FROM DILIP MUKERJEA'S ITINERANT TOOLBOX: THE 3-D GRIDS

This is a method for establishing forced connections. All you need are three children’s cubic-shaped plastic or wooden blocks.

You can select any three main categories of attributes for their alternates to be chosen. Thus, each block represents a category and each face of a block will have written on it an element or feature relevant to that category.

For example, say we wish to come up with ideas for toys, games or other devices. We could proceed as follows:

The shapes enclosing selected words in the open grid below, give us sets of three options corresponding to the same shape for each category.

For example, upon throwing the blocks, we could make random connections such as:

Rectangles: Mirrors, fishing rod, drawing

Ellipses: Magnets, ball, travelling

Banners: Buttons, kaleidoscope, jogging


It is very important to note that the six words in each category (i.e. on each block) can be taken either literally and conceptually [the concept(s) associated with them can be considered too].

For example, if we took the last set: buttons, kaleidoscope, jogging, we could use them to make large buttons, or one large button, impregnated with an openly visible, luminous, glycerine-based kaleidoscope. This could be sewn onto a tracksuit, on the back of the upper half of the garment.

When jogging, the kaleidoscope would keep changing patterns. Since it is luminously visible, it would be a safety, as well as an eye-catching feature, for the jogger.

If we took magnets, ball, travelling, we could have a ball fitted with an internal magnet and object sensing feature. Movement would set off the internal magnet to rotate. This would keep the ball moving; if it hit a wall or another object, the “collision” would cause the magnet to redirect the ball elsewhere.

This could be used as an amusement device for children, adults, and animals. Perhaps it could be given as a corporate gift, with a motivational message written on it. It could be designed to help blind people too.

Now you try with mirror, fishing rod, drawing, and see what you come up with. Additionally, you could have many more combinations by mixing and matching the blocks.

[Excerpted from the 'Catalysing Creativity' edition of The Braindancer Series of bookazines by Dilip Mukerjea. All the images in this post are the intellectual property of Dilip Mukerjea.]