#3 How Limitations Can Be The Greatest Tool For Creatives
In The Art Of The Process, I explore the world of process-driven creativity. Each month, I pick a project and talk about the making of, behind-the-scenes and the creative process.
This newsletter was prompted by a comment on BlueSky, where I was asked to share the process behind one of my commissions: Scented Connections, an immersive exhibition which gave form to 15 million data points on perfumes. So, thanks, Nicolas for the prompt!
If you are on BlueSky, we can connect here (I'm putting together a starter pack and I'd love for you to join!)
I’ve just launched my biggest project of the year: "Maps of Paintings," commissioned by The National Gallery in London. In the next newsletter, I'll dive into the creative process behind this exciting project.
But why process matters?
In our culture, we often celebrate outcomes—award-winning artworks, groundbreaking designs, or innovative tech products. Yet the journey that leads to these outcomes, the experimentation, the failures, and the discoveries along the way, are usually hidden. I believe that this hidden side of creativity is where the magic truly lies.
Scented Connections: The Process
Archaeologists have discovered some of the oldest perfumes known to exist, thought to be over 4,000 years old.
The challenge (the first of many, keep reading…) was to demonstrate how data could be leveraged in a craft deeply rooted in ancient techniques and traditions. They wanted to celebrate the old and the new—where the ancient art of perfume creation meets the modern power of data visualisation.
Living in London is far from the poetic imagery of the French countryside (sigh), so I wanted to find an analogy to capture the invisible threads that connect perfumers and their fragrances, transforming complex data into a visual symphony of lines, nodes, and patterns.
Creative Process: Where to start?
Research is the first step of my process. It’s one of the most crucial parts of it. Research isn't just prep work; it's where the creative journey begins. The most exciting, enjoyable, revealing, and magical part of my work is the process of making it. I love making so much that I don't get stressed a lot about how the final output will look like. Because, for me, art happens in the making.
I developed a framework for redefining creativity that anyone—from managers to designers—can understand and apply. I called it The Transformative Creative Cycle.
I explore, to transform raw observations and questions into a framework that guides and grounds my creative work.
I prioritise, understanding the effect of my work, which is crucial for iterating and achieving sustainable impact.
I experiment to reflect and transform abstract ideas into tangible forms (aka design).
I test to allow me to make informed adjustments to refine my work, based on reflection and feedback. It keeps my process dynamic and responsive.
What part of your process do you usually keep hidden? I'm dying to know!
Can limitations be the greatest tool for creatives?
While I work with the most unusual datasets, never before have I been asked to visualise the very essence of perfumes and aromas. I wanted to replicate nature using data as a creative material to create a visual olfactory fingerprint. To achieve this, I worked on data from the last 100 formulas created by each perfumer and flavorist: a nerve-racking 15 million data points to work with.
Gardens have often symbolised themes such as life, growth, or renewal in art history. From ancient Egyptian tombs to Renaissance paintings, gardens have been depicted in various styles and mediums throughout the ages. Many renowned artists, like Monet and Van Gogh, have also been influenced by gardens and incorporated them into their works.
As I began exploring different visualisation techniques, I realised I was in trouble! I couldn’t find the right way to mimic nature, the deadline was approaching, and I struggled to feel inspired. What a catastrophe!
Did you know that Thomas Edison made 1,800 unsuccessful attempts before inventing the light bulb? Without each of those 1,800 unsuccessful attempts, we couldn't have experienced electricity! So, I allowed myself to 'play' in a cycle of trial and error.
How technology allows for new ways of seeing
I started with the usual non-coding technique that I’ve used in the past to visualise music [link here]. While I was able to create something vaguely interesting, the need to generate 30 different artworks made this approach impractical. It required too much human intervention and the result was just a simple hole.
Then I tried Processing. One glitch in the code (read: mistake) generated a shape that resembled a flower. It referred to the long-standing artistic tradition of gardens but with a digital twist. However, NOT ENOUGH.
So, a bit beaten, I closed my laptop and headed to the Tate Britain to look at some paintings (so cliché). I stumbled upon these intricate and detailed still paintings of Jan van Huysum, "Glass Vase with Flowers, with a Poppy and a Finch Nest, 1720-21". Beautiful!
It became clear that I had to make flowers. I discovered a way to simulate a physical system to spatialise a network. And magically, the outputs looked like flowers! I could run this script to generate each artwork in almost no time. It felt good.
Scented Connections was born as a series of 30 unique data portraits visualising the network of fragrances and aromas used to create a perfume. Inspired by the intricate web of relationships that form the backbone of a fragrance and by nature's shapes, each piece represents a unique "olfactory fingerprint," charting the journey of a fragrance from its creation to its ultimate destination.
But I didn't stop there.
In collaboration with Artefact 3000, we went a step further by digitising all the portraits and exhibiting them in a digital gallery. The aim was to extend the reach of these unique art pieces, to showcase the richness, complexity, and creativity of Robertet's artisans' work to a wider audience, far beyond the confines of the physical gallery.
Scented Connections was presented as an immersive experience at the VivaTech conference in Paris and it has won a Lovie Award for People's Lovie in Best Design, and a Silver in Best Design (Websites & Mobile Sites).
Often working with data can feel impersonal, dry, without emotions, and reducing everything to a statistic. In my work, I try my best to do the opposite. For me, every data point, from numbers to sound, has a story to tell, an emotion to share, something to discover and feel connected with.
I'd love to keep the conversation going, so please share this article with your community or leave a comment!
What other project process do you want to read about? You can pick your favourite from here.
What an awesome project! Those floral x-rays are beautiful! Thanks for sharing about your process, I roughly follow the same 4 steps when doing creative projects, it is a lot of exploring, thinking, iterating, attempting, then jumping back and forth between the stages until I get to something I like.