OUGD504 - Design Production [SB1] - Secondary Research

The beginning of my secondary research I conducted was to try and compare the design processes of some infamous designers in the industry, and try to create a link between them. 

The creators of South Park; Trey Parker and Matt Stone actually encourage a feeling of panic by producing each episode of their show a week before, as opposed to the months of planning and designing of their competitors such as Family Guy. They believe this sense of panic produces a quality of work overlooked when you feel like you have more time, and there is no need to make important decisions quickly. I too feel more competent under pressure. I feel when I am under pressure I am able to make important design decisions with a clearer head and a clearer understanding of why I am making the decision, instead of just making the easy choice.

A Japanese inventor named Yoshiro Nakamatsu, more commonly known as the inventor of the Floppy Disk has more of an unusual method to his creative madness. He finds that his best moments of genius come from him being near-death, and apparently his ideas get better the closer to death he gets. He often dives deep into the ocean where he is close to dying from the water pressure just to come up with some of his ideas (including the Floppy disk itself).

I also looked at Creativebloq's take on the 'perfect' creative process (http://www.creativebloq.com/design/perfect-design-process-1131825)

In short, their four steps include:

1. Research
2. Define & Develop
3. Refine
4. Deliver

These four steps are the barebones of a successful creative process, and how you adapt around these four steps is the part where your individuality comes into play. Personally, I like to occasionally go straight into designing to see where my problems arise, and then start my research phase with prior knowledge of the sort of problems that occurred, which gives me an advantage in my research phase.

I believe every individual is going to have a different creative process albeit probably less insane than the second example in all likeliness. To try and find what makes my creative process optimal for me will require me to create my own flowchart in my head of what steps I take after first hearing a brief that needs to be addressed.