‘March Madness’ Creative Workshop

Posted by: Joanne Finch | 17 March 2008

Can you create a structure that will support an egg for a minute using just newspaper and string?

That was the task set for participants of the March Madness Creative Workshop this afternoon. The idea behind the workshop was to promote creative thinking in a safe, non-judgemental environment, to test out our new and developing STAR System game, oh, and to have a bit of fun.

It was great to get a range of people involved not just the usual designers; we had people from IT, Marketing and Sales, although I must say there was a serious lack of developers.

Before the session started I explained how our new STAR System game worked and how we were going to use it in the workshop.

Basically the STAR System game consists of different stimuli to assist in quick and creative brainstorming. STAR stands for Subject Trend Action and Random, the game contains three types of cards, Trend, Action and Random cards and on each card a relevant description. At the beginning of a brainstorming meeting you must define and write down your subject or goal for that session, then select three cards each, two from each category. This instantly gives you a range of eclectic stimuli to start brainstorming with.

Each team received a sketchbook and pens, and took three cards each from the game. They then got as many ideas as possible down on paper in twenty minutes, and then spent a further five minutes developing the one they thought stood the best chance of supporting an egg successfully.

After designs had been tweaked and sketches amended the teams had twenty minutes left to actually build their designs. Each team was given a pile of newspapers, a ball of string and a pair of scissors. Before long the creations were taking shape, and looking rather promising I might add, it was time for each team to choose a spokesperson to present their idea and put it to the test.

With splash mat at the ready and timer set to 00:00 the testing began, fortunately all three designs passed with flying colours and not a drop of yolk was spilt.

What can you do with a newspaper, ball of string and an egg?

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