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Abstract
The creative behind the design: A phenomenological investigation into the lived experience of leading creative practitioners
Creative design practice is a highly complicated endeavour. It involves deep personal engagement, superior communication, inter-relationships with many different professionals, and the ability to manage competing agendas while remaining relevant within an ever-changing commercial landscape.
Research in the field has tended to be mostly descriptive of current and evolving design practices, with far less exploring more personal dimensions of exemplary creative practitioners. Using a phenomenological methodology, this thesis has researched the latter by investigating the lived experience of seven leading creative practitioners. The theory of knowledge underlying this approach asserts that the requisite knowledge exists in the minds of those who have experienced the phenomenon, in this case, creative design practice.
Seven leading creative practitioners, from four countries, were selected as participants for this study, based on their international recognition in at least one of the following criteria: recipients of industry awards; prominent achievement in winning grants and residencies; and/or significant commercial recognition. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant that focused on their lived experience in relation to their creative practice. Hermeneutic principles were applied to each of the interview transcripts as a means of identifying units of meaning.
Ten dominant themes emerged that highlighted units of meaning common to the participants and offered unique insights into their personal and professional worlds. Seven personal perspectives were also identified, indicating that participants were driven by personal motivations associated with their search for meaning. Together these themes and perspectives offer a deeper understanding of the lived experience of leading creative practitioners, as well as having implications for wider practice, for design education, and for further research.