Episode 64

64. Creativity and the Wandering Mind with Graphic Designer Extraordinaire, Matt Strieby

This week I welcome creative mind and graphic designer extraordinaire, Matt Strieby of New Leaf Design. I was first lucky enough to work with Matt in 2005, when he captured the vision for the art gracing the CD for my album, Ontogeny. We've been collaborating ever since.

We discuss the creative process for those of us with wandering minds and neurodivergent/ADHD traits, the importance of play balanced with structure. We also talk about embracing and learning from our earlier "cringe" moments, and the importance of sometimes literally walking away from a project to give space for our creativity to breathe.

We talk about Matt's personal process: reflection/visualization (often sitting quietly or walking), playing in the “sandbox” phase of sketching and experimentation, a refining phase that narrows options while preserving play, and a final production phase with technical, structured execution.

Matt’s design work is at newleafdesign.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Waves of Focus YouTube Series

Look out for new episodes of the new Waves of Focus YouTube series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJpQS5q6yvRw

All Episodes Previous Episode

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Rhythms of Focus
Rhythms of Focus
for Wandering Minds, ADHD, and Beyond

Listen for free

About your host

Profile picture for Kourosh Dini

Kourosh Dini

Kourosh Dini, MD is a clinical psychiatrist and psychoanalyst practicing in downtown Chicago, IL.

He is an author of several productivity suite of books and courses, the latest of which is a community-based course for those with, what he calls, "wandering minds". Having a wandering mind himself, he has learned and taught thousands of others how to manage their attention.

As a musician, Kourosh stresses the vital importance of creativity and a *meaningful* productivity.

His long-standing meditation practice also weaves a vital sense of mindfulness and the grounding in a meaningful sense of productivity, rather than one of constantly getting more done for the sake of efficiency.

Education includes:
- Northwestern University - Integrated Science Program, BA
- Northwestern University - Neuroscience
- University of Illinois at Chicago Medical school
- University of Illinois at Chicago - Adult Psychiatry Residency
- University of Chicago - Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship
- Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute - Psychoanalytic Training