WEEK 1 : 27 JULY ~ 31 JULY

Tim Brown : Tales of Creativity and Play

 

Tim Brown makes a comparison between adults and children in terms of how we thing, live and design when playfulness is incorporated. His points are relatable. How he says that as adults, we fear the judgement of our peers and are embarrassed/ sensitive to the opinions of others. 

This is a problem as if we think like so, we create our own fears and will start conforming to others. We create this idea of what's "normal" or "acceptable" and refrain ourselves from thinking , dressing, designing "differently. 

Also, he states that adults need a relax/ comfortable surrounding and being familiar with people would help create "playfulnesss" in our work area when we're designing. This would help with creativity as we won't be restricted in our designs as we wouldn't feel like we're being judged. 

Having "playfulness" would lead to creativity which would aid designers in development and discussions in creating products that would be different from existing products in the market and products that have multiple usage.

Elizabeth Gilbert : Your Elusive Creative Genius 

Elizabeth Gilbert talks about how we all have a "genius" in us. How creative people need to manage / maintain their emotions to create this "safe distance" between our "working" self and anxiety. 

When creative people have one success, some might be stressed out by having to top that and this can cause them to be overwhelmed and often can be "led" to dark places. 

However, we can control fear. Fear of humiliation / rejection. Sometimes the fear is what we create in our heads. She says we have a "genius" in us. It refers to our "creative half". Sometimes we get "artist block" or in her case "writer's block" and that's when we just need to stop what we're doing, take a deep breath and talk to air. hahah. but yes, talk aloud to yourself.

 Sometimes ideas and inspiration come in ways we don't expect.We could feel it or hear it and it could result be a great idea.

David Keeley : How To Regain Your Creative Confidence

David Keeley wants people to gain/ regain their creative confidence. For those people who gets their ideas turned down by teachers or their classmates making negative remarks about their works, we have this fear in us. Fear of judgement, being judged. 

We have this fear in us that when someone turns us down, we get discouraged and unmotivated. We are afraid of being "wrong" and want to do the "right" thing. 

However, we need to overcome this to be successful and creative. David mentions a Dr Bandura who got people comfortable with their phobia through a few stages. We need to turn this fear into familiarity. 

Only then, we would achieve this sense that we can change the world and attain what we want in which Dr Bandura calls this : Self-efficacy. 

This is an image i found online. It is a brief mind-map of design thinking. I found this interesting as our end products could be triggered by any one of this points. There is no numbering or point that have to start first and end last. We could come up with an idea through researching or creating a prototype that will lead to modification and resulting in our end product. 

Design is a process that requires thinking. 

Dustin Yellin : A Journey Through The Mind of An Artist

Dustin Yellin makes 3D sculptural paintings that use multiple layers of glass to create a single intricate collage artwork. He used to use resin which was harmful for him and he found a healthier alternative which was glass. His works are very detailed and imaginative.

Emilie Wapnick: Why some of us don't have one true calling

Emelie Wapnicks made me realize that the reason why some of us don't have one true calling is that we have might have multiple. She talks about how kids are taught at a young age that what they want to be when they grow up is just one thing. E.g a fireman or a doctor. However, there are people in the world with many professions doing what they love. E.g Amy Ng, a magazine editor turned illustrator, entrepreneur, teacher and creative director. And children are unaware of that which would make them have a narrow mind and not live life to the fullest. Emelie calls people with many interests and passions, Multi-potentialities. 

Definition: People who are well versed in multiple discipline. They have 3 "superpowers".

1. Idea Synthesis
2. Rapid Learning
3. Adaptability

Janet Echelman: Taking imagination seriously

Janet Echelman discovered that she could create sculptures by fishing nets. I find her very inspiring as she is so passionate about her imaginations and so persistent that her success just motivates me. 

Despite being rejected by 7 art schools, she didn't give up on being an artist. Instead she proved everyone that she could create sculptures that move people. And these sculptures were different. It was "hers". There was nothing like this being done in the market. 

She searched for beauty in traditional things, like how she was in India, seeing fishermen with nets everyday and only having inspired by it one day to create these sculptures. She makes it seem that developing and passionately driving towards your passion will be rewarding in the end.