ideawhen

nevver: Another Bouncing Ball

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:04:25 -0500

Another Bouncing Ball

Measuring creativity

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:36:08 -0500

When musicians improvise, their brains turn inhibitions down and creativity up. Scientists set out to measure exactly what is going on in the heads of musicians, using jazz as the constant:

[T]hey go into what we call a “dissociated frontal activity state.” There’s this notion that someone like Coltrane is “in the zone,” he’s far away from the concerns of everyday life. And he is in some other place where all of these novel ideas are flowing out of him.

How does he do it?

The brain really alters itself into this creative mindframe where its purpose at that moment is to generate novelty and to decrease inhibition.

Consider that for a moment: improv decreases inhibition and increases novelty! As I mentioned recently, people are already improvising. With the emergence and adoption of a new set of tools and services, the line between creator and consumer has narrowed and, in many places, blurred completely. And this is the great opportunity for designers (or creators or any kind): to create room for this sort of free flow of ideas in our design process and in the products and services we create for people. Plan for improvisation. Make room for novelty. (These are not oxymorons.)

In the meantime, head over to hear a series on the field of “neuromusic,” research at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and music.

un-button the top button.

New ideas

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:50:28 -0500

New ideas:

How do we get new ideas? By hammering down on old insight, trying to figure out a new way of looking at it? Or going straight to the core and finding a completely new way of gathering knowledge? Where do the good ideas start?

Seth's Blog: Random rules for ideas worth spreading

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:46:14 -0500

Seth's Blog: Random rules for ideas worth spreading:

solid list.

Use an Idea Embargo to Keep Focused

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:03:18 -0500

Use an Idea Embargo to Keep Focused:

It’s a week before a major project is due and suddenly someone comes up with a great idea. That great idea can derail the project and make delivery late. Use an idea embargo to keep the focus.

swissmiss | Tips For Better Ideas

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:14:32 -0500

swissmiss | Tips For Better Ideas

"Inspiration is not the exclusive privilege of poets or artists generally. There is, has been, and..."

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:59:20 -0500

“Inspiration is not the exclusive privilege of poets or artists generally. There is, has been, and will always be a certain group of people whom inspiration visits. It’s made up of all those who’ve consciously chosen their calling and do their job with love and imagination. It may include doctors, teachers, gardeners — and I could list a hundred more professions … A swarm of new questions emerges from every problem they solve. Whatever inspiration is, it’s born from a continuous “I don’t know.””

- Wislawa Szymborska (via azspot)

"50% of the reason I shower is for the inspired ideas I get during. I’ll let you guess the..."

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:18:36 -0500

“50% of the reason I shower is for the inspired ideas I get during. I’ll let you guess the other 50%”

- Chad Pugh

Indexed » Blog Archive » Kill the ugly baby. Feed...

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:07:41 -0500

Indexed » Blog Archive » Kill the ugly baby. Feed the beautiful one.

How to Get Lightning to Strike Twice

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 09:56:24 -0500

How to Get Lightning to Strike Twice :

If you want to direct lightning to strike a certain target, you erect a lightning rod. The lightning rod is frequently struck because of its particular construction, material and positioning. To become a lightning rod for inspiration, you have to pay attention to very similar things.

"Part of that is setting up this filter in your brain that’s like, “I’m working on..."

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:02:41 -0500

“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

The Choreographer Paul Taylor's Dwelling

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:19:33 -0400

The Choreographer Paul Taylor's Dwelling:

3. Inspiration: I don’t believe in it. People think some muse comes down and strikes. Well, making a dance is just plain work like anything else. The inspiration is the deadline.

where ideas come from

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:13:53 -0400

where ideas come from

yachts on the reg.

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:47:48 -0400

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..."

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:07:18 -0400

“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...

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:00:50 -0500

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.

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:51:03 -0500

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..."

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:06:00 -0500

“

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

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:16:17 -0500

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.

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.

"some ideas are a lot like crusty pizza plates — the best way to get them done is to put them..."

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:36:57 -0500

“some ideas are a lot like crusty pizza plates — the best way to get them done is to put them in the sink and let ‘em soak.”

- Twitter / Jack Cheng: some ideas are a lot like …