Category: Training

The power is in leaving a gap

So many things that I am working on at the moment lead me to the conclusion that there is power in the gaps. But I feel like for…

Building creative culture in engineering companies

I am starting to shift my attention away from creative tools for engineers. Tools are still important. But I’ve realised that you need a creative culture for individual…

Aristotle, Seneca and Emotional Intelligence – conceptual design training notes

This post is intended as a reminder for the people participants in last week’s conceptual design workshop. It may also pique the interest of anyone else interested in…

Designers: turn off your phone – harness the wandering mind

I recently read Daniel Goleman’s excellent book Focus, and I have been thinking about how our ability to focus affects our ability to design. This thinking was the…

What makes a good conceptual design statement? – working notes

Today I am working on course material related to defining what is a good conceptual design. I think, in construction at least, it is quite difficult to identify…

Workshop inspiration from Jackson Pollock

Today I went on a recce to the Tate Liverpool for a course we are designing at Think Up for a client. As I left the event hosting…

Follow the deer tracks, who knows where they’ll lead

Every time I go to the woods I find new insight or inspiration that I can use in my teaching. Today’s comes from deer tracks. I know the…

An end to ‘nailing the start but messing up the finish’

I find that when I am memorising any sort of sequence – song lyrics, dance moves, lines for a presentation – I usually over rehearse the beginning and…