Includes bibliographical references and index.

How to define problems --How to get ideas -- How to create form -- How designers think.

The design process involves researching, inventing, and expressing ideas. Sometimes concepts seem to pop out of nowhere, but just as often they result from deliberate techniques. Many designers start a project wit brainstorming, an open-ended search for initial directions. Brainstorming, however, is just the beginning in a designer's quest for useful and inspiring ideas. Graphic Design Thinking: Beyond Brainstorming presents dozens of tools and techniques, ranging from quick, seat-of-the-pants approaches to more formal research tools, such as focus groups and co-design. At the book's core are techniques for releasing creative energy and stimulating fresh thinking to arrive at compelling and viable solutions. Each method is illustrated with visual demonstrations and case studies that show design processes at work. Also featured are discussions with leading professionals--including Art Chantry, Ivan Chermayeff, Jessica Helfand, Steven Heller, Maira Kalman, Abbott Miller, Christoph Niemann, Paula Sher, and Martin Venezky--about how they get ideas and what they do when the well runs dry.