Turning serendipity into predictable patterns of inspiration

Turning serendipity
into predictable
patterns of inspiration
RE:DESIGN/Inspire
Chicago, 09.24.12
Michael Surtees

Hi, I’m Michael Surtees

Publish the blog Design Notes

Principal & Creative Director of Gesture Theory

Spends a lot of time designing products, iPad apps
and social analytic tools

@MICHAELSURTEES | RE:DESIGN/Inspire | 09.24.12 | 2

Insanity: doing the same
thing over and over again
and expecting different
results.
—Albert Einstein


Becoming inspired is
not about waiting for
the moment but to be
actively seeking it.


Creating an environment
that allows for unexpect-
ed results that otherwise
wouldn’t be possible.


Listening to internal
dialog is a challenge.
It’s a trick balancing the
subconscious that makes
you think and the dialog
that makes you stop.


Observing is a two
way street. There’s the
unknown ahead and the
past to learn from.


Serendipity &
Inspiration?


New York City Color Study

Small steps: what if I captured
what was outside my window
everyday


Animated gif at http://designnotes.info/?p=1550

Ten15am Project

Group think: people around
the world shooting at the same
time every day


David Y. Lee: Brooklyn, NY

Sahra S Zanetti: Melbourne

Nick McLelland: New York

Verna Pitts: Minnesota

Barry Choi: Toronto

Michael Surtees: NYC

Greig Anderson: Glasgow

Jody Sugrue: Toronto

Melissa H.

Paulo Pereira: NY

Revbean

cwth

Jennifer Daniel: NYC

AIGA 20/20

Changing the tempo: sharing
what it is like to walk to work
in 60 seconds


Video at https://vimeo.com/6975248#at=0

#walkingtoworktoday

Merging it all together


#Typography Caught In The Wild Of #NYC
http://designnotes.info/?p=7187


From Copyranter: If you know the show,
you smile at the inside joke. If you don’t
know the show, you Google “March 25
and maybe you guess what it is or maybe
you think March 25th is National Commit
Suicide Day and you start the search for
the perfect building to throw yourself off
of. Or, if you see it in NYC, you think of the
Fallen Man.

http://copyranter.blogspot.com/2012/01/mad-men-season-5-teaser-poster-is.html

http://perezhilton.com/2012-01-18-mad-men-teaser-poster#.Tx1iTmO49Ce

http://crushable.com/entertainment/mad-men-season-5-poster-march-25/

http://www.wetpaint.com/network/articles/new-mad-men-poster-sparks-911-controversy-is-the-ad-insensitive-

#walkingtoworktoday still continues
today. It can be found on Twitter,
Instagram and Flickr and is open to
anyone that want to share an image


Taking a couple other people’s
process into consideration


Daily Drop Cap
http://www.dailydropcap.com
Starting in September of 2009, Jessica Hische posted a
new illustrative initial cap daily (or at least regularly)

• Started project after leaving her day job
• Inspired to keep motivated and on a schedule
• Wanted to do something physical because she’s
on the computer all day


http://www.dailydropcap.com

Art In The Age Presents... Jessica Hische
https://vimeo.com/13683523

Average Noah Kalina (A PHOTO A DAY FOR 12.5 YEARS)
http://thanland.com/articles/average-noah-kalina


Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 12.5 years
http://everyday.noahkalina.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iPPzXlMdi7o

SVA Dot Dot Dot Lectures: Brendan Dawes (Bits & Pieces
http://vimeo.com/3449834

Drawing tool Line & dot tool News API feed


SVA Dot Dot Dot Lectures: Brendan Dawes
Bits & Pieces (6:02 - 7:50)
http://vimeo.com/3449834


http://doodlebuzz.com/

What did they all have in common?

• Worked on making something every day
(or almost every day)

• They all used their daily routine as part of
their process to explore and experiment

• Shared their results online


Exercise
Part 1. Take the next 15 minutes to
go outside and shoot things that
interest you at a consistent interval.
This might be shooting something
every thirty steps, maybe it’s every
45 seconds. The key is to place a time
constraint with shooting.


Exercise
Part 2. Take a few minutes to go
through the photos. Did you notice
any patterns or repeated visual
elements that reoccured with what
you shot?

Looking at the images through a
timeline, what kind of narrative
comes through?


Starting your own project
A lot of times we see things and feel the impact for the moment but we
don’t always document them.

• Write down things or experiences that recently occurred and made
you stop and think.

• How would you use technology or not, would it be a simple sketch,
write, shooting a photo everyday, perhaps make a video?

• Think about when you are in a zone to be creative (early morning
before you turn on the computer, later in the day after lunch, maybe
at night before bed)

• How much time can you set aside easily (5 minutes, an hour)

• Would you do this by yourself, could it be a group activity?

• How would you track progress, how would it be shared?


Thanks!

Please feel free to say hi

Blog: DesignNotes.info
Email: michael@michaelsurtees.com
Twitter: @michaelsurtees
Instagram: MichaelSurtees
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/michaelsurtees


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