Two researchers from the University of British Columbia in Canada have conducted a simulation that suggests that we should spend about half of our time creating and the rest imitating in case we want our ideas to benefit the greater good. Researchers Stefan Leijnen and Liane Gabora stress the importance of imitating by saying that imitators are the people who adopt and spread creative solutions across the society. It is important ro remember, however, that people don’t have to be either creators or imitators. We can and we should function in both roles.

The research raises several interesting questions. Whether one wants to believe in the 50-50 formula is finally not as important as asking oneself: how do I know if I am really creating – and merely imitating?

1. Keep it simple.
If commissioned in the morning, a designer should have an executable idea by 5 p.m. the same day. Otherwise, turn down the job.

2. Don’t reinvent the wheel [Part 1].
Instead of starting a project with a clean slate, take the MacGyver approach: “There’s got to be something around here I can use.”

3. Don’t reinvent the wheel [Part 2]: Rotate the tires instead.

4. Do as you’re told.
Simply following the client’s instructions will yield wonders.

5. Steal.
If your idea isn’t working, says Bierut, steal one.

6. Once you come up with something, never let it go.
If the idea isn’t working, don’t come up with a new one. “Beat it to death.”

7. Make other people do the work.
Even if the designers are dead or retired, pawning off the work will always yield great results.

Seoul-based design studio Unplug Design has tackled the problem with a ingenious solution. Dreamball is actually a cylindrical aid-package. The children can roll the carton of the package and make a ball out if it. The balls are well suited to playing with bare feet. More on the project can be read on Dezeen.

“Before the fanny packs and Andrea Bocelli concerts, your parents (and grandparents) were once free-wheeling, fashion-forward, and super awesome.”

This could very well be the feel-good-site of the year. My Parents Were Awesome is a Tumblr-powered site where people can share pictures of their moms and dads when they were cool and very much in love. The site was started in September by Brooklyn-based comedian Eliot Glazer who describes his site as a place free of “vitriol, snark and cynicism”.

http://idealistdigital.fi

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