Idea Generation: ‘What if I try this?’

January 27, 2016

Idea Generation: ‘What if I try this?’

Sometimes I find that coming up with ideas can be hard, especially when I’ve become uninspired with current projects I’ve been working on. It’s very easy to start going round in circles and not move forward with anything new. I get stuck using the same materials and techniques and using the same source of inspiration.

I’ve found that this method of idea generation takes me away from that. It is a way for me to consciously step back from familiar things and get out of old habits.

The idea is simply to ask yourself ‘What if I try this?’ The ‘this’ in question can be as meaningless as you like. The goal is not to try and create a masterpiece, but instead focus on the action of doing. It should be repetitive and using limited resources with set, rigid parameters. The great thing about working this way is that the project can be as big or as small as you want and can be either a long, ongoing project or a short one that only takes an hour or two. It can progress onwards and evolve into something else or stop when you have finished with your initial aim. It doesn’t matter and it is entirely flexible.

Using pages from a book I drew lines using black biro and a ruler along the lines to the word ‘the’. The choice of book and choice of word were both arbitrary: it just so happened that I had this particular old book set aside to be used in my craft work and I decided that ‘the’ was a fairly common word that would show up on most lines.

My only real thought behind doing this was to see if that pattern of lines looked interesting. However, over the time spent doing it, I kept getting new ideas of what I could do and how to evolve the idea further.

I drew lines through individual words on a line up to the letter ‘the’, I used black thread to stitch the lines into the paper, I traced the lines and transferred it onto material to stitch and I eventually ended up making a book of it.