How to have an idea

How to have an idea

“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy

of being called an idea at all” 

Oscar Wilde

Today we had a very useful lecture about inspiration, the creative process and how to develop an idea. Personally, I lose the most time searching for the perfect concept, while the actual work only lasts a fraction of the time that I spent on selecting the best idea.

The Process of creative thinking is far more complex than to communicate ideas through images, words, layout, sequence or  showing  evidence of contextual and theoretical awareness, identify an approach or  develop and deliver a  solution to the given brief.It begins with an idea shaped by influences,research or even history and from then on every artist has his own way of developing a concept.But even if the creative process is not at all universal a set of intuitive landmarks can guide the artist idea towards an improved result.

The basic stages of the creative process can be divided in:

Study: get a deep understanding of the brief requirements 

Preparation :Gather all your materials,have a notebook and a few paper,pencils and whatever you feel like you need in your creative journey.

Research:Micro and Macro research ,take a look at what other artist do,look up key words related to your brief ,find inspiration in nature,media,arts,literature and so on.

Evaluation: Is it an idea that can grow with your interest?  Is it achievable  Is it too broad?  Is it too simple? 

Creativity: The generation, development, and transformation of ideas that are both novel and useful for solving a problem.

Verification: Solutions are tested and may be applied if shown to be viable.

 But this steps are in the end incomplete and subjected to mistakes they are here just as a guide not as a golden pattern as an example“ creative” even if we might consider, an ad or a campaign to be from a variety of other perspectives, its ability to fulfill the client’s objectives is key. Many industry awards show reward agencies for producing work in a unique approach. However, if the advertising isn’t doing the job for the client, it’s unlikely to remain visible long enough to have a lasting cultural impact.

This Creative Process was made according to Mr. Edoardo Moruzzi 

http://www.edoardomoruzzi.com/project/the-creative-process/

This is something more develop that takes account of the external and internal factors, from the brief given by the client that involves its content and the identity of the brand/company; the problem raised by the brief that requires the designer to think about a strategy , to be creative and in the same time logic; an idea is selected and then a design is created based on the chosen concept then  the design will receive a feedback.

This feedback can be received from the client itself or even from outsiders of the industry, such as family, friends.

The final step is to finalize, a final review is made and an evaluation, if the project needs additional changes that will result in a new mini-brief and the cycle will go all over again.

But what happens when ideas don’t come…

After following all the steps it is possible that ideas won't come sometimes. The way I deal with situations like this is to keep a notebook full of ideas, tutorials or concepts that I want to develop one day. Once I receive a brief and I lack inspiration I just take a brief look thru the notes, pick one that will suit the problem the best and adapt it to this new situation. 

It is important to note, however, that the “new” or “novel” can be derived from the old; the creative mind can combine  existing material to yield new products. So the end result will be a new unseen collage of old and already used approaches ,materials,the wider the artist's range of influences the better and more complex the new result.

Imagine it like building a bicycle from other two others bicycle parts,a red and a blue one.The new bicycle will be mostly one color or at least  half-half so it can't be disguised as a new model because you can easy point out the former red and blue ones.But if you had 100 bicycles and take from each one an part or even less there will be no way of remarking any one of the former 100.So you got a whole new model even is it is all composed of old components

Where can you find ideas? 

Have you got an entry point into your topic? 

Something that intrigues you and can start a direction or train of thought, a discussion, an argument, an investigation; this could be a theory, an image, a scene from a film or novel, chapters titles in books , a quote…) / Is there a problem or issue that needs to be identified first…

Process Models

Andy Azula 

 Virginia “Life and work inevitably intersect, particularly when you work sixty hour weeks, give or take twenty hours. It can be difficult to separate the two. And, Guess what senior level creatives still panic. Years of experience build confidence and craft, but even seasoned pros feel the pressures to find that next great idea”

James Webb Young

 Methodes:

Brainstorming

The concept of brainstorming was first  invented by Osborn as early as the 1930s and is based on producing a large number of ideas.Followed by evaluation and grouping ideas the brainstorm has a wild nature that needs to be structured so only one concept will be chosen.

This method consists roughly of the following steps:

1 Diverging from the problem

2 Inventorying, evaluating and grouping ideas

3 Converging: choosing a solution  

Quantity is wanted this mean that making as many associations as possible can be critical as the objective is to attain a high rate of association. The underlying idea is not only that ‘quantity breeds quality’ but also that through a rapid succession of associations the participants have little chance of being critical.

This is also my favorite approach when it comes to delivering a good concept when I'm against time,but it can be tricky and can let you unable to make a choice,so having a more experienced teacher can ease the process thru discussion and ideas selection.

However brainstorming can be confusing and select one idea among all the others can be difficult, having a tutor around you, in the beginning, will make things work a lot faster in the beginning.

Ways to process the findings

Location / Alphabetical / Time / Category / Hierarchy

The ways of which you can  organizing information are finite as the main categories are sorted by location, alphabet, time, category, or hierarchy.These modes are applicable and meat in almost any field from personal notes to multinational corporations. They are the framework upon which annual reports,exhibitions,data,directories,events,books and even warehouses are sorted. 
Organizing the information is one of my worst enemies, the only way in which I can deal with is is to pin notes with them on a wall and use colors and sketches to categorize them.

Others subdivisions are:

Picturing space / Ideology / Desire / Social control / Hegemony / Culture / Subculture / Youth-culture / Identity & self / Stereotype & others / Gender / Belief / Behaviour / Movement / Motivation / Function / Form / Map / Diagram / Plan / Direction / Sign / Division / Connection / Relationships / Exclusion / Inclusion / Faction / Fragmentation / Texture /

Create A Mind Map 

A mind map is a graphical representation of ideas and aspects around a central theme, showing how these aspects are related to each other. 

With its help you can resume all the relevant aspects and ideas around a theme, bringing structure, overview and clarity to a problem. 

The starting point of a Mind Map is usually the central theme surrounded by everything else,as the example the brief,certain problems,ideas,and so on with each one having its own development.The expected outcome T is a structured overview of information  around a concept or a problem, represented graphically.

Overal the lecture was very helpfull especially with the assignment comming this weeks