Design Sauce

Top 10 Tips to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing

2011-04-17T21:18:00.011+02:00

Whether you're in creative arts or a businessman, we all require a little imagination in our work. If you find with a creative block, here are some of the best tips to get those creative juices flowing.

1. Plan Ahead

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Just because you are creative doesn't mean you can skip the organization part of being productive. Planning ahead of time can help you avoid creative blocks, and waiting to judge your ideas after you finish them can keep you from exploring more alogical ideas. Creativity won't strike you on cue, but a simple mind map and a bit of creative focus can go a long way.

2. Set Weird Rules

While we've been hammered with certain guidelines for running businesses and doing good work, to encourage creativity you sometimes need to set some weirder rules. Reward failure, but punish inaction. Create some conflict. Think contrary to what you usually hear, and mix things up to get your mind thinking in new ways.

3. Think Inside the Box

All your life you've probably heard "think outside the box". It's a bit more complicated than that, though—instead of thinking completely differently, think inside the box and build on those already-useful ideas in new ways. Christopher Peterson said it best: "If you never venture outside the box, you will probably not be creative. But if you never get inside the box, you will certainly be stupid."

4. Don't Stress About Being Truly Original

If you reject anything out of a desire for true originality, you'll never get anywhere. It's all been done before, and the key isn't coming up with a truly original idea, it's knowing what to steal from other artists and how to make it new and interesting.

5. Stay Motivated with Side Projects

If you focus too hard on one project at a time, you're bound to get stuck in a creative block, or a period of low motivation. "Distracting" yourself with other, smaller projects gets you away from your big project while keeping you productive and creative. When you're done with a side project, you'll come back to your big project with a new mindset and renewed enthusiasm.

6. Change Up Your Routine

There's a reason some of the most creative people are known to be smelly and unkempt. While you shouldn't ditch hygiene altogether, sometimes switching up your morning routine can give you a creative head start you wouldn't have gotten otherwise. You may have some creative moments you hadn't experienced after a shower, getting dressed, and so on.

7. Get Some Exercise

A change of scenery is always a good idea to get a burst of creativity, but a good 30 minutes of exercise will actually boost your creativity. In fact, it boosts nearly every dimension of cognition, so exercise regularly to get your blood (and creative juices) flowing.

8. Stop Working Mid-Thought

If you find that you start some days with no idea where your project is going next, consider when you stop working the day before. Instead of looking for logical breaking points, always know what's coming next—that way, when you start up the next day, you can build up a bit of creative momentum before moving on to the new stuff.

9. Get Sleep

We all know how great sleep can be for your health, but it's good for your creative brain too. A Harvard researcher found that if you sleep on new ideas, you're a good chance more likely to make connections between distantly related points. If you're on a streak, there's nothing wrong with burning the midnight oil every now and then.

10. Take Time Off

We can't all be creative 100% of the time, so don't burn yourself out by working 24/7/365. Designer Stefan Sagmeister actually takes a year-long creative sabbatical every seven years to rejuvenate his creativity. That's obviously not in the cards for everyone, but do as much as you can—even a little afternoon daydreaming can go a long way.

Everyone's got their own tricks for fostering creativity, if you've got any favorites that didn't make the list, tell us about them in the comments.

Shark Alley House

2011-03-19T23:02:00.002+02:00

Designed by Fearon Hay Architects, Shark Alley was designed as a family retreat, a robust structure able to hold its own against the rugged coast, capturing the aspect whilst still providing comfortable shelter from potentially hostile elements.
With the harsh weather coming from the sea, the windward side cam provide shelter, leaving the leaward side open for access to the outdoor courtyard. The L-shaped plan enhances this protection with sliding shutters, allowing flexible combinations of shade, privacy, ventilation, views and shelter.

How to be Innovative?

2011-03-19T22:40:00.008+02:00

This post deals with how to innovate and move past what has come before. Whether it be for design or even a branding strategy it comes down to a single question - WHAT IF?

Throughout the ages, innovation has been fostered by imagining what is possible instead of what you can do with your current resources. The key way to innovate is to question the status quo and "ask the right questions" - not what can we do now, but what is possible. Companies large and small have been founded on this very idea.

What if someone sold socks that didn't match? In his new book Disrupt, Luke Williams, a veteran of frog design, talks about how that offbeat question was the impetus for the launch of Little Miss Matched, a company whose purposely mismatched socks proved surprisingly popular with young girls. It's one of a number of examples Williams cites of new business innovations that began with what he calls "a disruptive hypothesis." Another better-known one is Netflix, whose business model provided an answer to the question, What if a video rental company didn't charge late fees?

It’s interesting that when you deconstruct stories of innovation, you find that many of them start with a question--often one that could be considered provocative, naïve, or maybe even a little crazy. Even Einstein said that if he only had an hour to solve a problem and his life depended on it, he’d devote the first 55 minutes to figuring out the right question to answer.

In school, we’re rewarded for having the answer, not for asking a good question. In that regard, we need to "unlearn" those practices and start asking the right questions.

45 Faber Park

2011-03-11T10:42:00.005+02:00

The most attention-grabbing detail of this project is the dark grey metal cladding used generously on the external facade, which oozes with modern, edgy vibes. To complement the edginess, plenty of natural materials such as timber-teak and teak strips were used liberally throughout the whole house...

A colossal, spiral staircase greets one in the immaculate interior, commanding a strong visual axis. This forms the focal point of the entire house. In line with the eco-theme, a skylight was constructed at the basement, which enables natural sunlight to stream in.

The client requested for as much greenery as possible, hence, much of the landscape was left untouched except for a big lap pool with timber slabs on the sides functioning as the sun deck.

Project by: Silver+Ong, Singapore

Xi Gallery Project

2011-03-07T16:10:00.009+02:00

The “Xi Gallery Project” is a temporary facility for developers to sell apartments that they have developed. These facilities are commonly called ‘Model Houses’ or ‘Sample Houses’ and are made out of reusable steel structures and economical modular panels and normally destroyed after 3~5 years of use. Also, the facility has temporary building permits from the city which last about 3~5 years of occupation.

Castro Café

2011-03-07T15:56:00.001+02:00

A Cafeteria in a University Campus located near Auditorium, Cultural Center, Mass communication, was expected to become hub of all social activities of the Campus.

Due to the extreme climatic conditions of New Delhi, where the summer sees temperatures of above 45 degrees centigrade, and the winters often see temperatures below 5 degree centigrade.

Most student canteens in India are not air-conditioned, and are often poorly ventilated, making them very hot and oppressive in the summer and very cold in the winters.

This canteen was proposed as a ‘Semi open air Café’. This allowed to have an ambient temperature for most of the year along with good ventilation, and a variety of degrees of shade from the climate.

The design is truly unique and contemporary and we feel, will herald a new age of Architecture for the University.

Bangalore International Convention Centre

2011-03-07T15:52:00.005+02:00

Inspired by the nature of silk weaving, a traditional industry in Bangalore, a discernable architectural ground plane weaves both built and landscaped elements into a rich tapestry of spaces and experiences.

Media Facades: When buildings start to twitter

2011-03-07T15:44:00.002+02:00

Cuny House

2011-03-05T00:34:00.008+02:00

The house is laid out around a central water court that forms the focal point of the project. Lushly planted roof gardens surround this and add to the effect that nature is evident in every part of the house.Thisproject also demonstrates how technology, planning and design can be applied sensitively to generate a comfortable, luxurious, yet sustainable family home.

AeI Headquarters

2011-03-04T23:56:00.002+02:00

Architects: Arquitectura e Interiores, AeI
Location: Bogotá, Colombia

Miami Art Museum by Herzog & de Meuron

2011-03-04T13:07:00.003+02:00

Big's: Yes is More for the iPad

2011-03-04T03:29:00.003+02:00

Yes is More, a beautiful monographic volume devoted to the Bjarke Ingels Group, in a digital version for iPad. Launched a few weeks ago, it is the first ebook published by Taschen for Apple’s tablet.

Yes is More is available for $9.99 in the app store…

Rem Koolhaas interview

2011-03-04T03:15:00.003+02:00

The Crystal Cloud.

2011-03-04T03:09:00.002+02:00

The Crystal & Cloud in Copenhagen, Denmark by Schmidt Hammer Lassen, 2010.

Haus am Tugstein

2011-03-04T03:06:00.001+02:00

Haus am Tugstein