CREATIVITY. INNOVATION.
In the
Game Design MFA at LCAD we look for the characteristics in our applicants that speak to innovation. Great ideas abound. The ability to execute ideas is often where the problem arises. The MFA in Game Design provides team skills and leadership capabilities to help you move that aha moment, into a reality, by teaching communication and collaboration skills that transcend our immediate proximity
We believe in creating an environment where optimistic minds have a safe space for idea generation. An environment where people can openly share critical opinion with hopes of generating meaningful content for games.
How do we prepare designers and then help them remain resilient in the sometimes taxing corporate environment? And can we keep the innovative ideas ignited to light the collaborative environment, which now extends further than a conference table?
I worked with a very thoughtful and creative man, Gordon Mackenzie, at Hallmark Cards many years ago. When referring to new ideas, he encouraged "thinking outside the ball," instead of thinking outside the box. Gordon wrote
Orbiting the Giant Hairball, a book that will rally your creative spirit and act as a survival mechanism in the corporate world.
"If an organization is to choose vigor over an ultimate state of entropy, it must support both the rational exploitation of success and the irrational art of groping." – Gordon Mackenzie
I am obsessed with the psychology and phenomena of creativity. In the article by Tony Wan "Is Creativity a Skill?" professionals have weighed in on their thoughts. If embraced, it is my belief that a person's ability to be innovative can be increased, which helps job seeking professionals, as creativity one of the most sought after skill sets today.
"Creativity is best seen as a practice, or perhaps a perspective-a way of looking, thinking, living, seeing and being. It is the context and perspective that allows you to make the best use of your skills..."
– Alex Davis-Lawrence, filmmaker
Innovation can be found in a multitude of disciplines and infused in people from all walks of life. We tend to put designers or innovators into predetermined or traditional cubbies based on our cultures or industries. Cubby holes labeled with the expected. Learning the skillset of a single discipline is no longer the path to success for either the practitioner as an individual, or a society as a whole. Our candidates in the Game Design MFA are diversified across disciplines, skillsets, and cultural backgrounds. This is what makes for the sizzle in tackling the problem solving process, and adding new light to the way we look at team projects.
Across time and space, collaborations and teams are formed to create games. They tackle logistical hurtles that no longer exist with the use of today's technology to communicate and share thoughts and ideas, that feed the creative process. The Game Design MFA teaches the tools and the skills to nurture the cross pollination of ideas that come from what some look at as, opposing left brain/right brain thinking.
In my mind I think it is a kind choice to take another look, or to deconstruct innovation so that it encompasses the curious, the compassionate, the optimistic, and those that take approaches to problem solving, that are not the norm. My students all too often hear me say "deconstruct and reconstruct". What do you do when handed a problem to solve? What is your process? This is but one little snippet in the vast avenues or paths a design student can take, as we reignite old ideas into new ones, or existing games are reskinned, or the giant "Aha!" moment envelopes a mechanic into something truly magical and innovative.