Welcome to the creative ideas section of the website. The notion of such can be extended to all areas – science, art, business, etc.
It is often thought of as a light bulb turning on or that aha moment.
It’s About…
- breaking from the past and seeing new ways to old problems.
- pushing beyond routine and trying new approaches.
- asking why not but also it’s about realizing that usually there is a good reason why not.
From a business perspective it means considering profit and loss and legal and ethical issues.
Often Happens Subconsciously
The subconscious mind can be a key driver towards such aha moments.
Outside of conscious awareness mental activity continues which is why ideas often come to us via daydreams, or after a good night’s sleep.
There are a number of stages of creativity which provide clarification and structure of the mental and physical states that an individual experiences in the idea creating process.
We’re All Capable
Everyone is capable of creating new ideas and often it is simply the process of taking an existing idea and building upon it.
Dr Robert Epstein a leading researcher on creativity highlights that as individuals we are constantly generating new and novel behaviours.
Each day, we formulate different sentences when we speak, we brush our teeth a slightly different way each morning and we keep having new thoughts and dreams.
This novel behaviour is only labelled creative when it adds some special value to the community.
Ideas often occur by combining two or more elements of knowledge together. If the resulting combination could add value to someone or something then the idea can be labelled an innovation idea.
Record Your Ideas
It is important to record all of the ideas that you have. Thomas Alva Edison recorded and illustrated every problem he worked on in a notebook.
He used his notebooks to review past experiments in light of any new learning’s and often he would review his notebooks to try and provide new ideas and insight to other projects that he was working on.
Edison would also record observations of the natural environment and he would read others creative ideas, research papers, failed patents and ideas from other fields.
Seek Out Problems
Keep on the lookout for problems within your workplace. Which problems are your biggest, most urgent? These could also be your biggest opportunities. Get your creative juices flowing and start working on some creative solutions today. For some structured assistance check out creativity techniques.
Go For Quantity
When generating creative ideas go for quantity. Try and generate as many ideas as you possibly can. Don’t worry about stopping to evaluate them, you can do that a later point.
Other Peoples Excellent Creative Ideas
One great way for assisting in getting creative ideas is to read through other peoples ideas.
Some of the ideas submitted below are ideas that people put forward prior to December 1964, the ideas are no longer covered by US copyright laws which allows me to publish them on this page. Some you will find are no longer relevant due to new and improved technologies. Others however are either great ideas that have never been implemented or conversely ones that are now in everyday, regular common use.
There are ideas for hand warming snow blowers, transparent fuel tanks to enable you to see how much gasoline you have left, edible toothpicks and even flame throwing ice removers, plus many more.
Take a look – you never know they might spark your imagination for an excellent new idea.
Hand Warming Snow Blowers
Hand warming snow blowers would put their hollow handles to work. As the tubing for the handles ends up near the engine why not pipe hot air through it? – Marks Stephens, Manchester, Conn.
Basin Shaped Floor Mats
Basin shaped floor mats for cars would hold that grit from icy roads that you track into the car, and they could be lifted out and emptied easily. – S. Selsky, Massapequa, N.Y.
Shoe Lace Kits
Shoe lace kits with yards of lacing, metal tips, and a tip applying tool. With several kids in the family you never have the right length of lace. – R. Klingensmith, Monroeville, P.A.
A Slide Out Index
A slide out index behind wall telephones would enable you to quickly take note of numbers you need to remember. Often there is no flat surface near such phones and no place to note frequently used numbers.
Gripper Snaps
Gripper snaps on the back panels of television sets and on the front panels of washing machines would save on repair time and there would be no screws to lose.
A No-Platen Typewriter
A no-platen typewriter for draftsmen that would roll on a drawing board. It would eliminate the printing of labels and instructions on drawings and blueprints – J.A. Defrees, Durhamville, N.Y. (Perhaps not quite so useful in our modern day world full of computers and Computer Aided design software!)
Miniature TV Tubes
Miniature TV tubes with a pilot at the base and at the socket would enable you to determine when to press them in safely. They’re devils when you can’t see their sockets – P. Legon, Malden, Mass (And then came the transistor and printed circuits!)
An Air Check On The Hood Of A Car
We need some device to prevent filling station attendants from whamming it down so hard that they chip the paint. – Ellis Thompson, Candler, N.C.
Bricks With One Rounded Face
Bricks with one rounded face for paving walks. Smoothly curved edges ad corners wouldn’t snag a snow shovel and there would be less chipping of bricks. – Gary A. Larson, Kane, Pa.
Jam-Proof Drawers
Jam-proof drawers in built-ins and furniture. A strip of wood across the top at the rear would keep things from spilling out over the back. – Mrs J. Shuppert, West Acton, Mass.
A Motorized Seat Back
A motorized seat back in station wagons so you wouldn’t have to struggle with latches and hooks every time you wanted to make extra load space. – Phil Glotzbach, Kettering, Ohio
Movie Reels In Square Cans
Movie reels in square cans for upright storage on shelves. They wouldn’t roll, and they’d be easier to remove and replace than stacked cans. – A.R. Tanner Jr., Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Bricks With Protrusions
Bricks that have protrusions at the sides would means that bricks could easily be laid with perfect spacing. This would make it much easier for amateur brick layers to to keep each course level. – Ben T. Sheppard, Columbus, Ga
Hunting And Camping Knife With Whetstone
Hunting and camping knives that carry their own whetstone in a recess in the handle. With this idea, you would never be caught in the woods with a dull blade. – W.L.Adams, East Syracuse, N.Y.
Phonograph Record Finger Grip Holes
Finger grip holes at the center of a phonograph record. This idea would mean that when loading or unloading such discs the sound-track grooves would get less handling. – E.J.Monjack, Chicago Heights
Broadcasting Projectors
Broadcasting projectors for sound movies. Put a radio transmitter in the projector and a receiver in the speaker enclosure, and you would eliminate the need for a cable. – Charles R. DeKay, Grenada, Miss.
Light Reflecting Trim
Light reflecting trim on the sides of cars, designed to be part of the standard trim. Luminous plastic edging the chrome might do the job. – David F. Tufaro, Hartsdale, N.Y.
Quick Frozen Lunches
Quick frozen lunches in disposable cartons – a boon to the sandwich detail. Pop them into the school bags in the morning and they’d thaw by noon. – Mrs E. Miller, Lansing, Mich.
Fountain Stamps
Fountain stamps with porous letters and a re-fillable ink resevoir. Clerks who stamp hundreds of forms daily wouldn’t waste motion swatting at a pad. – H. M. Monaghan, N.Y.
Spring Loaded Nail Feeder
Spring loaded nail feeders – as each nail popped into final position, a shaft or anvil would drop on the head. Pound it down and it would set the nail too. – J. Myers, Sylvania, Ohio
A Shower Bath Tub
Let your kids have a bath in a shower with a shower bath tub – a deep, poly-plastic liner with a drain to fit inside shower stalls. Fine for bathing the kids in motels. hotels or summer cottages that don’t have bath tubs. – T.B. Ellis, Trenton, N.J.
Underwater Spotlights
Is your dive too dark then you need this idea for underwater spotlights on skin-diving masks. A working light like a miner’s lamp would be out of the way where it wouldn’t impede the diver. – K.H. Schroeder, Westmont, N.J.
Chemically Treated Netting
Chemically treated netting, dyed green. Ideal for supporting vegetable vines. At the end of the season, it could be thrown on the compost pile to aid decomposition. G. Jorgenson, Tacoma
Extendible Fingers
Trim that hard to cut long grass with extendable fingers at the sides of power lawn mowers. Tall grass close to the house or garden beds would be guided into the path of the blade. – Dr. L.A. Russell, Newtonville, Mass.
Baby Car Seats
Designed for a small sports car bucket seat or better still to fit between the two seats, saddled over the hump. – Mrs. Carol G. Donahue, West Andover, Mass. Although doesn’t look too safe to me!
Bumpers With Built In Hitches
Bumpers with built in hitches for trailer hauling. Add-on hitches are unsightly and make it hard to get a push in an emergency. F.M. Maguire, Savannah
Children’s Roller Skates
Children’s roller skates with a clip or other fastener underneath to hold the clamp key. Loose keys, constantly lost, are just a nuisance. – Mrs. E. Ross, San Bernardino, California.
Screw In Drain Plugs
Screw in drain plugs for remote outboard tanks. Sloshing a left-over pint of gasoline out of that inch hole at the top of the can is for the birds. – H. Anderson, Cassopolis, Mich.
Hide-Away Air Conditioner
A hide-away air conditioner to fit basement windows screened by shrubs. Cool air from a top vent would be ducted to a floor grille in the room above. A. A. Scott, Leonia, N.J.
High-Visibility Fertilisers
High-visibility fertilizers and weed killers so you can see where you have been and not overlap on a lawn. Why not dye the pellets a bright color? S. Johnson, Wesleyville, Pa
Spray Poles
Spray poles triggered at the bottom to operate an insecticide bomb held at the top. They would put you on target for spraying caterpillar tents or wasp nests in trees or under house eaves. – S. Smith, New Augusta, Ind.
Rear-Window Air Deflectors
Rear-window air deflectors on station wagons to keep out gales, yet allow ventilation throughout the car. The angle could be controllable by a switch on the dashboard. – John King, Ashkum, Ill.
Garden Edging Blocks
Garden edging blocks with long stakes pre cast in one side. Then you wouldn’t have to dig a trench to prevent them from getting kicked around the yard. – Dean Himmelreich, Milwaukee.
A Shorten-At-Will Handle Grip
A shorten-at-will handle grip on one side of power lawn mowers so that you could get close to fences and other obstacles. It could telescope, screw in, or fold. W.P. Twigg, Oak Lawn, Ill.
Edible Toothpicks
Edible toothpicks – spears of garlic flavoured pretzel stick or peppermint candy – for holding sandwiches together of for serving hors d’oeuvres. A.R. Dunham, Pasadena, California.