VISUAL CAUSALITY
It is accepted wisdom that we base our understanding of the world on repeated observations of cause and effect. Billiard balls will bounce off of each other in a very predictable way. The coffee...
Category: HOW TO
TECHNIQUE DESIGN
Technique is culturally biased. We have already established that there is a cultural approbation of drawing technique. Since drawing controls how we think, then how we design is culturally engrained. And this is difficult...
TRANSPARENT DRAWING METHOD
What if we were taught form generation simply for the enjoyment of form generation? What if we were given the tools, an approach, a philosophy for pure enclosure and form generation? This would be...
SHAMELESS DUMB CAT
Sex and dumb cat photos sells. I’m sorry to have to report that since I posted Sexy Sketches, the pageviews to Transparent Drawing have tripled. And since I have made it perfectly clear that...
THE HALO EFFECT
First impressions are hugely important. The halo effect is a psychological term given to describe this first impression. We develop a cognitive bias toward a person based on initial impressions, and this bias continues...
PREDICT THE FUTURE
Are our design predictions accurate? How complete is our design understanding? Are we completely unsurprised when we walk into a building that we designed for the first time? Can we say we accurately predicted...
THE ROMANCE OF IT ALL
Is the act of drawing better than the drawing? Yes. If the act of drawing is a sacred act, then the place that you draw also becomes sacred. I am always very interested to...
REGRESSION TO THE MEAN
I think that if I keep finding these psychologically oriented topics, I will need to create another category to this blog. I am finding that a psychological understanding of the client’s process something that...
YOUR CLIENT’S BRAIN
We have been considering what is happening when your client hates your design. We have discussed both emotional and logical responses of our clients. So it was with great interest to learn about a...
THROW OUT THE GARBAGE
I really like completing a drawing and then posting it the same day. Somehow, the immediacy of this action is better than posting a drawing done say two years ago. I was thinking about...
WHEN A CLIENT HATES YOUR DESIGN – TAKE 2
Robert, one of our far flung correspondents, takes exception to my thoughts about clients hating your design. (This link takes you to Robert’s comments, which are at the bottom of the page.) Robert has...
PUTTING MY MONEY WHERE MY MOUTH IS
When you use the work of another as a starting point, it is amazing how quickly what you are working on becomes your own. I get great enjoyment and inspiration from the paintings and...
EMOTIONAL FORMS
There is no question that we continually search for new forms. These might take the shape of a watch, a phone or a building. But as enclosure designers we truly are searching for novel...
HEARILIZATION IS NOT A WORD
I continue to be captivated by Philip Glass’ use of the word visualize in his book Words Without Music when describing his creative process. Before this, I had never thought that music composition employed...
A LECORBUSIER MINDSET
LeCorbusier itemized, in his Five Points Towards a New Architecture, his basic planning principals on how to approach design. The first four points address the structure, roof gardens, open plans, and horizontal windows, all...
FAMOUS CREATIVE MINDS
Noguchi tells us, “Primarily, what we carry around with us is a memory of our childhood, back when each day held the magic of discovering the world.” It seems to me that there are...
KNEE JERK DESIGN
As should be clear by now, representational drawing is by definition based on the exclusion of information. Opaque objects hide what’s behind them. And what you can’t see, you can’t process. Kahneman, in Thinking...
FAMILIAR HURT
Humans are very comfortable with the familiar. There is the old adage that we are creatures of habit. And I would surmise that this is entirely true. We are comfortable with the tried and...
ANTI-TECHNIQUE
I am wary of watercolor technique. You might call me anti-technique. Open any introduction to watercolor book and the pages are bold and bright and frankly intimidating. Those books demonstrate all sorts of standard...
CULTURAL BIAS
Analogue drawing is such a precious tool that we possess. From what I can tell, there is a lack of innovation. Yet we should be innovating. We should be developing broader and unique ways...
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