The Creative Techniques Cascades takes a Specific Idea and applies more precise descriptions to produce a range of general ideas from which creative work can be structured and developed.
How does 'Cascades' Work?
Expressions and/or words that clarify the chosen Specific Idea are identified. A creative text or other creative work is then developed using these clarifications as a starting point. The result is a number of creative solutions that can either be further developed or discarded according to the needs of the creative project.
Illustration: 'Cascades'
The following passages from The Tailor were developed with the help of the Cascades Technique as shown below.
The specific idea involved:
Change
Cascades of more precise descriptions of the Specific Idea:
- Alteration
- Refashion
- Refine
- Progression
- Betterment
- Improvement
- Advancement
- Performance
- Movement
- Breakthrough
- Promotion
- Getting ahead
Passage from The Tailor built with the help of Cascades:
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‘Every customer, of course, is different,’ said Anjali to her uncle over a cup of masala chai in the shop’s tiny kitchenette. ‘Yet there is a common thread that runs through every one of them.
In the humblest person, I often find there is a need for progression and change. The belief that life is a succession of alterations and improvements runs deep beneath the damp skin of many of the purchasers who rush into my shop in the middle of another winter storm.
Consecutive alteration is like a river that flows finally into design. Every alteration is an act in the fashioning of a garment but broken down into smaller steps. Small steps should be taken towards a tailored look and feel to a garment. Clothing should be fashioned by alteration. It will become a far better fit for the role it is playing, through the refining design of each consecutive alteration.
Alteration becomes a journey and not just a service. Clothing design becomes a process of successive alteration, consecutive steps in the dance of what the designer can create and what the customer will wear. The customer and the garment will blend like cotton and wool, each promoting the performance of the other.’