Creativity is a unique phenomenon and a highly elusive notion. It can be broadly defined as a process of producing new ideas, concepts, and theories or innovative reimagining of the existing ones. In design, ingenuity is necessary to promote qualitative innovation and support the invention of groundbreaking products that can help ease many people’s lives. This post will discuss two types of creativity in design and consider how they relate to the processes of analysis and synthesis.
Two main types of creativity are distinguished in the field of design. Out-of-the-box thinking is a process of generating new ideas based on preexisting, conventional concepts (Taura & Nagai, 2017). Thus, it allows for eliminating the fixation on past preconceived notions (Taura & Nagai, 2017). In design, out-of-box thinking helps create new products through constructive nonconformity to their natural predecessors. Another type is the combination of elements, a method of cultivating ideas through the fusion of different pieces from the fields of science and technology (London School of Design and Marketing, 2018). Similar to out-of-box thinking, this way of thinking often results in new concepts being conceived due to eliminating limitations and challenging conventional ways of combining different elements. Thus, the two types of creativity rely on the previously established concepts, rethinking and combining them through novel approaches.
Both types of creativity are pivotal for the innovation process. However, inventive ideas can only be translated into practical solutions through a competent design method (Commission of the European Communities, 2009). The latter is dependent on the processes of analysis and synthesis. An analysis is an exercise in examining and breaking down an already existing concept or product into components or characteristics to understand how its inner workings (Taura & Nagai, 2017). Synthesis is an activity of mixing and merging various elements to determine what combination is more effective and efficient for the purposes of a project (Taura & Nagai, 2017). It can be argued that the two processes are interrelated as synthesis requires a thorough understanding of all parts and their function and characteristics that can be reached through analysis. Meanwhile, the analysis explains why certain designs are more functional and practical than others.
The processes of analysis and synthesis are related to out-of-box thinking and the combination of elements type of creativity. Specifically, analysis is correlated with out-of-box thinking as they both require a preconceived perspective that helps to analyze a design (Taura & Nagai, 2017). Analysis helps yield specific details about how a product works that are objective and cannot be misinterpreted. In turn, the out-of-box creativity can rely on that knowledge and, realizing the preconceived view, circumvent it to create something new. Similarly, synthesis is associated with creativity that concerns combining different elements as they are free association-oriented (London School of Design and Marketing, 2018). In design, synthesis is framed as a creative process as it involves innovative ways or methods of integrating well-studied elements to produce a new design or a product with new functions.
In summary, inventiveness is crucial for the design process as it promotes innovation. The two types of creativity can be defined as out-of-box thinking and combining elements, and they are directly related to such components of the design process as analysis and synthesis. The former is connected with out-of-box creativity as they both require a deep understanding of the constituent parts of a product or construct, while the latter can be defined as a creative process of combining different components.
References
Commission of the European Communities. (2009). Design as a driver of user-centred innovation.
London School of Design and Marketing. (2018). LSDM BA Design – Design & Creative Theory – Lesson 4 [Video].
Taura, T., & Nagai, Y. (2017). Creativity in innovation design: The roles of intuition, synthesis, and hypothesis. International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation, 5(3–4), 131–148. doi:10.1080/21650349.2017.1313132