How do I come up with ideas?
Recently, while running my class on creative thinking called, "DesignUNthinking," I was asked if I have a process I go through, or if there are prompts I give myself when coming up with ideas—what are some tips or tricks to get to the meat of the thing?
The question was essentially, "How do you think?"
This is a most excellent question and one I have never tackled head-on. Until now.
Here are a few thoughts about how I come up with ideas.
When working on a commercial project, I’m not a problem solver trying to find the “right” answer (cuz there ain't none). I’m only trying to find my answer.
But what I've found is that I often prove my own philosophy of "In the particular lies the universal." Meaning, if I can make something that has particular meaning to me, it will have meaning for others, when I use my own life and history, opinion and thoughts in my work—it speaks to a larger audience.
The opposite of making yourself happy is trying to please everyone by giving them what they want or expect. This is akin to making bland, ubiquitous oatmeal.
My first response to any prompt or assignment—whether it's writing or design—is to ask myself, "What do I have to say here? What is my opinion on this?"
Creatively, what I'm asking is "What do I alone have to offer here, what's my unique perspective that no one else could bring?"
But before finding anything new or unique, I first I have to go through all the available clichés, all the ideas that my mom can come up with.
After all, the visual language that we designers use IS the cliché with all its shapes, images, colors and words.
The simple and obvious answer is not wrong, it's just not interesting.
But what if we become curious and investigate the cliché? What if we turn it upside down and try to see it new again?
Maybe I don’t have to reinvent the wheel, I can just exchange it for a bigger or smaller one and see how that works. This is how we can assign new meaning to a dusty idea.
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Sometimes I play the contrarian and do the opposite of what I think I should. I don’t always care about making sense and I never care about logic.
So, what's the worst idea? Can the wrongest idea possibly hold a clue or actually make a lot of sense?
What idea scares the shit outta me? Where can I go with this that most designers would be afraid to go?
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I don’t want clients or the public to expect a certain delivery from me. And I don't want my work to become a cliché. I’m not a band like the Eagles or Journey with a set of standard songs that they HAVE to play again and again.
I want this to be interesting for me. I want to surprise and delight myself first. I wanna make myself happy.
In the long run, it’s about creating a reputation for this kind of thinking. To become known for new, forward thinking and even dangerous ideas.
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Once I have a thought of where I'd like to go, now I have to concern myself with what it looks like.
I ask myself questions like:
What do I want to make?
How do I express or show this thing?
What would be fun to do—and also surprise my audience?
Is it lettering or a photo or do I create an image?
And do I then manipulate it somehow, change it in some way to find some deeper meaning?
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I often get to a place where I think, "Oh, shit!... there’s no way in hell they're gonna go with this..."
And I think it's OK to scare myself.
If I am not pushing myself and pushing my client and pushing my audience then what am I bringing to the table? I'm not doing my job.
And ultimately, I’m thinking about the reaction of the audience and how to peak their curiosity and pull them closer into the story or into the process.
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Oddly enough, I just got a new project to design.
It's another in the series of DO Books, my client in the UK, which are always very interesting and difficult abstract or very concrete ideas.
With this series of covers, my objective has been to show the cliché without showing the cliché.
I am given subjects like "Sea Salt" or "Birth" and I have to figure out what I can add to the conversation.
I have to really question how can I present an image and not spoon feed the audience, but just give them enough clues so they can have their own, "A-HA!" experience.
This new book is called "Do/Loss."
It’s about the loss and recovery after the death of a loved one or divorce or loss of a job...
Of course when thinking about the idea of loss, yours and my first reaction would be "darkness" and that it’s sad and there’s now something missing.
But I want to add hopefulness and I think the book's intention is to add "life" after loss.
But to feel good after loss might be problematic, right? It brings up guilt and shame.
It might be messy and uncomfortable.
It might not be a clean path from loss to hope.
So I would want to add something joyous and colorful, promising and happy—but messy and wrong.
I’m thinking about a rainbow.
But, now how do I make it… new?
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