The design process involves researching, inventing, and expressing ideas. Sometimes concepts seem to pop out of nowhere, but just as often they result from deliberate techniques. Many designers start a project with brainstorming, an open-ended search for initial directions. Brainstorming, however, is just the beginning in a designer's quest for useful and inspiring ideas.
This book presents dozens of tools and techniques, ranging from quick, seat-of-the-pants approaches to more formal research tools, such as focus groups and co-design.
At the book's core are techniques for releasing creative energy and stimulating fresh thinking to arrive at compelling and viable solutions. Each method is illustrated with visual demonstrations and case studies that show design processes at work. Also featured are discussions with leading professionals -including Art Chantry, Ivan Chermayeff, Jessica Helfand, Steven Heller, Maira Kalman, Abbott Miller, Christoph Niemann, Paula Scher, and Martin Venezky- about how they get ideas and what they do when the well runs dry. Graphic Design Thinking is for anyone who wants to apply inventive thought patterns to everyday creative challenges.