Thoughts on Creation

Through this last year of going through dblogs, i've found a remarkable difference in the language that is used to communicate ideas.. If you read comments you'll often come across abduction, lateral thinking, design synthesis, extrapolation, insights... The fact that similar terms are used to describe a design in China, Norway, Canada, USA, UK makes it startlingly apparent that we indeed have an accepted way of communicating that does transcend all the differences in spoken language!

When you view this talk by Tim brown, you'll understand this much better... or understand how far behind you are in catching up with this new language :)

Even though I love the fact that like maths, design too will become (actually, IS to some extent) a subject that one studies through school days.. I'm afraid that it will become a discipline as strict as maths which would just contain this wonderful process of creation into the hands of a certain few, the designers.. Which is just a typical logical course of evolution of any subject.. Isn't that ironic?

Re-viewing this talk, one begins to wonder though.. Would it have been possible to develop & enhance an inherent process of developing a new subject/language so easily had it not been for the technologies that connect us all?

Dan Meyer: Math class needs a makeover | Video on TED.com

Dan Meyer: Math class needs a makeover | Video on TED.com

Redefining "Dis"Ability

Indeed, redefining the most basic notions of user interactions and society in general.. Could we have ever thought of disability this way?

Makes me wonder what we could create if we exclude ONE design feature that we take for granted as imperative in our designs...

Tim Brown on Simplicity vs. Minimalism

"There is a discussion going on amongst some of my colleagues about the merits of minimalism versus simplicity.

My own view is that minimalism has come to represent a style and as such is limited in its usefulness. It represents a reaction to complexity whereas simplicity relies on an understanding of the complex. This is an important difference. One is about the surface, about the stuff. The other is about our experience and requires a deep appreciation of how things work so as to make them just simple enough.

Minimalism is often all too obvious while great simplicity can be practically invisible..." Tim Brown, IDEO

IDEO Playlist

Free Ride from IDEO on Vimeo.

Bio-Mimetics

Woke up today with a thirst for random inspiration,
Jumped to TED (but ofcourse)
and found these really cool videos :)
check em out....

IsenSeven: The Video Marvel

Isenseven - TIMES from Vincent Urban on Vimeo.

"Times" is a self-contained short-clip by Isenseven and at the same time the last part of the upcoming full-length movie "Let's Go Get Lost". As this clip will be edited slightly different in the final movie, we decided to publish this original version online already now.

This clip contains a collection of footage we gathered throughout the season and during the summer days in our hometown Munich as well as in Berlin, New York, Tokyo, Bejing, Portland, Barcelona and many other places.

We like to thank all of our close friends for a great year 2009 and especially thank those guys for riding their skateboards for us: Conny Mirbach, Christopher Geyer, Jonas Rosenbauer, Michael Von Fintel, Christoph Friedmann, Dennis Gläser, Timo Kavermann, Mack McKelton, Gunes Ozdogan, Marcus Sweeney, Philipp Schuster and John Zelehoski.

Filmed by: Felix Urbauer, Alex Schiller, Vincent Urban, Niko Jentsch, Magnus Törnkvist

Edited by: Vincent Urban

As Munich plays a major role in this clip, we are happy we could use a song from a local band for this project. The song's called "Mindestens In 1000 Jahren" by Frittenbude from the Album "Nachtigall". Support the band and be friends with them on Myspace! (www.myspace.com/frittenbude)

A Complex Simplicity Paradigm

Of late the buzzing word "simplicity" has struck every chord in my little mindspace. Really it is a beautiful word. Where we as humans have complicated everything including our lives that were initially set out to be very simple. Live for Survival.. It is a complicated word "simplicity" indeed. I'm going to try break it up here, atleast as much as i can.

The art of thin-slicing (as popularized by Malcolm Gladwell)

99% of the data you're posed with is useless. the 1% is critical. That one percent is the crux that binds the data together. We all know this but we still get stuck with the 99%.

There are various methodologies listed all over the web that help you reach the 1% and the one i choose to follow needs extreme getting used to. I call it the art of structure.

I structure everything. I write it down. I make diagrams/charts/ any other form of visual representations ..anything.. to structurally collate the data.

If you want to follow this path i can suggest an easy way to start.

Post-its. Write out all the variables on post-it notes. Paste them up on a wall. Re-arrange them to clusters which seem common.

Now take an individual cluster and ask yourself, What binds all your information together?

In the little cluster that you've intuitively created its easy to find the common link.

Once you have these common links, the next step is to bind them together. This is the hard part and it takes a while getting used to!

Two things will happen when you start this process, you'll start finding the information less over-bearing and therefore you'll attain a sense of calm within a whirlwind of mess. Secondly, you'll know where to look for more information..

I've practiced this for about a year and now im slowly getting used to it. Do this till the process of combining common variables becomes so deeply intuitive and instinctive that you start structuring everything from feelings to thoughts to emotions to decisions... its a fun world to live in coz you start questioning Everything! and thats when you start questioning anger, happiness, joy and you kinda become autistically fascinated by them.

This process is just to know what you're trying to achieve.. When it becomes instinctive and intuitive you don't need to do this process all the time.. It will come naturally. And for it to come naturally it is important to feel a little disconnected to your information. To practice the art of letting go i've found it easy to tear up all the un-organised information and retain only the common links to play around with. It gives a sense of detachment to the information which makes it easier to look a step beyond.

The art of information gathering is like making a shopping list, when you start of you say i have too much to do. when you've made a list you say hey i just need to go to 2 places for everything to be done!

Thin-Slicing is the art of breaking down everything within a "blink" till it meets you with startling revelations... and trust me, they're always startling.

The art of insight: the next dimension of visual creativity.

Do you remember your childhood days? Do you remember what you felt last time you were happy? Chances are that you just drew out a mental image of your happy moment and you added words and sounds that fit the visual description of your happy moment. Don't kill urself over it. its natural to do that. Its therefore established that its easier for your brain to collect and recollect images.

Now think about it this way.

Its easy for my mind to visually collate, so why don't i feed it more visual data?

.. And maybe if its easier for my mind to recollect visual data it must do a series a calculations or somethings that helps it to remember the visual data i fed it without making me realize it? So my mind actually has the capacity to think more about visual data.. with this realization I drew this map.

now let me try to break it down in "simpler" terms.

All of us have given interviews. Now pick your favorite. What did you like about the questions being answered? 9 times out of 10 you'll find what you liked about the answer is NOT that you answered exactly what was asked, what you liked is that the answer brought out a startling revelation.

Having given one such interview I found it interesting to dissect the art of visual mapping and i realised something i did very intuitively was create a visual map of where the question being asked is heading to and create a simultaneous visual map of what I want it to be and answered the question from MY perspective. Its like screw you i know what you're asking and you'll get me into shit so here's the real deal.. Whats interesting is that I did it instinctively.

This re-rendering of visual maps is one thing that spurs an insight... and insight the way Jane Fulton Suri describes it in thoughtless acts, not the marketing term that we're getting used to using in lay terms :)

maybe ill write about this in detail later.

Simplicity in basic dissections.

Simplicity till now i've viewed in 2 strange ways: Include Everything & Include Nothing.

1. Apple

Your mac is a highly intuitive piece of equipment. Infact the trend sparked by their technological revolution is to make technology conform to you rather than you conforming to it.. Humanising Tech

nology as i like to call it.

What does this simplicity require? Extreme technology. Include Everything. Include every known technological inspiration to make this happen.

Have you ever truly seen your mac laptop? sure its simple in interface but more than that there is a greater revelation: there is no visible demarcation to show that you can tear your laptop apart the way you're used to opening up your dells and compaqs. It visually feels as if they're saying hey, we know what we're talking about.. Its high-tech stuff here babe. Enjoy my privileges but don't mess with me.

Simple in interface. Complicated inside.

2. Ross Lovegrove's Chair

Its based on a simple principle: Minimise the Unnecessary. Include Something of what already exists and redefine the rest.

It just has to look simpler than what i usually see..

Simple in thought. Simple in Execution.

A sub-version of this is when i include nothing of what i already know and just redefine my parameters from scratch. We usually dont do this. We ask hey who wants to reinvent the wheel????

in all this ive realised one substantial thing. in simplicity lies complexity. Like my boss says, its like this, when you have a problem and you want to reach the simple insightful revelation to it, you need to create an entire circle around the problem, dwell into all complexities to reach the solution.. and when you reach the solution you say wtf! it was right there!!!! how did i not see it!

now i havent been able to come to the stage where simplicity is just simple and not with its fare share of a complexity circle. in other words, i havent been able to make that tiny little jump. When you do it, let me know about it ;)

Adieu!

T-Shaped Designers

Found a term today: T-Shaped Designers.

(http://www.designsojourn.com/only-god-is-t-shaped/)

I have been thinking about T-Shaped Designers for a long time now. How to be one, what does being one really mean and how effective can one be. Made popular sometime in 2005 by IDEO’s Tim Brown, T-Shape Designers are defined as:

…people who are so inquisitive about the world that they’re willing to try to do what you do. We call them “T-shaped people.” They have a principal skill that describes the vertical leg of the T — they’re mechanical engineers or industrial designers. But they are so empathetic that they can branch out into other skills, such as anthropology, and do them as well. They are able to explore insights from many different perspectives and recognize patterns of behavior that point to a universal human need. ~ Fast Company

I touch on this topic again in 2007, by calling these T-Shape Designers “Renaissance Designers” in my blog series: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Designers.

However after almost 5 years contemplating the existence of such T-Shaped designers and observing the many designers I know, I have to admit that such a personality trait is a myth. Honestly, to date I have never seen or met any designer that I would truly qualify as T-shaped, including myself.

I actually spoke to Chris Bangle about this and tried to tap into his vast experience as someone who hires talent. He agrees that while it was big in 2005, on one talks about this anymore probably because it was never true.

I postulated that such a personality trait is impossible simply because humans are just not wired to multi-task well, or to wear different hats for that matter. Even if a designer has the capability, he or she will lack the time or opportunity.

Therefore the reality is, instead of being a big “T”, you will find designers that are either a little “t” or a “T” with a short vertical stick.

Little “t-shape” designers are essentially most of who we are. Despite many of us feeling that we are “Jacks of all trades and masters of none” after our 4 years of design school. We eventually settle into a specialty of design and designing.

Stunted “T-Shaped” designers are often the senior creatives, the design managers, team leaders and entrepreneurs. Many deal with all the different touch points in the design development cycle, but do not have the opportunity to dive into detail. Some, like the entrepreneurs, may be in the position to do it all, but often will have to either accept work of lesser quality or learn to delegate and outsource.

———-

So at the end of the day, being a T-Shaped is just a nice story for designers to aspire to. While the value of a T-Shaped team is undeniable, it is probably more realistic to build a multi-disciplinary team of experts to work on complex (or wicked?) problems. Now that is something that has withstood the test of time.

What do you think? I’m looking forward to hearing your comments.

Steel-Velcro

Found this very very interesting in terms of the possibilities that lie with its usage!
imagine a car with this on the back side and you can velcro 2 additional seats when they fall short!! :D
or a building that got boring in architecture.. change the structure with these velcro pillars!

as i let my mind wander enjoy the read.. :)

metallic velcro: steel hook and loop fastener


'flamingo' fastener
photo credit: TUM

hook and loop fasteners have become commonplace features of both industry and households.
however, they have one snag: they are too weak for many applications.hook and loop
fasteners made of spring steel have now been developed at the institute of metal forming
and casting of the technische universitaet muenchen (TUM).

the device consists of hook tape and loop tape 0.2 mm thick.
these fasteners are resistant to chemicals and can withstand a tensile load
of up to 35 tonnes per square meter at temperatures as high as 800°C.

photo credit: TUM

spring steel hook elements deform elastically under light pressure to glide into openings
in a perforated tape, once inserted, they return to their original form and resist back pull
like an expanding rivet. numerous steel hooks can attach at any angle to the loops in the
perforated metal loop tape.

it can be mass-produced
photo credit: TUM

'metaklett' is a hook and loop fastener system developed by researchers at TUM,
the technische universitaet muenchen, under the leadership of professor hartmut
hoffmann (and as part of a joint project launched in 2005 with the federal ministry
of education and research / BMBF) in close cooperation with partners from industry.
'metaklett is a portmanteau of 'metall' and 'klettverschluss', which is the german generic
for velcro®. like velcro fasteners, 'metaklett' devices can be easy to secure and release,
yet they can withstand very strong mechanical stresses, high temperatures and harsh
chemicals. the unbeatable advantage of this hook and loop fastener is that it is easy
to close and open again, the principle therefore is put to a very wide range of uses,
for example air-conditioning and ventilation systems in building services engineering
and automotive construction.

hook HF 1 and loop LF1 combined
photo credit: TUM

the researchers created various three-dimensional models for the optimum interlocking
of the fastener elements on the computer.they then built the most promising candidates
as prototypes and subjected them to comprehensive tests. around 40 variations of the
geometry referred to as 'flamingo' alone were tested on the computer. they studied its adhesive
strength and reaction to extreme temperatures to establish the limits of its resilience.

'entenkopf" fastener
photo credit: TUM

a hybrid version with synthetic strap
photo credit: TUM

after testing, the institute settled on two variations: the 'flamingo' and 'entenkopf"
(or duck's head) models. the hook forms of the two systems are vaguely reminiscent of
a duck's head and a flamingo standing on one leg... the entenkopf uses fine steel hooks
and loops, while the flamingo uses wider hooks that snap into openings in the tape.
depending on the direction of the applied force, this fastener can withstand a load of
7 to 35 newtons per square meter.


'entenkopf' fastener
photo credit: TUM

close-up of 'entenkopf' fastener
photo credit: TUM

a car parked in direct sunlight can reach temperatures of 80 °C, and temperatures of several
hundred degrees centigrade can arise around the exhaust manifold. aggressive disinfectants
are used for cleaning purposes in hospitals, and traditional hook, and loop fasteners are too
weak for use in the construction of building façades...temperatures in excess and aggressive
chemical solutions do not pose any problem for 'metaklett', which also offers
adhesive strength of up to 35 tonnes per square meter when tensile force is applied parallel
to the fastener surface. when it is applied perpendicular to the fastener surface, 'metaklett'
can still withstand a force of seven tonnes per square meter, and, like a standard velcro® fastener,
it can be opened and closed without the help of any tools.

up and close on velcro®

more than 60 years ago, the swiss engineer and inventor george de mestral
was trying to painstakingly remove burrs from his dog's coat after a hunting excursion,
he stumbled on an ingenious idea. based on the model he had observed in nature,
he constructed a fastener from numerous small hooks and loops, which he
subsequently named velcro®. unfortunately, standard synthetic hook and loop fasteners
are not very resistant to heat and aggressive chemicals.

Via Designboom

Creative Thinking... & Our Box.

Stumbled upon this when i was looking for things to put in my Design Box. Will write about that in a few days when I've made it.. :)

Whether you’re trying to solve a tough problem, start a business, get attention for that business or write an interesting article, creative thinking is crucial. The process boils down to changing your perspective and seeing things differently than you currently do.

People like to call this “thinking outside of the box,” which is the wrong way to look at it. Just like Neo needed to understand that “there is no spoon” in the film The Matrix, you need to realize “there is no box” to step outside of.

You create your own imaginary boxes simply by living life and accepting certain things as “real” when they are just as illusory as the beliefs of a paranoid delusional. The difference is, enough people agree that certain man-made concepts are “real,” so you’re viewed as “normal.” This is good for society overall, but it’s that sort of unquestioning consensus that inhibits your natural creative abilities.

So, rather than looking for ways to inspire creativity, you should just realize the truth. You’re already capable of creative thinking at all times, but you have to strip away the imaginary mental blocks (or boxes) that you’ve picked up along the way to wherever you are today.

I like to keep this list of 10 common ways we suppress our natural creative abilities nearby when I get stuck. It helps me realize that the barriers to a good idea are truly all in my head.

1. Trying to Find the “Right” Answer

One of the worst aspects of formal education is the focus on thecorrect answer to a particular question or problem. While this approach helps us function in society, it hurts creative thinking because real-life issues are ambiguous. There’s often more than one “correct” answer, and the second one you come up with might be better than the first.

Many of the following mental blocks can be turned around to reveal ways to find more than one answer to any given problem. Try reframing the issue in several different ways in order to prompt different answers, and embrace answering inherently ambiguous questions in several different ways.

2. Logical Thinking

Not only is real life ambiguous, it’s often illogical to the point of madness. While critical thinking skills based on logic are one of our main strengths in evaluating the feasibility of a creative idea, it’s often the enemy of truly innovative thoughts in the first place.

One of the best ways to escape the constraints of your own logical mind is to think metaphorically. One of the reasons why metaphors work so well in communications is that we accept them as true without thinking about it. When you realize that “truth” is often symbolic, you’ll often find that you are actually free to come up with alternatives.

3. Following Rules

One way to view creative thinking is to look at it as a destructiveforce. You’re tearing away the often arbitrary rules that others have set for you, and asking either “why” or “why not” whenever confronted with the way “everyone” does things.

This is easier said than done, since people will often defend the rules they follow even in the face of evidence that the rule doesn’t work. People love to celebrate rebels like Richard Branson, but few seem brave enough to emulate him. Quit worshipping rule breakers and start breaking some rules.

4. Being Practical

Like logic, practicality is hugely important when it comes to execution, but often stifles innovative ideas before they can properly blossom. Don’t allow the editor into the same room with your inner artist.

Try not to evaluate the actual feasibility of an approach until you’ve allowed it to exist on its own for a bit. Spend time asking “what if” as often as possible, and simply allow your imagination to go where it wants. You might just find yourself discovering a crazy idea that’s so insanely practical that no one’s thought of it before.

5. Play is Not Work

Allowing your mind to be at play is perhaps the most effective way to stimulate creative thinking, and yet many people disassociate play from work. These days, the people who can come up with great ideas and solutions are the most economically rewarded, while worker bees are often employed for the benefit of the creative thinkers.

You’ve heard the expression “work hard and play hard.” All you have to realize is that they’re the same thing to a creative thinker.

6. That’s Not My Job

In an era of hyper-specialization, it’s those who happily explore completely unrelated areas of life and knowledge who best see that everything is related. This goes back to what ad man Carl Ally said about creative persons—they want to be know-it-alls.

Sure, you’ve got to know the specialized stuff in your field, but if you view yourself as an explorer rather than a highly-specialized cog in the machine, you’ll run circles around the technical master in the success department.

7. Being a “Serious” Person

Most of what keeps us civilized boils down to conformity, consistency, shared values, and yes, thinking about things the same way everyone else does. There’s nothing wrong with that necessarily, but if you can mentally accept that it’s actually nothing more than groupthink that helps a society function, you can then give yourself permission to turn everything that’s accepted upside down and shake out the illusions.

Leaders from Egyptian pharaohs to Chinese emperors and European royalty have consulted with fools, or court jesters, when faced with tough problems. The persona of the fool allowed the truth to be told, without the usual ramifications that might come with speaking blasphemy or challenging ingrained social conventions. Give yourself permission to be a fool and see things for what they really are.

8. Avoiding Ambiguity

We rationally realize that most every situation is ambiguous to some degree. And although dividing complex situations into black and white boxes can lead to disaster, we still do it. It’s an innate characteristic of human psychology to desire certainty, but it’s the creative thinker who rejects the false comfort of clarity when it’s not really appropriate.

Ambiguity is your friend if you’re looking to innovate. The fact that most people are uncomfortable exploring uncertainty gives you an advantage, as long as you can embrace ambiguity rather than run from it.

9. Being Wrong is Bad

We hate being wrong, and yet mistakes often teach us the most. Thomas Edison was wrong 1,800 times before getting the light bulb right. Edison’s greatest strength was that he was not afraid to be wrong.

The best thing we do is learn from our mistakes, but we have to free ourselves to make mistakes in the first place. Just try out your ideas and see what happens, take what you learn, and try something else. Ask yourself, what’s the worst that can happen if I’m wrong? You’ll often find the benefits of being wrong greatly outweigh the ramifications.

10. I’m Not Creative

Denying your own creativity is like denying you’re a human being. We’re all limitlessly creative, but only to the extent that we realize that we create our own limits with the way we think. If you tell yourself you’re not creative, it becomes true. Stop that.

In that sense, awakening your own creativity is similar to the path reported by those who seek spiritual enlightenment. You’re already enlightened, just like you’re already creative, but you have to strip away all of your delusions before you can see it. Acknowledge that you’re inherently creative, and then start tearing down the other barriers you’ve allowed to be created in your mind.

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