Written By Jonathan Biggs
CREATIVITY IS THE DEFEAT OF HABIT BY ORIGINALITY ARTHUR KOESTLER
best with what they were given. However the course of history is littered with examples of humans being creative. Chris Sharrock describes the origins of human creativity:
BSP/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS CREATIVITY? The Collins English dictionary gives the following definition for the adjective creative: Creative (Kri:’eitiv) adj. 1. Having the ability or power to create. 2. Characterised by originality of thought or inventiveness; having or showing imagination. 3. Designed to or tending to stimulate the imagination or invention; creative toys. –cre’tively adv. –cre’ativeness n. -, crea-tivity n. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the following definition of the noun: Creativity (Kri:’eitiv) The use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness. Being creative is what scientists, philosophers, artists, writers, poets and people in general have been doing for
6
WHAT IS CREATIVITY
THERE WAS ONCE AN OLD INDIAN CRAFTSMAN WHO CARVED ELEPHANTS FROM BLOCKS OF TIMBER. WHEN ASKED HOW HE DID IT, HE WOULD REPLY, ‘I JUST CUT AWAY THE WOOD THAT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE AN EEPHANT.’
‘Our prehistoric ancestors, using pieces of shattered flint,
THE CHASE DESIGN STUDIO PHILOSOPHY
sharpened twigs, animal guts and bits of bone to solve the problems they faced in order to survive are all the evidence we need to prove that we are a naturally creative species’ . However in contrast to the idea that humans
(Chris Sharrock 2008)
have always been innately creative, a more traditional view is that thinking, or indeed creativity, was not a necessity. Plato, Aristotle and Socrates established the notion that ‘In a stable world it was enough to teach ‘information’ because this would last for the student’s lifetime. Information would tell you what to do. Thinking was unnecessary. Once there was knowledge then all else would follow. However this is an old fashioned absurdity. Knowledge is not enough. The creative, constructive, design and operating aspects of thinking are just as important as knowledge’ (Edward De Bono 1982). Increasingly, in many aspects of society, the role of creativity and thinking is as valued as much as the importance of knowledge. The creative act however is a relatively problematic one
centuries, as the human species is naturally creative and
to define as it involves a complex set of processes. Saul Bass
creativity is evident in all aspects of our culture. The verb to
described how he ‘didn’t attempt to explain what the creative
create was for many centuries confined to the pages of the
process is, except note that it looks peculiar, is frequently
Bible: God did the ‘creating’ and humans got on and did the
contradictory, takes surprising turns and occurs under strange
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
7
THE ACT OF CREATION 1964
8
WHAT IS CREATIVITY
the mistake of thinking of creativity solely in regard to the arts,
‘No one seems to know where creativity comes from or how it
even though today the widespread importance of creativity is
works. I have thought about the nature of this creative process
generally unquestioned. ‘Too often we think of creativity just as
and have reached a somewhat aberrant conclusion. I don’t
“art”, but art is not in fact a very high expression of creativity
understand it and I don’t think anyone else does either’
because art can be wonderful without much change in ideas
(William
Beck 2001)
. Yet Oliver Sachs attempts to articulate a rationale for
or perception’
creativity that ‘involves the power to originate, to break away
being about a change in ideas and perception is significant
and being open to new methods. Indeed these processes are
MAKING THE SIMPLE COMPLICATED IS COMMONPLACE MAKING THE COMPLICATED SIMPLE AWESOMELY SIMPLE THAT’S CREATIVITY
EVERY DISCOVERY BY DEFINITION IS UNPREDICTABLE. IF IT WERE PREDICTABLE IT WOULD NOT BE A DISCOVERY. CREATIVITY EXPOSES UNPREDICTABLE THINGS TO BE DISCOVERED. ARTHUR KOESTLER
circumstances’ (Saul Bass 1996). Similarly, William Beck has said that
integral to the unexpected and surprising nature of creativity.
CHARLIE MINGUS
from existing ways of looking at things, to move freely in the realm of the imagination, to create and re-create worlds fully in one’s mind – while supervising all this with a critical inner eye. Creativity has to do with inner life and with the flow of new ideas and strong feelings’ (Oliver Sachs 2001). A basic definition of for the creative act would be the combination of different elements merged together in a new way, but of course creativity also has many different characteristics: it is about looking at things in new ways, taking risks, making unlikely connections, discovering concealed relationships, challenging assumptions, following curiosity
Albert Einstein asserted that ‘imagination is more
MUSICIAN
. This emphasis on creativity
(Edward De Bono 1996)
because it informs the way good designers now approach client briefs: it is no longer enough to simply be innovative in formal or aesthetic terms. Instead there are now economic, social, environmental, ethical and cultural factors that have to be considered. Design does not exist in a vacuum. Bruce Mau is at the forefront of this trend to make design more aware of, relevant to, and connected to the wider world in all its complexities: ‘We use our creative and analytical design method to invent and visualize the highest purpose, and the greatest economic, social and cultural potential for your business or product, your city or country, your organization or initiative’
(Bruce Mau, 2010).
I plan to look at the role of creativity in graphic design, and how it not only influences the design approach but also has
important than knowledge’, and today creativity informs many
the capacity to persuade, influence and even change people’s
aspects of everyday life and disciplines such as science,
thinking and decisions. In looking at how creativity in graphic
mathematics, medicine and engineering. Creativity is not just
design is utilised in today’s society I plan to analyse how the
the exclusive preserve of the arts. People however often make
creative process works. This will involve me researching how the
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
9
THE SUDDEN HUNCH, THE CREATIVE LEAP OF THE MIND THAT “SEES” IN A FLASH HOW TO SOLVE A PROBLEM IN A SIMPLE WAY, IS SOMETHING QUITE DIFFERENT FROM GENERAL INTELLIGENCE MARTIN GARDNER MATHEMATICIAN
brain and the unconscious work within this complex process. I
THE ECONMIST POSTER
will discuss the different creative strategies that professional
PACIFIC’S 100,000TH
designers use to help generate new ideas, by looking at selected designers who have developed their own personal,
CELEBRATING ASIA SUBSCRIBER OGILVY & MATHER 2004
distinctive creative strategies. I will discuss the importance of designers generating new ideas, as, without being prepared to continually look for new alternatives, designers will remain trapped in the same circles of approach, producing the same works and coming up with the same solutions. Researching creative strategies will help me to question just how creative the designer can be, given the inherent restrictions contained in a client’s brief. To what extent can a brief restrict the creative approach of the designer; or conversely can the limitations of the brief actually help the
CREATIVE PROCESS THE ROLE OF THE BRAIN
creative process? I will also focus on the subject of creativity
Creativity is the result of a complex set of processes, it is not a mechanical
on demand. Finally, I will discuss the broader context of
process that can be easily followed, but more a personal process that designers
creativity and how design cannot ignore social, economic,
learn and develop over time. People have their own ways of stimulating this
environmental, ethical and cultural considerations.
ideas-making process: the poet Schiller would keep rotten apples in his desk so he could smell them when he needed to find the right word; Ivan Chermayeff does most of his thinking in taxis; the mathematician Jacques Hadamard gets his ideas by being awoken by a loud noise; Thomas Edison would sit in front of a roaring fire holding a large ball bearing in his hand - as he nodded off the ball would fall and awaken him so he could remember and capture any idea he was having at the time. In this way he would circumvent the domination of the conscious mind through sleepiness. The point is we all have different wiring, but it is down to the
10
WHAT IS CREATIVITY
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
11
information and incubation is allowing the brain to process
JOYS, YOUR JOYS AND YOUR SORROWS, YOUR MEMORIES AND YOUR AMBITIONS, YOUR SENSE OF PERSONAL IDENTITY AND FREE WILL, ARE IN FACT NO MORE THAN THE BEHAVIOUR OF A VAST ASSEMBLY OF NERVE CELLS AND THEIR ASSOCIATED MOLECULES. AS LEWIS CARROLL’S ALICE MIGHT HAVE PHRASED IT, “YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A PACK OF NEUTRONS.
individual to gain their own understanding of the creative
this information (I will return to illumination and verification
FRANCIS CRICK
process. As Chris Sharrock has said, “If I laid out the basic operation of a combustion engine and how it drives a motor vehicle, merely reading this would not make you able to drive a car, nor would it make you a brilliant Formula One driver. However, someone driving to the supermarket in a car and someone careering at high speed around a racetrack are both operating within the same basic system. Their ability to use that system, and how much they can THE MIND IS LIKE AN UMBRELLA IT FUNCTIONS BEST WHEN IT IS OPEN
control it, will depend on them”
WALTER GROPIUS FOUNDER OF THE BAUHUAS SCHOOL
(Chris Sharrock 2008).
However it
does not automatically follow that practice improves a skill. The fact is that the mind thinks with ideas not information, so acquiring knowledge is useless unless one learns how to use it. A dictionary may contain all the words but no one can tell a poet which to choose or what to write. The mathematician Jacques Hadamard devised a set of phases for the creative process: preparation, incubation, illumination and verification. Preparation is the acquiring of
later). The human brain is at the centre of everything we do and yet our understanding of the brain and how it works is very limited, ‘we know more about the inside of a star than we do our own brain’
12
THE BRAIN
THE ASTONISHING HYPOTHESIS
simple to understand them. The purpose of the brain is to enable us to survive and to cope, not to be creative, so for us to use our brain in a creative way we have to get it to start understanding how to think in this way. An idea is essentially a new combination of elements but the capacity to bring old elements into new combinations depends largely on the brain’s ability to see relationships. Edward De Bono is a leading author in the field of thinking techniques. He puts forward the theory that the brain is a pattern-making and pattern-using system. De Bono claims that the brain provides a means whereby incoming information gets organized into a pattern, and once a pattern is formed then the mind no longer has to analyze or sort information, any information that reaches that pattern or channel will flow along it always in the same way, always establishing the pattern ever more definitely. An example of this would be: ‘when you are reading poor handwriting it may take a while to recognize a word. Then suddenly it becomes clear. With print we recognize the words so rapidly that we are hardly aware of this ‘pattern recognition’. This is because the mind works to recognise in the outside world familiar patterns’
(Edward De Bono 1982).
It is this pattern recognition that allows our experience
and if our brains
to form certain concepts, patterns and organizations. We
were simple enough to be understood, then we would be too
follow a pattern but in order to progress we may have to
(Richard Gregory, 2001)
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
13
backtrack and change to another pattern. This would mean
use it and come up with a better idea’
that working within existing patterns will not in itself lead to
technique involves trying to look at the problem from many
new patterns or ideas, and this is essentially how creativity
angles instead of tackling it head-on, using idea generating
works. If we are always thinking in the same way and going
tools to break current thinking patterns, and focus tools to
through the same routines then nothing new will be created,
broaden the search for new ideas. This is essentially how we
just rehashes of other, previous work.
can be more creative: by trying different methods of thinking
This theory is supported by James Webb Young who believes that ‘the mind follows an operative technique which
(Edward De Bono, 1982)
. His
which in essence should lead you to new and unexplored places.
can be learned and controlled: and that its effective use is just as much a matter of practise in the technique as it is the effective use of any tool’ (James Webb Young, 1965). Similarly
THE ROUTE FROM A TO B IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE ROUTE FROM B TO A. LATERAL THINKING OFFERS A
MEANS
FOR
PATTERN
SWITICHING (DE BONO,1982)
14
THE BRAIN
CREATIVE PROCESS THE ROLE OF THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND
John Gorham believes that ‘the conscious part of the brain
Albert Einstein asked “Why is it I get my best ideas in the morning while I’m
can only think in terms of what it knows, what it has learnt,
shaving?” The answer is the role of our unconscious mind in the creative process.
what it has seen. So if you think of a good idea, you must
This phenomenon is the belief that ideas appear out of the blue through the
have seen it somewhere else. It is their subconscious which
unconscious mind, a flash of inspiration; and it would appear to be a commonality
comes up with the unexpected’
in all the creative endeavours, yet it is a theory that academics and scientists
(John Gorham, 1996)
.
De Bono offers a thinking technique called ‘lateral
struggle to explain. The theory is that your subconscious still works on a problem
thinking’, the purpose of which is to offer a more deliberate
while your mind focuses on other things. You could say that it is the borderland
means for pattern switching than relying on mistake or
between sleep and full awakening. Adrian Shaughnessy supports this idea of
accident. It is about reasoning that is not immediately
the unconscious, stating that he has ‘always been drawn
obvious, and ideas that may not be obtainable by using
to the theory of an unconscious mind, I’ve always known
only traditional step-by-step logic, although he does state
there was a part of me that works even when I’m asleep
that sometimes ‘we use these techniques and come up with
or when I’m thinking about other things. My unconscious
nothing at all, sometimes a good idea no better than the
mind feels as real to me as do my heart, lungs and liver.
existing idea will appear, but sometimes (occasionally) we
I can’t see any of these vital organs, but I know they’re
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
15
THE ART OF LOOKING SIDEWAYS
the creative process and that it is important to allow time
come from and over time I’ve learnt to trust it and to treat
for your unconscious to digest the relevant information to
‘You remember how Sherlock Holmes used to stop right in
OTHER TIMES WITH NO CONSCIOUS THOUGHT AT ALL, THE SOLUTION SEEMS TO DROP FROM A SHELF AND LAND ON YOUR DESK. IT COMES AS A GIFT, FROM SOME OTHER PLACE, AND HAS NONE OF THE HAMMER MARKS AND BRUISES OF AN IDEA WHICH HAS BEEN FORCED INTO ITS SPOT.
JAMES WATT WAS STRUCK WITH THE IDEA OF THE STEAM ENGINE WHILE WATCHING HIS KETTLE BOIL, LEO SZILARD HAD THE SUDDEN ILLUMINATION OF A NEUTRON CHAIN REACTION (OR HOW TO MAKE AN ATOMIC BOMB) WHILE WAITING AT TRAFFIC LIGHTS IN SOUTHAMPTON ROW EXTRACT FROM
there. And I also know the unconscious mind is where ideas
the middle of a case and drag Watson off to a concert? That
MICHAEL BEIRUT
it with respect’
. Marty Neumeier agrees
with this, stating that ‘the history of invention can be seen as a series of marriages of incompatible ideas, or at the least ideas that previously had not been introduced. The matchmaker in most of these marriages is the unconscious mind’
(Marty Neumeier, 2001).
Shaughnessy says that over time
he has ‘learnt to trust’ his unconscious mind, yet when Saul Bass was a young designer he stated that when he did a good piece of work outside of the rational process he would distrust it and felt it was an accident. However he now realises his unconscious mind is an key part of the creative process. It is fascinating that our mind can work on a problem even when are not thinking about it, but that is because of the complexities of the brain and the creative process. James Webb Young offers an example of this phenomenon:
was a very irritating procedure to the practical and literal
PENTAGRAM
produce a worthy idea. However the unconscious mind doesn’t necessarily produce amazing ideas, it can only work with what it knows. That is why when you hear of scientists and designers talk about this ‘flash of inspiration’ or their ‘moment of creation’, it is not because their unconscious is a smart entity which told them, it’s because they have a vast wealth of knowledge on the subject and a great understanding of how the creative processes work. John Cleese believes that you get better results when your unconscious has worked on a problem. He started to observe ‘what was going on when I was creating. The first thing I would notice was when I was trying to write a sketch at night and I would get stuck I would go to bed and when I woke up in the morning, not only was the solution immediately apparent to me, but I couldn’t remember what the problem was the other night. I realised that the explanation for this was my unconscious part of my mind must have continued working on it while I was asleep, with the result that when
minded Watson. But Conan Doyle was a creator and knew the
I wrote it out it was better’
creative processes. Drop the problem completely and turn
believed this is because the unconscious aids creativity by
to whatever stimulates your imagination and emotions’
(James
keeping the problem constantly on your mind, while your
. I acknowledge that this is a relevant factor in
conscious is occupied elsewhere. He states that ‘without
Webb Young, 1965)
16
(Adrian Shaughnessy, 2009)
THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND
(John Cleese, 2010).
Arthur Koestler
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
17
this constant pressure, a favourable chance constellation would pass unnoticed.
if he does start with an idea, chances are he’ll only come up
The unconscious helps in bringing forms of ideation into play which otherwise
with stuff that he or somebody else has done before him. He
manifest themselves only in dreaming states’
wants all the insecurities and doubts of the working process
(Arthur Koestler, 1996)
.
to become part of the final piece’
Of course not everybody works in this way; this is just one of many ways
. However
(Stefane Sagmeister 2008)
as a fine artist Rauschenberg rarely has the pressure to work
glamorous as Newton and the falling apple or Archimedes and his bath tub - it
to tight deadlines and can afford to be as freely creative as
is still just an idea which you have to bring into the real world and make work.
he pleases. But does the graphic designer have the luxury to
CREATIVE STRATEGIES IN THE PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE OF GRAPHIC DESIGN In the professional practice of graphic design it is important to respond to briefs with fresh new ideas, yet this can be difficult given the inherent restrictions of the brief. But no matter how detailed the brief is it always leaves something unsaid. This is where the designer can use their creative skills. Adrian Shaughnessy believes that in every brief there are a number of instructions and demands: ‘Follow these and we will probably end up with an acceptable result. But in most briefs there is also a hidden
18
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
DEVELOP AN INFALLIBLE TECHNIQUE AND THEN PLACE YOURSELF AT THE MERCY OF INSPIRATION
of getting an idea. If you do have a so called ‘eureka!’ moment it’s never as
ZEN MAXIM
be able to adopt this approach? Adrian Shaughnessy wrote that ‘most designers look at books when they want ideas. Others pound through the Internet. This is fine, but we should force ourselves to go to unlikely books and unlikely places in cyberspace; if we are all looking at the same hip design books we mustn’t be surprised if everything we do looks the same as everything else’ (Adrian Shaughnessy, 2009). Both Rauschenberg and Shaughnessy recognise the importance of trying to work in different ways to the norm. The difficulty can lie in originality. There is such a vast plethora of design work out there that it
and unspoken element, a key that unlocks the creative solution
can be very easy to fall into the trap of repetition or recycling
to the task’ (Adrian Shaughnessy, 2009). A good designer will understand
someone else’s earlier idea. If the designer is repeating
this, they will look closely at the details of the brief, making
another designer’s work they are not creating but merely
connections between the different snippets of information in
mimicking. Good designers learn how to borrow and adapt
search of a creative solution - but it isn’t always easy to find.
ideas, as well as discovering new ideas. Many designers have
The American artist Robert Rauschenberg stated how
developed their own distinctive working method to help them
‘he tried never to come into the studio with an idea. If he
respond to briefs and help with the creative process, some of
has an idea, he goes for a walk to get rid of it. He said that
which I have researched.
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
19
THE OBLIQUE STRATEGIES CARD DECK CONSISTS OF 194 STATEMENTS
OBLIQUE STRATEGIES The Oblique Strategies were devised as a set of cards in the 1970s as a way of circumventing the repetition of thought process and to help with creative blocks that arose through studio practice. Both Schmidt and Eno understood that the pressure of time tended to steer them away from the ways of thinking they found most productive when the pressure was off: ‘The Oblique Strategies evolved from being in a number of working to deadline situations. If you’re in a panic, you tend to take the head-on approach because it seems yield the best results’
. But of course, that
(Brian Eno Interview)
often isn’t the case. The idea is that the user draws one of the Oblique Strategies cards at random and applies the instruction on the card to the problem at hand. My personal favourite instruction is “Honour thy error as a hidden intention”, as it can be all too easy to discard a mistake for what it is - a mistake. As Bruce Mau puts it: ‘Capture accidents - the wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different
20
OBLIQUE STRATEGIES
REPETITION IS A FORM OF CHANGE, GO OUTSIDE SHUT THE DOOR, IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY HERE, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THE THING MOST EASILY FORGOTTEN, GET UNCOMFORTABLE, HONOR THY ERROR AS A HIDDEN INTENTION, GIVE WAY TO YOUR WORST IMPULSE
ABOVE
OBLIQUE STRATEGIES STATEMENTS
question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions’ (Bruce Mau, 1998). This strategy is a systems-based approach to creativity and I acknowledge that these instructions offer a creative solution. However, I would question whether the user would automatically get better results using them. You would certainly get mixed results. I think the Oblique Strategies cards are more suited to, say, a fine artist than a graphic designer because the results would be rather more unpredictable. This of course is acceptable within graphic design, but given the limitations of the brief, they may not be suitable to use. They would however be helpful to use in response to briefs for more experimental projects. I would argue that what Schmidt and Eno’s cards do well is allow the brain to take a different train of thought. The random instructions serve to tap into lines of thought that might otherwise have stayed hidden. Musicians such as Coldplay, MGMT, Phoenix, U2 and the German composer Blixa Bargeld have all used the cards when recording albums, with mixed results - Stefane Sagmeister stated how he was ‘working with Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategy cards every once in a while with mixed results’(stefane
. Louis Pasteur said ‘Chance
sagmeister 2010)
favours the prepared mind’(Louis Pasteur, 1848) and essentially this is how these cards work. If you have the right understanding of the brief then a preferable chance constellation is more likely.
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
21
EXAMPLE OF THE RANDOM STIMULATION
as a restriction. Another example (Stefane Sagmeister’s)
Random stimulation : Umbrella
would be to open the dictionary on a random page and
Idea: An Umbrella is used during wintertime.
choose the first word you find, apply that word as you
Design special winter / summer editions.
see necessary to the brief. The random influence helps
Idea: An Umbrella is used according to climate
as a restriction as it allows you to free yourself from the
conditions. Design a deodorant that reacts to
endless possibilities of a restriction-free brief. De Bono
changes in body temperature.
believes that ‘in our thinking we move out of a certain area
relevance to current ideas and therefore will reinforce
THE GREATEST DANGER FOR MOST OF US IS NOT THAT OUR AIM IS TOO HIGH AND WE MISS IT BUT RATHER THAT IT IS TOO LOW AND WE REACH IT
METHOD
Brief: come up with ideas for a new deodorant.
rather than change them. It is a matter of exposing oneself
MICHAELANGELO
Idea: Some umbrellas can be folded to a small size. Design a small deodrant pack to carry in your bag.
RANDOM STIMULATION METHOD De Bono offers a similar technique to Oblique Strategies called the ‘random stimulation method’, which is provided by a random object, word, person, magazine or exhibition: ‘The main thing is that it cannot be chosen because if it is chosen then it is chosen through its
to a random influence or deliberately producing one’ De Bono, 1982)
(Edward
.
ARTIST
along the traditional route. If we toss in a random word it has its own associations. Sooner or later these link up with the associations of the problem. We can now move out of the problem along this new route and see what we can find’
(Edward De Bono, 1982)
.
As with Oblique Strategies the value of this method is debatable; the key is the random aspect as it allows the brain to make chance constellations it would otherwise not have made, had it not been subjected to a random influence. Whether this chance constellation works is another matter. The fact is that this method will throw up both intelligent ideas and ridiculous ideas. I would imagine both this method and Oblique Strategies would take a lot of practice before these techniques produce worthwhile solutions.
Chris Sharrock gave an example in a lecture of how he blindfolded a student and spun him around. The first object the student saw would have to be applied to the brief
22
RANDOM STIMULATION METHOD
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
23
THE HUMAN BRAIN CAN
not otherwise dare to make for the fear of the idea being
ONLY GENERATE 30 WATTS ILLUSTRATION BOB BLECHMAN
ridiculed. No idea is too ridiculous to be put forward. It is very important that no attempt at evaluation of ideas is
EXTRACT FROM THE ART OF LOOKING SIDEWAYS
judgment and the formality of the setting. The technique
ALEX OSBORN SPPLIT THE MIND INTO TWO PARTS. THE JUDICIAL MIND AND THE CREATIVE MIND - BRAINSTORMING WAS HIS METHOD TO ENCOURAGE COPIOUS IDEATION WHILE DISCOURAGING PREMATURE JUDGEMENT.
MISOMISM IS A PSYCHIATRIC TERM FOR AN UNREASONING FEAR AND HATRED OF NEW IDEAS.
made during the session.
involves a group of people trying to solve a problem
EXTRACT FROM
BRAINSTORMING Alex
Osborn
came
up
with
the
concept
of
brainstorming in the late 1930s. The main features of a brainstorming session are cross stimulation, suspended
together by very rapidly throwing out ideas. It requires
Brainstorming can have genuine advantages if used at the right stages of the creative process. It can be a reminder of how rigid your thinking has become and can help your mind to free itself of rational thinking: ‘At worst it can be hostile to the creative process as it leads to the proliferation of ideas exclusive of merit’ 1996)
(Ralph Caplan,
. It can also stifle creativity, as the very competition it
fosters establishes one of the biggest blocks: the fear of making a mistake. So to be effective brainstorming should be used wisely. It would most probably prosper in a studio environment where designers can bounce ideas off one another.
THE ART OF LOOKING SIDEWAYS
that the session be a short period of time, all ideas should be written down so that everybody can see them and that there be no censorship. Brainstorming sessions provide an opportunity for people to make suggestions they would
24
BRAINSTORMING
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
25
A TECHNIQUE FOR
JAMES WEBB YOUNG
CHRIS SHARROCK
STEP ONE
STEP ONE
‘Allow your mind to gather all the raw materials of the project. Think about the project from any possible point of view. From yours, the clients, the audience.’
‘Gather all the data and information you can on the subject. Illustrators often form a personal opinion first and then research around this.’
STEP TWO
STEP TWO
‘The process of masticating these materials, What you are seeking now is the relationships; little tentative or partial ideas will come to you.’
‘Think about the subject of the brief. Don’t be frightened of it, take risks, jump into the unknown. Play with it. Don’t be scared of it. It won’t bite you.’
STEP THREE
STEP THREE
‘You drop the whole subject and put the problem out of your mind as completely as you can, turn the problem over to your unconscious mind and let it work while you sleep. You stimulate the unconscious creative process’
‘Forget all about it. You have the information, now let it go and turn to what stimulates your imagination.’
PRODUCING IDEAS COVER JAMES WEBB YOUNG 1965
JAMES WEBB YOUNG & CHRIS SHARROCK Both James Webb Young and Chris Sharrock offer an identical creative strategy. Young wrote the book A Technique for Producing Ideas (recommended by Sagmeister and Craig Oldham). Both author’s methods relate to the theory of the unconscious mind and to Jacques Hadamard’s set of phases: preparation, incubation, illumination and verification. Young and Sharrock are by no means suggesting that creativity is a simple process which – following the steps listed above - will automatically make you creative. They are simply laying out the basic mechanisms that underpin the
STEP FOUR ‘The idea will strike you when you don’t expect it.’
‘The Idea. This often comes when you least expect it’ STEP FIVE ‘Show it to other people and get their opinion remember you are trying to communicate with others, not yourself.’
complexities of the creative process. If you understand these steps then it will help you to become a better thinker. The key to this method is allowing your mind to gain the right knowledge and understanding of the brief in order to give yourself more a
STEP FOUR
JAMES WEBB YOUNG
HOW TO BE CREATIVE ON
chance of finding an acceptable creative solution. Without an understanding of the
A TECHNIQUE FOR
DEMAND
PRODUCING IDEAS
CHRIS SHARROCK
project the ideas you produce will lack relevance to the subject.
1939
2010
26
YOUNG & SHARROCK
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
27
Webb Young gives an example by the writer De YOU HEAR PEOPLE ALL THE TIME SAYING RIDICULOUS THINGS LIKE I COULD WRITE A BOOK OR, I COULD COMPOSE A PIECE OF MUSIC. WELL OF COURSE THEY COULDN’T THEY MIGHT HAVE AN IDEA IN THER HEAD BUT ITS REALISING THAT IDEA THAT COUNTS
Maupassant that I think epitomises the importance of good research: ‘Go out into the streets of Paris and pick out a cab
Young claims to have received feedback from people
There is a long tradition of artists creating manifestos to express their views
entirely outside of design, such as poets, painters, engineers,
of the world and their approaches towards art. Amongst the first art manifestos
scientists, and even a writer of legal briefs, who all say that
was that of the Futurists in 1909, followed by the Vorticist, Dada and Surrealist
Young has described their own experiences with the creative
manifestos. All these defined a moment. Much later in 1998, design guru Bruce
process. This supports the idea that the creative process can
Mau wrote The Incomplete Manifesto for Growth, an articulation of statements
be the same for everyone even when applied to different fields
exemplifying his beliefs, strategies and motivations. Mau stated that he ‘tried to
VIVIENNE
of work: so the creative process in science would be the same
articulate the way that we work - day to day, moment by moment - so that others
as in art and design.
might learn from the method we had developed’(Bruce
WESTWOOD FASHION DESIGNER
driver. He will look to you very much like every other cab driver. But study him until you can describe him so that he is seen in your description to be an individual, different from every other cab driver in the world’ (James Webb Young, 1965). I think within graphic design this method provides useful advice in getting the right results and producing high quality work. When working for
MASSIVE CHANGE
BEGIN ANYWHERE BILLBOARD
BOOK COVER
NEW YORK
BRUCE MAU
BRUCE MAU
clients you will need to make them look individual and different from their competitors, even though the difference may be minimal. The right knowledge and research of the problem will help this process.
BRUCE MAU - THE INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR GROWTH
. They are thought
Mau, 2009)
provoking statements that are useful in helping designers move beyond the design process mindset they can often get stuck in. Often designs conform to the latest patterns or software tricks.
Mau’s
statements challenge assumptions on how to approach design work but also help to
28
INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR GROWTH
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
29
10. Everyone is a leader
32. Listen carefully
11. Harvest ideas
33. Take field trips
12. Keep moving
34. Make mistakes faster
13. Slow down
35. Imitate
14. Don’t be cool
36. Scat
15. Ask stupid questions
37. Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it
16. Collaborate
38. Explore the other edge
2. FORGET ABOUT GOOD. GOOD IS A KNOWN QUANTITY. GOOD IS WHAT WE ALL AGREE ON. GROWTH IS NOT NECESSARILY GOOD. GROWTH IS AN EXPLORATION OF UNLIT RECESSES THAT MAY OR MAY NOT YIELD TO OUR RESEARCH. AS LONG AS YOU STICK TO GOOD YOU’LL NEVER HAVE REAL GROWTH
THE INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR GROWTH
17. ____________________.Intentionally left blank
39. Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms
INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO
18. Stay up late
40. Avoid fields
19. Work the metaphor
41. Laugh
20. Be careful to take risks
42. Remember
21. Repeat yourself
43. Power to the people
(STRIPPED VERSION) 1. Allow events to change you
23. Stand on someone’s shoulders
2. Forget about good
24. Avoid software
3. Process is more important than outcome
25. Don’t clean your desk
4. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child)
26. Don’t enter awards competitions
5. Go deep
27. Read only left-hand pages
6. Capture accidents
28. Make new words
7. Study
29. Think with your mind
8. Drift
30. Organization = Liberty
9. Begin anywhere
31. Don’t borrow money
take an alternative route to the ‘norm’. These statements have a different purpose to the Oblique Strategies: they are more a philosophy for designers to follow than a statement to apply to a project. Mau believes it is important to disregard what people think is ‘good’. People who have brought about true innovation were focused on trying to change things. Good is acceptable; innovation however comes from pushing the boundaries. Daniel Nettle wrote that ‘when we have good ideas about how to be happy, they come to us through means very different from instinct but through long, difficult learning; through study, through reflection; through spirituality; and through art. It is as if our untempered impulses constantly lead us astray and we need an input of wisdom to keep us on the right track’
(David
. This is how I think these statements work. They act
Nettle 2009)
as an ‘input of wisdom’, which helps the designer think about and approach projects in different ways.
FOR GROWTH BRUCE MAU
22. Make your own tools
30
INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR GROTWTH
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
31
often become repetitive and so believes in the importance of experimentation:
LOVE YOUR EXPERIEMNTS AS YOU WOULD AND UGLY CHILD. JOY IS THE ENGINE OF GROWTH. EXPLOIT THE LIBERTY IN CASTING YOUR WORK AS BEUATIFUL EXPERIMENTS, ITERATIONS, ATTEMPTS, TRIALS AND ERRORS. TAKE THE LONG VIEW AND ALLOW YOURSELF THE FUN OF FAILURE EVERYDAY.
to keep yourself thinking in different ways. If your brain is
‘under pressure, the chances are that I revert to something I did before. When
BRUCE MAU
STEFANE SAGMEISTER THINGS I HAVE LEARNT IN MY LIFE SO FAR 2009
THE IMPORTANCE OF EXPERIMENTATION As a designer keeping ideas fresh is important. Clients want work that is new and original so as to differentiate from the competition. Stefane Sagmeister believes in the importance of refreshing his work and so takes a year long sabbatical from design around every seven years, during which he declines to take projects from clients so he can concentrate on experimentation. He feels that his work can
I stop the pressure, I can relax, I can look at things or start developing things
INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR GROWTH
always doing the same routines and working methods, your focus may well become narrow and you will get into the habit of doing things the same way, your work stagnating as a result. Having experimentation time allows you to explore different ways of working which may not be possible under the pressures of ‘creating on demand’. It is the act of reflection that allows us to make sense of and balance our thoughts and feelings. There is a question of whether or not you view work for clients as experimental or personal work. Adrian Shaughnessy believes that all his work is personal: ‘The fact that it’s not self initiated doesn’t mean its not personal; the fact that I have a client with a brief and a deadline and a budget, and a sack full of prejudices, restrictions and limitations, doesn’t stop me trying to do personal work. Its all personal’ (Adrian Shaughnessy, 2009). I agree that it is important to make your commercial work personal, however the extent to which this is possible is down to the inherent restrictions of a brief. It will also depend on what type of work the studio does for clients: if you are stuck doing work which doesn’t really
that I have no clue about. Almost every designer whose work I really admire has
involve a high level of creative input it may well be hard to
some sort of set period set aside for experimentation’ (Stefane Sagmeister Interview). In 2000
make the work personal. Other briefs however do allow the
Sagmeister took a year-long sabbatical. Although most designers can’t really do
designer to really engage with the project and really stamp
this, it is necessary to have time set aside for experimentation. It is important
their own creative input on it.
32
EXPERIMENTATION
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
33
THE ONE HUNDRED SHOW OF
CREATIVE BLOCK & RESTRICTIONS
AMERICAN CENTER OF DESIGN POSTER MICHAEL BEIRUT 1992
STEFANE SAGMEISTER THINGS I HAVE LEARNT IN MY LIFE SO FAR
34
CREATIVE BLOCK
be down to any number of reasons. Anything, from the pressures of creating on demand, to a reliance on the same working method, can cause it, or just the fear of not being able to come up with anything. Having a brief with no restrictions can be another cause: designers need a brief to be able to stimulate thinking about an idea. Personally I am not the sort of person who can come up with ideas out of the blue. One might imagine having a brief with no restrictions would make a designer very excited, however I would agree with Sagmeister that it is quite the opposite: ‘Unlimited freedom can be a curse, particularly for a design studio used to working with tight briefs and deadlines. How to go about it? Where to start? Should we run portfolio pieces? Jokes? What do I want to say when I can say anything? ’ (Stefane Sagmeister, 2006)
. Michael Beirut also believes that having
no restrictions can be a curse: ‘Thought that the poster for America’s most progressive design competition, the One Hundred Show, would be the ultimate easy problem to solve – no restrictions whatsoever, an audience of other
‘WE CREATE SOLUTIONS IN RESPONSE TO PROBLEMS. THE MORE SPECIFIC THE DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM, THE MORE DIRECTED THE EFFORTS AT SOLVING IT. CONSTRAINTS ARE NOT YOUR ENEMY, BUT YOU FRIEND’
COPY MAGAZINE GAVE US SIX SPREADS AND WANTED US TO FILL THEM WITH SOMETHING ANYTHING REALLY. THIS SOUNDED INITIALLY EXCITING BUT FILLING THE PAGES WITH NO BRIEFS AND NO BOUNDARIES TURNED OUT TO BE MUCH MORE CHALLENGING THAN I HAD NAIVELY EXPECTED. AS THE WEEKS WENT BY MY SEARCH FOR CONTENT BECAME INCREASINGLY FRANTIC
Creative block can happen to any designer and can
RICK EIBER DESIGNER
pestered to make decisions about colour and size’ (Michael Beirut, 1996)
. Restrictions are a necessity that allows the
brain to start working, which is why Saul Bass would ‘frequently set up some sort of absurdist condition that forced him into considering the relationships and ideas and experiences which would be conjured up within the r¬estrictions of the familiar world’ 1996)
(Saul Bass,
. The thought of no restrictions then can lead to
a creative block – indeed, it should be said, any brief
designers, nothing but commonality, how could I help but
could lead to a creative block. In this situation Chris
be brilliant? But people crash and burn on jobs like this. I
Sharrock offers a fallback method that he calls the
was frozen by it. I put it off repeatedly, even when I was
‘Basic Ideas Of The Universe’.
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
35
THE BASIC IDEAS OF THE UNIVERSE The basic ideas of the universe
BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING FILM POSTER
is a fallback method offered by Chris Sharrock
for when
a
SAUL BASS 1965
designer is
suffering from a creative block. The method is a group of 10 techniques which the designer can use to apply to a project. This method is primarily aimed at students who may not have a great understanding of the methods which designers have at their disposal.
1. THE MEDIUM AS THE MESSAGE
PAUL WENMAN BUSINESS CARD ABI STONES JIF LEMON PACKAGING
2004
EDWARD HACK 1956
36
BASIC IDEAS OF THE UNIVERSE
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
37
2. VISUAL METAPHOR
3. DEBUNKING
THINGS ARE FINE CAMPAIGN BORDERS PERRIN NORRANDER
POSTER FOR JACK GOLD’S
ADOLF, THE SUPERMAN SWALLOWS
KAISER ADOLF
BOOTS DISHWASHER POWDER
FILM RED MONARCH
GOLD AND SPOUTS JUNK
JOHN HEARTFIELD
ROBINSON LAMBIE-NAIRN
JOHN GORHAM
JOHN HEARTFIELD
1991
CARTOON OF DAVID CAMERON THE GUARDIAN STEVE BELL
38
BASIC IDEAS OF THE UNIVERSE
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
39
4. ADAPTION OF SOMETHING WELL KNOWN
PROTEST POSTER UNKNOWN DESIGNER 1970
A VISUAL RUNDOWN OF THE FILM THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS ATELIER WORKS 1994
POSTERS FROM THE SERIES OF THIRTY FIVE IN THE ‘GREETINGS FROM SARAJEVO’ EXHIBITION IN ZURICH TRIO SARAJEVO 1994
40
BASIC IDEAS OF THE UNIVERSE
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
41
5. REBUS
6. THE DESIGNERS EYE
IBM LOGO
FEDEX LOGO
PAUL RAND
LINDON LEADER
1991
1994
TRICKETT & WEBB BROCHURE TITLE
LOGO FOR MAGAZINE THAT WAS
DESIGNER UNKNOWN
NEVER PUBLISHED
1991
HERB LUBALIN & TOM CARNASE 1965
42
BASIC IDEAS OF THE UNIVERSE
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
43
7. WORDS AS PICTURES
8. INVERSION OF SCALE OR OPTICAL ILLUSION
TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLESSEY LOGO
SHELL LOGO
NORBORT DUTTON
RAYMOND LOEWY
1959
1971
BOOK ILLUSTRATION
FUKUDA EXHIBITION POSTER
SHIGEO FAKUDA
SHIGEO FAKUDA
1984
1975
SLOGAN FOR NEW YORK MILTON GLASER 1975
44
BASIC IDEAS OF THE UNIVERSE
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
45
9. ANTHROPOMORPHISM
10. 1+1=3
THE WHITE RABBIT ALICE
JEEP HUSKY AND CAMEL
IN WONDERLAND
GARY LIM
JOHN TENNIAL
2008
1865
46
BASIC IDEAS OF THE UNIVERSE
CREATIVE STRATEGIES
47
CREATIVE STRATEGIES OVERVIEW
CREATIVITY IN TODAY’S SOCIETY
Having researched how the creative process works and having looked at a
As outlined in the introduction, it is no longer enough to simply be
number of creative strategies, I believe Jacques Hadamard was right to assert
innovatively creative in formal or aesthetic terms. There are now other factors to
that the creative process works through the stages of preparation, incubation,
be considered. Creativity cannot be impervious to social, economic, environmental,
illumination and verification.
ethical and cultural considerations. Design studios are now more aware of
I believe preparation is the most important aspect in the creative process.
important issues facing the world, and need to think of the
A good understanding of the subject will give you a solid platform from which to
ethics of what they do, and what projects they choose to
find the best answers to the brief. This process is dependant on the brain’s ability
apply their creative skills to. In there day-to-day working,
to discover new ideas. The creative strategies I researched all involve the brain
the Liverpool design studio Non Conform promotes a practice
making connections, whether it be through an instruction, a random word or your
that is more environmentally anchored. They are a ‘carbon
unconscious. The brain needs time to find concealed relationships, it needs time
neutral company’, a ‘tree 250 company’ and a member of
to find a solution to the brief - this is the incubating aspect of the process. Next
the PFH (procurement for housing), as well as using a ‘cycle
is illumination: the creative process allows discovery of new ideas, but whether
to work scheme’. Studios like Non Conform recognise the
these ideas work is up to the designer - an idea is still only an idea until it is made real and it works. The last step in the process is verification. There is no point in creating something if it doesn’t fulfil its purpose. It is very important to get people’s opinions on a piece of work, remembering that in most cases it has been created for somebody else and it will be their opinion that matters the most, not your own. Having understood how the creative process works and the skills designers
TOP PROCUREMENT FOR HOUSING BOTTOM CYCLESCHEME
importance of having principles that clients can relate to. Similarly clients are becoming more ethically aware and so will search for designers who have ethical principles in line with their own. So for a designer it is important to decide what one’s ethical stance is. This can be problematic if one’s ethical principles do not correspond with those of one’s clients.
have at their disposal I will now discuss the broader context of creativity and its
Adrian Shaughnessy offers an example of an instance that
role within today’s society.
requires an ethical response: ‘you are asked to design the packaging for a new fizzy drink which contains sugar and other dubious chemicals but which promotes itself as fun. If
48
CREATIVE STRATEGIES OVERVIEW
CREATIVITY TODAY
49
you feel the drink is contributing to poor health among the
powerful inducements to unethical behaviour’
young and vulnerable you may decline to work for them. But if
2007)
their creative skills for exploitative, manipulative or corrupt
health, and if they made the contents clear on the packaging,
purposes, and yet certainly the last of these purposes is part
most of us would find it professionally expedient to take on
of how communication design works. One could argue that by
the project. If, however, the company claimed their drink
being complicit with a company’s manipulation of customers,
offered strength and vigour this would become a moral issue
designers have contributed to some degree to ‘oiling the
as they are asking us to lie.’
wheels’ of successful brands, making them hugely desirable
(Patrick Burgoyne,
FOR SOME DESIGNERS AND FOR MANY CLIENTS ETHICS ARE AS IMPORTANT AS THE BOILING INSTRUCTIONS ON A PACKET OF RICE. BUT THAT’S CHANGING. TODAY MORE AND MORE DESIGNERS ARE THINKING ABOUT THE ETHICS OF WHAT THEY DO. IT’S NO LONGER SOMETHING WE CAN CHOOSE TO IGNORE.
. It is morally and ethically wrong for designers to use
they were producing a product that did not claim to promote
nature of the graphic design industry has contributed to
behaviour is a positive force, but creativity can also be utilised for questionable
unethical tendencies in graphic design: ‘many designers
purposes. Designers can hide behind the term ‘creative’ because it is seen to
professionally engaged in advertising do have sensitive
equal good, when in actual fact designers are being paid to use their creative
ADRIAN SHAUGHNESSY
consciences, high ethical standards and a strong sense of
skills to persuade, manipulate and control people’s decisions – persuading people
responsibility. But even for them external pressures from
they need something that they don’t.
GRAPHIC DESIGN A USER’S MANUAL
(Adrian Shaughnessy, 2009)
Ethically designers have a choice to make on what kind of work they will accept, however they may still be
capitalism. It may be going too far to implicate designers in
compromised by whom they work for. The simple answer
the negative effects that ‘unethical’ corporations are having
would be, don’t take the project, but that’s not always that
on the world, for instance their exploitation of developing
simple: it is not that easy to decline work when other factors
countries, dwindling natural resources and contribution to
come into play, such as the need to keep earning money or
climate change.
career motivations. A designer’s relationship to a client is often one of complicity, so how, when doing a job, can they challenge the underlying principles, particularly of big companies? Patrick Burgoyne believes the competitive
the clients who commission their work as well as from the competitive internal dynamics of their profession can create
50
and instantly recognised within the environment of global
CREATIVITY IN TODAY’S SOCIETY
CREATIVITY IN HUMAN BEHAVIOUR It is generally agreed the currency or worth of creativity in human
Patrick Burgoyne believes that ‘today, some advertising is simply and deliberately untrue. Generally speaking, the
CREATIVITY TODAY
51
problem of truth in advertising is somewhat more subtle: it
issues that are critical of the established order. What then
is not that advertising says what is overtly false, but that
can designers do to reverse the problems brought about
it can distort the truth by implying things that are not so
by uncontrolled free market capitalism and rapacious
or withholding relevant facts’
globalisation?
. It is this
(Patrick Burgoyne, 2007)
The designer can be more proactive through their
aspect of creativity that is questionable. Advertising aimed
creative design by consciously working with more ethical
in the hope they will put pressure on their parents to buy
companies and organisations. Yet a lot of the problems
products they don’t need. This is the manipulative power that
more ethical designers would want to tackle stem from the
creativity has, the power to persuade and control people’s
way greedy and unethical companies conduct themselves
decisions. And it is this aspect of creativity that I believe contributes to the negative effects of global capitalism. We live in a world of want and greed, which has led to high levels of consumerism that is becoming unsustainable and is putting pressure on the world’s diminishing resources. Creative designers therefore have a responsibility to question if and how they have used their creativity to contribute to this by persuading high levels of consumerism. Creativity as a human trait is used in both positive and negative ways. On the positive side people want to use
BRUCE MAU MANTRA WIRED MAGAZINE
around the world, following the mantra that ‘we are only going to express our values when we’re communicating but when we’re manufacturing and doing all these other things, we don’t have to worry about it, because those things aren’t visible’(Warren Berger 2009). It is this attitude that has led to the problems we face in the world today. However the public is certainly now more aware of and concerned about how companies conduct themselves both ethically and environmentally. There is now a sense of urgency within large corporations that a change in their behaviour is a
creativity to make a better, more liberal world, to tackle
must if they are to survive and progress under the scrutiny
the problems we face. Yet on the negative side creativity
of today’s society. This is where designers can contribute to
is used to persuade and control people’s decisions, which
tackling contemporary problems. But precisely how can they
in themselves contributes to the very problems that need
use there creatively in this?
solving. So maybe now it is time for designers to, instead of supporting the status quo, focus their creativity on
52
CREATE MORE OF WHAT WE LOVE USING LESS OF WHAT WE NEED
at children can exploit the way they are highly suggestible,
CREATIVITY IN HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
Bruce Mau is at the forefront of a movement that embraces new ways of thinking in graphic design. He believes
CREATIVITY TODAY
53
that everything in the world today is ready for reinvention and recombination, and that creative thought can be applied to businesses to not only communicate the values of the business, but to actually redesign a business to become more sustainable. In this way Mau sees design and creativity having a broader role in engaging with pressing issues today.
RIGHT COCA COLA LIVE POSITIVELY WEBSITE SHOWING SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES BELOW COCA COLA LIVE POSITIVELY MESSAGES ON BINS
One of his mantras is ‘design what you do’: companies should now not just design their product but design the way the business works as well. Mau helped create a global green platform for one of the world’s best-known brands, one that has a reputation for being environmentally irresponsible and promoting poor health among younger people. Bruce Mau Design transformed Coca Cola through a global sustainability COCA COLA LIVE POSITIVELY LOGO BRUCE MAU DESIGN
programme called Live Positively. ‘Live Positively represents
before Mau got involved but the public did not know about these, as they weren’t
Coca-Cola’s commitment to making a difference in the world
part of a larger visible coordinated effort. Mau’s approach is to see the overall
by redesigning the way they work so that sustainability
operation of a company as a creative design problem. He believes that companies
is part of everything they do. Working with Coke’s top
should demonstrate their values through their actions and should now be looking
executives, we pulled together efforts scattered across many
for ways to be more sustainable and focused on being more ethically and socially
divisions into a cohesive strategic vision and a framework to
aware. If Mau can get a huge global brand like Coca Cola to redesign the mindset
guide future development, articulating broad sustainability
of its corporate structure, this could convince smaller companies to follow suit.
goals across all categories of their business and culture. Then we communicated this message to Coca-Cola’s 700,000 employees and to the world’
(Bruce Mau Design)
. Interestingly Coke
were doing a number of things to become more sustainable
54
CREATIVITY IN TODAY’S SOCIETY
CREATIVITY TODAY
55
CONCLUSION The challenge for creativity in society today is to find
helping to encourage high levels of consumerism, which
ways of applying creative thought to tackling the issues that
contributes to global capitalism, designers should be looking
face the world today. I believe that for creative designers
more ethically at ways to question the underlying principles
it is no longer acceptable to be creative purely in terms
of large companies and also question how advertising
of aesthetics or formal considerations. Designers are
manipulates to negative effect for the globe, fuelling the
now actively taking on board considerations beyond those
desire to consume. This is very much how Bruce Mau
relating to a brief, considerations that relate to factors
approaches creativity and design.
that affect the world, whether this be through being more
Creativity has the power to encourage substantial
environmentally conscious, like Non Conform, or approaching
change in the way people think about and view the world. In
projects with the Bruce Mau ‘design what we do’ approach.
challenging perceptions and attitudes, innovative design I
As designers have to continuously think of ways to do things
believe has the capacity to make us see the possibilities of a
better and more conscientiously, this is the direction that I
better world.
see creativity and design taking in the future. The general public recognises the importance of good design, which shapes their whole world around them. Designers should now be focused on design’s potential to solve problems and change lives. Creative designers have the ability to communicate the importance of tackling broader global issues. Maybe it is time for designers to collectively encourage substantial change by utilising the creative skills at their disposal. It is creative design that communicates the essence and values of a company, and yet many of the larger companies and corporations have brought about dwindling natural resources and climate change. So now instead of
56
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
57
REFERENCE LIST SECTION ONE - THE CREATIVE PROCESS
IMAGES Evolution Of Man. The Art of Looking Sideways, Alan Fletcher (2001) London: Phaidon Press. The Econmist Poster celebrating Asia Pacific’s 100,000Th Subscriber, Ogilvy & Mather 2004. Available at: http://www.adverbox.com/ media/campaigns/2006/05/theeconomist_brain.jpg Oblique Strategies Card Deck, Available at: http://www.gourmet.com/images/food/2009/06/fo-oblique-strategies-608.jpg The Human Brain Can Only Generate 30 Watts, Illustration, Bob Blechman. The Art of Looking Sideways, Alan Fletcher (2001) London: Phaidon Press. A Technique For Producing Ideas Cover, James Webb Young. Available at: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bW0i1eWTElw/S_r7rFJOOCI/ AAAAAAAAAEE/JJ96v8epRBE/s1600/IMG_0135.JPG Begin Anywhere Billboard, New York, Bruce Mau. Available at: http://www.brucemaudesign.com/#112942/ Things I Have Learnt In My Life So Far Cover, Stefane Sagmiester. Available at: http://www.metropolismag.com/ webimages/3393/REV_1_06_08rev2_t346.jpg Things Are Fine Campaign, BORDERS PERRIN NORRANDER. Available at: http://www.jazarah.net/blog/wp-content/samer/2008/10/ dontvote.jpg The White Rabbit Alice In Wonderland John Tennial, 1865. Available at: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Alicewhite-rabbit.jpg Jeep Husky And Camel, Gary Lim, 2008. Available at: http://adsoftheworld.com/files/images/jeep2_0.jpg Adolf, The Superman Swallows, Gold And Spouts Junk, John Heartfield. Available at: http://www.towson.edu/heartfield/art/superman.
SECTION TWO - CREATIVE STRATEGIES Adrian Shaughnessy. (2009) Graphic Design: A Users Manual. London: Lawrence King. pp.148, 154-155, 235 Brian Eno Interview in: The Oblique Strategies Available at: http://www.rtqe.net/ObliqueStrategies/OSintro.html Bruce Mau (1998) Incomplete Manifesto For Growth, and Bruce Mau Design(2008): Accessed on 2nd December 2010 Available at http://www.brucemaudesign.com/#115688/ Edward De Bono. (1982) De Bono’s Thinking Course. London: BBC Books. pp.62, 63 James Webb Young. (1965) A Technique for Producing ideas. New York: McGraw-Hill . pp.22
jpg Paul Wenman Business Card, Abi Stones, 2004. Available at: http://www.dandad.org/awards/professional/2008/categories/grpd/ graphic-design/23936/paul-wenman Cartoon Of David Cameron, The Guardian, Steve Bell. Available at: http://strai.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83455c15069e20120a867ff1597 0b-pi Coca Cola Live Positively Messages On Bins, Bruce Mau. Available at: http://blog.mytemplatez.com/wp-content/ uploads/2010/02/cocacolaLivePositivlely.jpg
Michael Beirut in: A Smile in the Mind, Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart (1996). London: Phaidon. pp.172-173 Ralph Caplan Cited in: A Smile in the Mind (1996) London: Phaidon. pp.76 Stefane Sagmeister Interview: Available at: http://www.sagmeister.com/students.html and Book (2008) Things I have learnt in my life so far. Harry N Abrams Saul Bass in: A Smile in the Mind, Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart (1996). London: Phaidon. pp.17
Fedex Logo, Lindon Leader, 1994; Bunny Lake Is Missing, Film Poster, Saul Bass, 1965; IBM Logo, Paul Rand 1991;The One Hundred Show Of American Center Of Design Poster, Michael Beirut 1992; Jif Lemon Packaging, Edward Hack, 1956; A Visual Rundown Of The Film The Last Of The Mohicans, Atelier Works, 1994; Protest Poster, Unknown Designer, 1970; Slogan For New York, Milton Glaser, 1975; Telecommunications Plessey Logo, Norbort Dutton, 1959; Shell Logo, Raymond Loewy, 1971; Trickett & Webb Brochure Title, Designer Unknown, 1991; Posters From The Series Of Thirty Five In The ‘Greetings From Sarajevo’ Exhibition In Zurich, Trio
SECTION THREE - CREATIVITY IN TODAY’S SOCIETY
Sarajevo, 1994; Poster For Jack Gold’s Film Red Monarch, John Gorham; Boots Dishwasher Powder, Robinson Lambie-Nairn, 1991;
Adrian Shaughnessy. (2009) Graphic Design: A Users Manual. London: Lawrence King. pp.110-111
Fukuda Exhibition Poster, Shigeo Fakuda, 1975; Book Illustration, Shigeo Fakuda, 1984. All Available at: Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart
Bruce Mau Design Website. http://www.brucemaudesign.com/112916/Coca-Cola
(1996) A Smile in the Mind. London: Phaidon Press.
Accessed 2nd December, 2010 Patrick Burgoyne (2007) God and the ethics of advertising. [online] Available at: http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2007/ january/god-and-the-ethics-of-advertising Accessed 2nd December, 2010 Warren Berger 2009 Meet Bruce Mau. He wants to redesign the world, Wired Magazine http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2010/01/features/meet-bruce-mau-he-wants-to-redesign-the-world Accessed 2nd
December, 2010
58
REFERENCE LIST
REFERENCE LIST
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Adrian Shaughnessy. (2009) Graphic Design: A Users Manual. London: Lawrence King. Alan Fletcher (2001) The Art of Looking Sideways. London: Phaidon Press. Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart (1996) A Smile in the Mind. London: Phaidon Press. Bruce Mau. (1998) Incomplete Manifesto For Growth, Edward De Bono (1982) De Bono’s Thinking Course. London: BBC Books. Francis Crick (1994) The Astonishing Hypothesis London: Phaidon Press. James Webb Young. (1965) A Technique for producing ideas. New York: McGraw-Hill. Stefane Sagmeister. (2008) Things I have learnt in my life so far. Harry N Abrams
Websites Bruce Mau Design Website. http://www.brucemaudesign.com/112916/Coca-Cola Chris Sharrock (2008) : What is Creativity? Accessed on 2nd December 2010 Available at: http://sharrock.wordpress.com/tag/ understanding-creativity/ and How to be creative on demand Available at: http://sharrock.wordpress.com/2008/11/19/how-to-becreative-on-demand/ John Cleese in: John Cleese WCF Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGt3-fxOvug Brian Eno Oblique Strategies http://www.rtqe.net/ObliqueStrategies/
Articles Warren Berger (2009). ‘He wants to redesign the world’, Wired Magazine http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2010/01/features/ meet-bruce-mau-he-wants-to-redesign-the-world Accessed 2nd December, 2010] Patrick Burgoyne (2007) God and the ethics of advertising. [online] Available at: http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2007/january/ god-and-the-ethics-of-advertising http://www.dandad.org/
Lectures Chris Sharrock: How to be creative on demand
PRINTERS Print Factory
TYPEFACES Foundry Gridnik Regular Foundry Gridnik Bold
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