A sensemaking perspective to exploring the emergence and collective formation of creative visionin graphics design collectives

Abstract

This thesis conceptualises collective creative vision formation to explore collective creativity in contexts where creative work is characterised by elaborating the future form of creative artefacts. Defined here as a ‘collectively held model of creative taskwork of an aesthetic nature that is yet to be materialised as an artefact’, collective creative vision is posited to be formed from the interaction of individual creative visions with evaluations of others in a creative collective. This process is explored from a prospective sensemaking perspective in 3 graphics design collectives formed to execute 3 creative projects for an international publishing house in London, United Kingdom. The study utilises a grounded theory methodological approach to analyse project electronic mail data, complimented by interviews, observations and archival data. Study findings suggest that collective creative vision formation can be viewed as a dual phase sensemaking process of articulating creative vision and co-elaborating creative vision. Findings suggest that creative vision is formed when the dormant expectancy frames of members of the collectives are primed by cues furnished by inspiration from the external environment. Individually articulated creative vision then receives evaluations from other members of the collective, which supply cues that determine progression to further iterations. The quality of evaluations also causes movement between the two identified phases. Identifying the processes underlying the interplay between creative vision and evaluations contributes theoretical as well as empirical support to nascent research in creative vision, and answers calls for further research in the wider literature on creativity and vision, as well as sensemaking. The study findings also have important implications for managers and creatives and inform new directions for future research. Taking an interpretive view to aligning perspectives on cognition in creativity and vision formation may hopefully spur new conversations in these domains.