James Sterling and the act of drawing

The act of drawing was vital for the architect James Sterling (1924-92) in the creative process: 'I go through a process and makes doodles of different possibilities. Then, when one begins to understand what one is actually aiming for, one begins to intellectualise about it. It's a combination of what's coming out of the end of my fingers and what I'm thinking at the time. I generally do that in the office, sometimes in aeroplanes'. Interestingly, Sterling's approach to idea development was his use of A4 sheets of tracing laid over existing drawings, using them as a framework on which to sketch additional possibilities. In contrast, models did not form part of the office's design process. (Source: Circling The Square, Exhibition at RIBA London, 8 March - 25 June, 2017)

Idea considerations

When Hong Kong graphic designer Toby Ng was asked: "What is the most important thing for you to consider when you’re coming up with new creative ideas and solutions?", his answer was: "Every idea must be appropriate, meaningful and understandable". His consideration could also be regarded as an expression of what characterises design ideation. That is, ideation is a purposeful activity whereby the idea generated is meaningful, is appropriately developed, and communicated in ways that are understandable.

Open innovation

Traditionally large corporations approach innovation through closed-door policies, where firms rely firmly on in-house resources for innovation. This approach, however, may result in loss of competitiveness when faced with growing R&D costs and tighter profit margins in rapidly changing global markets. The open-door innovation process, in contrast, which means sourcing ideas both from within and outside the organisation, encourages long established firms to form strategic alliances with rivals or to collaborate with startups. For example, Japanese Honda is making greater use of external ideas and technologies realising the efforts of in-house innovation teams alone are not enough. This is not to say in-house teams of big firms are lacking in talent for innovation but rather reflect different levels of risk taking, that is, large corporations tend to have lower risk tolerance than startups.

The creative brief as idea generator

A thorough and articulate design brief is a critical part of the design process. It outlines the aims, objectives and milestones of a creative project and helps develop trust and understanding between the client and designer. Moreover, the creative brief ensures that important design issues are considered and questioned before the designer starts but, like rigorous research questions, the brief also serves as an essential point of reference throughout the project informing and guiding the work. And not least, the creative brief is a prime idea generator.

Idea platforms

The "gig" or "on-demand economy" is creating new digital channels for design innovation. Like most new on-demand services, such as Airbnb (home-sharing), Uber (ride-hailing), crowdfunding sites and social capital builders, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, design ideas can be generated, developed and communicated using shared, collaborative or on-demand platforms that connect ideators with makers and providers of goods and services. In this way, idea platforms make ideas more visible and shareable as well as providing user-generated feedback systems.

The wealth of ideas

Design ideation is often seen as the endeavour of an individual, as reflected in words like inventor and innovator, design awards, or intellectual property rights. But when human kind is faced with global and serious challenges, from air and water pollution to food production and population growth, there's a case to be made for ideas to be generated and developed through collaboration and partnership rather than competition and single ownership. An approach to innovation whereby ideas are shared more widely freed from constraints of copyright - a  commonwealth of ideas. Or, as voiced by the scientist Stephen Hawking: 'We will need to adapt, rethink, refocus and change some of our fundamental assumptions about what we mean by wealth, by possessions, by mine and yours. Just like children, we will have to learn to share'.

Pokémonisation

The current craze for Pokémon Go, the augmented reality smartphone game, exemplifies how computer code becomes a piece of conceptual art, and the app akin to a piece of installation art, where the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. Moreover, based on the smartphone's geolocation system (GPS), the game is a social interactive experience where the players chase virtual pocket monsters in nearby real world locations through the smartphone's camera lens. Also, through player interaction, the cartoony graphic art on the smartphone's screen becomes performance art. Or, to paraphrase Sol Le Witt's definition of conceptual art, Pokémon Go (the idea) becomes a smartphone app (a machine) that makes the art. In other words, Pokémon Go is a superimposed idea on the real world (object or landscape) which, through the lens of the smartphone, creates augmented reality. But does Pokémon Go enhance users' "ways of seeing", or is it just art installation made fun representing another global game scenario where players are mere consumers?