INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN SYNECTICS

Based on Design Synectics by Nicholas Roukes

Synectics Definition  The term Synectics is from the Greek word synectikos, which means “bringing forth together,” or “bringing different things into unified connection.”  Synectics is about making connections.

Since creativity involves the changing of things into new structures, every creative thought or action draws on synectic thinking.

Synectic thinking is the process of discovering the links that unite seemingly disconnected elements.

It is a way of mentally taking things apart and putting them together to furnish new insight for all types of problems.

Synectics Definition  Creative discovery comes from analogical and metaphorical thinking, the process of linking unlike subjects.  You must create VISUAL analogies and metaphors.

Thinking to Connect  Analogical thinking is a comparison between two things that are similar in some respects, often used to help explain something or make it easier to understand.  Metaphorical thinking is when one thing is used or considered to represent another

Thinking to Connect Metaphorical thinking is when one thing is used or considered to represent another. = or is like

The Synectic Process  Make something strange familiar…  Create something new…  Personal analogies-do you feel like a sponge, doormat? Do you see yourself as a lion, a mouse?  Direct analogies-A school is like a salad…life is like an elevator.  Conflicting analogies…War-creative and destructive. Talent is a blessing and a curse.

Metaphorical Thinking  A metaphor is a soft thinking technique connecting two different universes of meaning.  Examples: Food chain, flow of time, fiscal watchdog.  The key to metaphorical thinking is similarity. The human mind tends to look for similarities.  A road map is a model or metaphor of reality and useful for explaining things.  The Dolby Sound system is like a sonic laundry.

Architect Buckminster Fuller summed up the essence of synectics when he said all things regardless of their dissimilarity can somehow be linked together, either in a physical, psychological or symbolic way.

The Synectic Attitude  Synectics encourages the ability to live with complexity and apparent contradiction.  Synectics stimulates creative thinking.  Synectics mobilizes both sides of the brain, the right brain (the dreamer), and the left brain (the reasoner).  Synectics provides a free- thinking state of consciousness.

The Synectic Ways of Working  Synectics is based on the fusion of opposites.  Synectics is based on analogical thinking.  Synectics is synergistic. Its action produces a result which is greater than the sum of its parts.

The Synectic Pinball Machine  Synectic thinking is like a mental pinball game. Stimulus input bounced against the scoring bumpers (the Trigger Questions) is transformed.  Ordinary perceptions are turned into extraordinary ones; the familiar or prosaic is made strange.  Synectic play is the creative mind at work.

The Synectic Triggers  Synectic Trigger mechanisms catalyze or create new thoughts, ideas and inventions.  Synectic Theory is based on disruptive thinking.

The 23 Design Synectic Triggers Subtract Change Scale Prevaricate RepeatSubstituteAnalogize CombineFragmentHybridize AddIsolateMetamorphose TransferDistortSymbolize EmpathizeDisguiseMythologize AnimateContradictFantasize SuperimposeParody

Take Creative Action!  Ideas are not born in a vacuum.  Use the 23 synectic triggers to transform your ideas into something new.  The triggers are tools for transformational thinking and may lead you to some great discoveries.

Art Think: Ways of Working 1. Identify: Set the problem or task, identify the subject. 2. Analyze: Examine the subject; break it down, classify it. 3. Ideate: Think, fantasize, produce ideas. Generate options towards a creative solution. Relate, rearrange, reconstruct. What design synectic triggers can you use? 4. Select: Choose your best option. 5. Implement: Put your ideas into action. Realize it. Transform imagination and fantasy into tangible form. 6. Evaluate: Judge the result. Think about new options and possibilities that have emerged. Go back to step #1.

Your Assignment 1. Find an image at least 600x800 pixels 2. Transform it using 8 of the 23 synectic triggers. 3. Be sure it is a complete whole photo of an object. Make it a “normal view” example: an Egg that looks like a real egg 4. Save this image as “original image” on your flashdrive 5. Use gimp w/layers to create 8 separate transformations and label each as to which trigger word was used to think of the transformation.

Creativity is the marvelous capacity to grasp mutually distinct realities and draw a spark from their juxtaposition. - Max Ernst