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Creative Studies

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Creative Studies

On how to get an idea

Adam Ming
Jan 6, 2022
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Creative Studies

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I had a class in collage called, Creative Studies.

It was an unsolvable class. If you did A, the lecturer would ask why you didn’t do ‘B’, and if you did ‘B’, He’ll ask why you didn’t do “C”.

We were graded on our sketchbook, it might have been called something else, but essentially it was a sketchbook.

One of the ideas they teach you is ‘PO’, it’s a concept developed by Edward Debono. The idea is smash to POlarizing ideas together to see what emerges.

When stumped for an idea for a #kidlitartpostcard, I quickly generated this idea for an image by smashing together a few ideas. It went like this.

  1. Sketch of a kid drawing

  2. Sketch of a kid tiptoeing

  3. Asking what scenario would include a kid in some kind of wild setting?

  4. Asking what a caveman kid would look like.

  5. How can all this fit the context of a new year?

Out of these sketches and musings, this illustration emerged.

___

You don’t need to start with a good idea, just have a bunch of them, and smash them together and see what happens.

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Neera Mahajan
Writes A Whimsical Writer
Jan 7, 2022·edited Jan 7, 2022Liked by Adam Ming

Great illustration Adam. Fiona is right. The lights are really good. And it is totally original. If you hadn't written anything with it, I would have thought what a brilliant sketch for creative studies - being playful in your native environment under the 'stress' and watchful eyes of a lion.

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Fiona
Jan 6, 2022Liked by Adam Ming

I love this illustration! The lighting works really well. And I totally agree about using polarizing ideas to find one concept that works. I first learned it through a Design Thinking class for UX. I should really use it more intentionally :D

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