All posts tagged: creativity

Could tighter budgets lead to more creativity? | Virtuos CEO Gilles Langourieux interview | The DeanBeat

Could tighter budgets lead to more creativity? | Virtuos CEO Gilles Langourieux interview | The DeanBeat

Published by skeptic

Founded in 2004, Virtuos has grown into a big company when it comes to the production of games. As an external developer, Virtuos‘ team has crossed 4,200 professional game devs who can supplement the teams at game studios and publishers as they finish their games. The Singapore-based company can finish smaller games with a big shot of staffing at the end or engage in long-term co-development with game publishers as they start the games. Virtuos has a big presence in Asia, and it has worked with nearly all of the top 25 entertainment companies in the world, with either work on video or game content. I’ve caught up with Virtuos CEO Gilles Langourieux multiple times in recent years — including last February 2024 and in October 2024 — to get access to his bird’s-eye view on the global picture of making games. I saw him briefly at the Dice Summit in Las Vegas and caught up with him in an online conversation this week. Once again, we talked about everything from the state of the …

Narcissism alignment between leaders and followers linked to higher creativity

Narcissism alignment between leaders and followers linked to higher creativity

Published by José

A new study investigates how narcissism in both leaders and followers affects creative performance in the workplace. The research finds that when leaders and followers have similar levels of narcissism, employees tend to identify more with their leaders, leading to higher creative output. However, when a leader’s narcissism exceeds that of their followers, this identification is weakened, resulting in reduced creativity. The findings have been published in the journal Human Relations. Narcissism is a personality trait characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance, a deep need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others. Narcissists often display grandiosity, seek constant attention, and believe they are superior to those around them. However, narcissism is multifaceted and can manifest in both positive and negative behaviors. On the positive side, narcissists tend to be confident, assertive, and willing to take bold risks. These traits can make them seem charismatic and capable, which can sometimes translate into visionary leadership. On the negative side, narcissists can be exploitative, self-centered, and dismissive of others, which can hinder relationships and collaboration, …

Unleash Your Creativity With New Cricut Gear on Sale for Prime Day

Unleash Your Creativity With New Cricut Gear on Sale for Prime Day

Published by skeptic

Cricut — best known for its smart cutting machines that let you make personalized clothing and houseware — has many of its products on sale for this week’s October Prime Day sales event. If you’ve been thinking about learning how to create personalized hats, mugs, clothing or other items, now might be a good time to invest in Cricut’s gear. When Russell Holly reviewed the Explore 3, he said it “very much lived up to the claims of its creator.” It’s faster than the Explore 2, and the addition of smart vinyl allows you to print large pieces in a single cut. The mug press is also excellent at the one job it is asked to do: putting designs on coffee mugs. We’ve pulled the best deals on Cricut equipment below, but you can check out their Amazon store page to see all the products available. Prime Day deals change often, so be sure to check back for the latest pricing and sales info. We’ve rounded up all the best October Prime Day deals, including …

‘Challengers’ fan edits inspire creativity and controversy

‘Challengers’ fan edits inspire creativity and controversy

Published by skeptic

Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers leaves you wanting more — more tennis, more sexual tension, more techno, more grunting, more of Zendaya’s swishing bob, more of Josh O’Connor’s hairy thighs, more of Mike Faist’s pert butt. And there’s only one thing sustaining your Challengers cravings before your inevitable subsequent viewing: fan edits.  SEE ALSO: ‘Challengers’ love triangle is ‘Twilight’ for people not afraid to see boys kiss The day after the film hit theaters, the internet was flooded with video edits showcasing the movie’s most captivating — and hottest — moments. These impressive fan creations range in tone from playful montages of Patrick (O’Connor)’s most lethal moments set to “I’m Too Sexy” to the perfect pairing of Lorde’s “Tennis Court” with a highlight reel of the film. Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted The edits draw from various sources, including the film’s trailers, behind-the-scenes footage, and even the scene dissected by The New York Times’ “Anatomy of a Scene” series (including the fan-favorite sequence of Art and Patrick eating churros). However, there’s a …

Apple’s New Ad Showing Machines Crushing Human Creativity Is a Bit on the Nose

Apple’s New Ad Showing Machines Crushing Human Creativity Is a Bit on the Nose

Published by skeptic

“I’m ashamed to buy Apple products.” Pressed A new iPad ad shows a hydraulic press crushing beloved creative objects — and, perhaps, our dreams. In a video posted to X-formerly-Twitter, Apple CEO Tim Cook boasted that the latest iPad Pro is not only its most powerful offering, but is also “the thinnest product we’ve ever created.” In the ad, Sonny & Cher’s “All I Need Is You” blares in the background as the industrial press crushes, one by one, an “Angry Birds” desk ornament, a guitar, a piano, several paint cans, a metronome, a television, and some books. It’s a heavy-handed attempt at saying that the super-thin new iPad is skinnier than all that stuff put together, and perhaps that it “crushes” its competition. But if the comments are any indication, it struck a very discordant chord. “Crushing the symbols of human creativity to produce a homogenized branded slab is pretty much where the tech industry is at in 2024,” author Hari Kunzru quipped. “It is a heartbreaking, uncomfortable, and egotistic advertisement,” tech executive Hiroki …

Russo Brothers’ AGBO launches innovation department for tech creativity

Russo Brothers’ AGBO launches innovation department for tech creativity

Published by skeptic

Join gaming leaders live this May 20-21 in Los Angeles to examine the strategies needed to adapt and excel in an ever evolving landscape, featuring insights from leading voices and thought leaders in the industry. Register here. AGBO, the media company founded by the Russo Brothers, has launched its Innovation Department to propel tech-enabled creativity. This strategic move aims to expand AGBO’s storytelling capacity by integrating cutting-edge technology into its creative processes, blurring the lines between physical and virtual production. I would expect no less from the makers of The Avengers films. Led by the recently appointed chief innovation officer, Jake Aust, the AGBO Innovation department will focus on developing proprietary creative tools for storytellers, fostering production innovation, and enhancing cost efficiency across diverse platforms. I’m guessing that means AI, but we’ll find out. The newly established department will be organized into three verticals: production technology, immersive technology, and creative. Aust, who brings over 20 years of experience as a producer on acclaimed titles such as The Office, Community, and Cherry, will spearhead this initiative. …

Beatles “Let It Be” doc: Disney+ restored version is a superb testament to resilience and creativity

Beatles “Let It Be” doc: Disney+ restored version is a superb testament to resilience and creativity

Published by skeptic

In recent years, music aficionados have been blessed with an embarrassment of riches —particularly when it comes to the Beatles. A newly restored version of “Let It Be” (1970), splendidly directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, marks the latest gem in the Beatles’ multiverse. The film was unveiled during a private screening last week at an Upper West Side cineplex, and it didn’t disappoint. Returned to its original glory, “Let It Be” is a work of sheer beauty, capturing rock ‘n’ roll’s most extraordinary foursome as they battled a series of daunting conditions and rediscovered their art in the nick of time. Crediting filmmaker Peter Jackson as his “silent partner,” Lindsay-Hogg reveled in the opportunity to restore his film in the wake of “Get Back” (2021), the three-part treatment that Jackson assembled from Lindsay-Hogg’s original footage. As Lindsay-Hogg pointed out prior to the screening, outside of the “Let It Be” project, “there had been no documentation of these amazing four guys who changed the history of music.” Indeed, beyond Lindsay-Hogg’s footage, we have scant imagery of the …

Doing the Baghdad walk: art tour highlights creativity in the heart of Iraq | Iraq

Doing the Baghdad walk: art tour highlights creativity in the heart of Iraq | Iraq

Published by skeptic

A buzz is building in the Bab al-Sharji neighbourhood in central Baghdad where preparations for an annual contemporary arts festival are underway. The city has long been considered one of the most dangerous in the world but artists in the Tarkib collective want to send a different message – that the capital is alive with creativity and culture. The event, which began when the collective was founded in 2015, comprises the exhibiting of work in public spaces and a narrative tour of the city called Baghdad Walk. Next month’s four-day Tarkib contemporary arts festival is titled Hello Future! Zeid Saad plans to show an installation about cluster bombs, which, while banned by more than 120 countries, are still used in conflicts today. When he was a child, they were used in Iraq and he still remembers how the shape was attractive to children. “The unexploded cluster bombs on Iraqi soil still kill children because when they see them they think they can play with them. I will exhibit a real size iron bomb in red …

Creativity and the Brain: How to Be a Creative Thinker

Creativity and the Brain: How to Be a Creative Thinker

Published by skeptic

This post is part 2 of a series. In my previous post, I wrote that, after being inspired by Rick Rubin’s book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being, I decided to find out what is going on in the human brain that results in creativity. It turned out to be a very complex and complicated subject. That is mainly because it is difficult to clearly define creativity, and there are many different kinds of creative processes, such as visual art, music, creative thinking, etc. Coming from the field of cognitive processes, I decided that I would concentrate on research related to brain activity involved in creative thought processes. Most of the time, cognitive creativity involves testing the person’s divergent thinking (generating possible solutions to the problem) or convergent thinking (finding a single, correct solution to the problem). The review of research papers indicated that creative thinking (convergent and divergent thinking) requires the coordination of multiple brain regions, mainly the executive control network (simply speaking involves planning, organizing, problem-solving, and decision-making), default mode network (areas …

Authors feed their own literary works into AI models for the sake of creativity

Authors feed their own literary works into AI models for the sake of creativity

Published by skeptic

The vast majority of authors don’t use artificial intelligence as part of their creative process — or at least won’t admit to it. Yet according to a recent poll from the writers’ advocacy nonprofit The Authors Guild, 13% said they do use AI, for activities like brainstorming character ideas and creating outlines. The technology is a vexed topic in the literary world. Many authors are concerned about the use of their copyrighted material in generative AI models. At the same time, some are actively using these technologies — even attempting to train AI models on their own works. These experiments, though limited, are teaching their authors new things about creativity. Best known as the author of technology and business-oriented non-fiction books like The Long Tail, lately Chris Anderson has been trying his hand at fiction. Anderson is working on his second novel, about drone warfare. He says he wants to put generative AI technology to the test. “I wanted to see whether in fact AI can do more than just help me organize my thoughts, …