Found this gem deep in an old folder from my Creative Thinking course. The assignment? “Draw 10 cups.” That’s it. No brief, no model, just 10 different ways to cup.
Looking at them now, it’s wild. There’s the cracked, detailed one; the fluffy, blue, on-fire one; the messy scribble one; and the structured grid one. They’re all over the place, and that’s the point. At the time, I was just doing the work, probably stressing about the grade. But the prompt was actually asking: “What does creativity look like to you?”

Looking at them now, it’s wild. There’s the cracked, detailed one; the fluffy, blue, on-fire one; the messy scribble one; and the structured grid one. They’re all over the place, and that’s the point. At the time, I was just doing the work, probably stressing about the grade. But the prompt was actually asking: “What does creativity look like to you?”

Somewhere along the way—between student life and actual life—we learn to put on blinders. We start simplifying, streamlining, and, frankly, underestimating the sheer volume of ideas we’re capable of. We forget we can draw a cup that’s also on fire, or one made of pure, colorful chaos.

The world asks us to pick one lane and stick to it, and we forget that our brain is a whole beautiful, messy highway system.

If this pile of chaotic cups proves anything, it’s that my original setting wasn’t “boring” or “unimaginative.” It was bold. And yours is, too. Let’s try to remember that before the world tells us to shrink down again.

The Name of The 10 Cups:

• The Fragile Fracture (Top Left: The cracked, realistically shaded cup)
• The Tribal Cauldron (Top Center-Left: The dark red, textured cup with jagged rim and handles)
• The Fluffy Fire (Top Center-Right: The vibrant blue, fuzzy cup with orange/yellow texture on the rim)
• The Graphic Trio (Top Right: The set of three minimalist, high-contrast black and white cups)
• The Sunken Cloud (Middle Left: The teal, smooth cup half-submerged in a white, textured mound)
• The Whispering Ghost (Middle Center: The large, faint, multi-colored scribble outline cup on the saucer)
• The Golden Steam (Middle Right: The dark, textured, striped cup with glowing gold steam and elements)
• The Multiverse Scribble (Bottom Left: The layered, colorful, looping outlines creating a complex cube-like form)
• The Geometric Lattice (Bottom Center: The precisely drawn, angular cup built with a wireframe grid pattern)
• The Olive Haze (Bottom Right: The messy, heavy, monochromatic olive-green textured silhouette)

Which one do you like?