Always having been surrounded by aspects of creativity, whether it be during my time as a child interested in art to the past ten years of being a musician, I have gratefully been able to feel the sense of posibility many times. As an art student, endless possiblities were out there regarding the style of painting I wanted to do, the colors I felt like melding together, and materials I wanted to incorporate. As a musician, I could create a new song whenever I felt to it, recreate arrangements to match a new vibe, explore new pieces and add personal twists for a new sound - again, there are so many possiblities with a creative mind. Now in terms of programming and development, the same concept holds true, at least from my perspective. However, instead of getting paint all over my clothes and making music from a sheet of paper and an instrument, my creativity is able to be shown through UI aspects on various screens. From mobile devices to personal computers, the art of a developer can be seen by the world.
Personally, I believe that the product of creativity begins with a focused yet wandering mind. The bridge between wandering enough to conceptualize new ideas and imagine numerous possiblities and focusing enough to reel in the exploration is where the magic happens in terms of producing some type of result. In other words, being able to innovate while staying within the realm of realism can be quite important in the process of production. In terms of UI frameworks, that’s just it. Although incorporating UI frameworks into projects may require little to large amounts of learning new material, it helps narrow the wandering mind of a developer. In my experience working with Semantic UI, I have found my productivity level increases with the incorporation of a UI framework compared to developing without frameworks. After putting more thought into this concept, I have come to the realization that as my creativity continues to remain at the same level as it would be with or without the use of a UI framework, the rate at which I am able to produce some type of result has changed.
Due to the help of UI frameworks, I am able to implement and develop elements in a more organized and focused manner as it provides me with the tools necessary to do so. Although these designs can be implemented with basic HTML and CSS, it is the concept of mixing a focused and wandering mind. While the developer’s mind remains in a wandering state to provide a steady stream of creativity and innovation, the tools that UI frameworks such as Semantic UI provide a “focused mindset” to achieve balance. Thanks to UI frameworks, developers who enjoy expressing their art and creativity through their projects such as myself, are able to efficiently do so in an organized manner without disrupting the level of wandering their mind is also experiencing.