Creative Design aka Tools for a Creative Structure

04/10/2023 Rhys Miles Thomas 1

Creative Design aka Tools for a Creative Structure

What is creativity?


Hello!

My name is Rhys Miles Thomas I’m a 35yr old, wine and chutney making, Creative from Wales (oh and I’ve also worked in the creative industries, professionally, for nearly 20 years)


One definition is –

“The ability to imagine or invent something new”


Edward H Bond writes –

“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns”


Task 1

In teams of two, what is your definition of creativity?


1. Where do ideas come from?


Ideas come from anywhere and everywhere

From the world around you to the people populating it


The secret is -

You have to dive straight in, and start interacting with anything and everything


The greatest asset you can ever have to be creative is you. We all have our ‘selves’ that defines us in the things we do


2. Unleash your curiosity to be creative


Being curious can help you unveil a curiosity in you to produce something new – or to

improve upon what’s already there


Simple steps towards creativity

Step 1 – BE CURIOUS



Step 2 – make connections



Step 3 – Challenge Yourself



Step 4 – QUESTION ASSUMPTIONS


or CONTENT EXPERIENCE IS KING!

3. CONTENT IS KING!


It is not simply the content is king but also –

THE WAY THAT IT IS EXPERIENCED IS KING


The better the content and experience, willmean that people are more likely to consumemore and pay more


Great Content + Great Experience = (strong possibility of) Great Profit


4. Triangle of Creative Design

What is it? How do you use it?


CONTENT

WORLD

TIME

CHARACTER


For example, for the –

CHARACTER /sideyou’d need to give as much detail about that CHARACTER as you could (who are they / what’s their name / age / race / religion / eye colour / where they grew up / what’s their favourite toy / when did they cry or laugh last / who do they love or hate and so on…


Task 2

Taking the theory of the triangle, create your own character / world and time, give as much

detail as you can for each part


Coffee


5. Creative Exercises

Alternative Uses Test


Here’s a sample brainstorm for paper clip uses –

• Hold paper together• Cufflinks• Earrings• Imitation mini-trombone• Thing you use to push that emergency restart

button• Keeping headphones from getting tangled up• Bookmark


• Fluency – how many uses can you come up with

• Originality – how uncommon those uses are• Flexibility – how many areas your answer

covers• Elaboration – level of detail in the response


Try it for yourself!

How many uses can you think of for a spoon?


Lunch Break


6. PILLARS OF CREATIVITY WHAT ARE THEY? HOW DO YOU USE THEM

This afternoon we’re going to be thinking bigger and bolder and faster


The Pillars of Creativity are broken into –

• Think BIG (Dream BIG) • Think OUTSIDE the box • BELIEF in oneself


7. Randomness of Design – How can 2 + 2 = 5

Opposites Attract

I wanna go right , you’d rather go leftI wanna go fight, you’d rather be quiet

I wanna be right, you’d rather be wrongI wanna be weak, you’d rather be strong


Task 3 Split into two teams

Team 1 – Make a list of happy memoriesTeam 2 – Make a list of sad memories Now both teams swap the lists, then each individual choose one from each descriptionNow for each description choose 3 obvious characteristics of thesedescription (e.g. a funeral will have crying people, a hearse and a wreath andso on)Now think of a story where these two worlds collide (e.g. a funeral beingdouble booked with a wedding)


Coffee Break


8. Failure

or EXPERIMENTING

Every creative person knows the pain, but also the power, of failing


Every experiment proves something. If it doesn’t prove what you wanted it to prove it proves

something else


Rapid Development

or How to develop something rapidly


In America,

They’re not afraid to fail, instead they rapid develop


Here, they’ll work on something for a really short space of time –

• Produce a Prototype / Presentation• throw it out onto the market• try it out on focus groups• get online feedback• If it works – great, move onto the next stage• If it fails, you move on… You haven’t wasted

much of your life!


Recap

1. Ideas come from anywhere and everywhere2. Unleash your curiosity to be creative3. CONTENT EXPERIENCE IS KING!4. Triangle of Creative Design5. Alternative Uses Test6. Pillars of creativity 7. Randomness of Design – How can 2 + 2 = 58. Failure or EXPERIMENTING 9. Rapid Development


Diolch / Thanks You

@rhysmt

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Creative Design aka Tools for a Creative Structure