EDITOR’S Most people are born creative. As children, we revel in imaginary play, ask outlandish questions, draw blobs and call them dinosaurs. But over time, because of socialisation and formal education, a lot of us start to stifle those impulses. We learn to be warier of judgment, more cautious, more analytical. The world seems to divide into “creatives” and “non creatives,” and too many people consciously or unconsciously resign themselves to the latter category. And yet we know that creativity is essential to success in any discipline or industry. According to a recent IBM survey of chief executives around the world, it’s the most sought-after trait in leaders today. No one can deny that creative thinking has enabled the rise and continued success of countless companies, from small high street brands to stalwarts like Facebook and Google. Carbon is a platform to celebrate and champion creativity and editing this issue I’ve been so impressed by the innovative and creative outputs our young, hungry collaborators have produced. Yet it is interesting how little confidence they have in their own talents. Many of us who have a powerful creative drive refuse to let it become more than just a few occasional day dreams not because we lack creative capabilities, but because we lack the creative confidence necessary to do the work. We think to ourselves: “I can’t write a feature, I’m not a writer” or similar thoughts. The result is that we end up fulfilling the prophecy. We don’t feel like a writer, so we don’t write, which ensures that we don’t become a writer. So my job this issue has been to celebrate and praise the achievements of our photographers, writers and designers to instil in them some confidence to push forward and continue creating. If you like what you see then please help me champion these brilliant producers by popping on to our Instagram account or website and giving them all a pat on the back too. In a world where it is all to easy to criticise and knock people down let us be the generation that celebrates creativity, supports each other and boosts confidence at every opportunity – in doing that we will all be successful.
- Kay CARBON MAGAZINE
3