Being random is not easy, but it can have some very interesting results in creativity exercises… Here’s an exercise I tried this week with graphic design students…

Talking Pictures is from the book Instant Creativity by Brian Clegg and Paul Birch.

Split up into teams, give each team a digital camera (or get them to use their smartphones if you can easily hook up to a computer to download the images)

You could use a polaroid, or provide a set of bizarre photographs you have, but it’s best to get the teams to capture them.

Get the teams to spend about 5 minutes outside of the immediate area, taking pictures of either unusual objects, or objects from unusual angles. The more bizarre the better.

Bring the groups back together and distribute their pictures to the other groups.

Each group should now use the pictures provided to create associations that occur to them and then use these associations for idea generation. At the end of the session you can either collect all of the ideas together by writing them onto flipcharts or you can ask the groups to have listed their own and have these displayed for general perusal.