Conceptual brainstorming techniques

Catherine in our portfolio prep class emailed me and asked that I post this short video I made on brainstorming techniques. The surrealists were masters at putting the familiar in an unfamiliar setting. This is a simple method I've used for decades to come up with fresh concepts to solve graphic problems. In this short video I created to explain one technique imagine you've been given the assignment to create a visual for an article on Growing the Green Economy.

Start by writing out the name of the article and select the key words.

Underneath each key word make a word list-free associate and write quickly any idea that comes to mind to represent that key word. Your list should be really long to find the best solution.

Force connections between the two key words. Put the familiar in an unfamiliar setting.
What about a piggy bank shaped like the U.S. Treasury building or a bank? What about a dollar bill that looks like astro turf and sprouting wildflowers?

Make small thumbnail sketches of how you would force connections between column one and two and simply go down the list trying out each idea. In this example I have a drawing of a figure watering a small plant that is a dollar sign.

Note: click play and let this short video completely upload, take a short break and come back and you can watch it all the way through.