Creative Paper Blocks

jill here...  Last week we had a repeat engagement where we spoke to sixty Iowa State University students. They explore different strategies and solutions in a Creative Thinking and Problem Solving class.  Most of the students come from the Apparel, Events, and Hospitality Management majors but there are a few from diverse disciplines. We shared creative components and how they apply to our design process and business model. We discussed constraints within our design/business models, showed some of our quilts and challenged the group with a design activity.

This year, we shared our trunk show as well as a traditional nine-patch (with nine patches, all equal in size, three different values) prior to the creative component.  The activity challenge: to design within constraints. They each had a paper selection of 3 values and a white sheet.  We asked them to create, by tearing the construction paper, another design.  The constraint was that they had to have nine pieces in the final composition and glue it down to a base sheet.  The time constraint was 20 minutes. The below designs are some of the "blocks" they produced.  Perhaps you will note some familiar renditions to the traditional.

Courthouse steps?

Diagonal lines

Folded corners create dimension

Similar to an argyle  

Bars and squares overlap

Interaction of lines and shapes

Modern asymmetrical chevron

Transparent images

Layers

Eggs for breakfast?

Creative textured background 

Interactive wedges

Constraints can be helpful.  In truth, we all face them.  'Till next Tuesday...