Last month, on 8^th June, the first RewireLondon event took place, at Rich Mix in Shoreditch – a collaboration between Bracket and 8Fold.  RewireLondon was an unconference for the creative sector, an interactive and flexible event where the attendees were the driving force.  This meant that rather than curating the schedule completely with invited speakers, it was mostly left open for artists, writers, designers and other creatives to suggest and run their own sessions.

We started the day with Araceli Carmargo-Fitzpatrick of THECUBE presenting her concept of “Ideas Engineering” and David Rowan, editor of WiredUK, discussing the iPad and the future of publishing.  As attendees got inspired by what they heard on the main stage, the schedule slowly filled up with a range of diverse and innovative sessions.  There were project showcases, collaborative problem solving, informal discussions and even meditation! The full list of sessions that took place is here.

What people commented on most throughout the day was the number of connections they were able to make with others across all creative sectors.  We’d intentionally set out to create a mix, as we know that the most innovative ideas can come from multi-disciplinary collaboration. And that was a key theme throughout the day – many sessions touched on this topic with in-depth discussions on how to kick-start creative ideas.

Everyone was keen to continue the conversations after the schedule had ended, so we were lucky to be able to do this over the delicious punch provided by the Courvoisier The Future 500.  As the cocktails flowed, so did the business cards – it was a great ending to a fantastic day!

Thanks to all involved – we’ve already had many requests to keep the event going, so watch this space.

www.rewirelondon.org

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.

Here is who is involved (in order of how far the network spread):

Laura North – copywriter (a previous colleague)

Emily Wilkinson (Empathi) – graphic facilitator/illustrator (introduced through a mutual friend)

Naomi Ray (Studio Pixie) – graphic designer/illustrator (met through Twitter)

Matthew Smith-Stubbs – front-end web developer (fellow member of THECUBE, co-working space for creative businesses)

Andrew Davey (MediaBandit) – web developer (responded to a call put out through the Open Coffee mailing list)

Joel Somerfield (Order) – filmmaker (was passed on by someone through the Open Coffee mailing list. But turns out he has done work for mutual contacts also).

So we all know how important it is to stay networked to stay in the loop, but if you want to build a collaborative team quickly – it’s essential.

Stay tuned for the progress of BracketLab, which will be taking place on 2^nd and 3^rd June at THECUBE.

Creative Boom London kindly wrote a fantastic review of the workshop which covers all of these points (and more) in detail.

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.

Moving Brands, for the past week or so, have been asking Londoners what they think. Through a dedicated blog and Twitter profile (@we_are_london), MB have been open and transparent about their development process, and are gathering ideas and responses from the public.

Bracket loves this method for a variety of reasons. Not only does it make perfect sense (London is made up by its people, so let the people have a say), but it represents a complete new way of working for the creative sector.

Sometimes creatives like to envelope what they do in mystique – in a “leave it to me, we’re the experts” kind of way. MB are confident in their talents – with their past portfolio of work it’s obvious what expertise they’ll bring to the brief. But with this approach, they’re also showing that they know how and when to invite others in to collaborate and feel comfortable with that – a valuable skill in itself.

Echoing one of our favourite points from Bruce Mau’s design manifesto, MB’s pitch which was presented on Friday, focused on the process rather than the outcome. They didn’t present a range of final designs, instead they described how collaborating with all the people that need to be involved – the public, the GLA, and other partners and experts –will mean a higher chance of success. Even then, they don’t know what will happen, but it’s got to be better than trying to come up with something behind closed doors and getting it wrong, right?

James Bull, Director of Moving Brands said in an article on designweek.co.uk:
“Does it not strike anyone else that in the same way that the music industry has had to completely embrace new ways of making music and totally re-construct the way music is bought and sold (almost totally due to digital and online technologies), that WE as the design industry are soon if not already facing the same challenge? … We are all going to need to make a massive leap in terms of the way we create and do business in design in order to be successful.”

We’ll have to wait until next week to find out what happens, but we hope the Mayor’s Office can see the value in this way of working. If they do, it represents a step in the right direction for the creative industries, breaking down traditions and openly embracing the new digital and collaborative era.

"If we all got together it might just work" by Ornamental Conifer

We asked the artist where the phrase came from:

My friends and I were thinking up ideas for the Power in Numbers show and it sprung to mind that if we collectively came up with a great idea we might just get picked.  Sadly this tangent never came to be as we all wandered off in our own direction when it finally came to submitting our work.

And when we asked what the ‘it’ referred to:

‘It’ was referring to whatever ‘it’ is you aspire to attain, collectively and with the support of others we can achieve awesome greatness.

Bracket couldn’t agree more!

Ornamental Conifer is a big fan of stating the obvious, and the phrase “if we all got together it might just work” is a perfect example of this.  I even wonder why, in today’s society, there isn’t a motto like this for the creative sector.  We’re facing lots of different challenges locally, nationally and globally – artists have the potential, and the ability, to get together and create some great solutions!

As a talented creative practitioner, your individual work and maintaining a strong identity will always be important. Your own creative talents are why people would want to work with you in the first place! So if you are keen on collaborating, this means considering new ways of working. In addition to developing your own work, you might engage in pop-up projects and even create new ventures with others.

One challenge will be in always ensuring that these collaborative projects also align with your own creative work and values – this will be essential in enhancing and leveraging your individual practice, not detracting from it or diluting it.

#3. Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.

#16. Collaborate. The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.

#32. Listen carefully. Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.

My interpretation of these points is that:

- We can learn a lot from the process of engaging in collaborative working. If we know how to do it effectively, we can allow it to take us to new places.

- An end product is an achievement, but it’s definitive – once it’s done, it’s done. The knowledge gained from working with others and from our own experience of being involved can be taken with us long into the next project and beyond.

- Collaboration can allow someone to grow and develop – both in terms of creative potential and in longer term individual capacity.

Read the full manifesto at www.brucemaudesign.com/incomplete_manifesto.html.

(The manifesto is licensed under Creative Commons-Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0)