my graphics tutor pushes the idea of sitting down and writing/sketching anything that comes to your head, no matter how daft the idea, and doing this for an hour at a time, not stopping even if you think you've come up with the winner of the week.
embracing the idea that all ideas are plausible until you deem them otherwise, and getting those bizarre and downright silly ideas concreted on paper, even if you scrap them later, is better than a potentially genius idea getting lost because you dismissed it before you could even consider it. some of the most amazing designers are simply that due to the ideas they have realised that wouldnt work on paper.

take thomas heatherwick, for example. signage made from clingfilm? rooftop industrial vents based on folder a4? a plank that folds into a chair? gigantic lobby-filling centrepiece made with glass bead and string, based on the metal droplets made from dropping hot liquid solder into a vortex of cool water? all stuff that anyone might have thought of, given it a minutes thought, and dismissed it. following an idea through, no matter how daft, is worth doing, as long as whatever it is, it's concept-driven.

what works for me is looking at books with good design in, looking/reading books that are completely seperate from my chosen career, and being able to chat with friends about my ideas. I'm always bursting into my flatmates rooms brandishing my latest bit of work and going "ta-da!" and seeing their reaction,.you can tell a lot about your work from other peoples first reaction of it.

Xander

that 'an idea a minute' thing doesn't work for me either.
an easy way to get ideas flowing is to speak to other people about what your doing. not just creatives, but all people, firends, family etc... i find this helps me when i'm in a pickle...

There is a little mental game I play in my head sometimes. I look at two different things, say a chair and a light bulb and try to combine them somehow into something new - for instance a lightbulb has a screw thread, a seat is for sitting on, so maybe havgin a seat with a screw thread, which could screw into sockets in a wall, for instance in a bar or somewhere, so that the height of the seat adjusts to the person. Silly example I know but it helps me. Sadly enough its turned into a sort of "eye-spy" game between me and my girlfriend...

Hi guys,
(been a long time since I've posted - apologies!)

I was wondering if anyone knows of any really good books on idea generation and creative techniques to help with the idea generation process?

Does anyone have anything that really works for them or that they have heard of?

At Uni they talk about an "Idea a minute" process that doesnt really work for myself, hence I am on the search for a selection of ways to help unlock the subconcious mind and unleash that heavenly creativity!

Yours sincerely,

Workaholics_anominous