A capacity for cerebral acrobatics so the mind can juggle
Trying to explain how to ride a bicycle is notoriously difficult; the same lies between experience and theory in describing the design process. To find my mind defining design as problem solving smacks more of routine procedures than creative thinking. What really motivates designers is the pleasure of plying around with problems. That’s a private game, so if you a a designer how they came up with an idea, you’ll probably hear what they think you expect to hear. [They are too embarrassed to confess they've enjoyed mucking around with whatever it is.]
Anything from ‘It just popped in the head’ to ‘levitating by reversing polarities like a llama’. Design is what happens between the thought and the action. I try to sum up the situation, back in edgeways, cut against the blas, and cast around for ideas which to hang further ideas. It’s an intuitive process involving search, discovery, recognition, evaluation, rejection or development.
There are no specific rules or penalties.
One might slip though a sequence of actions in seconds or sweat through step by step/ Start backwards, move randomly from one point to another, or do what surfers call ‘hang ten’ – get your toes into the board and ride the waves.
However there are some essential conditions. A capacity for cerebral acrobatics so the mind can juggle while freewheeling around the possibilities. A mind-set which has the credulity of a child, the dedication of an evangelist and the spadework of a navy. Above all a motivation to keep on trying and being prepared to kiss a lot of frogs before finding a prince. All of which is dedicated to one end. To achieve that ‘condensation of sensations’ which, Matisse said, ‘constitutes a picture’.
