Myths, truths, and fashion

On the Fashion System (1967) Roland Barthes says: 'Contrary to the myth of
improvisation, of caprice, of fantasy, of free creativity, we can see that fashion
is strongly coded. It is ruled by combination in which there is a finite reserve
of elements and certain rules of change. The whole set of fashion features for
each year is found in the collection of features which has its own rules and
limits, like grammar'. Now, doesn't Barthes' provocation contain a grain of truth
for most design disciplines?

Ideators cum entrepreneurs

Ideators share traits with entrepreneurs. Both see an opportunity and don’t feel constrained from pursuing it because they lack resources. Indeed, ideators, like entrepreneurs, are used to making do with few resources.

Ideas and collaboration

"The most important thing in business is to be good at delegation and employ the best executives", says Richard Branson, the media entrepreneur. That may hold true for the creative industry too. That is, the realisation of design ideas calls for team work and collaboration employing the best designers and makers.

Timeless design?

"What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know." SAINT AUGUSTINE (354-430 AD). What then is timeless design?

Technology the new mother art?

Today's architectural practice is not so much about vision and flair, but trying to do a good job responding to the financial circumstances, says Rowan Moore in The Observer newspaper. Dealing with the same business pressures and demands, where architects cannot survive without computing power, the result is that most architectural projects end up quite similar to each other. But if designing for the modern urban environment is shaped by technology and efficiency, what happens to the old idea of architecture as the mother of all arts?

It's just an idea

Does ideation reflect the ethos of modernity to transform ourselves and the material world, or does it express the postmodern notion of design as a conceptual medium liberated from the need of realisation, where designers are conceptualisers rather than makers? But what is the idea without direction and action?

Acting on ideas

Ideation happens in the early stages of problem solving. It goes beyond just "having ideas" in the head. It is about "getting the ideas out", to communicate them effectively. Acting on ideas creates opportunity to design. Problem solving, then, comes to those who take action rather than hold their head in their hands and give up.