Creativity & Genre

 The media studies portfolio project is an open door to creativity in a multitude of ways. The approach to creating a magazine is something I have yet to attempt which is intimidating but exciting at the same time. In the Ted Talk given by a Disney creative director, the speaker explains how crucial it is for a naive expert to develop initial ideas. Their viewpoint would naturally be different from anyone who had previous experience in that field. This would be beneficial for my portfolio project because of my lack of experience that could potentially cultivate a unique and creative angle.  

Following the TED Talk, I completed a New Introductions activity that challenged me to come up with interesting statements to introduce myself. I used the general topic of food and connected personal eating choices to larger aspects of my life. For example, I stopped eating red meat almost two years ago because of the increased likelihood of a diet leading to cancer, which in turn worsened my anemia. This activity forced me to expand on a selective topic and explain on its correlation to other aspects in my life in a creative manner, thus denouncing the common courtesy of a simple introduction. 

A third door explaining a more logical approach to creativity is the Interview with Ron Behgetto. Through this interview, it is clear that Beghetto believes every person has the opportunity to be creative, it’s just a matter of who’s willing to take the necessary risks and not be afraid to fail. He explains the role confidence plays by saying that more confident people generally aren’t afraid of taking creative risks even if it could potentially end poorly for them. This is a positive mindset to begin my portfolio with because it will open my mind to a more creative approach and allow me to risk being a previously mentioned naive expert.  

Before going off on my own tangent, I research magazines similar in the magazine field. One of these magazines is The Taste of Home, which highlighted holiday recipes for the upcoming Thanksgiving season. The warm color scheme and dark main image background made my first impression of the magazine an inviting home feeling, which I’m hoping to emulate through my cover image, contrasting a lighter masthead. A fear I have is that a magazine like this could become repetitive if different seasonal recipes are just rotated throughout the year. I hope to address this creative barrier with my unique edge in this industry.  

My vision for my magazine is a cooking guide that includes recipes but focuses on the origin of them. We all have family members rooted in their personal cooking style that has been passed down and modified through generations. I want to bring that to light and focus my magazine article on my grandmother’s apple pie. Everyone in my extended family raves about this pie, but my grandma has yet to share her secrets. I’m not sure if I’ll end up getting the recipe, but there’s no harm in trying.