Week 2: Creativity

13th June 2021

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Creativity can come from any subject or area and is not limited to one discipline (Bohm, 2004). It’s not necessarily about what something looks like, but it is about the processes in how we do things as humans, for example, problem-solving.

As a Marketing Designer, I brand and design marketing collateral therefore I channel my creativity every day. My process involves researching competitors and looking for inspiration using Behance. I use Adobe Creative Cloud software to brainstorm visually by organising my ideas and integrating the company brand guidelines. Sometimes I experience a creative block that can delay the process. I involve the stakeholders to agree on the design brief and feedback is gathered to make improvements. Feedback is crucial and can be used in future design projects.

The ICEDIP method created by Geoff Petty is a creative iterative process based on 6 phases: Inspiration, clarification, evaluation, distillation, incubation and perspiration. In this process, to be creative, you need to have an open free mind and step out of your comfort zone. It is something that I need to embrace further because when I experience a creative block, I feel like I have hit a brick wall.

Petty also elaborates on how to improve your creativity by implementing strategies and tools. It involves experimenting with techniques such as brainstorming, drafting prototypes and reviewing issues. The ICEDIP is an inspiring method in generating creativity and this can help improve my creative thinking.

There are many ideation techniques such as mindmaps, opposite thinking, SCAMPER. These techniques help to solve problems and enable your creativity. Although it can be a challenge at first, we should try not to let the fear of the task overwhelm us.

As humans, we have fear embedded in our brains to save us from doing drastic things, such as stepping in front of a bus. Leisawitz (2019) explains that fear builds an “inner critic” in our brain that stops us from believing in ourselves and limits creativity. Humans have a fear of failing and the thought of this is limiting our potential and flexibility. “Failure is our best friend. In fact, it is absolutely key to our success.” (Leisawitz, 2019). We have the fear that our work isn’t good enough, or afraid of rejection or not being able to voice our ideas. When we have self-realisation that failure doesn’t mean the end of the world, we can use it to improve ourselves and solve our problems. This boosts our creativity.

It is essential to break down your barriers and allow for free thinking. The outcome can produce wild and crazy ideas but this broadens the possibilities of a potentially successful product.

Challenge activity: Remediation

In the challenge activity, I chose the Olympic logo as my creative artefact. I have used the SCAMPER method to generate ideas. The SCAMPER method is a brainstorming technique that asks questions to transform an existing artefact into something new.

The Olympic rings are five interlaced rings: blue, yellow, black, green and red, which symbolises the activity and movement of the Olympic games. To remediate this logo illustration, I spent 5 mins asking possible questions on how I can modify this logo in another way.

Substitute

• Can I substitute the rings for another shape?

• Can I substitute the colours of the rings?

Combine

• Can I combine the rings with another shape?

• Can I combine the rings with more rings?

• Can I combine the rings with another logo?

Adapt

• Could I change the way the rings are interlaced?

• Can I adapt the position of the rings?

Modify (Also Magnify and Minify)

• Can I make the rings appear smaller?

• Can I magnify the interlaced rings?

Put to another use

• Could the logo be used on another medium other than the Olympic website?

• Can the logo be printed and used physically instead of being digital?

Eliminate

• Can I remove a ring?

• Can I simplify the interlaced rings?

Reverse

• Can I rearrange the ring shapes?

• Can I change the order of the coloured rings?

Results

Substitute: change the colours of the rings

Combine: combined 16 rings together as a pattern

Adapt: change the position of shapes

Modify: adjusted the negative space

Put to another use: the logo is used on a mug as a geometric pattern

Eliminate: removed the black ring

Reverse: changed order of rings

Left: Olympic rings logo. Right: Remediation image by Lehang Tieu. 2021.

Reflecting on this week, I struggled to have an open mind when deciding on a creative artefact for the challenge activity. I read some of the other students' responses and techniques they used, and I was impressed. Each person is unique and has creative thinking related to their specialism. It inspired me to do the same. When applying creative processes, we cannot expect perfection in every project. We need to make room for mistakes which means taking risks and allowing failure to happen. Using the SCAMPER method enabled me to branch out and take risks. Going forward I am hoping to be free minded and apply many ideation techniques to boost my creativity.

References

Bohm, D., Nichol, L. 2004. On Creativity. (1. publ. in Routledge classics edn). London [u.a.]: Routledge

Krzywinska, T. 2021. Creativity and innovation: Games and app development. [online] Available at: <https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/912/pages/week-2-what-is-creativity?module_item_id=54079> [Accessed 4 June 2021].

Petty, G. 2021. Strategies tools and habits to improve your creativity - Geoff Petty. [online] Available at: <https://geoffpetty.com/creativity/strategies/> [Accessed 13 June 2021].

The Interaction Design Foundation. 2020. Learn How to Use the Best Ideation Methods: SCAMPER. [online] Available at: <https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/learn-how-to-use-the-best-ideation-methods-scamper> [Accessed 9 June 2021].

2017. Knowledge Solutions. Singapore: Springer, pp.311-314.

Leisawitz, J. 2019. ‘How to Be Creative at Work’. The Journal for quality and participation 42(2), 13–5.

International Olympic Committee. 2021. The Olympic rings. [online] Available at: <https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-rings> [Accessed 9 June 2021].

Images

International Olympic Committee. 2021. The Olympic rings. [Image] Available at: <https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-rings> [Accessed 9 June 2021].