If I knew where ideas came from I’d go there more often. - Leonard Cohen, poet and song writer
For one month and one month only we are sharing this hilarious speaker talk from British designer-inventor Dominic Wilcox. Known for his quirky ideas and unusual contraptions, Wilcox talks us through how he goes about finding surprises and inspiration in the mundane and how he spends his time trying to get to that magical place of ideas that Cohen alludes to.
“I use all sorts of ideas and methods to try to break through to this place,” says Wilcox. “It exists in everybody’s subconscious.”
Wilcox believes that ideas live all around us and that it is the way we go about looking at things that can help to unlock them. Sometimes throwing yourself out of your everyday routines and taking a step away from everything can help you stray from the path of “the normal”.
Wilcox talks about thinking through making, of spontaneity, improvisation and the (sometimes stressful) benefits giving yourself time pressures. He also says you have to make the most of what you’ve got and see the potential in everything.
Among the projects Wilcox shares with the Design Indaba audience are Speed Creating: 30 Things in 30 Days, a stained glass driverless car, an office in a tree and a bird-shaped bird cage for a single bird.
The full talk was only available for the month of June 2016. We're sorry you missed it! Please enjoy the trailer and reading our other features on Dominic Wilcox.