Ideamotion

When we generate and communicate ideas we also generate and communicate emotions. And whether the various emotional states are labelled "cool", "hot" or "so-so", there's necessarily emotion in ideation because an idea reflects subjectivity. This emotional flux of ideation I call Ideamotion.

Sketcherly ways of designing

Sketching out ideas, or conceptual sketching, embodies both active and reflective activities of a rational, intuitive or sensing nature that reveal insights into the processes of design. This suggests that conceptual sketching is much more than mark making on paper, from verbal and non-verbal modes to two- and three- dimensional gestural ways of expressing ideas in physical or virtual space. Sketching by other means, then, broadens the notion of sketching well beyond the traditional pencil sketch. This I call sketcherly ways of designing.

Idein

Plato, Shakespeare and Goethe, to name but a few, assigned significant value to dreams. And Strindberg (1849-1912), the writer, playwright and painter, famously said: 'I dream - therefore I am'. But dreams suspend wilful reality. We cannot tell the full meaning of dreams until their reflections materialise before the objective sense. And so with ideas - they have to be externalised. Indeed, I ideate - therefore I am!

Realising Ideas

Although design ideas are rooted in thinking and feeling, and as such can remain abstract, to make them concrete ideation becomes a wilful act similar to the interaction artists have with their material. That is, in the interaction between brain-eye-hand and material ideas are realised.

Experiencing ideation

Ideation might suggest an overly emphasis on "thinking" rather than "doing". But it is important to recognise that purposeful and productive forms of ideation are grounded in knowledge and experience, both general and specific. Subject knowledge and life experience, then, make for fertile ground in which first thoughts and ideas germinate.

Ideation impulse

The impulse to ideate in design is the sudden and strong urge to act on external and internal stimuli that result in something new that is both purposeful and productive.

Acting out ideas

In his book An Actor Prepares, Stanislavski (1863-1938), the seminal drama teacher, makes the analogy between acting and travelling. Similarly, a parallel can be drawn between designing and travelling, or design as a journey ("the design process").

If you've made a journey, then, you will recall the many successive changes that take place both in what you feel and what you see. And so in the studio experience. That is, by moving forward your design project, from idea to object or artefact, you find yourself constantly in new and different situations, moods, imaginative surroundings, and the externals of production. Moreover, in the process of "acting out" your ideas along physical lines, you come into contact with new people and get to know their needs and desires. Along the way, then, you create meaning through design by understanding and empathising with the culture you serve.

Stanislavski. 1980. An Actor Prepares. London: Methuen