurable way to approach projects. The conversation ends by considering applications; Colby remarks on his experimentation with Newport’s Time-Block system.

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Cover art was designed by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewelldesign.com or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby discuss how technology, specifically social media, interacts and influences our work. The broad conversation is adjacent to Cal Newport’s book Digital Minimalism. They begin the podcast by sketching common issues that emerge from technology’s place in our lives. Then, the conversation turns toward imagining and exploring a healthier relationship with digital tools. Additionally, they discuss the value of long-form art, inefficiency, and artistic friction. 

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Cover art was designed by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewelldesign.com or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

In this episode, Carter and Colby address two central ideas. First, they try to distinguish a “craft” from other activities. Are hobbies crafts? Can someone have multiple crafts? Can anything potentially qualify? Their proposed definition centers on the traditions, skills, and intentions that make crafts a distinct, human activity. After sketching these theoretical contours, they pivot, engaging how we discover or recognize our craft. This conversation involves the role of passion as well as necessity, specifically engaging the idea of life design as presented by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans in Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-lived, Joyful Life. 

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Cover art was designed by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewelldesign.com or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby discuss the process of generating new ideas. The conversation begins by exploring the often negative pressure to be artistically “original.” They emphasize the importance of working within an artistic context, “stealing” from and responding to a tradition of work. This leads them to discuss creative synthesis and the journey of developing a distinctive voice. They also explore whether ideas are cheap unless executed, a conversation that centers on the necessity of testing, discarding, and cultivating new ideas. Finally, Carter and Colby share examples from their own experience, including the origin story of Colby’s Song Maps.  

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Cover art was designed by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewelldesign.com or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby explore the topic of creative inspiration. They begin by discussing the nature of inspiration, a definition that involves both being gripped by an idea as well as baseline motivation. Their discussion moves to the problem of the creative wasteland: what can you do when the land is barren? In the face of this common creative issue, they share sources of inspiration from their own lives, including lived experiences and artistic encounters. 

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Cover art was designed by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewelldesign.com or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby discuss artistic patience. They explore the difficulty of working through moments of friction and argue that even small amounts of patience can produce significant, worthwhile results. The conversation engages this concept on multiple scales, considering the role of patience in project-related details as well as the long arch of a career. Additionally, the conversation contrasts how our paradigms about patience relate to long-term goals or, inversely, short-term hacks. 

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Cover art was designed by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewelldesign.com or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

Is the right tool irreplaceable? Or, does a good craftsman never blame his tools? In this episode of The Craft, Carter and Colby discuss the tension between these perspectives. Their conversation explores the difference between artistic tools and gadgets, emphasizing the importance of intentionality and agency. Additionally, they each provide practical examples from their own repertoire of creative tools. 

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Cover art was designed by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewelldesign.com or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

Whether or not you’re conscious of your creative process, you have certain ways of working on your craft. These processes come in different shapes and sizes, but beneath the idiosyncrasies, they share common denominators. In this new series, “Creative First-Principles,” Carter and Colby theorize the foundational building blocks that underlie every craft. They suggest a framework [Create, Revise, Share, Sustain] that can act as a trellis for creative discussions and questions. 

In the final episode of the series, Carter and Colby discuss what it means to sustain creativity. In working toward a definition for this principle, they explore different types of sustaining, engaging both in-process practices as well as post-project recovery. Additionally, they explore the unique toll that creative work exacts. 

Send feedback or topic ideas to [email protected]. 

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Cover art was designed by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewelldesign.com or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.

Whether or not you’re conscious of your creative process, you have certain ways of working on your craft. These processes come in different shapes and sizes, but beneath the idiosyncrasies, they share common denominators. In this new series, “Creative First-Principles,” Carter and Colby theorize the foundational building blocks that underlie every craft. They suggest a framework [Create, Revise, Share, Sustain] that can act as a trellis for creative discussions and questions. 

In this episode of the 4-part series, Carter and Colby discuss the third first-principle: sharing. They begin by differentiating the variety of ways that creatives share their work. They also discuss the connection between art and interpersonal relationships, considering the tensions between public and private art. The episode, however, centers on the difficulty that accompanies sharing one’s work. They connect this difficulty to the inherent vulnerability of creative work. Finally, Colby concludes the episode with several insights into the world of marketing. 

Send feedback or topic ideas to [email protected]. 

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Cover art was designed by Elizabeth Newell. Learn more about her work at elizabethnewelldesign.com or on Instagram @elizabethisadesigner.