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Struggling with design work, sketching, or managing academic pressure? Whether you're a student balancing deadlines with creativity or an educator seeking clarity in your teaching approach, this blog offers focused, practical support in Design & Technology — from visual communication to process thinking and digital fabrication. Since 2007, Design Journal SOS has helped readers overcome real classroom challenges with grounded strategies and insight. 💬 Have a topic you're curious about? Or found something here that helped you? I welcome your questions and reflections — they keep this space alive and evolving. 🔗 Follow for updates: Facebook /designjournalsos (Copyright © 2007–2025 Daniel Lim)

23 February 2022

Idea Generation: How to begin? Shape Borrow? Inspiration? Research? SCAMPER? What Questions?

Practical tips and insights on how to Generate Ideas starting with Shape Borrowing - Just the way how Mr Daniel would do it.

This example is a student’s work and he was clearly stuck. I took his paper and did a photocopy and attempted a re-work. To show you how mrdanielsos would have done it differently. And effectively.

How go go from STUCK’        to              ‘FREE FLOW

Student wants to design and make something that can wipe a table dry instantly. I did not know why he chose a snail toy for a start. Obviously because of this choice, he did not know what to do next. 

I can fully understand because the paper seemed blank. Lacking in clarity. etc. In this video, I will show you from start to finish how I would get out of this predicament of getting stuck with this seemingly impossible starter with a snail toy for a product to dry a table. 

What you’ll see and learn from this video is done LIVE on the spot without pre-preparation or plans. I am approaching this as if I am actually trying to ideate on the spot.

In this video you will learn how to set your ideation page clearly. What you need to state in advance. What you need to know. How to make use of your Design Specifications and Product Research to your advantage. The SCAMPER technique will also be explained and I’ve used ‘Combine’ and ‘Eliminate’ in this video. I also spoke briefly about ergonomics and anthropometric and how they will include the size and form of the design. You will also learn what you can do after you have drawn a solution (or an idea). What to do next? What questions to ask? How to ask questions? etc.

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