While reading Steven Johnson's latest book Where Good Ideas Come From, I have been thrown into a chasm of scientific assertions with more concentration on his belief system/world view than the actual question, where do good ideas come from? I agree with Johnson's proclamation that the creation of good ideas have a lot to do with your environment, therefore we will use this entire week to produce 25 inspiring practical and environmental methods to produce ideas. We will give 5 methods a day. Of course the methods will concentrate on professional designers but they can be used for any job in any professional industry.

Have fun, here is day 1.

1. Change The Scenery

When you feel lost or if you encounter the white art board of blankness, pack up your tools and head to the zoo, the park, the corner coffee shop or the nearest body of water. An environmental relocation might be more than enough to shake things up to produce creativity.

2. Question Your Presumption Concerning Your Profession

Does this project have to be structured the same as the last one? Is there flexibility in the client's budget? Is the target audience exactly the same? Can you use a local photographer instead of stock photography. A great book to get is Bob Gill's Forget All The Rules You Ever Learned About Graphic Design. Including The Ones In This Book.

3. Don't Look At The Clock

Stop. Stop. Stop paying attention to how much time its taking you to come up with an idea, solution or initial concept. Work more on flushing out the over all theme of your project. Turn off or disable your clocks and focus on the work, increase the time of your projects deadlines. Would you prefer to have dinner at Mc Donalds or at Flemings? The nutritional value of fast food compared to slow food is better for your health, your taste buds, mind and body. When a designer takes his or her time to develop a great logo for an organization it produces lasting essentials for that organization. The days of rush delivery design are over! We will speak more on this subject at a later date.

4. Ask For Advice Please

There is no such thing as a dumb question. Whether you describe your issue to a peer or your grandfather you are likely to receive a new perspective. An act as simple as putting your problem into words may help you out. 

5. Stop Being So Serious

Take a 4:59 moment. Surf the web, play tic tac toe, jump up and down for no reason, come up with some utterly ridiculous concepts for your current project. You never know what you might come up with. You will certainly have fun.

Or find a beautiful moth outside your door.

Rick Harris