The impact of legal tools like supported decision-making agreements is often overlooked when it comes to creative projects but could bring an added level of transparency and ease to your next endeavour. Understanding how these agreements can make or break a creative collaboration can mean the difference between a well-organized process, like that highlighted on IdeaCreative or a chaotic wild west-type free-for-all where artists act and react to one another without advanced agreement. An agreed upon strategy for how both ideas and concepts will be vetted and funneled to completion can streamline the progression from concept to completion and set the stage for a successful outcome. When was the last time you had a pitched battle between collaborators over who gets the last piece of kale on a pizza? Or who gets to dibs a piece of art or design first? SKS Law provides a great overview of how this legal tool works. It allows collaborative stakeholders to apply their shared vision in a legally compliant way. Provided the right measures are put in place, it can be a great way to avoid escalation of the types of issues that often derail creative projects, whether they are art based or involve something other than art itself. Like much of the spirit of what you will find on IdeaCreative, such supporting legal tools can facilitate the artist-centric approach any creative professional is looking for. Creativity isn’t just achieved by the individual, it is achieved through encouraging communication, educational and tools that foster collaboration. This is particularly true in major artistic hubs like Toronto where so many well-meaning entrepreneurs that have been or are still series featured in IdeaCreative may have crossed paths. Not using the proper mechanisms to communicate and organize collaborative processes increases the likelihood of confusion. Even if two artists are already familiar with each other, the space that creative projects occupy isn’t always a friendly one. While the business side of artistic enterprises can remain an afterthought, the fact remains that they exist to support the creative vision. What mechanisms can you leverage to ensure that the business aspect doesn’t impede the artistic work? This is where the supported decision-making agreement form can come in handy. Once there has been an understanding of how this tool operates, it can be utilized to support and moot many issues that occur in the context of collaborative artistic projects. Like the work you see on IdeaCreative, legally compliant approaches to innovation are key. Yet knowledge of the market and an understanding of many of the hurdles faced by artists when looking for collaborative opportunities is important to understanding where legal tools can provide support. SKS Law’s approach provides helpful information to help artists and designers get over many of the bumps that would otherwise impede creativity without them noticing.