Note: This is the first in a 4-part series of articles on Lenses & Filters of The Creative Eye. You can find parts 2 here, 3 here and 4 here.
Almost everyone wants an iPhone. They’re sexy, stable, and secure. As of 2022, over 2.2 billion have been sold. That’s a huge number, and numbers don’t lie.
Almost everyone definitely wants an iPhone. But let’s focus. Let’s talk about the top-of-the-line iPhones: the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
These are the most advanced iPhones ever made.
The Triangle of Status
Almost everyone uses a case. So, when you cover an iPhone with one, you hide the Apple logo at the back.
So how do I know that you have an iPhone Pro, and not the iPhone?
Yup, you guessed it. The camera module. The iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max have a very distinct, triangular arrangement in their camera modules.
Source: UnitedLex
The 3 lenses have their own purpose and position. Why is this important?
Because it’s a fantastic example of design thinking done right.
And it’s a framework that’ll let us explore creative thinking a lot more clearly and
deeply. Just like the iPhone Pro has 3 lenses for photography, the “Creative Pro” has 3 lenses for creativity.
It is with these 3 lenses that the creative views the world.
It is with these 3 lenses that the creative creates.
And, it’s extremely important that you do too.
The 3 Lenses of Creativity
Remember what I said about iPhones at the start?
I said that they’re sexy, stable and secure.
This choice of words was not meant to be witty. It’s a beautiful example of the 3 lenses of creativity.
The 3 Lenses of Creativity are:
1. The Lens of Aesthetics
2. The Lens of Logic
3. The Lens of Ethics
Let’s look at my iPhone statement through these 3 lenses:
“The iPhone is sexy, stable and secure”.
Sexy: Viewed through the “Lens of Aesthetics”.
Stable: Viewed through the “Lens of Logic”.
Secure: Viewed through the “Lens of Ethics”.
Let’s look at these 3 lenses in detail...
The Lens of Aesthetics
The Lens of Aesthetics searches for beauty.
It processes, understands and expresses creativity via critical thinking. It appreciates how things are seen, heard or felt, and applies this understanding in a beautiful, aesthetically-pleasing context. It is the lens that turns colour and composition into art and design.
The Lens of Logic
The Lens of Logic searches for rationality.
It processes, understands and expresses facts, evidence and critical analysis via
logical thinking. It appreciates how information is connected, related and concluded, and applies this understanding in a methodical, systematic context.
It is the lens that turns information into data, data into insight, insight into
knowledge, and finally, knowledge into wisdom.
The Lens of Ethics
The Lens of Ethics searches for morality.
It processes, understands and expresses actions, values and principles via ethical thinking.
It appreciates how individuals, societies and systems operate (individually and
collectively) and applies this understanding in a fair, just context. It is the lens that turns subjective perspectives and choices into objective decisions and consequences.
Using The 3 Lenses
The 3 lenses, when used together effectively, can allow you to not just create, but
study and learn from great work.
Let’s put this to the test. Let’s take the Mona Lisa.
Since its beauty is universally agreed upon, let’s view it through the other two
lenses. The Mona Lisa is not just an aesthetic work of art. It is also a logical and ethical masterpiece. There are three logical aspects to it: Perspective, Symmetry and Colour.
For perspective, it uses a technique called Sfumato: the blending of object edges and the use of larger more-detailed foreground objects, to create 3-D depth and a natural, balanced composition.
For symmetry, it divides the composition into two halves, the subject and the
landscape, for balance and harmony.
For colour, it uses earthy tones to make the subject pop, her hands and face being the liveliest in tone and hue.
While they may be analyzed by the Lens of Aesthetics, these are 3 logical decisions that Leonardo Da Vinci took before he started painting. When seen through the Lens of Ethics, the Mona Lisa represents autonomy and
independence. It shows the subject, with her enigmatic smile, as a symbol of beauty, grace and individuality. But wait, what were we testing?
We were testing the effectiveness of the 3 lenses.
And I’m going to prove to you that Da Vinci was a master at using them.
Ok. Let’s summarize our analysis...
Is the Mona Lisa aesthetic? Yes.
Is the Mona Lisa logical? From a creator’s or an artist’s viewpoint, yes.
Is the Mona Lisa ethical? It’s subjective, but I would say it is.
So we’ve seen it through all 3 lenses. So, what’s so great about that?
Da Vinci was one of the greatest painters who ever lived. Of course, his paintings
would make sense in all 3 lenses, right?
Wrong.
If you master the lenses, you can get away by committing crime and breaking rules. And Da Vinci did the same thing.
How?
He fooled you with such beauty that you never once even noticed the Mona Lisa’s eyebrows. Did you pay attention to her eyebrows?
I’m sure you didn’t, because she doesn’t have any.
That’s the power of the 3 lenses.
And that’s what happens when you master them...
You can get away with one of the greatest portraits ever made...
Without eyebrows.
The 9 Filters of Creativity
Here’s another thing you might have missed about the Mona Lisa.
She’s wearing a veil. If you keep looking, who knows what else you’ll find.
Ok. Let’s leave the Mona Lisa alone for now and move on...
Just like there are different lenses for a camera, there are different filters for a lens. A filter is a piece of plastic or glass that’s attached in front of a lens to add special effects to the final image.
The creative lens also has filters, and we’re going to discuss 9 of them here.
The lenses and the filters, when used together, will help you see and think
differently in any context.
They’ll also help you appreciate and study all the creativity around you with a more refined, mature eye.
Here are the 9 creative filters you need to add to your toolkit:
1. The Proximity Filter
2. The Spatial Filter
3. The Similarity Filter
4. The Minimalism Filter
5. The Isolation Filter
6. The Functionality Filter
7. The Flow Filter
8. The Gradient Filter
9. The Focus Filter
Well, that’s it for this piece. Hope you enjoyed learning about the 3 lenses.
Try viewing the things around you with these lenses. You’ll notice an immediate
change in the way you see, study and create.
Once you get a hang of the lenses, you can start using the filters. We’ll see them in the next part of this series.
You can read it here.
Happy creating!
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