Chained to its desk in Cubicalia, The creative Brain is at its lowest point — until a mysterious stranger beckons. Together, they embark upon a journey where The Brain’s creative talents are solely needed and put to the test. The Brain discovers how to function optimally to generate ideas and solutions, and you’ll discover what fundamentals are needed to foster a supportive environment where everyone is at their creative best.

1. The Journey of the Creative Brain
Denise R. Jacobs
From the Front / Bologna, Italy / September 2012

2. Tweeting tall tales
I am:
@denisejacobs
We’re at:
#ftf @fromthefront
I’m telling a story about a:
#creativebrain

3. I have a question for you…
How many of us are working at odds with
our primary tool for creating and
producing?

4. No, I am not talking about your gadgets,
computer or the groovy apps contained
therein…

5. I’m talking about your brain.

6. Once upon a time…
upon a time..

7. …there was a brain, who was
There was a brain…

8. Who...
…who was oppressed.

9. 1
emancipate

10. Welcome to Cubicalia
Another day sitting chained to its desk in
Cubicalia….

11. (The BossMan)
“Um, yeah. You’re lagging behind, bigtime. I need
you to come up with something brilliant and
innovative – and for, like, today….”

12. the pressure!
Pushed to its limits with no respite, little to
no information is getting in, and certainly
nothing but steam is coming out.

13. A wise woman once said:
“Make awesomeness. Do
good.”
- Leslie Jensen-Inman, MAP4
Awesomeness

14. “Check your chains.”

15. “I can show you what you
are capable of.
Check your chains.”

16. (empty desk)
The next time the BossMan passed the
Brain’s desk to bark out more orders, the
Brain is nowhere to be found.

17. 2
embark

18. Fleeing Cubicalia
Fleeing the squat, gray, windowless
buildings of Cubicalia, the Brain didn’t
notice the obstruction in its path.

19. Meet the RaynMann
It tripped, and tumbling to the ground, the
Brain realized that it is a man in a trench
coat, with the head of an umbrella.

20. He Hands his business card
“Allow me introduce myself: I’m RaynMann:
Holistic Cerebralist and Purveyor of
Actualization – at your service.”

21. Labyrinth at their feet
…For the first time, the Brain noticed that they
were standing at the entrance of an enormous
green and gray labyrinth on the ground.

22. Starting along the path…
As they took their first steps, the RaynMann
coughed…

23. Cough, Rumble, Flash!
With a 3-pronged flash of light and a
“whoosh!” they whisked off to their first
destination.

24. 3
integrate

25. Moving too Fast…
… It was overwhelmed by the bright
flashing signs, the noise, and the constant
feeling of things whipping past him.

26. “Ouf!” A women appeared out of thin air,
falling to the ground with a thud just
behind the Brain’s outstretched arm.

27. I’m looking for my brain…
“My brain always seems to somewhere just
ahead of me, and my soul always seems
be lagging behind…”

28. She Smiles…
“She drops the phone to her side and gazes off
wistfully across the surrounding scene of
blurred shapes and colors of people rushing
about …

29. Beta v. alpha
“That poor woman – in fact all the people of
this land as far I can tell – are stuck in the
beta brainwave state.”

30. “They could use with a more of what you
recommended: slowing down. When you relax,
the brain actually works better and you can
create more…”

31. Close your eyes…
“Can you get into alpha on purpose?”
“Absolutely. Close your eyes…”

32. But relax!
“…No, like that – stop scowling and relax.”

33. The Alpha Brainwave state
“Being in alpha also helps your brain hemispheres
work in a balanced synchronized manner, with
electrical impulses jumping easily back and
forth between them…”

34. The Left hemisphere
“The left hemisphere is made of neatly stacked vertical
columns, much like pancakes, which allows the clear
differentiation of separate mental functions, but less
integration of those functions.”

35. The right hemisphere
“Creativity comes from giving the right brain a chance to
leverage the axons in the brain (aka “white matter”) to
access all of the information stored in other places of the
brain and putting it all together in a new way.”

36. The satori moment
“Expanding those in-between moments is
often the source of ideas.”

37. A Wise man once said:
“Genius is the offspring of
the in-between.”
- Jonathan Fields

38. Communication Addiction
“Indeed. She’s suffering from a very
pronounced case of communication
addiction…”

39. Lo-fi time
“The anecdote? Lo-fi time: time away from
technology.”

40. A wise man once said:
“Don’t force creativity.
Allow it to come to you.”
- Erik Ford, To Sketch or Not
to Sketch

41. 4
collaborate

42. It looked like an assembly line…
They landed in a huge room of tables with
countless numbers of people sitting at them,
doing rote actions over and over again.

43. Man with no name
A man who appeared sad and lost, with a round
belly wearing a saffron-colored robe walked
amongst the workers looking like he planned to
interject some useful information…

44. The Land of Paravel
“I hear that there is a land called Paravel where
the people there work with their best friends,
using their complimentary talents and skills to
create amazing things…”

45. The importance of play
“That land has shown that friendship can be a
shortcut to productive play – that creation
amongst a group of people happens in a secure,
relaxed, and encouraging environment.”

46. A wise man once said:
“When you are playful, you are
activating the right side of
your brain. The logical brain
is a limited brain. The right
side is unlimited. You can (do
and ) be anything you want.”
- Madan Kataria, The
Laughter Guru

47. Disposable prototypes
“…start with disposable prototypes so that they
can think with their hands and work out the
problems of the item as they make it…”

48. Soon the room was abuzz
People shimmied, mash-potatoed, cabbage-
patched and thriller-danced through the
aisles…

49. Infectious laughter
But the laughter and joy was highly infectious,
and he started to laugh himself. In a short time,
he was laughing uncontrollably…

50. Aha moment
“…it's during the let-go period that that
gamma spike is most likely to arise, along
with that "aha!" moment.”

51. A wise woman once said:
“Bursts of creativity and
insight are just like bursts
of laughter: surprising and
delightful.”
- Denise Jacobs, The Journey
of the Creative Brain

52. 5
unify

53. An epiphany
The moment the Brain stepped foot in the
center of the labyrinth, it realized why it
had suffered so much in Cubicalia…

54. There is an alternative
Indeed, there is a road less traveled; an
alternative way of being that the Brain
had only hoped for.

55. Embrace paradox
In order to do so, however, it has to embrace
paradox.

56. A wise man once said:
“Creativity is the merging of
two incongruent ideas:
creativity is about
embracing paradox.”
- Frank Chimero, Build
Conference Nov. 2010, The
Shape of Design

57. RaynMann was no longer at its side…
It turned back to see the RaynMann, still in
the center of the labyrinth, starting to fade
away behind a wall of light drizzle.

58. 6
transform

59. return to cubicalia
Upon its return to Cubicalia, the Brain, now
feeling fairly fearless, went directly to see
The BossMan.

60. I have just one thing to say:
"BossMan, talk to the hand!"

61. Practices that encourage alpha
It instilled practices that encourage alpha, like
deliberate unstructured time for walking,
changing context, daydreaming…

62. Incorporate play
Playful collabation, improvisation and
plussing…

63. Seriousness sucks
Taking oneself seriously is verboten –
everyone must practice unselfconscious
creation…

64. Seek problems to solve
The brain was on a roll, and eventually added
practices for leveraging eustress by encouraging
people pursue problems to solve…

65. Transforming diffused focus…
Turning distraction and inefficient work …

66. To creatively productive focus
…into focused creative productivity and
flow states!

67. 7
innovate

68. Changes from Bettah Balancia
The balanced and now wildly productive creative
brains of Bettah Balancia caused the land to
become prosperous and abundant beyond
measure…

69. Not only that, but…
…and were an endless fount of inspiring products
and services that were not only innovative, but
that also contributed to the greater good.

70. Questions abounded
Word traveled swiftly to the other lands, and soon,
many were clamoring to know the secret of the
land of Bettah Balancia: “How…?!”

71. WTF?!
…Whaaaaat?

73. The End
(Or is it just the beginning?)

74. (My) Articles for Further reading
netmagazine.com/features/
four-secrets-enhancing-creative-
productivity
alistapart.com/articles/
reigniting-your-creative-spark/
alistapart.com/articles/
banishing-your-inner-critic/

75. Shameless Self-Promotion #1
Smashing Book #3:
Redesigning the
Web
Smashing Book #3 1/3:
The Extension
My chapter is
“The Missing
Element of
Redesign: Story”
SmashingBook.com

76. Shameless Self-Promotion #2
The CSS Detective
Guide
CSSDetectiveGuide.com
twitter.com/cssdetective

77. Shameless Self-Promotion #3
InterAct With
Web Standards:
A Holistic
Approach to Web
Design
InterActWithWebStandards.com
twitter.com/waspinteract

78. Original cover art
Americo Salas Morales
AmericoMorales.net
(sister) twitter.com/nivims

79. This presentation is Dedicated to
My Grandmother, Robbie Mae Lowe (aka “The Bug”)
My Grandfather, William James Lowe, Jr. (aka “Lowe”)

80. I tell stories. I design. I teach.
And I evangelize creativity.
DeniseJacobs.com
denise@denisejacobs.com
twitter.com/denisejacobs

81. Thank You!
Now it’s really The End!