REFLEX JOURNAL

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Week 4

Part1: Check in - Learning + Creativity

—Sit Down. Calm yourself. Breathe Deeply.

— Do a slow mental scan of your body, gently sensing what small sensations you find in different locations, without trying to alter them.

—Draw out an outline of your body.

—Think of a time when you were learning something well. Draw out the sense input/outputs. Mark out the various locations of your bodily sensations and mental events.

—Compare this state of Body/Mind when you were learning something badly. What’s the difference?

—Part2: Now think of a time when you were creative (if you haven’t already).

—Overlay the Maps of Learning and Creativity together. What do you see? What are the similarities and differences? How can you tap into or combine these two states?

—How can you supercharge your learning and creativity? Imagine some mental mechanisms you can add to do so.

—Reflect your thoughts on paper and Blog them later.

Scanning will be updated in a later date.

Week 3

Tasks/Homework for the Week

1. Go out and find an example of each type of analogy. Post these on your Blog.
1. Logical Analogies: Design, Function, Phenomena
2. Psychological Analogies: Sensory, Empathy, Symbolic/Metaphor, Fantasy.

This example is the bird. As we all know that it is impossible to fly like birds do. And how aeroplanes come about is because the trigger of the idea and what nature can offer to us the example. The aeroplane is actually an idea that came from the birds. Although it was invented way back early with alot of failures, with the help of technology, it made it possible to fly. Hence, the shape of the plane is the shape of somewhat a bird. And by using the shape, it minimizes the air resistance and wind in the sky. Using technology, the placement of engine and using forward motion that causes air to pass over its wings to generate lift. It includes jet engine and propeller driven vehicles propelled forward by thrust. Making planes, a convenient transportation to any other countries possible and faster.

Angel, Surreal

Maybe it is because of religion or that people have seen arts depicting angels having the look of a human bearing the wings that of a bird. But nobody actually knows they exist or not. In our logical minds, we would naturally think that it does not exist and it is surreal but to people of their beliefs, it exist without a doubt. And why is angels associated with human and bird? Because human itself is presented with God, and that they can fly, with wings and halo. It makes them look like they are superior beings and sort of a fantasy. The halo is the symbolic of the light, being divine, pure and innocent as that describes angels. The wings, being freedom.

2. Try out the Synectics 3R cycle, and create six of your own visual analogs from the two main analogy categories (Logical and Psychological), using any combinations of the Synectics Triggers. Try using a series of transformations within one analogy to transform an image further.

Bonus: Try organising, or arranging the elements into a Matrix format.

Illustrate these analogies into your Mistake Journal.

3. Get familiar with your own creative processes, and do a preliminary map of your creative process on paper. It may help you to refer to an actual project to map it out (perhaps from any of the CF Studio modules).
   
   
4. And Finally: Blog about what you learned from this lecture, on the overview of creative processes, Synectics and Analogies, as well as your quest for analogies. What did you learn from your Mind/Body Map? Can you begin to map out your creative process and see what works and doesn't work for you?

From this lecture, i've learnt that our thought patterns are actually acquired from our daily lives. Like what we see and what we are able to think and join them into. Molding things into something practical and ideas or concepts drawn to be impressed and seen. Things as we see would go into our subconcious mind making us to combine them together or to tear them apart to attach to something totally unrelated. This also helps to make something out of nothing, such is design. For me, ideas always come out of nowhere when i do things. I'm not a person who can think of good ideas when i usually need the most. When i can't find any ideas, i would always do the most usual thing and then start to venture out to things that i can combine and extract them from wherever i can.

Week 2

Scanning of the doodle to be updated.

1. Blog about your experience of using the 3 creativity techniques (SCAMPER, Reversal, Chain Reaction). Compare these techniques with the general brainstorming technique you used (during the 50 uses of a "marker" session). Can you get a sense of the pros and cons, the similarities and differences, between these different techniques? Were you able to fit Don Norman's 3-Layers (RBV) of design as the criteria of quality?

The SCAMPER technique was quite useful as we think about how we could use it to substitute the design or material and along the technique, we brainstorm about how we could go about using it eventually to get it work. The reversal technique worked not exactly well, but it was still fun even though we just had to think the opposite of what we wanted. ANd the chain reaction was totally cool, it was fun and easy, making things just connect to it the way you think.

I think the SCAMPER and the chain reaction techinique is quite interesting and is much more useful than the time i was doing the 50 uses of "marker" session as we could think more with instructions and guides.

The pros and cons were definitely obvious and definitely incomparable for some as for the chain reaction worked really good for me. Though the SCAMPER technique also did quite well comparing to the reversal and my personal thoughts.

2. Pay attention to how you think, throughout this week, and take notes in your Mistake Journal + Blog. How aware are you in general of your own state of mind and your surroundings? What are some typical contents usually running around in your mind. Please jot down what these contents are (note the specific details, and then try to classify the different categories of thoughts), and how they interact with each other. Diagram these connections in your Mistake Journal.

A specific suggestion to observe your thoughts: Think of a happy event, and another unhappy/stressful event. What are the mental events and mind contents that appear when you think of these events? Draw this mind-content diagram out as a deep-doodle in your Mistake Journal. In other words, what are the thoughts and emotions that create this happy/sad event? What is the stimulus, and what are the consequent effects? Show a cause/effect diagram of your thought processes.

Week 1: Don Norman TED Video Response

BLOG: After watching Don Norman's TED Video, there are two aspects of emotions to consider in regards to design. Blog your responses to these questions:

Don Norman's TED Video Website

1. Think about the role of emotions/mindset in the creative process. Remember the example he cited. Recall any brainstorming sessions you conducted before (as well as the in-class exercise earlier) - were the sessions conducted effectively? Why/not?

In the video, Mr. Norman said that being happy will make a person feel more pleasant and more creative. And having a positive mind would make a person being able to think and do things easier. He cited the example of the Mini Cooper, which had many reviews of having lots of fault. But people buy it anyway as it's pleasant to the eye and also, it is fun, neat and functional. This has to do with design and the interior of the car is roundish and the placement of the things are neat, which would make a person feel comfortable.

It is agreeable to that when something pleases the eye, a person would most likely to be happy to use that object with a pleasant mind. And it is to the design in which it is also functional that would make a person to not think and buy it to use as it is fun and functional. Even it may not be functional, people would still buy it as it pleases the eye and it makes them feel good about it.

The session in calss is conducted quite effectively as most of us are able to do the brainsotrming session. As our feelings and emotions varies from each on the day, some of us couldn't do the brainstorming well as some were tired or were hungry which cause them to lose attention and to lose interest. Which also cause them to react slower and unable to think well as to compared to those who were feeling happy and fun.

2. Think about the interplay/interaction of the Visceral, Behavioural and Reflective layers in a designed object and how they evoke emotions. Find one designed object and analyse how the 3 levels work together to create the "gestalt" effect. (Answer this response in Week 2).