A couple months ago I worked with a team of strategists and creatives from firms such as Code and Theory and Cake New York to design a solution to the No Right Brain Left Behind challenge.  The challenge brief asked the creative profession to design concepts that will address the creativity crisis in US Schools Some very good ideas were generated but our separate work loads and schedules did not allow us to put in the time that we would have liked to.  Our brief foray into the notion of waning creativity in kids education did get me thinking though.

The idea I came up with is a learning tool called ‘Subject Mash Up!’.  The basis of the concept is the idea that looking at one subject through the lens of another subject will provide opportunities for new insights and a more thorough learning experience.  The few sketches here show that ‘Subject Mash Up!’ is a platform designed to help students  learn by layering one subject over another and using that new context to ask questions and seek new understanding.  Instead of simply studying history, students could learn about it through the art of that period.  Then learn about art through the lens of storytelling and metaphoric symbolism.  Or learn about math by studying patterns in music.  The opportunities for layering different subjects over each other is nearly endless. (more sketches after jump)

Students could apply each subject symbol to the object or subject that is currently being viewed which would bring up questions about that topic from the perspective of the subject symbol being applied.  Symbols could also be dragged and layered over each other or set in ‘equations’ to produce more hybrid lines of questioning and exploration.  The most important aspect of this platform design, though, is the ‘Mash Up!’ feature.  The bright symbol with the lightning bolt signals a dramatic shift in the learning process.  And a point at which creative thinking must be applied.  The ‘Mash Up!’ symbol would introduce an assignment that encourages the students to think about the subject at hand from a completely different perspective.  This ‘Mash Up!’  juxtaposition would task students to generate something new of their own, causing the learning process to culminate in a thoughtful yet creative exercise.

This ‘Mash Up!’ of disparate ideas, or ‘collision of half hunches’ as Steven Johnson puts it, is the mental space where creative thought can lead to new ideas and innovation.  The product of the ‘Mash Up!’ exercise may have kids arrive at a place completely different from where they began.  But it is the process of thinking through each of the perspectives to achieve their solution that will seek to provide a deeper learning experience.  Teaching kids to be open to this type of exploration and to flex their creative thinking muscles in this way could do much to foster the resurgence of creativity in our kids and our education system.

“Subject Mash Up!’ is currently just a rough sketch of a concept.  But it is an idea for a platform that I think could be developed for use over several channels such as in the classroom, interactive website and online community, an iPad app, a card game, etc.  I would welcome feedback and input from developers that are interested in building on this idea and working to foster creativity in the education space.

Really, though, this business concept will work in other, more permanent, spaces as well.  I have designed the logo and graphic language for the concept.  I have also designed the menu and developed all the recipes.  This could be a very fun Summer start-up project.  I am currently looking for space and investing partners.  Please contact me if you would like more details.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I am a huge fan of Twitter.  Not only is it a great way to connect with a vast array of interesting people but it also serves as a powerful source of inspiration for me.  It’s limiting structure of 140 characters per tweet and unique informational symbology have combined to create a kind of short-hand language.  A language now familiar to many people but still a language all it’s own.  So it was this Twitter vocabulary, as well as the sensibility that develops from becoming accustomed to continually broadcasting yourself, that was the inspiration for my Christmas card design this year.  Of course I also enjoy thinking about the juxtaposition of old and new, well-known scenarios examined from new perspectives.  The classic Christmas account written in Luke 2 of the visitation of the Angel of the Lord on the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks seemed perfect for a Twitter ‘interpretation’.  Hope you enjoy it.

Well, the conclusion to the challenge had finally come.  The ten winning concepts, along with seven concepts that chef Jamie picked, have just been announced on the OpenIDEO website here.  And I was thrilled and honored to discover that one of my concepts had been chosen to be included in the winning ten.  You can see the full entry here.

I had great fun coming up with concepts for this challenge and interacting with the other designers that contributed comments on my design work and concepts of their own.  The OpenIDEO platform has been amazing in cultivating a sense of collective work to find solutions to big problems.  I am really excited to see how it develops with subsequent challenges.  I also am excited to see what chef Jamie does with the ideas and concepts that have been generated from his challenge.  His focus on school lunches and kid’s eating choices in both the UK and US is tough work but vital for us to think about.  And strive to fix.  I appreciate his efforts and look forward to seeing some real change in how kids eat.  I am happy that I could be a part of the process and contribute to his work with my concepts for his OpenIDEO challenge.  I look forward to more opportunities to contribute to Jamie Oliver’s healthy eating programs in the future.  Thanks to both Jamie and IDEO for making this challenge happen!

Question background:  The relationship between Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson has at times been described as both a rivalry and a collaboration. But what was it? History is full of creative rivalries such as Picasso and Matisse, Adidas and Puma, Microsoft and Apple, even the entire Renaissance. Today, though, technology has fostered a new model of creative process. Using open source software development and online collaborative platforms like OpenIDEO, designers are encouraged to collaborate instead of compete.

The Question: In your opinion, what produces the most innovative ideas and effective solutions: ‘Competition’ or ‘Collaboration’? Are there circumstances where one works better than the other?

To follow the full discussion please visit the Glass House Conversations website here.