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Design · MS elective · 3 credit hours · 16 sessions

Experimental Design & Creative Thinking

This studio course challenges students to break the rules of traditional design and explore the limits of their creativity. Focusing on lateral thinking and avant-garde techniques, students will engage in rapid prototyping, destructive creation, and cross-disciplinary experiments. The goal is to overcome creative blocks and discover innovative solutions that exist outside standard industry practices.Shutterstock

§ 01 By the end you can
  1. Master lateral thinking techniques (SCAMPER, Six Thinking Hats) to generate ideas
  2. Explore non-traditional materials and "destructive" creation methods
  3. Challenge visual conventions through abstraction and deconstruction
  4. Develop a personal methodology for overcoming creative block
  5. Execute a conceptual design project that prioritizes process over perfection
§ 02 Sixteen sessions

The whole semester.

  1. 01The Psychology of Creativity & Flow State
  2. 02Lateral Thinking Methods (De Bono)
  3. 03Rapid Prototyping: Fail Fast, Fail Often
  4. 04The "Happy Accident": Embracing Chance
  5. 05Material Exploration: Analog vs. Digital
  6. 06Dadaism & Surrealism in Modern Design
  7. 07Anti-Design & Brutalism
  8. 08 · MidtermMidterm Examination
  9. 09Deconstruction: Breaking the Grid
  10. 10Glitch Art & Digital Decay
  11. 11Sensory Design: Sound & Haptics
  12. 12Bio-Design: Nature-Inspired Experiments
  13. 13Speculative Design: Future Scenarios
  14. 14Collaborative Chaos: Group Dynamics
  15. 15Curating the Process: Documentation
  16. 16Final Project: The Experimental Installation

Midterm around session 8. Final project briefed at session 8 or 9 and developed in stages until the juries.

§ 03 Final project

Final Project: The Experimental Installation

How it’s judged

Recommended reading
  1. Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step by Edward de Bono
  2. Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
  3. Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith
  4. Design as Art by Bruno Munari
  5. Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley
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