How much creativity does the society really need? This is a question that pops up every now and then. Do we really need more genuine creativity – or should we just imitate more?

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?

Michael Bierut of Pentagram is one of the most influential designers in the world. The creator of NY Times, Saks Fifth Avenue and Guitar Hero follows in his life and work deceptively simple guideline. Here are the seven steps of success in short (you can read more on Azure Magazine):

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.

Football is not only a game. It is a socio-political force. To be able to join the great game, one needs only a ball. That might however be the problem. Many children in the developing countries simply can’t afford a real football.

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.

Big ideas are little ideas that no one killed too soon. – Seth Godin

“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”.

This the kind of stuff that one expects to find only in William Gibson novels. Eyewriter is a device that enables paralyzed visual artists to draw by only moving their eyes. More on this fantastic project can be read – and seen – on eyewriter.org.

A student at Aalto University gave a great tip to us today (kiitos!). The comic by illustrator Scott Campbell should delight anybody who is trying to create – or kill – ideas.

Many of the best Internet sites have an element of “the good old world” in them. School of Everything could be described as a modern day Agora. On School of Everything you can find your own Socrates online – or become one yourself. Teaching, however, happens face-to-face. Whether you wish to learn how to play guitar or how to make a paper hat, the site will find the teacher closest to you. School of Everything has received a lot of praise since it was launced a bit more than a year ago. It nourishes something that we all have in us; the will to learn.

Want to bore your audience? Show them a power point presentation with tens of slides with charts. Charts are not generally regarded as crowd pleasers. With a little bit of creativity, however, charts can both inform and entertain. If you find this hard to believe, check out the examples on Chart Porn.

“If the anxiety is about the deadline, then the energy really focuses on the result. If there is not anxiety about a deadline, all of the anxiety goes right to the creative part.”
Illustrator Christoph Niemann nails it. His deadline-inspired work can be enjoyed on his website. Read his interview on the99percent.com.