Part of that is setting up this filter in your brain that’s like, “I’m working on this thing now.” So, everything I read, everything I look at, and everything everybody says to me is put through this filter of the project I’m working on. “Is this useful?” Everything you’re telling me right now is first going through a filter of, “Is there something in there that I can use on the project that I’m working on?” and then it passes through and I answer you.

― Gamasutra - Features - Valve’s Writers And The Creative Process

yachts on the reg.

friends,

i know i’ve been remiss in keeping things humming around here but hopefully this great new feature from tumblr will help:

http://ideawhen.com/submit (or ideawhen@tumblr.com)

now everyone can share their “lightning strikes.”

Secondly, the thing everyone wants to know: who thought up the chicken? Everyone makes a big mystery out of it, but if you ask me, the mystery is more about why everyone wishes it was a single person in an ah-ha moment. We get that a lot still. People want it to be dramatic. As if doing things methodically until you get a great idea is disappointing. As if coming up with a good idea should be easy.

― happy 5th birthday, subservient chicken

jacob:

I love when you are mulling over an idea, tossing around different possibilities, when suddenly everything collides and it all falls into place.

When you just feel your brain exploding with thousands of connections and jumps and thoughts all at once.

Being so overwhelmed with answers and new questions. I fucking live for that.

7.

saturday, january 24th.  ~1:15pm eastern.  from memory.

driving down the new jersey turnpike, flying past trucks transporting goods.  warehouses storing goods.  people driving from one location to another.

i thought briefly about the social science behind why humans, normally, are drawn to live in central locations like big cities.

i thought about the innovations in terms of sustainability.  people create things like really good restaurants to make food that we eat.

i thought about career changes.  i thought about going back to creating things that you can see the tangible result for.  not bi-monthly bank deposits.  not a “good job.”  actual things.  carpenters build houses.  cooks make dishes that people eat.  consumption with a tangible, measurable result.

i went back to food.  how great it must feel to see people enjoy consuming what you create to sustain themselves.  you’re not just a resource to them but you’re an enjoyable, desirable resource.

moved onto the psychology of choice.  why menus exist.  why you can’t order anything you want.  why it’s not a good idea to order anything you want.

what is behind great food?  great ingredients.  fresh, sometimes complex and sometimes simple combinations.

create a restaurant.  7 ingredients that change weekly or daily.  no menu.  customer comes in, examines ingredients and asks for a creation completely of their direction.  create to best of ability and serve.  providing ultimate choice and wreaking havoc on one’s decision standards all at the same time.  it’d probably be a flash in the pan.  new, inventive idea that was eventually over-laden with psychological strain and we’d go back to making organic hot dogs for our country’s next generation of trust fund kids hanging out in the gentrified city du jour.

And it happens all the time when I’m designing. Oops, I dumped a white paint can where color used to be. Wait. That’s nice. It’s become a part of my process. A part I can’t anticipate, or account for, but a part nonetheless.

I’ve been thinking about ways to facilitate these accidents. Make them happen more often. I haven’t come up with anything yet. Too much coffee, not enough coffee, time of day, etc. — are they really accidents, or our subconscious guiding the way?

― SimpleBits ~ Beautiful Accidents

Ze Frank: Executing > Theoretical Perfection

43folders:

the show with zefrank (2007-11-06 / “washington, ideas, brain crack”)

Ze Frank, on executing ideas even, or especially, when you can’t do them perfectly. (PNSFW)

[video via Waxy Links]

As some pals and I have been banging around ideas for new projects, I’ve been thinking a lot about Ze Frank, and realizing what a talented and brave fellow he is.

I didn’t follow The Show closely during its beloved one-year run, but I’ve enjoyed several episodes quite a lot, and, in the time since The Show ended, I’m retroactively (sporadically) been catching up on some of the little projects Ze’s pushed out over the last few years. Prolific, warm, and very engaging work.

The “brain crack” video arrived with perfect timing, because I’ve been obsessing over a similar idea. In the video above, Ze says, unblinkingly:

And the longer they wait, the more they convince themselves of how perfectly that idea should executed…But the bummer is most ideas kind of suck when you do them.

That’s inspiration that’s hard to beat.

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Also, although most sports racers certainly will have seen it by now, Ze’s talk at TED from a few years back is a stitch.