Presenting ideas

Don't take for granted that everyone will understand abstract ideas and concepts. Be patient and practical in your communication.

The designer as craftsman

In his book The Craftsman (2008), the sociologist Richard Sennett makes a case for homo faber (or "man as maker"). Harking back to the workshops of the medieval guilds and to the studio of violin-maker Antonio Stradivari, Sennett set out to prove Immanuel Kant's dictum that "the hand is the window on to the mind". It is only through making things, he says – by trying and failing and repeating – that we gain true understanding. He is not, like some latter-day John Ruskin, arguing that handmade things are better than machine-made ones. He is simply saying that skilled manual labour – or indeed any craft – is one path to a fulfilling life. (Justin McGuirk, The Guardian).

Place & space for idea realisation

'I think the studio is the place where the images we see in our imagination can be realised by controlling everything, just as a painter does on a canvas with his brush.' Federico Fellini (1920-1993)

The idea of draughtsmanship

For hundreds of years, it was central to the practice of art, that to be an artist, it is essential to learn to draw the human figure. Now, in art schools, life drawing is regarded as unnecessary. And to be a designer?

Ideas communication

Communicating design ideas is much more than presentation skills (packaging). It's about ability to communicate ideas clearly and persuasively (content, structure, and argument), and adapting communication and media to suit the audience.

Tool for starters

Is the entry point to ideation arbitrary or context dependent? In reality, at that point, what ideation tool is being chosen?

Ideation fit

The reporting that Singapore Armed Forces's recruits doing Basic Military Training (BMT) will be armed with a handheld touchscreen device such as an iPad to sharpen their fighting skills raises the question: Should design schools equally equip new students with similar sets to increase their ideation skills?