Transcript INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN SYNECTICS Based on Design Synectics

INTRODUCTION
TO DESIGN
SYNECTICS
http://www.wcboe.k12.md.us/custom_pages/Inst_Technology/Main/HS/Art/Design%20S
ynectics/introdesignsynectics.htm
Edited by R. Veon 10_23_13 for ART 3700
Based on
Design
Synectics by
Nicholas
Roukes
Synectics Definition
 The
term Synectics is from the Greek word
synectikos, which means “bringing forth
together,” or “bringing different things into
unified connection.”
 Synectics is about making connections.
Since creativity involves the
changing of things into new
structures, creative thought or
action often draws on synectic
thinking.
Synectic thinking is the process
of discovering the links that
unite seemingly disconnected
elements.
It is a way of mentally
taking things apart and
putting them together
to furnish new insight
for all types of
problems.
Synectics Definition
 Creative
discovery comes from analogical
and metaphorical thinking, the process of
linking unlike subjects.
 You will generate VISUAL analogies and
metaphors.
Thinking to Connect
 Analogical
thinking is a comparison
between two things that are similar in
some respects, often used to help explain
something or make it easier to understand.
 Metaphorical thinking is when one thing is
used or considered to represent another
Thinking to Connect
Metaphorical thinking is
when one thing is
used or considered to
represent another.
= or is like
The Synectic Process
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Make something strange familiar…or something
familiar, strange
Create something new…
Personal analogies-do you feel like a sponge,
doormat? Do you see yourself as a lion, a
mouse?
Direct analogies-A school is like a salad…life is
like an elevator.
Conflicting analogies…War-creative and
destructive. Talent is a blessing and a curse.
Metaphorical Thinking
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A metaphor is a soft thinking technique
connecting two different universes of meaning.
Examples: Food chain, flow of time, fiscal
watchdog.
The key to metaphorical thinking is similarity.
The human mind tends to look for similarities.
A road map is a model or metaphor of reality
and useful for explaining things.
The Dolby Sound system is like a sonic laundry.
Architect Buckminster Fuller
summed up the essence of
synectics when he said all things
regardless of their dissimilarity can
somehow be linked together,
either in a physical, psychological
or symbolic way.
The Synectic Attitude
 Synectics
encourages the ability to live
with complexity and apparent
contradiction.
 Synectics stimulates creative thinking.
 Synectics mobilizes both sides of the
brain, the right brain (the dreamer), and
the left brain (the reasoner).
 Synectics provides a free-thinking state of
consciousness .
The Synectic Ways of Working
 Synectics
is based on the fusion of
opposites or dissimilarity.
 Synectics is based on analogical thinking
(making analogies).
 Synectics is synergistic. Its action
produces a result which is greater than the
sum of its parts.
The Synectic Pinball Machine
 Synectic
thinking is like a mental pinball
game. Stimulus input bounced against the
scoring bumpers (the Trigger Questions) is
transformed.
 Ordinary perceptions are turned into
extraordinary ones; the familiar or prosaic
is made strange.
 Synectic play is the creative mind at work.
The Synectic Triggers
 Synectic
Trigger mechanisms catalyze or
create new thoughts, ideas and inventions.
 Synectic Theory is based on disruptive
thinking.
The 23 Design Synectic Triggers
Subtract
Change Scale
Prevaricate
Repeat
Substitute
Analogize
Combine
Fragment
Hybridize
Add
Isolate
Metamorphose
Transfer
Distort
Symbolize
Empathize
Disguise
Mythologize
Animate
Contradict
Fantasize
Superimpose
Parody
Take Creative Action!
 Ideas
are not born in a vacuum.
 Use the 23 synectic triggers to transform
your ideas into something new.
 The triggers are tools for transformational
thinking and may lead you to some great
discoveries.
Art Think: Ways of Working
1. Identify:
Set the problem or task, identify the subject.
2. Analyze:
Examine the subject; break it down, classify it.
3. Ideate:
Think, fantasize, produce ideas. Generate options
towards a creative solution. Relate, rearrange,
reconstruct. What design synectic triggers can
you use?
4. Select:
Choose your best option.
5. Implement:
Put your ideas into action. Realize it. Transform
imagination and fantasy into tangible form.
6. Evaluate:
Judge the result. Think about new options and
possibilities that have emerged. Go back to
step #1.
Really????
 Theme
of this class is– WE ARE HUMAN
 The educational focus is Cognitive
Development
 Cognitive Science tells us thinking
involves FEELING and EXPERIENCE
 Where is the emotional engagement in the
list on the last slide?
Your Assignment
Draw a picture you can use to
transform using the 23 synectic
triggers. Be sure it is a complete
drawing of an object. No heads,
people or cartoons!