is a thesis project about rules as creative force.
The site treats constraint as a method, not a limitation.
Each section documents a different relationship to rules, from the
external structures that shape production to the internal habits
that guide decision-making.
About me
I’m Christian Schaible—the creator of CREATIVE LICENSE. I started this
project because I kept hearing the same thing—that creativity comes from total freedom.
But my experience didn’t match that. The more open something was, the harder it felt to
start. The more constraints I had, the easier it was to move. So I began collecting rules
from other designers—not as advice, but as something to test. I followed them literally.
Sometimes they worked. Sometimes they completely broke the process. But every time, they
forced me to make decisions I wouldn’t have made otherwise. This project isn’t just a
study of rules—it’s a reflection of how I learned to work through them.
Do rules actually limit creativity—or do they make
it better?
How it started
CREATIVE LICENSE is an ongoing experiment built from rules
collected from students at SUNY New Paltz. Things like “Have a plan,”
“Don’t think, just do,” or “You can’t delete anything once it’s placed.” Instead of
ignoring them, I followed them. Literally.
How it works
Through workshops, typographic studies, and
physical + digital experiments, I tested what happens when you let
rules take control of the process. Sometimes they worked. Sometimes they
completely broke the outcome. But every time, they pushed the work
somewhere unexpected.
This isn’t about restriction. It’s about using structure
as a tool. Because the truth is—you’re already following
rules. You just might not realize it yet.
