Creativity: more problem solving than art

How many times have you told yourself “I’m not creative” when what you really mean is “I can’t draw, sing or dance”?

I hear versions of this surprisingly often from business owners, usually early in branding conversations and often said almost apologetically. The assumption seems to be that creativity belongs to other people. Artists. Musicians. Designers. The stereotypically creative ones.

But building and running a business requires creativity all the time, even if it doesn’t look creative in the traditional sense. Finding solutions when things go wrong, adapting to challenges, improving systems, communicating ideas more clearly, creating opportunities or identifying gaps in the market all involve creativity. Most business owners I work with use creativity daily without even thinking about it or recognising it.

I think the issue is that creativity is often confused with artistic ability, and they’re not necessarily the same thing. Someone who develops a new product is being creative. Someone who changes direction when circumstances shift is being creative. Someone who builds a business from scratch, solves problems for customers or finds a better way of doing things is being creative too.

Creativity often looks much more like problem solving than painting.

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons I often push back when clients tell me “I’m not creative.” More often than not, I think they mean “I’m not artistic.” And there’s definitely a difference.

I’m a designer, not an artist

This may sound unusual coming from someone in branding and design but whilst I love drawing, art and creating purely for enjoyment, I don’t really see those things as my role when I’m designing.

The thing is, art is often about personal expression, whereas design has a different purpose.

When I’m developing a brand identity, packaging or printed material, I’m not primarily thinking about what I’d choose for myself or whether something reflects my personal taste. I’m considering who needs to engage with it, what the business is trying to communicate and whether the outcome will actually work in the real world.

Will the right audience trust it? Will it communicate clearly? Will it stand out in the right way? Will it work across packaging, signage, websites and social media? Will it still feel relevant in years to come? Can the client use it confidently day to day?

Those questions matter because good design isn’t simply about making something attractive. The strongest solutions often come from understanding constraints, objectives and practical realities rather than chasing something that looks impressive in a portfolio.

The branding projects that work best rarely begin with colours, fonts or decoration. They begin with conversations about the business, the audience, the challenges and what success might actually look like. The visual side comes afterwards.

You probably bring more creativity to the process than you realise

Perhaps that’s also why clients sometimes apologise before a strategy session, as though they need to justify the references they’ve brought or explain that they’re “not very creative.”

The reality is I like hearing people’s ideas. I encourage clients to share examples they’re drawn to, brands they admire and even things they dislike. Those reactions are useful. They often reveal values, priorities or preferences that go much deeper than visuals alone.

What I don’t expect is for clients to arrive with fully formed design solutions or the language to explain exactly what they want. You already know your business better than anyone else. You understand your customers, your frustrations, your goals and often the reasons previous approaches haven’t worked. You know what feels right, what doesn’t and where you want to go.

That insight, combined with your ideas and instincts, is often more valuable than knowing design terminology or having a traditionally “creative” background.

My role isn’t to be the only creative person in the room. It’s to listen, ask questions, identify patterns and translate ideas, objectives and problems into something visual that works hard for the business.

Because if you’ve built a business, adapted, solved problems and continued moving forward, there’s a good chance you’ve been relying on creativity for years, just not in the way you thought.