Can we become more creative?

Facilitated by Fridolin Beisert, Creative Strategies is a series of weekly experiments focused on developing strategic approaches to creativity.                     

#1: Dig Deeper

#2: Pattern Breaking

#3: Planting Limits

#4: Creative Remix

Design a promo piece that you can use to say thank you to those that matter in your life.

While a thank you note on a napkin is viewed as thoughtless and rushed, a sketch on a napkin is something magical – a personal moment of artistic spontaneity captured on a rudimentary, primitive medium.

The act of saying thank you is, in its essence, simple. Yet it holds a level of sentiment that transcends beyond the boundaries of the physical. 

The Thank You Napkin Ring reflects a renewed simplicity in expressing gratitude to the people who matter in your life.

What is the Art Center essence? Create a gift from Art Center. This item would be sold in the student store or be a give-away for guests or visitors.

The dust and scraps from the countless hours sanding down a model to perfection is our unique testament to the passion we at Art Center possess. It is also a symbolic representation of being broken down, only to be built up to become stronger designers.

Our dust is what defines us. It embodies our relentless pursuit towards perfection in our craft, fueled by a passion that surpasses convention. 

Our dust, our passion, our dreams.

Transform the die-cut letter from useless waste material into a useful product. Avoid obvious solutions. Concept is key.

To obtain multiples of the same letter, I sorted out and organized the letters from the pile.

Coincidentally, I placed the letters O C D next to each other. That serendipitous moment perfectly expressed the nature of the task. 

I decided to go with that concept for the final artwork.

Remix creativity around a theme that appeals to you.

The key is to create multiple variations of a theme to be discussed during the final presentation.

I chose to remix incense holders with Nobel Prize laureates. 

I went about sketching out concepts for the Nobel Prize laureates I short listed, selected based on getting a good cross section of winners from physics, medicine, peace and literature.

The final 3 selected were Mother Teresa (Peace Prize), Albert Einstein (Physics), and Jean-Paul Sartre (Literature).

Mother Theresa, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, is represented by a sculptural piece that reflects her grace and meekness.

The accentuated wings on both sides hug and embrace the smoke from the incense as it ascends towards the sky.
 

Albert Einstein received the Nobel Prize Physics in 1921 for his services to Theoretical Physics, and for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.

The crystal glass cylinder refracts light passing through with an inverse funnel at its core, converging the smoke as it rises, mimicking the convergence of light rays in laser beam.

Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964, to which he declined, Jean-Paul Sartre's philosophy of existentialism is reflected here, with the coals held by this outer structure at birth.

As the incense burns, it discovers itself, surges up into the world as it billows up in smoke. Its remnants turn into ashes and drops down to the base, escaping the structure that once held it captive.