Do you know what the fool-proof way of standing out from your competitors is? It’s creativity and learning newer skills from online courses.
Creative skills are timeless and universal – they elevate any and every career. Everyone, from scientists to artists to marketers, will find that at the end of the day, it is their creative ability that sets them apart from the competition. In this regard, focusing on the improvement of your creative skills is crucial.
However, in the era of online learning, upgrading your creative skills does not always mean what you would expect.
This article will discuss what gaining creative skills means today and five courses you can opt for in the online learning realm to acquire a creative skillset.
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Creative Skills and the Era of Online Learning
As mentioned earlier, creativity is an important skill (yes, it is a skill!)
Not just for creatives but anyone and everyone. The more creative you are, the more you can offer your team and valuable to your corporation.
However, creativity is not something that you can get out of nowhere. Unlike other skills, creative skills are the most effective in enhancing your mindset. But that doesn’t mean you can’t learn how to be creative!
Especially in today’s time and age, knowledge-sharing is relatively easy. We have access to all the right training, learning, platforms of information, and resources. All of these are readily available on the web in the form of online courses, workshops, and seminars. The popular belief may be that this type of learning limits itself to more technical things like coding, marketing, or writing – but that couldn’t be more wrong!
You can also upgrade creative skills using the readily available world of online learning. And if you don’t know where to start, worry not because we will be helping you!
The Creative Skills that Deserve Your Attention
But before we move to that part, let’s have a look at what creative skills are the most important to consider when elevating your creative abilities.
Creative collaboration.
In the current corporate environment, the central tenet of creativity is creative collaboration. People have realized that when it comes to creativity, the more hands you have on board, the better. Therefore, creative collaboration becomes a top priority for many work processes and is worthy of your attention.
Although innovative proofing software like GoVisually makes it easy to implement creative collaboration, making creative collaboration a skill requires initiative from your end.
Strategic thinking and planning.
Did you know that strategic thinking and planning also fall under creative skills? Well, now you know that not only do these come under the umbrella of creativity, but they are also indispensable elements when it comes to the success of any project – creative or not. So, they should be at the forefront of your perspective.
Big picture thinking.
“Big picture thinking” is the ability to consider all aspects, including the outcome, before making decisions. This is an essential component of creative skills, and hence, it wouldn’t hurt to maximize your potential in this area.
Creative marketing.
Yes – we consider creative marketing to be a skill, and so should you. No matter what project you are working on, you will need to have some marketing principles to ensure that your efforts don’t waste. When you pair those fundamentals with your creativity, you will get stellar results.
Creative designing.
Like marketing, designing is also an essential element to ensure the success of any venture online. In this regard, your creative grasp on visuals and aesthetics matters a lot.
5 Online Courses for Upgrading Your Creative Skills
And now, let’s look at courses that can help you with the types above of creative skills:
Creative collaboration
For creative collaboration, the following courses can be beneficial:
Creative Thinking: Techniques and Tools for Success
This course is available on Coursera and is affiliated with the Imperial College London. It requires a 20hr commitment but is very helpful as it covers a range of topics that can help you leverage your creativity in the long run. Some of the issues included in this course are the invention principle, the theory of inventive problem solving, and combining the strategies for results.
Creative Concepting
This course is available on Skillshare and requires just a 2hr commitment from you! During the course, you will cover topics such as an overview of using creative prompts, optimizing photoshop habits for better creative workflows, and creating a concept ideation board.
Strategic thinking and planning.
For strategic thinking and planning, the following courses can be beneficial:
Brand Identity and Strategy
This course is available on Coursera and is affiliated with, i.e., Business School. It requires a 14hr commitment. The topics covered in this course range from customer segmentation to perceptual maps, so you will learn how to align your creative abilities with strategic thinking and planning.
Growth Marketing Essentials: Build Effective Acquisition Funnels
This course is available on Skillshare and requires only an hour to complete! It covers some beneficial topics such as analyzing common marketing paths, creating your marketing funnel, improving strategy and fixing other issues.
Big picture thinking.
For big picture thinking (in marketing/advertising), the following courses can be beneficial:
Advertising and Society
This course is available on Coursera and is affiliated with Duke University. It requires a 12 hr commitment and covers topics such as author intentionality, interpretive strategies, secondary messaging, and the future of advertising.
Marketing in the 21st Century
This course is available on Open Learn and is affiliated with The Open University. It requires a 6hr commitment from your end. Still, by the end of the course, you will have a confident grasp on marketing and ethics, international marketing in turbulent times, and whether marketing is a philosophy or a process.
Creative marketing.
For creative marketing, the following courses can be beneficial:
Email Marketing Essentials: Writing Effective Emails
This course is available on Skillshare and is affiliated with Mailchimp. It requires a 1.5hr commitment. The topics covered during this course are best practices for writing online, content ideas and optimization, and editing tips. Email marketing is an essential aspect of marketing, and this course will help you leverage your creativity in this regard.
Fundamentals of Social Media Advertising
This course is available on Coursera and is affiliated with Facebook. It requires a 9hr commitment. The topics that are in the course are paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram, data and privacy, and building an ad campaign. So all the technical things, but learning more about these will allow you to leverage your creativity in this regard.
Creative designing.
For creative designing, the following courses can be beneficial:
Design Thinking and Creativity for Innovation
This course is available on edX and is affiliated with the University of Queensland. It requires an 8-10 hours/week (10 weeks) commitment. The topics range from creativity myths to design thinking to the impact of ideas.
Visual Perception and the Brain
This course is available on Coursera and is affiliated with Duke University. It requires a 3/4hr time commitment per week. It combines topics based on neuroscience, history, philosophy, and psychology.
The Final Take
There is no such thing as too much creativity, and you should always be on the lookout for opportunities that help you grow in that area. We hope this article helped, and if it did, you should check out some other excellent resources here.
