Work placement skills at the ready? Or not yet?
Work placements are undoubtedly extremely valuable activities, as no amount of learning can beat learning by doing. Undertaking a work placement can eventually help a young person obtain a better […]
5 Creativity-boosting New Year Resolutions (you don’t need any others!)
Forget the New Year Resolutions about the diet, keeping fit, being more confident, finally reading War and Peace and all the others – if you decide to take up five […]
Traits of creative people – is this you?
What distinguishes creative people and/or artists from another type of person is perhaps a willingness to go headlong into that uncertainty. Brandon Boyd Can we really say that there […]
Behind you! The anti-noticing pantomime called Pokémon Go
Humans who notice real things are dangerous. The other day I had a conversation with a good friend and colleague on The Hashtag Noticing Project Facebook group. So, all […]
The Crystal: a sustainable feast for your design senses
On a stormy day The Crystal building greets you like a looming alien spacecraft; all dark glass and jutting angles, reflecting the War Of the Worlds-like pylons of the […]
Beguiled by data
In the press release for Somerset House’s current Big Bang Data exhibition Jonathan Harris wonders whether governments and the others who control our lives have got so hot about […]
Must I Listen to Something Different…again?
It’s that time again. Almost a year ago to the day I was writing up my responses to our Listen to Something Different challenge. I’m trying to enable my […]
World Post Day – postcards from your inspiration
Yesterday, October 9th, was World Post Day and Curious Events Day – a combination not to be missed. So on a trip to London’s Somerset House, my colleague, Tim Bones, and I asked our University of Kent Graphic Design students to not only review the fantastic World Illustration Awards, but […]
Eat Something Different
I was first set the creative challenge to Eat Something Different a few weeks ago. The aim is to eat something unusual or to eat it in a different way. Small regular problem-solving tasks that stretch the imagination are good for rehearsing your creativity. So as I only had about […]
Listen to Something Different
As part of our ongoing creative challenges I set the activity to listen to something different. Each person participating chooses two pieces of music under 5 minutes long. One piece should be fairly accessible and the other challenging, enigmatic or just plain weird. The purpose of the activity is to […]
the graphic design project 