How to look at things from outside the box as a designer
Where 1+1=!
At first glance, what does this object look like to you?
If you’ve never seen this product before, you might think it’s just a common cup. But once you see it filled with beer…
“Hey, it kind of looks like Mt. Fuji!”
1+1=!
I love harnessing the element of surprise in design. Not only do you provide the viewer with feeling like they’ve unboxed a gift, but you’ve also given them the opportunity to discover a new perspective to what would otherwise be ordinary or commonplace.
Nendo, a design studio founded by Oki Sato, describes their design concepts like this:
[It’s about] giving people a small ”!” moment.
There are so many small ”!” moments hidden in our everyday.
小さな「！」を人に感じてもらうこと。私たちの日常には、たくさんの小さな「！」が見え隠れしています。
Where a similar approach is used, I have seen the impact these small surprises provide, from home accessories to furniture to art installations…
For example:
A lemon squeezer that looks like a space alien.
Cushions that look like pebbles
Street lamps that look like flowers.
Recently, I watched a design documentary from NHK that described this design concept as mitate, which can be explained as seeing something that resembles other things, a way of harnessing a new perspective that provides an element of surprise, thus offering viewers an intriguing experience.
Wikipedia provides this definition: “Mitate is a technique used in ukiyo-e images, as well as in other creative forms, in which many layers of meaning are layered atop one another, often to humorous effect; that is, a technique by which references to historical or fictional events or personages, or ideas, are embedded into images.”
Looking at past works by artists and designers who have employed mitate, we can see that the components for this type of visual delight is often a mundane product transformed by…
- adding a layer of creativity
- a dash of wittiness
- and the element of surprise.
Hinomaru bento, a popular lunch option in Japan, conveys mitate with its single umeboshi (pickled plum) in the middle of a rectangular bed of rice, bringing to mind the Japanese national flag.
Hinomaru bento
How can we practise this creative thinking in our daily life? As designers, how can we hone the skill of learning to see things with a new layer of creativity?
In the previously mentioned NHK documentary, the designer, Yasuhiro Suzuki, has a very interesting approach to how he lets his mind run free to observe small things. Every day, no matter where he goes, he carries a notebook with him and does a quick sketch of things that interest him.
A bed of tulips becomes…
A bonfire made of tulip petals.
Now, it’s your turn. Take a look at the following image. What might this be? Could it be a roof? A mountain? Or an open book on a table?
What might this be?
Here are my 5 tips for honing your ability to see things creatively.
- Take the time to deeply observe your surroundings.
- Draw what you notice in simple shapes and clean lines.
- Rotate your canvas to view it from a different perspective.
- Zoom in and zoom out. View objects in micro and macro (sometimes, I pretend my eyes are like a camera phone, zooming in and out the detail of the object).
- Free yourself by having no goal in mind.
Have fun!
Footnote: As you begin to examine your surroundings, you may start to notice faces in the objects you are studying, whether intentionally placed or not. The term for this is pareidolia, which we will discuss further in a future article.
Pareidolia (/p?r??do?li?/ parr-i-DOH-lee-?) is the tendency to interpret a vague stimulus as something known to the observer, such as seeing shapes in clouds, seeing faces in inanimate objects or abstract patterns, or hearing hidden messages in music.
Notes :
- “You see what you want to see” — Heard it from a stockbroker when he was explaining about the chart.