Creative Strategies: 10 approaches to solving design problems

by Fridolin Beisert, Jessie Kawata (Artist)

Overview

How can I be more creative?

People from every walk of life have asked this question. Whether the motivation is to find more personal satisfaction in everyday life or to achieve success in the workplace, the desire for creativity, and the struggle to sustain it, is universal.

Drawing on his varied experiences as a successful product designer and creative director, as well as a seasoned educator and a working parent, Fridolin Beisert’s Creative Strategies: 10 Approaches to Solving Design Problems uncovers priceless strategies to lead a more creative life—in any industry, at any level—whether you are a student, a teacher, a parent, or a CEO.

Beisert’s approaches, cleverly and appropriately titled Pattern Breaking, Planting Limits, and Reality Hacking, to name a few, are revealed through case studies and personal anecdotes that are both entertaining and illuminating, and demonstrate that creativity is a skill that can be learned the same way that we learn how to ride a bicycle: by actively practicing it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781624650260
Publisher:	Design Studio Press
Publication date:	04/07/2017
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Fridolin Beisert is a product designer by training, a creative by choice, and a teacher by serendipity. He grew up in Hamburg, Germany, and is currently the creative director at baum-kuchen.net, an online lifestyle brand founded and operated by his wife. He is also a faculty member and director of the Product Design department at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he teaches creative problem solving, design process, and visual communication.

Prior to these roles, Fridolin worked in Tokyo developing futuristic video games, formed a boutique design consultancy out of his garage, toured as an international underground DJ, wrote a book on learning design using 3D software, and studied traditional papermaking from a master craftsman in Japan.

Jessie Kawata is a designer and artist who loves to explore the world of science and technology. Her background in both product design and illustration led her to become one of the first in-house creative strategists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. She has played a key role in introducing design thinking and creative methodology into the design of early spacecraft mission concepts. When Jessie is not staring into space, she is back on Earth as a part-time instructor at Art Center College of Design’s Saturday High, sailing tall ships, and treasure hunting at flea markets and record shops.

Table of Contents

Foreword 9

Launch 11

Creative Strategies 15

Strategy No 1 Digging Deeper 17

Identifying the Blind Spot 18

Three Questions in Action 21

Marinating ideas 24

Strategy No 2 Problem Framing 27

Core Location 29

Paradigm Shift 34

Winner lakes All 32

Strategy No 3 Pattern Breaking 37

Dissecting the Problem 38

Take Creative Risks 42

The Importance of "Crit Culture" 44

A Red Thread Story 46

What if? 47

Strategy No 4 Planting Limits 51

Resource Overload 52

When Less Is More 53

Minimum Tools, Maximum Payoff 55

German Effectiveness 56

Strategy No 5 Fail-Fast Prototyping 61

Start by Doing 62

The Case of the Napkin Sketchbook 65

Kaizen 68

The Five-Year Theory 70

Strategy No 6 Refueling on Inspiration 73

Pushing the Reset Button 73

Finding Parallel Universes 75

Be a Skill Seeker 81

Strategy No 7 Vision Calibrating 85

Finding the North Star 86

Concept Pruning 89

The Five-Year Plan 91

Strategy No 8 Shifting Perspectives 97

Take (a Day) Off 98

Changing the Lens 100

How to Choose a New Lens 102

Strategy No 9 Reality Hacking 107

I ♥ Surreal 108

Play Like a Child 110

Create Inspiring Experiences 111

Visualize the Invisible 113

Strategy No 10 Creative Remixing 117

Be the DJ 118

Samples Are Everywhere 120

Ideation 122

Learn to Cross-Fade 129

In Case of Emergency: 10 Ways to Live More Creatively 131