The zine discusses the importance of play in fostering creativity and problem-solving, emphasizing that play is not the opposite of work but a vital part of the innovation process. It explores how maintaining a playful mindset can help individuals and teams approach challenges with open-mindedness and collaboration. Additionally, it features interviews and insights from designers on how their playful upbringing influences their work in creating adaptable and reusable spaces.

1. THIS IS A SERIOUS ZINE ABOUT BEING LESS SERIOUS.
zine.ideo.com
#2

2. A letter from the zine team
At IDEO, we have to be both
naive and aware, uninhibited and
responsible. To come up with new
ideas and solutions, we need to
balance a six-year-old’s openness
with the mind and discipline of
someone twice our age.
One of the crucial processes we
use to keep our spirits optimistic
and ideas generative is play.
Play at its best creates a mental
space where we shed judgment
of ourselves and others. It helps
us reframe tricky and serious
problems so we can find a new
entry point into tackling them.
In this zine, we’ll explore why
play is so important and how
different people incorporate it
into their work. Our hope is that
after reading, you’ll find yourself
playing more and experiencing its
value firsthand.
Play on players.
Stuart Brown said that
in his TED Talk about play.
Most people think
that the opposite of play is work
(especially in the corporate
world) but the opposite is
boredom or even depression.
“
“

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I’MNOTTHECREATIVETYPE I N T R O D U C T I O N We think playfulness is important. But why is it
important? Playfulness helps us get to better creative
solutions. It helps us do our jobs better and helps us feel
better when we do them.
When an adult encounters a new situation we have
a tendency to want to categorize it as quickly as we can.
There’s a reason for that: we want to settle on an answer.
Life’s complicated, and we want to figure out what’s going
on around us very quickly.
Kids are more engaged with open possibilities. When
they come across something new, they’ll certainly ask,
“What is it?” But they’ll also ask, “What can I do with it?”
We’ve all heard stories about how our kids end up playing
with boxes on Christmas morning far more than they play
with the toys that are inside them. This behavior makes
complete sense because you can do a lot more with boxes
than you can do with a toy.
Another thing we tend to do as adults is self-edit as
we’re having ideas. The ability to just go for it and explore
lots of things, even if they don’t seem that different from
each other, is something that kids do well. It is a form of play.
Thismightfeellikeit’samessagetojustgooutandplay
likeakid.Toacertainextentitis,butthefirstthingtoremember
is that play is not anarchy. Play has rules, especially when it’s
group play. When kids play tea party, or they play cops and
robbers, they’re following a script that they’ve agreed to.
And it’s this code negotiation that leads to productive play.
It’s very easy to fall into the trap that these
states are absolute. You’re either playful or you’re
serious, and you can’t be both. But that’s not really
true: you can be a serious professional adult and, at
times, be playful. It’s not an either/or; it’s an “and.”
— Tim Brown said this in his TED Talk, “Tales of creativity
and play.”
A nephew and a daughter of IDEO New York
designers with the forts they built.

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P L AY = WO R KI’MNOTTHECREATIVETYPE T YG E R S H A R K
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5. 4 5
T YG E R S H A R K
ISSUENo.2
FROM LEGOS TO MODULAR SPACES -
AN INTERVIEW WITH ASMBLD. ROBOTICS
Were your parents mechanical?
In Russia when I was young, a lot of country
houses were self-built. My grandfather built our
country house himself.
Whenever we had to fix anything around
that house, we just had to do it or build it. My
father worked a lot around the house, but he is
not mechanical by trade. He’s a geographer and
our mother is as well. With them, we got our
inspiration for traveling, for cities and for the
planning that goes into spaces.
What did you build with when you were younger?
We spent every summer at that country house.
Most of the time, Petr and I were just building
stuff, like forts or small models of houses or chairs.
There was wood all around, so we would just saw
some and use that.1
We built this structure once that was like a
treehouse or a shack. We thought it was a castle at
the time, and now I look back on it and it was just
utterly ugly, just crazy ugly, but we did it without
help from adults.3
We also had Legos at some point, of course. In
Russia, when Legos arrived it was like, “Wow!”—it
was a big deal.
We didn’t have Lego sets though, we just
had mass amounts of the standard pieces.1
I think
it was actually much better that way. A lot of
children now just do designs exactly like what’s
on the box and they get bored. There are all these
custom pieces for, say, an astronaut or spacecraft.
It’s almost like an IKEA job. We didn’t have that.
Above
The “ugly” shack.
Right
Petr & Fedor
Novikov
playing in the
garden.
2
Fedor Novikov, 27, and his brother Petr2
, 25, moved
from Russia to Brooklyn to start asmbld. (asmbld.
com). From their office in South Williamsburg,
they’re developing small robots that will allow us
to “A/B Test” the spaces we live in4
. Fedor talked
with us about how their passion for building as
kids led to their work today.
P L AY = W O R KI’MNOTTHECREATIVETYPE
A Recipe for Play
1. Constraint: Healthy
limitations give focus.
2. Collaboration: Combine
minds and manpower.
3. Open-Mindedness: Don’t
self-edit. Dream big.
4. Reframing: Attack problems
from a new angle.

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I’MNOTTHECREATIVETYPE FROM LEGOS TO MODULAR SPACES
With asmbld, you’re working to fundamentally
alter how we relate to the spaces we live in. Can
you tell us more about what you’re tackling?
The average building’s lifespan is 40 years.
After that it gets demolished and only a small
portion of the materials get recycled and
repurposed. It turns out that up to 40% of landfills
in the United States are materials from
demolition waste.
Through research, we found 40% of that waste
comes from renovations. So, we asked ourselves if
we can make buildings that qualify for two things1
:
1. Reusable. Nearly every element you put into
the building can be reused after it’s disassembled
or recycled.
2. Adaptable. Throughout the building’s
lifetime, they adapt based on your needs so you
don’t have to renovate and create waste.
We believe robots are the tool that will allow
us to sustainably shape-shift our spaces. We’re
focusing on indoor spaces, starting with floors. We
can’t share too much about the technical details
for IP reasons, but to describe it broadly, you’ll be
able to say where you want something to be built,
and it will come out of the floor and disappear
back into it when you’re done.3
Robots do the
assembly and disassembly layer by layer, and also
handle the movement of building elements under
your feet.
Robot prototypes built by Petr and Fedor test their core hypothesis.
Below
Three different
configurations
of the same
apartment made
possible by asmbld.
1
2
3
Right
Initial prototypes
of the mini robots
that can build
interior walls.
Above
The brothers
build their robots
in a warehouse
in Brooklyn.
Given you grew up spending so much time
making things with your hands, what gets you
both so excited about using robots to build our
spaces?
When you look at industries with a history
of robotics like manufacturing, which has been
using robots for 30-40 years, they just took the
process humans were using on a conveyor belt and
automated that. In construction, it’s pretty much
the same—automating human processes. For us,
that’s not the interesting part.
Take a simple concept like brick laying for
example. In every country when the concept of a
brick first appeared, they were all about the same
size and shape. The reason for that is that bricks
are designed for one hand.1
A worker can grab a
brick with one hand, use the other to lay cement,
and then place the brick down.
When you look at a robot, it has completely
different capabilities in terms of the weight it can
lift, and of speed and precision. Automating brick
laying for a robot becomes silly. You are taking old
constraints and building around them, but when
you design around the capabilities of a robot, you
might come up with an entirely new system.4

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I’MNOTTHECREATIVETYPE
Ilikenonsense,itwakesup
thebraincells.Fantasyisa
necessaryingredientinliving,it's
awayoflookingatlifethrough
thewrongendofatelescope.
DrSeuss
Spaghetti Towers
The purpose of this exercise is to
experience three key principles of
good play: building with your hands,
collaborating, and creating within
limitations. It’s also simple and makes
for a great icebreaker. Do it yourself:
1. Grab some friends / colleagues,
marshmallows and spaghetti.
2. Divide into teams.
3. Set a 10-15 minute timer.
4. Build a tower.
Highest tower wins. Go!
Built a good one? Send it to us:
creativetype@ideo.com

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I’MNOTTHECREATIVETYPE A N I N T E R V I E W
Brendan: We were recently working
on an iPhone app for Sesame Street
and were trying to think of how
Elmo should dance. So, we cut out
a giant iPhone from foam core and
filmed different people dancing
inside the window. It was a very
playful way to prototype and, more
importantly, we learned quickly
which dance moves wouldn’t work.
Our goal with prototyping is to
build something quickly and learn
and then make it better on the next
round.
How do you handle skeptics
of play?
Brendan: In Tom Kelley’s book The
10 Faces of Innovation, he talks
about the one guy in the meeting
that anoints himself the role of
playing devil’s advocate. For some
reason, he then gets to shoot-down
everyone’s ideas. Tom makes a great
point around, “What if this person
had to play a different role? What if
they had to play the ‘experimenter’
role?”
Joe: Those skeptics are in every
walk of life. You can certainly
combat it with the experimenter
role. Show people it’s possible,
don’t just tell them. It’s always
been the seemingly improbable,
boundary-pushing ideas that have
created this world around us, and
none of that would have been
possible if they’d listened to all the
people who said it never would have
worked. We’d still be living in caves
if we relied on the skeptics.
First off, when I say the word “play”
what does it mean to you?
Brendan Boyle: To me, play is what
you’re passionate about doing. You
want to do it because it’s enjoyable
and you want to keep doing it
because it brings you joy. But play is
a ton of effort.
Joe Wilcox: Play is a state of mind.
I’ve heard it described as a visceral
form of learning. It really doesn’t
matter what the activity is, it’s the
way you approach the activity that
makes it play.
What common misperceptions do
organizations have around play?
Brendan: People tend to think a
couple things. That work is work and
play is frivolous and it’s only for kids.
Or when they do try and incorporate
it, they treat it separate from the
work and schedule it in almost like it
was recess. The core difference we’re
trying to incorporate at IDEO is that
play is part of the innovation process
not just something you do when you
roll out the ping pong tables at a
specific time.
What mindset should a creative
have when approaching play?
Joe: Try to encourage open-ended
behavior. It’s not about goals, it’s
about pushing the boundaries and
discovering something.
For those that work with digital
tools, how do you replicate playing
and prototyping?
Source: An interview given to 99U
A VISCE AL FORM OF
LEARNING.

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In the 1980s, a Japanese designer
named Kenji Kawakami developed the
art of Chindōgu or “unuselessness.”
Chindōgu inventions are eccentric
and extremely inconvenient tools that
solve everyday problems.
At the heart of Chindōgu is a sense
of playfulness. The embrace of
ridiculousness removes any fear of
judgment, while the emphasis on
problem solving offers focus and
constraint.
There are a few guiding tenets to the
art form. Read those on the pages
that follow, then we’ll challenge you
to design your own Chindōgu.
A playful Japanese art form mashes up existing products and
everyday needs as a starting point for innovation.
CHINDŌGU
Chindōgu tools are for everyday life
They are solutions to problems
encountered every day around the world.
Chindōgu are not for sale
Chindōgu cannot be sold. That
would go against the spirit of the
art form.
They must have a spirit of anarchy
Chindōgus challenge the need for usefulness.
Chindōgu cannot
be for real use
They are impractical
enough to be useless.
CHINDŌGU

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Chindōgu are not propaganda
They are innocent and made with
pure intentions.
Chindōgu are without prejudice
Everyone should have an equal
chance to enjoy a Chindōgu.
A Chindōgu must exist
A Chindōgu must be something
that you can hold in your hands.
Chindōgu cannot be patented
Chindōgu cannot be copyrighted
or patented. They are meant to be
shared with the world.
Chindōgu are never taboo
Chindōgu must adhere to
society’s basic standards.
Humor is not the sole reason
Even though Chindōgu are inherently
ridiculous, they are still created to
solve a problem.
Thanks to mentalfloss.com for teaching us about Chindōgu. Images from the internet.
CHINDŌGU

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This second edition of I’m not the
creative type by IDEO is limited
to five hundred copies, all of which
have been assembled by an IDEO
New York designer.
This is copy _________________
EVERYDAY NEED - Look around you. What’s frustrating people or making them uncomfortable?
MAKE YOUR OWN
CHINDŌGU
Solve a problem by repurposing an existing product.
EXISTING PRODUCT - What’s something you could buy at Home Depot or a gag shop?
Will you send us what you came up with? We’re curious:
creativetype@ideo.com
DRAW & NAME IT

12. IDEO (pronounced “eye-dee-oh”) is a
global design firm that takes a human-
centered, design-based approach to
helping organizations in the public and
private sectors innovate and grow.
We were founded in 1991 with the faith
that everyone is creative.
www.ideo.com
THANKS TO
Fedor Novikov
Petr Novikov
Brendan Boyle
Joe Wilcox
Tim Brown
Stuart Brown
Ashlea Powell
Ben Swire
Chris Milne
T&B
COLOPHON
I’m not the creative type – “Play=Work”. Zine #2
Printed & assembled at IDEO New York
Limited edition of about 500
Published on 10.14.2015
Curated by Bailey Richardson & Thom Huxtable
Design by IDEO NY
Typeset in Gotham, Calibre
Cover: French Paper. 100lb cover weight. Pop-tone
Blue Raspberry
Fly Sheet: Mohawk VIA Smooth Bright White,
Fibre. 24lb.
Interior: Mohawk Paper. 24lb & 28lb writing weight.
Superfine in Ultrawhite Eggshell
zine.ideo.com

13. I’m not the creative
type is a zine to spark
imagination. Everyone
is born with an innate
creative ability, it’s just
a matter of shedding
fear of judgment
through inspiration,
process and craft.
Play is one of those
processes.