From Cartoons to Creative Engineering

A great spot of midgeting at lunchtime! The Cartoon Museum on Little Russell Street is dwarfed by its neighbour the British Museum, but has an amazing collection of cartoons, with a good explanation of the history. So exciting to see these originals up close, with all there amendments, paper stuck on over errors, and later tipex! The collection goes through from the initial caricatures, to modern Beano and Dandy cartoons. My faves were the old political cartoons, that give you a great view of British history, fascinating even if you are not into politics. The current special exhibition is on Fougasse, full of the 'Careless Talk Cost Lives' posters from the 1940s, and a wonderful series of cartoons on the changing face of Britain during the war years. This was so enjoyable, I will definitely return in the next few weeks, as the collection requires a little more attention than one lunch break could provide.



In the evening I attended a lecture at The Royal Academy of Engineering, which promised to be so much more than it was unfortunately. The topic - How can creative engineering be harnessed to improve products and make a positive impact on our lives and society? Although a tremendously enjoyable and inspiring evening, the level that the lecture was directed at was unfortunately quite basic. I meet some great fellows at the Royal Academy, and the wine and canapes, partly made up for the lack of content in the lecture!

It did act as another reminder of how much I have to do for my MADS question, and a prod in the right direction. Things to note, the Cox Review of Creativity, the PWC Innovation Survey, and Gareth Jones 'Toolbox for Creative Engineering' as he called it. Which consisted of some core creative techniques:

- Brainstorming (post it notes are key here!)
- Use of Analogies
- The importance of being able to Sketch your ideas
- The quick and cheap Sketch Modelling
- Iterative Development

All of these have been part of the MADS journey so far, so although I do not know where my journey will lead me, at least I know I am doing the right things along the way!

A couple of thoughts i had after the lecture were, using nature as inspiration, and the idea of empathic research.

Gareth Jones discussed a number of inspirational case studies, my favourites were those from recent graduates, like Concrete Canvas, such a simple yet wonderful idea! Hopefully I will be getting some of those shortly!