There are lots of “design rules” out there that you’re supposed to follow.

These rules are there for good reason – following them increases the likelihood that you’ll create a usable and effective interaction experience for users.

But is it ever OK to break the rules?

Of course it is. “Design Rules” aren’t rules at all – they’re simply guidelines you should use to help create an optimal solution.

Breaking well established design conventions doesn’t always mean you’re making a “mistake” or that you’re going to produce a poor user experience.

Quite the opposite – breaking the rules enables you to be more creative, original, and innovative which can potentially result in new and novel interaction experiences.

The key is not to break the rules just for the sake of creating something “different”. However, we must maintain;  “to break a rule, you must know snd understand the rule”.

Some graphic designers believe that creativity is innate while others think it is learnt. We consider both to be equally essential in graphic design. This is because, nature and nurture, both play a significant role in building our creative instincts. Almost every human being is born with relatively equal capabilities, but with their own set of creative faculties. They just need to be properly nurtured in order to reap the desired fruit.

Likewise, all graphic designers, no matter how small or big in magnitude, have a certain level of creativity embedded in them. Creativity is never static. There is always room for improvement and there are absolutely no bounds to a graphic designer’s resourcefulness. Creativity can be enhanced to levels unimagined.

To follow are  levels of creativity that graphic designers must pass through in order to reach the pinnacle of ingenuity.

‘Newbie’ Novice:

This is the infant stage where the graphic designer’s creativity is in the initial stage of adopting the basics of graphic design. In this level, the graphic designer has little or no exposure to the practical world. All he or she knows is the rudimentary principles of graphic designing, but not much information on how to implement them in an orderly fashion. Lack of experience bounds his creative skills to the bare minimum.

‘Aspiring’ Amateur:

This is the level in which, the graphic designer pushes up a gear. He or she enters the practical field of graphic designing and is aspiring for work. He or she tries to find opportunities to work on his creative skills and increase his experience. Whatever assignment he or she gets, takes  loads of time to complete. He or she cannot even decide on whether to work part-time or full-time. Imaginative and resourceful engine is still not warm enough to process the imagination wheel.

‘Lazy’ Learner:

Now don’t get me wrong here. I don’t mean to offend any graphic designer by using the term ‘lazy’. By lazy learner I implied the level where the graphic designers are slow in picking up things. Since it’s their preliminary stage in the field, they are slow in grasping the resourcefulness and creativity that graphic designing has to offer. Although they are eager to learn and broaden their creative faculties, the lack of adequate exposure and experience refrain them from grappling new ideas quickly.

‘Profound’ Pro:

This is the level that many graphic designers want to reach within their first year of practice. At this degree of creativity, the graphic designer develops problem solving skills and highly astute ways of getting work done. Here, the creative engine starts to ignite and the wheels of imagination start to run wild. But hold on…this is not the final stage yet. This is because in this level, the designer tends to become a little overconfident over his capabilities. The graphic designer still needs to understand the extent of freedom and limitation in graphic designing  .

‘Ingenious’ Einstein:

Many graphic designers don’t get to make it to this level. They strive really hard, but really cannot get that creative click that opens doors of ingenuity and tamed imagination. This is the stage where a graphic designer is so adept that he/she can come up with resourceful ideas to do the same thing in a different way. These ingenious graphic designers get interviewed to share their creativity and inspiring ideas for others to learn.

‘Magnificent’ Maestro:

This is the ‘Elite’ level of creativity, the level which is considered unachievable by many. This is where legends are born. These are the kind of people who can carry out their work and find time for creative ways to beat the heat at the same time. They are so resourceful that they can invent utility out of anything. They have the ability of turning a rock solid pile of coals into heaps of sparkling diamonds. Although this is not the ultimate degree of creativity as there are no limits to creativeness, it can be considered as practically the highest attainable level.

-DesignBlog