Learning from the workshop

Digital tools, that is electronic hardware (digital devices) and software (programs, apps or platforms), are part of the ideation tool box , tools which complement analogue, or traditional tools in the design process. That is to say, ideators use digital tools for implementing text, images, audio, and video for creating presentations that convey visual concepts and ideas. Digital tools, then, as instruments both for idea generation and idea communicatiom reflect a kind of digital pragmatism where the digital is not in opposition to the analogue. In so doing, visualisation, from assemblage, bricolage and collage to drawing and video, may inspire words, and words, in turn may inspire visualisation. This picture-word dialogue, then, helps generate ideas expressed in, say, the picture book format combining visual and verbal narratives. Moreover, hybrid ideation tools applied both in the studio environment and on digital platforms can transform the ideation process by connecting ideators to a wide range of content and resources thereby improving the ideation process as both an individual and collaborative learning experience.

Form follows eccentricity

Ideation is about ways of generating and communicating ideas. But does ideation adhere to methods, techniques or principles? Such as Louis Sullivan's maxim "form follows function", Mies van der Rohe's "less is more", or Dieter Ram's "principles of good design"? Or, is it rooted in designers' personal style developed through practice and theory? MVRDV, the Dutch design practice, claims, through elaborate research, that they seek not to develop a specific style of architecture but to provide and develop different methods in designing architecture and urban space.Yet the start of MVRDV's design process for Depot Boijmans art museum in Rotterdam, built with panels of mirror-coated glass clipped on to a concrete bowl, and which officially opened in November this year, did not reflect the practice's cherished design methodology. Instead, during a lunchtime brainstorming session, the design team was inspired by a piece of IKEA table ware, in the form of a stainless salad bowl. Indeed MVRDV revels in turning design models upside down, or inside out, or grabbing whatever is to hand and adding it to the mix of ideas. Such is the design process of a practice that embraces eccentric spectacle. It seems, then, there's method in eccentricity.

The workshop as exemplar for flexible learning

Education was adapting to the digital world long before Covid 19 but, as with so many other human activities, the pandemic has given learning a huge shove towards the virtual. Overnight, schools and universities closed and teachers and students had to find ways to do what they do exclusively via the internet. Covid highlighted how critical the social aspect of learning is, and that something extra happens when students and their teacher share a physical space. education needs to be more adventurous and captivating – and, above all, more flexible. To achieve this, three major changes should happen: The first concerns the content, which should emphasise such things as creativity, critical thinking and entrepreneurship, rather than collecting and storing information. The second is that students should have more control over their learning, with the teacher’s role shifting from instructor to curator of learning resources, counsellor and motivator, or "active learning" where students learn in a hands-on way – through discussion and interactive technologies. Thirdly, students learn better from their own or others’ failed attempts to solve a problem, before or even instead of being told how to solve it. Indeed, design education already embodies these proposed changes. For example, the studio/workshop space, essential to creativity, active learning and experimentation, does not and cannot exist apart from the events and activities within which it is implicated. That is, as a socially and culturally produced space, the studio combines the cognitive, the physical and emotional.constituted by human experience, attachment and involvement. Or, simply, design education as a vehicle for learning through the lived experience. Reference: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/08/the-big-idea-should-we-leave-the-classroom-behind

Ideation freedom

Although ideation, ideally, has no limits, often there are constraints set by the brief or the client. But there might be self-imposed constraints too, that is, ideators confine themselves to tried and tested ideas that have worked well in the past. So, to minimise self-imposed limitations or restrictions, be aware what kind of thinking and behaviour might be holding back unencumbered ideation. Such awareness may include stepping out of your comfort zone and, for example, rather than logging in to the computer first thing, scribble a poem on the theme of the brief. Or, taking risks, say, making a small sketch modell and then crumbling or setting fire to it (health & safety rules considered). Or, taking a totally different conceptual approch to the task in hand by, say, figuratively speaking, "putting the cart before the horse". And so on and so forth. Indeed surprise yourself!

Why sketch or make models?

Exploring ideas in a quick, informal, and rough manner, as might be sketched out on a scrap of paper (such as the back of an envelope), also known as a thumbnail sketch, is core to the design process and the ideation workshop. Equally, a physical 3D sketch model, hastily made and incomplete may serve the purpose of expressing first thoughts and ideas. In contrast, producing 2D sketches or 3D sketch models using software (CAD), arguably lacks the immediacy of physical ideation tools. So why sketch on paper or make physical models? Says Gavin Henderson of Stanton Williams, the Sterling-prize winning architecture practice: 'I take a pencil and make marks on paper. I take pieces of card and hold them together, reconfigure, cut, pin, add, fold, subtract, assemble, carve, disassemble, reassemble. In each case the hand thinks.' He continues: 'Making by hand explores thoughts that are unpremeditated, pre-verbal, non-linear. The idea evolves before the brain has had time to set boundaries, enforce preconceptions. The craft of making things, whether drawings or models, is the essence of design.' Moreover: 'The model provides a shared focus for design discussion in a way that promotes interaction, the exchange of ideas and an engagement with the messy, physical, creative process of designing the world in which we live.' Reference: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/why-make-models

Ideation tools and AI

Artificial intelligence, AI is set to change the ways people work. What, then the implications for design, and ideation in particular? Pen and paper, say, the typical sketchbook, have long seen a decline relative to computer hard- and software. While the programmable computer was inititated in the Second World War,  AI, a term coined in the 1950s, is a system that combines computer science with robust datasets to enable problem-solving based on the abstract essence of mathematical reasoning where everything is digital and quantitative. The power of AI, then, lies in its ability to continuously improve with more data, dramatically exceeding human performance, for single-domain tasks - power based on easier access to massive volumes of data, development of high efficiency computer processors, and advancement in machine learning techniques. Accordingly, AI, in conjunction with robots have the potential to take over the manufacturing, delivery, and marketing of most goods and services. But while such forecasting typically apply to data-driven industries, say, construction, transport or financial services it may overlook problem-solving in the design field that is not necessarily a single-domain or quantitative task based on datasets. Moreover, such datasets are not impartial or value free. That is, data is interpretive all the way down, shaped by what is collected, how it’s collected and for what purpose. AI-driven ideation, then, based on digitised data, might underestimate the role design ideation plays in addressing human needs in a much broader sense, including purposeful play - needs that, moreover may compete or be in conflict with each other. Ideation, then, cannot be left to computing alone but rather embrace a range of tools, both analogue and digital that facilitate, mediate and reflect on the meaning of design as a social and cultural activity. In short, activity that encourage creativity, self-expression and constructive problem-solving. Reference: Lee K. & Quifan C  (2021), AI 2041, Ten Visions for Our Future.

Ideation by building on pre-existing ideas

The phrase "Standing on the shoulders of giants" expresses the meaning of "discovering truth by building on previous discoveries", a notion made famous by Isaac Newton in 1675: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants". Now, in everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs and propositions. Moreover, most commonly, truth is viewed as the correspondence of language or thought to a mind-independent world. An idea, then, as an element of thought, and as a proposition aiming at representing reality may amount to discovering truth too. Thus, in the context of ideation, the process of discovering truth by building on previos discoveries, would translate into generating ideas by building on previous, or pre-existing ideas. That is, most ideas, if not all, are combinations, or re-arrangements of pre-existing ideas. In short, today's ideators are producing "new" ideas by standing on the shoulders of ideators who came before. Practically speaking, then, ideators, to see further engage in creative activities such as the ideation workshop, or building ideas through research, experimentation and serious playfulness. Source: Wikipedia.