OUGD603 - Brief 1 - First Principle Theory

First principle theory stems from a physics psychology which many innovators have used throughout history to solve problems. It is mainly used within physics and economics however, the mental model serves as a basic method which I believe I can adopt into my own creative practice. To start, we uncover all of the foundational facts about a topic or brief, and work our way up from there in order to see the same problem in a different light. This stops us from using the conventional solving method which involves looking at how other people have solved a similar problem, and trying to replicate their results.

Instead of working with heuristics, such as stereotypes, analogies or simply an agreed rule of thumb, this method trains the brain to, as Elon Musk explains it, "boil things down to their fundamental truths and reason up from there". This process can unlock creative capabilities and get rid of mental blocks and restraints, it widens the solution space in order to create new and innovative possibilities and concepts.

Being an innovator, you have to be able to open your mind to new possibilities, possibilities that may be true or false. But it is only through going through this intuitive process that you can entertain the possibility of truly unique ideas.

My self-teaching of this theory has evolved through watching various online videos about the topic, some of the most relevant are listed below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvTVDTg3DSM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grSdMoiMgb4&t=183s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BGaMldQU04


I have exercised this theory and put it into practice on my first extended practice brief, this basic way of perceiving the problem has really opened up some opportunities that I otherwise wouldn't have considered. For example analysing the fundamentals of how sound and audio works within an environment has allowed me to see other avenues such as sound vibration and waveforms, both of these could be crucial in the conceptual stages and music visualisation process.

The process below shows how I have stripped music down to its bare components, this has then allowed me to make links between the audio and visual senses. For example, music creates vibrations, which creates movement, which can then be used within physical production methods.

I also created a mindmap which evaluates everything which I know to be true about how music is currently represented visually.