What is new?

Since King Solomon wrote the statement, 'There’s nothing new under the sun', many advances have taken place in society, but, from the larger perspective of life, and according to the ancient Scripture human nature has remained and always will remain the same. However the statement does not ignore inventions or advances in technology; rather, these innovations do not amount to any basic change in the world. Parmenides, the pre-Socrates philosopher, argues that change is impossible: "whatever is is, and what is not cannot be", a statement that is generally considered one of the first digressions into the philosophical concept of being. In contrast Heraclitus, the ancient cosmologist, holds that "No man ever steps into the same river twice" which is regarded as one of the first digressions into the philosophical concept of becoming. Now the world, from the perspective of ideation, is in ever-present change, flux or becoming. rather than one thing, which is timeless, uniform, and unchanging. Indeed ideation is a mode of becoming and what generates or inspires ideas, or stirs man's imagination and creativity is limitless. However, original ideas require the ability or capacity to break away from traditional ways of thinking or behaviour, which is a challenging task.

Ideation and alone time

The notion of the lone genius emerged in the Enlightenment and continues to fascinate both creative mind and the public at large. However, in an age of interaction, collaboration and participatory design, the lone genius has been reduced to a rather romantic mythical figure. Yet research suggests that alone time, but not isolation can be beneficial for creativity. For example, the US psychologist Gregory Feist has found that personality traits commonly associated with creativity are openness (receptiveness to new thoughts and experiences), self-efficacy (confidence), and autonomy (independence) – which may include “a preference for being alone”. In fact, Feist’s research on both artists and scientists shows that one of the most prominent features of creative people is their lesser interest in socialising. One reason for this is that creatives are likely to spend sustained time alone which allows for the reflection and observation necessary for that creative process. This need also highlights the difference between ideation, which requires sustained attention and deep focus and "brainstorming", that is a decidedly sociable process. But being social also means that when we surround ourselves with others, we are influenced by their opinions and aesthetics. To truly chart our own path or vision, then, we have to be willing to spend time alone, at least for some period of time.

Keeping Up

Design is a fast moving and fast changing activity in contemporary culture. So much so that designers who want to survive let alone staying at the top of their profession must reinvent themselves again and again and again. And to stay ahead of the curve, designers need not only keep up with fashion but make fashion which means to continually devise creative strategies and tactics to vary design production. For example, it's been said that Gehry, the architect, is regularly questioning himself: 'Am I repeating myself' (talk of the "Bilbao Guggenheim effect" is said to make the architect uncomfortable). In such competitive environments ideation is key, that is, it is not enough for designers to produce fabulous ideas but also to communicate them as realisable. To make ideas happen, then, it is increasingly important for designers to be able to translate their initial ideas, from traditional 2D drawings and sketch models to data (digital files) which can be fed into the Building Information Model, BIM (a 3-D, object-oriented, CAD approach for architects and engineers, which can store complete information about a building in a digital format). Indeed today's design process is a "supply chain" of data, from first thoughts to final product/building, including costs, scheduling and maintenance.