In considering both of these principles, I believe that the two are in fact related and can influence each other. Whilst doing my research, I was drawn to the famous Google offices in Zurich. These offices were in fact designed by consultants specializing in architectural psychology with the brief to create an environment which was functional but also allowed "creatives" to find space to function in isolation but also to interact as a team member. Some images are given below.
As you can see there are different types of working spaces where one can work alone or engage in activities with colleagues. In my view the latter can assist in brainstorming with others which can lead to significant idea generation. Also from my own experience I have found that when ideas are coming slowly it is best to take a break and do something completely unrelated and to return to the task with a fresh mind. These work spaces could also serve this purpose too.
Of course my own workspace at home is not so grand but I am an avid collector of relevant magazine articles, art exhibition catalogues and leaflets etc which I keep as a source of reference and inspiration for my work.
There is also a cultural aspect to my workspace which is derived my native Mexico. Since the time of my Foundation Course last year, I have a renewed appreciation of the art and culture of the ancient civilizations of my country and also modern/ contemporary Mexican artists. As a result, I have been collecting books, photos, catalogues and artifacts from Mexico which also now surround my workspace. Living here in the UK, I have found that this Mexican cultural influence has given a different dimension to my work.
Developing Ideational Fluency
The lecture touched upon three aspects of developing an ideational fluency. These were classification, brainstorming and mind mapping. Possibly I didn't realize at the time but I now recognize that I utilized these methods during the production of FMP for my Foundation Course. The FMP was an illustration project called "Decay of an Empire" which consisted of ten illustrations depicting the collapse and decay of the wonderful Aztec civilization following the arrival of the Spanish and making a link to contemporary problems of Mexico.
In the planning of the project I wanted to introduce elements of decay using dental decay as a metaphor which was influenced by previous career in Mexico as a dentist. This was coupled with more factual representations of Aztec and post-conquistador Mexico. In this way the ideas were classified.
Trying to condense the history of my native country and at the same time generate images which provoked questions required considerable brainstorming with friends, relatives and fellow students. This generated my pool of ideas.
From this pool, I had to organize and select which ones I was going to follow. For this, I found mind-mapping a useful tool which allowed me to bring my ideas to a coherent series of story board illustrations. In case you are interested some of the images from this project are given below.
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