Ideas

How to come up with ideas

The article ‘Good Ideas Grow on Paper’ by Christopher Murphy and Nicklas Persson (2010) highlights the importance of getting ideas on paper before jumping into the creative process on a computer, ‘Idea generation should be a process of rapid iteration, sketching and thinking aloud, all processes best undertaken in more fast paced, analogue media’. In my own work, I typically rely on iterating and idea generating on a computer, and I also stuggle with perfectionism that stops me making unique ideas and even sometimes stops me from creating at all. Switching to a medium that forces me to accept mistakes and bad ideas will help me to generate more ideas. This should lead to many bad ideas, but also some good and more creative ones that I would not have thought of otherwise.

As a designer, you should bring your unique knowledge to everything you design, which makes it incredibly important to read widely and to have experiences beyond sitting at a desk, as well as write and sketch about the things you learn to help synthesise your knowledge. The idea that handwriting helps synthesise your knowledge was also discussed by Marano, G., et al. (2025), ‘From a neuroscientific perspective, studies have shown that handwriting engages the sensorimotor cortex, visual areas, and language centres (e.g., Broca’s area) more extensively than typing’ and ‘Writing by hand strengthens memory and learning through the “encoding effect”, where the effort of forming letters improves retention and comprehension’, while ‘[typing has] less direct engagement of areas associated with memory and language’. This highlights the concept that handwriting, from an educational standpoint, is essential in cementing knowledge in your mind. ‘When typing, individuals tend to transcribe information passively, often without engaging deeply with the material. Handwriting slows down the notetaking process, prompting the subject to actively paraphrase and process the material rather than merely transcribe it’ (Marano, G., et al. 2025). Anecdotally, I believe that this explanation aligns with my own experience of writing and note taking, and I personally value the use of writing on a tablet, ‘Digital handwriting on touchscreens offers a compelling alternative that leverages the strengths of both traditional handwriting and typing, providing cognitive benefits alongside modern convenience’ (Marano, G., et al. 2025). It is more convenient to bring a light, thin tablet around with you ready for notetaking, reflecting on and adding to previous notes rather than chunkier notebook(s). While I do prefer the physical feedback and texture of a pen on paper, a tablet also means I avoid having to buy more and more notebooks and I use less paper, which is an appealing environmental benefit. I will be making a conscious effort over the course of this module to handwrite more rather than typing as I feel it will help with the idea generating process.