design ideation: It's just an idea

Thursday, December 01, 2011

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?

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Welcome

This blog is for ideators engaged in architecture, art, and design.

An idea was needed, well thought out, clearly presented.

Le Corbusier

Also:

https://twitter.com/DesignIdeation

http://ideation-workshop.blogspot.co.uk/

Design Ideation can be seen as a matter of generating, developing and communicating ideas, where 'idea' is understood as a basic element of thought that can be either visual, concrete or abstract. It takes place in the early stages of the design process, typically in response to the project brief aiming at producing a convincing idea or concept that is worth pursuing further towards realisation. Moreover, it is a singular solution-driven process through design, in contrast to "brainstorming" which generates lots of random and directionless ideas at one fixed point. Idea development means taking the idea from the general to the particular but stops short of evaluating the idea per se as ideas represent propositions rather than actual plans or feasible outcomes. Idea communication signifies the need for ideas to be externalised, or nobody else would know about them.

Selected Literature

Allen, L and Pearson LC Editors (2016) Drawing Futures: Speculation in Contemporary Drawing in Art and Architecture. London: UCL Press
Barnes, J. & Brandford, P. (2022) City Sketching Reimagined. London: Batsford
Belardi, P (2014) Why Architects Still Draw. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Bilda, Z, Gero, J and Purcell, T (2006) To sketch or not to sketch. Design Studies Vol 27 No 5 pp 587-613
Bowkett, S (2013) Archi-Doodle: An Architect's Activity Book. London: Laurence King
Cook, P. (2008). Drawing: The Motive Force in Architecture. London: Wiley
Coyne, R, Hoon, P and Wiszniewski, D (2002) Design devices: digital drawing and the pursuit of difference. Design Studies Vol 23 No 3 pp 263-286
Cross, N (2023 2nd Edition) Design Thinking - Understanding How Designers Think and Work. London: Bloomsbury
Dorta, T, Perez, E and Lesage, A (2008) The ideation gap: hybrid tools, design flow and practice. Design Studies Vol 29 No 2 pp 121-141
Eissen, K and Steur, R (2011) Sketching: The Basics. Amsterdam: BIS Publishers
Garner, S (1992) The undervalued role of drawing in design, in D Thistlewood (ed) Drawing research and development, Longman, London pp 98-109
Goel, V (1995) Sketches of thought. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Gray, C and Siegel, M (2013) Sketching design thinking: representations of design in education and practice. DRS // CUMULUS 2013 2nd International Conference for Design Education Researchers, Oslo, 14–17 May 2013
Jonson, B (2002) Sketching Now. The International Journal of Art & Design Education 21.3 pp 246-253
Jonson, B (2005) Design ideation: the conceptual sketch in the digital age. Design Studies Vol 26 No 6 pp 613-624
Kavakli, M and Gero, J (2001). Sketching as mental imagery processing. Design Studies Vol 22 No 4 pp 347-364
Krier, L (2009) Drawing Architecture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Luscombe, D et al Editors (2019) Architecture through Drawing. London: Lund Humphries
Menezes, A and Lawson, B (2006) How designers perceive sketches. Design Studies Vol 27 No 5 pp 571-585
Mindrup, M (2019) The Architectural Model. MA: MIT Press
Moses, N (2019) Single-Handedly: Contemporary Architects Draw By Hand. NY: Princeton Architectural Press
Neal, A. & Star, D. (2022) Creativity Begins With You. London: Hachette
Purcell, T and Gero, J (1998) Drawing and the design process. Design Studies Vol 19 No 4 pp 389-453
Richards, J. (2013) Freehand Drawing and Discovery: Urban Sketching and Concept Drawing for Designers. NJ: Wiley
Rodgers, P, Green, G and McGown, A (2000) Using concept sketches to track design process. Design Studies Vol 21 No 5 pp 451-464
Scheer D R (2014) The Death of Drawing: Architecture in the Age of Simulation. London: Routledge
Stanfield, Frances (2019) The Drawing Ideas Book. London: Octopus Publishing Group
Suwa, M and Tversky, B (1997) What do architects and students perceive in their design sketches? A protocol analysis. Design Studies Vol 18 No 4 pp 385-403
Travis, S. (2015) Sketching for Architecture and Interior Design. London: Laurence King
Veisz, D, Namouza, E, Joshi, S and Summers J (2012) Computer-aided design versus sketching: An exploratory case study. Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing / Volume 26 / Special Issue 03 pp 317-335
Verstijnen, I M, Hennessey, J M, van Leeuwen, C, Hamel, R and Goldschmidt, G (1998) Sketching and creative discovery. Design Studies Vol 19 pp 519-546

PROFILE

Ben is engaged in creative practice, education and research working with a multidisciplinary approach focusing on design and concept development.

He is an alumnus of Chelsea College of Art & Design; Central Saint Martins; UCL Bartlett; and Goldsmiths, University of London, where he gained his PhD exploring ways designers generate and communicate ideas, under the title Design Ideation (see Jonson, B, 2005; in Selected Literature, above).

The ideation theme is further pursued through experimental and speculative designs, lectures and workshops; http://design-ideation.blogspot.co.uk/ - http://www.ideation-workshop.blogspot.co.uk/

Ben holds a PG Certificate in Teaching & Learning, is a member of the AA School of Architecture programme of visiting teachers, and an accredited tutor of the Open University.

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/ben-jonson/2a/46/15

Email: studio.ben.jonson@gmail.com