There is growing evidence of the importance of imagination in supporting wellbeing. Although perhaps often overlooked, imagination can have an incredible impact on our general happiness. Imagination helps us to escape the day-to-day, to have fun, to envision future possibilities and to explore different perspectives. It is a crucial aspect of goal setting, meaning that…
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This chapter from Larry G Maguire‘s The Artist’s Manifesto is an interesting exploration of a potentially binding concept we take for granted. In making our creativity timeless, we make room for new methods of expression, other points of view and openness of thinking. It can even free us from other common restrictions such as prescribed…
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We’re passionate about using the imagination and being creative in order to effect change, but this piece from the BBC explores the power of imagery – actually imagining what change looks like. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about achievement. For us, success is harnessing that potential for the journey, whatever the outcome may be.…
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Is creativity something we’re born with – a magic spark that some people have and some don’t? In this video from PBSoffbook, practitioners in a variety of fields talk about what being creative really means. We love this exploration because it characterises the process as something inclusive, both of people and ways of working. For…
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We’re so excited that the Mega Maker Lab, our summer co-design and build event, has launched. Come and see us at one of our masterclasses. Here’s another project we love, the RIBA National Schools Programme. It not only encourages collaboration and inspires young people for their future careers, but teaches them how to think creatively…
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This may seem like a natural step for the infamous coloured blocks, and its regularity is in fact what belies its genius. Braille bricks are compatible with existing ones, feature numbers and symbols for people of all sight levels and will be given free to certain institutions. It’s this lack of distinction from mainstream toys…
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This is a great piece from Forbes about the importance of creativity in science. Not just in having ideas and thinking about a problem differently, but in the way we communicate. It’s an example of STEAM learning; of weaving arts into our understanding of science through stories. Stories are as old as humanity itself; they’re…
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“BIM Incubator brings together participants from disparate fields of knowledge to think collaboratively about blackness and black culture in relation to architecture”. We love the idea of “scrambling” this architectural, technical acronym to provoke thought and self-expression in new ways as part of Black Imagination Matters. On a humid, grey morning at Princeton in a…
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A couple of weeks ago we looked at how sci-fi can be a positive way to understand social issues such as climate change. Here, NPR continues this thought by tracing how we get from today’s world to that future. It’s inspiring to see the growing support for imagination and creative thinking being applied in this…
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This research into how creativity and ‘distant thinking‘ feed each other is fascinating. We focus a lot on the benefits of imagination for solving problems and navigating our world in the present, but it’s exciting to think that it can help us tap into our future potential. The common human default mode is that we…
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Being curious is often framed, even in childhood, as being nosy or even a nuisance, with sayings and fables warning against it. But should we be questioning this suspicion; are we curing more than just impoliteness? Being curious – being interested, asking questions – is the foundation of our work at iOi and IM. It…
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