The backstory…

My friend David sent me a link to this poster by Simon Vince a few weeks ago. He’d seen it on the Brainpickings website and thought that I’d like it. I did, and although I recognised Simon’s name, I couldn’t remember where from.

The next day, during a random search, Simon’s name popped up on my contacts list.  My notes said that we’d met at the Rich Mix centre in 2010, and then it all came back! That day in May, I’d been meeting people for our BracketLab project. Simon had overhead me talking about creative collaboration and approached me for a chat.

So I tracked him down to find out what had happened in the two years since we met, and to find out the meaning behind his poster. We decided to meet at Rich Mix again.

About Simon…

Simon Vince is a true multi-disciplinary champion. Primarily a London-based self-employed graphic designer/artist, he helps small to large businesses communicate their ideas through design, by producing brand identities, brochures, posters and other literature.  Alongside this, he’s also a musician and has experimented with animation, video, photography, collage and screen-printing.  He’s been searching out collaborations from the moment he started his graphic design course at Falmouth Art College.

The poster…

The “collaborate” poster, which Simon designed in 2006, is part of a project by John Stanbury (he and Simon studied together at Falmouth) to help new students make the most of their time at university through a designed piece of advice. ‘Advice to Sink in Slowly’ is a collection of posters created by recent graduates, each containing a tip that they wish they’d known at the start of their course.

 “The main thing I’d gained [from university] was a lot to do with the people around me, not just students, but also tutors. I’ve been invited back to do tutorials and I tell students to make the most of their time there, their surroundings, and the other diverse talents, different skills and backgrounds that people have.  It’s about working together and combining your ideas”, says Simon.

The clear meaning behind the poster is the growth of a tree.  The roots symbolise different university courses, the people, their backgrounds and the various ideas and skills that intertwine. They come together in the trunk – a growing hub of energy – and then the tree sprouts to create something bigger, better and more beautiful.

“When I went back to Falmouth recently, I saw the poster framed in the library. It was great to know the University recognised the importance of collaboration”

At university…

Simon found he was always pushing his own boundaries during his studies, because of his enthusiasm for so many different creative disciplines.  He sparked up collaborations with students from other courses to explore his interests in creating multi-sensory pieces through combining music, visuals and words.  One project was a video he developed with an animator – he helped to art-direct the piece and produced the soundtrack. Another was with a photographer/poet where she recited her work on top of a film that they had created together, and music that Simon had produced.

“I was excited by being in a place where there is so much talent and different types of people. I found it extremely inspirational. University is your first step into the world of networking and working alongside other people”

The video that Simon created with poet Emi Kodama “Between Land and Sky”

Freelancing…

So how has this translated into the reality of working life? The process of collaboration is still important for Simon, but it’s been harder for him to find people to work with since he graduated and started working for himself in London.  This is partly to do with having less time to experiment creatively as a freelancer, and partly to do with finding the spaces and places to meet potential collaborators – the reason why co-working spaces are such an asset.

Graphic Collage by Simon Vince

“The thing that I miss the most is sharing and bouncing ideas off of others, and the motivation and inspiration that comes from having other creatives around.  I could potentially work on much larger projects that the ones I’m doing now if I was collaborating more.  Collaboration is like a relationship.  If you find someone that you work well with, you can take on all kinds of projects and challenges together”

Although Simon doesn’t work as much in the way that he did at university, he likes to see his client projects as collaborations rather than ‘being hired’.  He finds it more satisfying and productive for both himself and his client to be working together to reach the same goal.  His collaborative outlook has been invaluable in making this work, as he tries to never have a strict expectation of the creative outcome.  Clients like this approach and find him easy to work with, and in turn this grows his practice.  His open-mindedness is what feeds his curiosity, and he likes to constantly learn from others’ perspectives and ways of thinking.

At our meeting, Simon handed me a postcard size version of his poster. On the back, he’d written: “Combine your talents, cultivate your ideas, let your creativity blossom and allow something bigger and beautiful to grow”.

You can find more of Simon’s work at his Tumblr and his portfolio site.  Also, buy the Collaborate poster (and others) at Advice to Sink in Slowly.

“Although the case has been argued for many years that enterprise skills should be embedded into curriculum at all levels – our next generation is entering a very different work environment – fast-paced, flexible and high levels of connectivity. Wi-Fi and smart phones mean that new entrepreneurs will (and in fact, already) have the global marketplace at their fingertips. A collaborative mindset, networking know-how and creative thinking is now just as important as traditional business skills such as finance and strategy.”

Image by KTVee on Flickr

1. Academic excellence no longer translates to job security. There are simply not enough jobs for the high calibre graduates that are we developing. Young people, from all walks of life, will need to find ways to differentiating themselves in the marketplace. Part of this requires a dedication to learning outside of the classroom and pursuing personal interests. With the abundance of online content available for learning, knowledge exchange and engagement (e.g. TED talks) there are ample opportunities for this.

Young people will need to develop their individual and unique skills to build their careers. Professor Steven Gold of Babson College, Massachusetts, who also sat on the panel, described this as the entrepreneurial process of effectuation. Rather than identifying a goal and finding the resources to achieve it (causation), entrepreneurs identify their resources and build their enterprise around what they have available.

2. Digital tools and literacy need to be integrated into all learning, not seen as a separate subject.  An article from John Naughton covers this brilliantly (HT Neil Perkins), where he argues that we need to move from ICT (information and communication technology) training to ICT education – making the transition from technology ‘how-to’ more to enabling a digital mindset and encouraging exploration.

As it’s possible to set up a website and gain an online presence at very little or no cost, particularly with the intention of 100% free Wi-Fi in Barbados, there is a real opportunity to naturally prepare young people for enterprise. Granted, the next generation are growing up with digital more integrated into their lives, but let’s not forget the interpersonal and creative thinking skills that can help them use these tools to their full potential.

3. Re-define what business looks like. You don’t need a massive amount of capital to get a knowledge-based business going. Business doesn’t have to mean a fancy office and expensive suits. It’s increasingly becoming one person on their laptop working from co-working spaces and cafes, engaging in regular pop-up businesses and projects with other entrepreneurs.

It’s no longer about hierarchy and sitting at the top of the pyramid, but about your networks and the quality of connections you have. People operating in this environment need flexibility, agility, ability to work with different types of people and collaborate (and we do believe effective collaboration is a skill!), good communication and project management, creative thinking and problem solving, as well as clearly being able to articulate their knowledge and expertise.  Let’s introduce young people to the notion of ‘portfolio working’ early.

4.  The role of teaching and learning. A young person now has access to a bank of (online) knowledge that is far greater than any single teacher can provide. So, teachers also become facilitators of learning (another term from Babson College). Their role is just as important in encouraging students to develop the lifelong skills and tools that will help them to operate in the 21st century workplace – something we aim to do with our INCUBE8 project.

The think-tank Demos held an event a few months back where 21st century work was described as that which involves: multiple job changes, working in smaller companies, people just as likely to be employers as employees, and many working in industries that don’t currently exist. It’s impossible to base current and future education on how we experienced ours, as much of the material will be out-of-date by the time the next generation are ready to start work.

In addition, the event described how employers are increasingly looking for soft skills alongside technical ones: resourcefulness, adaptability, creativity, communication, people skills, self-management, team-working, problem-soving and critical thinking. Sounds a lot like an entrepreneur to us, and demonstrates that entrepreneurial skills aren’t just of relevance to those that want to work for themselves, but for anyone that wants to operate successfully in a professional environment.

Preparing young people for 21^st century entrepreneurship means preparing them for an unpredictable journey during which they will continue to learn and develop, and will need to adapt to a variety of challenges.

More reading:

10 skills you need to survive the job market (Guardian). With links to:

• Future Work Skills 2020 (PDF)
• The Start-up of You (Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times)

Hydar has been a freelance photographer since April 2010 (although he started practicing in 2002), when he left his job as a technical support engineer at Microsoft.  But he hasn’t left his technology background behind him completely, it’s still very much a part of his practice, and it’s provided him with a unique take on collaboration.

Hydar in Paris. Photo by Thomas Crossman

 “We can’t only justify being individuals because we all need to do something together”. Hydar Dewachi

On inspiration

“When it comes to creativity, I enjoy working with other people.  Not just with other artists, but a group of people with different skills that can each add something to the mix”.  Recently, Hydar was commissioned to photograph the WAKE exhibition by Arts Admin at Dilston Grove – a six-week project where artists were invited to undertake a mini-residency, each picking up where the previous left off.  Although as photographer, Hydar was more of an observer, the act of being in an evolving collaborative environment like this enabled him to draw inspiration from the work that developed. Collaborations and conversations are most valuable when they bring people together with different expertise.

On ‘minglism’

Together with his friend Xavier Pick – a painter who mixes his work with digital photography – they developed the term “minglism” when they had the idea to combine their work and mediums. They preferred to let the collaboration develop organically rather than forcing it. “When we first met, we didn’t know how we were going to work with each other, so each time we had a conversation, we would record it.  A lot of conversations get lost if you don’t record them.”

On skills

“It used to be ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ but now I believe being a jack of all trades is mastery in itself” says Hydar. “You don’t need to be perfect in one thing, but you do need to have a wide range of skills, for example, if you’re taking pictures to be shown on a website, your knowledge of technology will help you to know what works in that medium”. Artists should reconsider how they define their skills.  Those that say they only do one thing are limiting themselves, as now you’re expected to have a range of skills just to practice your art – e.g. a photographer might use film but will still need to know how to scan them for digital use. Just as important is the ability to define those skills, and talk about them, so that others’ know your capabilities for potential collaborations.

On combining creativity, technology and identities

Hydar has always been sure to talk about all sides of his work – whether he’s someone that works in IT doing photography (when he was at Microsoft), or a photographer that used to work in IT (currently) – and these multiple identities regularly make an appearance in his practice.  A recent project explored the use of Google Earth for showing work.  Not a new thing, but Hydar used his comfortable relationship with technology to show that an art doesn’t always have to be in an exhibition – it can be online too.  “The project is to show my journey to become a British Citizen, and the distance I’ve travelled. After a year, I realised I didn’t need to be either Iraqi or British, I could be both nationalities together”.

This mingling and fusing is clearly demonstrated through Hydar’s website, which he has designed and developed himself to showcase his work – an online photographic gallery, a digital flick-through of his journals containing notes, sketches and collages; and PDF downloads of text pieces reflecting on his Iraqi heritage and dual nationality.   Hydar has developed an approach which means that he happily combines disciplines, skills and experiences, and has an openness to working with others to learn and develop his practice.

More info and examples of Hydar’s work at www.dewachi.com

Around 2 years ago, we wrote about the 24-hour book project, an ambitious initiative bringing people together to collaboratively write, edit and publish a book in just 24 hours. They succeeded back then, and now they’re back with a similar challenge for the South Asian Literature festival – this time with a South-Asian theme and working with contributors from both London and Delhi.

 ”On Saturday 15th October, writers armed with their bare imaginations, a lot of digital ink, and an industrial quantity of coffee, will commence the writing process. Then, on Sunday 9th October, a group of volunteer editors will move in to make the story ready for publication in the final 12 hours. The book will be printed using the latest print-on-demand technology and published under a Creative Commons license.”

It’s an interesting and exciting way of working, and also reminded us of the project that produced the Collaborative Futures book over a week in January 2010. The team have also gone on to create Booki, a downloadable platform which encourages others to produce and publish books using a similar open model. They call this the ‘book sprint’.

The ‘sprint’ has evolved from the technology community, where a group of developers come together over a specified time to develop software projects. Media Lab Melbourne, who have taken the concept to a wider creative community including artists, designers, scientists and technologists, describe the sprint as “short periods of intense project development based on a theme”.  Although there is a large emphasis on producing digital content, working collaboratively in this way also naturally lends itself to using online tools for participants to collaborate. The 24-hour Book Project and Collaborative Futures shows that it works in book publishing, and there are certainly other creative disciplines that could use this format too.

Would you attempt a ‘sprint’ for a project that you’re working on? Do you already work in this way? Let us know.

The 24-hour book project will be taking place at Rich Mix, Shoreditch on 15^th October from 10am. It is run in partnership between The Literary Consultancy, the Society of Young Publishers, CompletelyNovel, if:book, German Book Office New Delhi and the Young Indian Publishers.  They are still looking for experienced writers, proofreaders, copy-editors, and typesetters to participate, so if you’d like to get involved, check back for more details. View the flyer (PDF)

Image courtesy Mindful Maps

Visual facilitation is one of the most the most interactive ways of working visually. It essentially combines facilitation with graphic harvesting (sometimes known as graphic recording or graphic facilitation) The two roles of facilitator and harvester can be played by a team or two or more people, or by one person playing both roles. In our experience, it works best when the graphic harvester is co-facilitating or interacting with another facilitator. This emergent mode of practice is used in various settings; meetings, conferences, vision-building activities, one-to-one, in groups and in communities.

Effective collaboration makes the most of the ideas and skills of all of those that are involved,  and good communication is integral to this.  Visual facilitation can be seen as a process to support collaborative and co-creative working. This post explores the relationship between the two.

At the beginning of a collaborative project or during creative brainstorming, great discussions come from diverse, unformed ideas.  Although a text document is a good record of what was said, it doesn’t capture the links, tangents or organic development that the conversation takes, as well as the energy and excitement in the group. Cue visual facilitation…

A group working next to a visualisation of their conversation; they can use the image to illustrate their points. Image courtesy of Mindful Maps.

• Visual facilitation captures relevant or interesting information that might otherwise get lost in communication. By using the power of illustration, we can help emergent ideas to materialise through the simple act of getting things down on paper. This then gives the group something to talk around which enhances the quality of the conversation, rather than going into ‘cycles’ where people repeat themselves and the communication gets stuck. Visual representation can also help spark more ideas and keep creativity flowing.

• The act of visualising something in a live setting improves the group memory. 80% of what we learn, we process visually – seeing something articulated and expressed as it happens gives a more lasting memory and learning of the event. Whereas a text document provides a record of the conversation after it has taken place, visual facilitation creates good reference points during the conversation.  Allowing people to see the discussion as it develops helps to create an instant memory and deepens its quality.

• When we visualise something as it’s happening, we enable people to have their voices heard. Documenting what someone says means it is taken more seriously, and visual facilitation can certainly be used as a tool to give people a voice regardless of their position, age, race or gender within the group.  A visual facilitator can pick on the quieter but equally valuable points and include them in the conversation.  Seeing something you’ve said being written or drawn in front of a group is empowering, giving you the confidence to contribute even more.

• Visual facilitation can help a new group to find a shared language. Sometimes when discussing new ideas and concepts, it can be difficult to articulate what we’re thinking.  Visual expression can often help us to move forward by communicating things in images when we don’t quite have the words.

• Working collaboratively can enhance the visual facilitator’s role. Although the graphic harvesting process is valuable to collaborative working in itself, when a visual practitioner works collaboratively to make images they can help people visualise things themselves. If people can make images themselves the process is more powerful. Working in this interactive way, the visual facilitator can help other to explore their creativity. By sharing these skills we can enable others to make images and think visually.

Our 5 top tips for making the most of visual facilitation

1. Ensure that the meeting is well-organised in the first place. Ask the right questions, have the right people there, keep on track, and ensure everyone gets a say.

2. Don’t leave the visual at the meeting or stick it in a cupboard. Transfer it to a shared online space to remind everyone throughout the project, of where it started. Take good quality photographs and share them.

3. Keep the physical object up for a few days – to further enhance memory and spark new thoughts about the process.

4. Use the visuals as tools to do further work from – bring them out in meetings and workgroups and to help write documents.

5. There is still a place for linear, text documents. They provide a good record of the discussion and can be used to clarify points.  Use both visualisation and text documents alongside each other to enhance the process.

Thanks to Emily Wilkinson of Mindful Maps for co-writing this post.

I am a self-inflicted scope-creeper! Arggh.

Scope creep describes the way that projects grow beyond their original definition/objectives -  it’s a risk for any project, and particularly creative ones.

When you’re working on something that you’re passionate about, and have a group of interesting people coming together, great ideas will be generated.  Not just at the start of a project, but throughout.  And this can be good.  Discussions will spark inspiration, observations and research will provide new perspectives, and there will always be the temptation to make the project even better.

But it’s also important to balance this with getting the work done.   If a project grows, it needs more time and often money.  So unless you can get either of these, you will need a way of deciding whether these new ideas can be incorporated.

Rejecting new ideas without consideration could impact team motivation and kill creativity, so some things to think about:

• The original objectives of the project – does it align with the core goals or does it take you in a different direction?  A different direction could be good if the project wasn’t working in the first place, but ideally you’d be communicating and reviewing at regular points to ensure that a drastic change isn’t necessary
• Whether it will really make the project better, or whether it’s just a ‘nice to have’. You might need to be firm with yourself and your team on this.  You could agree to deliver everything you originally planned to, and re-assess any additional ideas if there is time after that.
• Whether it will impact your ability to deliver the project?  If the deadline is fixed, bringing in new ideas might mean you’ll have to sacrifice other areas and/or put additional pressure on yourself or others.  Make sure you’re honest about the additional work that will be created.

Develop a way for capturing new ideas, acknowledging them and then assessing whether they are brought into a project or not.  Online tools can be great for this:  1) having a space where the team can make suggestions to be discussed and explored at the next opportunity and 2) documenting the core project objectives so that everyone stays on track.

Making Ideas Happen – an essential read for anyone who generates ideas – takes readers through a series of suggestions, based on case studies from successful creative organisations known for “overcoming the obstacles between vision and reality” (the book’s tagline).  This ranges from practical tips on managing projects (including Behance’s own “Action Method”, thinking about how your workspace can help you become more action-orientated, and overcoming the stigma of self-promotion.  It also nods to some of the current trends driving our working practices such as the freelance culture, flexibility, digital developments and co-working, as elements that should be capitalised to support ideas execution.

A considerable amount of the book is dedicated to the “Forces of Community” using networks and contacts to get ideas through to completion.   Making Ideas Happen acknowledges the value of collaboration (“ideas don’t happen in isolation”) but identifies the challenges that can arise throughout the process for creative people, such as sharing ideas, transparency and tolerating feedback, whilst looking at processes for overcoming these.

Overall, Making Ideas Happen is an accessible read that encourages you to reflect on and re-evaluate the way you work creatively.  Belsky has been careful to focus on thought-provoking techniques for putting ideas into practice (99% of the work) rather than ideas generation which is well within the comfort zone of most creative people (the other 1%).  It’s one of those books that, when you find your brilliant projects aren’t leaving the sketchbook, you should dip into for actionable suggestions for getting them going.

For more information visit http://the99percent.com/book or pre-order the book on Amazon.

Google Docs has added ‘Drawing’ as one of the file types that can be created (drawings can also be inserted into documents, spreadsheets and presentations). It’s very easy to start sketching away, and existing images can also be uploaded. Invite people to view and edit the file in the usual way, and download them as .png, .jpg, .svg or .pdf files.

For something more interactive and advanced, try Dabbleboard or Scribblar. Both offer real-time collaboration with supported chat functions.

In Scribblar, create a ‘room’ which you can invite people to by sending them a link. On sign-up you’re asked for your Skype username in case you want to use audio chat whilst working in the ‘room’ at the same time as other team members. Scribblar is completely free to create as many rooms as you like unless you want to embed them in your website or blog with your own branding.

Dabbleboard prides itself on an easy-to-use interface, which can automatically detect a shape you’re trying to draw when you provide a rough outline. Alternatively you can use freehand drawing or upload and annotate existing images. Again, invite your collaborators to the drawing area by sending them a link. Dabbleboard also offers voice and video chat for a project team (via Tokbox, a tool that supports free video chat for up to 20 people). There are additional services for paid-for accounts.

Thanks to Andrew for the link!

Delivered in Beta from KS12 on Vimeo.

Bracket’s session at Media Camp London 4 during Social Media Week generated lots of discussion about the best methods and tools for helping groups of creatives to get things done.  It looked at how social media could be used to support collaborative working between artists and designers etc that are used to working independently, usually have autonomy over their work, are characteristically busy, and highly skilled in generating ideas. The aim of the session was to develop solutions for how to channel that creativity into tangible outcomes and how social media can be used to support the process along the way.

The word ‘collaboration’ is often used freely without consideration for how complex it can actually be. Not only does it require a set of skills to do it effectively, but also a different mindset and culture to adapt to a new way of working.  An ‘online project hub’ can be used to provide a central point to bring everyone together, but technology should actually come last after two other factors – people and process.

People

The set of skills and awareness that is needed by the individual before starting the project. Effective collaboration requires tolerance of other working styles,  a willingness to share and a commitment to open and frequent communication with other team members.

Process

The part that should happen with the team in place, to plan how the collaborative project might work. Individuals need to identify what they are bringing and hope to get out, the team needs to look at the overall aims of the project and roles should be allocated according to key skills and personalities to ensure a good spread of what the project requires (Belbin is a good tool for profiling this). Time must also be allocated to planning, scheduling and organisation, which many online tools can help with.

Technology

Time or cost spent developing an online tool doesn’t guarantee that people will use it. It is often difficult to get people away from using e-mail to communicate in projects, because on a basic level, it works!  But social media can add much value by keeping ideas in one place (particularly when team members tend to go off in different creative directions), making this easily searchable,  providing a record of what has already been discussed/agreed and therefore reducing duplication of work and effort.

So the perfect online tool, for groups of creatives short on time is something that requires little or no training, is intuitive and is flexible to the initial needs of the type of project and as it develops. And a big challenge throughout the project is maintaining focus without killing creativity.