Class 3

So today we did a little of a recap on a little book called Creativity for Critical Thinkers. Quite an awesome little read. Weston starts by listing the some qualities of creative people:

• they can be critical!
• innovative
• inventive
• disciplined
• persistent

Here were what my classmates took away from the book: (a bit a testimonial for you non-believers)

• anyone can be creative, you have to practice though!
• when you get a good idea, keep going!
• in the beginning, creativity is stifled by criticism, don't judge- no idea is a bad one. :)
• they key to creativity is reframing your problems

You can reframe your problem by:

• Thinking Laterally (Look at 'Ways to Multiply Ideas)
• Find opportunities in the problem
• Think preventatively

Here's a couple of ways to multiply your ideas:

• Exotic Associations- This is an awesome technique! So you've got a problem, pick a random word, (any word!) and apply it or any related concepts to your current problem, it works, you just have to let your imagination wander a bit
• Go public with your idea, get feedback.
• Compare and Contrast
• Exaggerate the problem or solution, or both!

Here's the Hurson model for creative thinking:

• Explore, Understand/Challenge
• Envision the outcome
• Pin-point the real problem
• List as many possible solutions as you can.
• Choose the best solution and make it better.
• Align your resources

Otherwise put: DGEDIF

Define, Generate. Evaluate, Decide, Implement, Folow up

Peace for now~

Class 2

Got to meet some cool peeps in my class and do a bit of a juxtaposition exercise. We took a piece of each others interests/majors and combined 'em to make a new product or system, here's what we came up with and everyone's contribution:

• Advertising major who travelled to europe
• Civil engineer who speaks Spanish and also traveled to Europe.
• Industrial Design major who likes sports
• Computer engineer who was born in Macedonia.

And what do u get after you blend them all up?

How bout a European car that is completely sports themed- i mean, to the max. How bout a car wrapped completely in your sports theme, designed to have score readouts live in the car, live audio, and sports video games available to passengers? How bout at the push of a button you could re-theme your car for another sports team? Flags, underbody lights, tinted windows, the whole 9 yards?

Here's what some other groups came up with:

• musical rubix cube
• open source hardware to develop third world countries
• a gynastics routine to dry your freshly painted nails
  
• A building completly dedicated to the production of art- on the walls, chairs, everything...

Peace for now~

1st Class!

So we were asked to come up with a definition for creativity, here were my thoughts:
creativity- the ability to create a system of thinking to develop/produce/solve
it also:

• continues to inspire others
• is imaginative
  
• something that is original

some friends shared a video with me that i indeed thought was pretty inspiring. Check it:
sweet spray paint dude in action
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1yPL6b/www.metacafe.com/watch/1008325 /super_sprayer/dude

Peace for now~

Hey, this is the first post- and im excited to get under way. :)