Ideation
noun
The process or the act of forming ideas.
1. The faculty or capacity of the mind for forming ideas; the exercise of this capacity; the act of the mind by which objects of sense are apprehended and retained as objects of thought.
2. The conceptualization of a mental image.Â
Ideation is the process of conceiving ideas. While ideas are inherently part of how we process and understand the world and can be involuntary, ideation is the deliberate crafting of ideas. To do so requires the right circumstances which include input, environment, intention and a desire for resolution.Â
Ideation is the intentional search for solutions. An idea is not inherently new or novel. To search for an idea to a common problem often means following the path of least resistance. Easy problems lead to easy solutions. But complex problems that defy easy solutions require a more sophisticated and measured approach. An idea is creative when it becomes novel.Â
Novel from what?Â
For an idea to become novel, the creator must have an awareness of previously existing ideas. This isn’t novelty for the sake of novelty. For the artist, this is the baseline of their education in art history, world history and contemporary culture. Remember that distinction is the currency of the artist. The more that an artist knows about the ideas, historical framework and resulting cultural movements, the more they are capable of identifying ideas that are unique when compared to those that have come before. Further, these ideas can be built upon, referenced and recontextualized. The more the artist is versed in contemporary culture, current findings and future projections, the more relevant their ideas are to the present. In such circumstances the point is not to repeat, copy and reiterate, but to innovate. Through the lens of creative interpretation, originality is a high bar, but authenticity should always be the target. Novel ideas are born out of an awareness of the past and serve as a projection of the future. Those who can harness the energy created from the friction of opposing ideas can dictate fashion. Without an understanding of what came before and a clear vision of what comes next, you are destined to repeat. Such are the lessons that history has to teach us and it becomes particularly poignant to creators seeking to leave an authentic mark.Â
Past VS Future
This is one of the primary differences when using ideation to solve objective problems in the material world. There may be a number of ideas that could lead to probable solutions, but the outcomes will always benefit from those ideas that take the path of least resistance. This is measured through the efficiency of resources: people, time, materials and capital; the lifeblood of commerce.
Creating for subjective problems within the realm of commercial art and imagination requires the artist to find distinctly different solutions, approaches and methods. The artist is faced with an inherent paradox- to create something never-before-seen, while communicating a message at the same time.
Within Ideation, this becomes the point. This has an amplifying effect on the capacity of the idea to disrupt existing assumptions. This is the break in the pattern that introduces conflict. This is the principle that is at the core of developing ideas that have resonance, visibility, and attraction.
An idea is a paradox; the search for unique ideas is the search for dichotomy.