Lateral Thinking

The Character Design Blog is running a series of posts that focus on the development of a character design instead of the final result. Its great to see such a clear example of the lateral thinking involved in developing really robust design.

It can be quite hard to get some students to invest time in exploring possibilities when there is no guarantee they will lead to a used outcome. Maybe it’s the impatience of youth, maybe it’s a generation Y thing, but for whatever reason students generally want the easiest and most direct way from a to b (linear thinking).

I like to counter this with a question about why the student wants to work in Animation or even the Arts. The answer inevitably involves the notion that they want to do something creative. Linear thinking is the opposite of creative, it is anti creative. Without lateral thinking you, I or any other artists are a one trick horse. Doomed to repeat ourselves forever, doomed to be predictable, doomed to be less employable (if employable at all).

Lateral thinking is an essential part of being an artist, and animator. Look it up, learn about it, integrate it into your everyday approach to life and art.