Brainstorming

PREWORK LEADS TO GREAT BRAINSTORMING

Research

Precedents

Articles
Site Visits
Interviews / Observation
Museum Visits
Podcasts
Docs / Youtube Videos
Library Visits

"help students get specific"

"help students get inspired"

Often aspirational prior work by:

Artists
Designers
Makers
Scientists
Engineers

playful furniture precedents

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4

5

ENCOURAGE WILD IDEAS

Wild ideas can often give rise to creative leaps

SUSPEND JUDGEMENT

Being judgmental stifles creativity

GO FOR QUANTITY

Aim for as many new ideas as possible

BUILD ON IDEAS

Build and expand on the ideas of others

BE VISUAL

Sketching ideas can help develop and clarify them

NUVU BRAINSTORMING TENETS

THINK-PAIR-SHARE BRAINSTORMING

General Template:

Think of as many ideas a possible in 10 minutes
Pair up with a classmate and share your 5 favorite ideas
Pick your favorite 2 and sketch them
Share these ideas with the class to be added to the board

A less scaffolded / semi-structured approach to brainstorming
Teachers are mostly hands-off until students share ideas to the board (more on that later)
Great for rapid-timeline projects with well-defined constraints
Good approach if students are already bubbling with ideas

Considerations:

THINK-PAIR-SHARE BRAINSTORMING

BUILDING BLOCK BRAINSTORMING

General Template:

Teacher outlines key categories that serve as the "building blocks" for the project
Students brainstorm ideas quickly for each category
Student selects or is randomly assigned 1 idea from each category
Repeat 3-5 times to generate a variety of project ideas.
Students choose assembled project concept that most inspires them

BUILDING BLOCK BRAINSTORMING

A more scaffolded approach to brainstorming
Teachers help students build up short lists of ideas, or even single words to create a formula for constructing ideas.
Assists students in idea generation
Provides a bank of inspiration if students get stuck.
Helps ensure specific constraints are met.

BUILDING BLOCK EXAMPLE

BUILDING BLOCK BRAINSTORMING

"In this studio, students will consider the landscape of play within the context of furniture design.

Each student group will design a furniture piece that facilitates a playful experience between a child and an adult care-taker."

Studio Prompt

BUILDING BLOCK BRAINSTORMING

Research Activities:

Read an article on play
Identify 3 formative games or play experiences from your childhood.
Formative game discussion and investigation
Comic strips articulating formative game experiences
Parent interview
Nostalgia reflection
and more!

Studio "Play" Research

BUILDING BLOCK BRAINSTORMING

Selected Precedents

BUILDING BLOCK BRAINSTORMING

Brainstorming Context

BUILDING BLOCK BRAINSTORMING

Brainstorming - Part 1: List Generation

BUILDING BLOCK BRAINSTORMING

Brainstorming - Part 2: Mix and Match to Build a Project Concept

x 5 per team!

THE TEACHER'S ROLE

Pre-Brainstorming

Make sure they understand the goals and constraints of the project
Engage students in Research
Review exciting precedents
Establish an environment where students can be generative
Create a useful timeline for the activity (strike a balance)

THE TEACHER'S ROLE

During Brainstorming

Field the final ideas at the board
Engage with their ideas (ask questions, push their concepts further, sketch etc.)
Help categorize ideas / find commonalities

THE TEACHER'S ROLE

After Brainstorming

Assess whether it was a successful brainstorm
If so, pair the students up (if group projects) based on shared project interest
Push students to select project ideas and move onto prototyping and iteration

UH OH - WE HAD A BAD BRAINSTORM?

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Revisit precedents and add new ones (or have students research precedents)
Engage students in more research to help them get more specific
Change brainstorm parameters and have students rapidly come up with more ideas
Create building block scaffolding to push their ideas

Boring project ideas?

Students "inventing" existing things?

Everyone wants to do the same thing?

Ignoring project constraints?

CONCEPTUAL THINKING

WORKSHOP EXAMPLE

CONCEPTUAL THINKING WORKSHOP EXAMPLE

WHAT WE ARE MAKING

WHY WE ARE MAKING IT

Conceptual thinking exercises that involve understanding and organizing complex ideas and relationships.

؜To step back from a challenge to see the bigger picture, to make connections, and identify patterns, leading to innovative solutions.

EXERCISE 1

IDENTIFY AN UNDERLYING CONCEPT THAT THE OBJECTS ON EACH PAGE SHARE.

Identify the difference between

CONCRETE and ABSTRACT concepts.

CONCEPTUAL THINKING

Identify the underlying concept

EXERCISE 2

CONCEPTUAL PICTIONARY

In this exercise, a series of prompts will be described to you
Each of you are tasked to sketch a representation of the concept described on a post-it note in front of you.
Each sketch will be 30 seconds long. Don’t overthink, just put pencil to paper!

CONCEPTUAL THINKING

DRAW A CUP

1st

DRAW SOMETHING THAT HOLDS LIQUID

2nd

DRAW SOMETHING THAT SHINES

(LITERALLY OR METAPHORICALLY)

3rd

DRAW SOMETHING THAT MOVES LIVING THINGS FROM POINT A TO B

4th

DRAW SOMETHING THAT MAKES A BEAUTIFUL NOISE

5th

THE TEACHER'S ROLE

Pre-Exercise

؜Brainstorm a list of five things to sketch that start concrete and gradually become more abstract. These topics can be modified to apply to your specific studio topic or curriculum!

Concrete

Abstract

"Draw a cup"

"Draw something that holds liquid"

"Draw something that shines"

"Draw something that moves living things from point A to B"

"Draw something that makes a beautiful noise"

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؜2

؜3

؜4

؜5

THE TEACHER'S ROLE

Post-Exercise

؜Organize post-its in the category of each description and take a walk around the room.
Have students / faculty find connections between sketches beyond the categories. Take note of these connections/patterns!
Ask: what happened when the prompt was more concrete?
Ask: what happened when the prompt was more abstract?

REFLECTION

Or