… or a pig in a poke, as we used to call it
Earlier this morning I was offered a playing card-sized pack of blank cards in a special presentation box in a sponsored tweet. The idea of these cards is that they are used to write down creative ideas for a project or as part of a discussion. The cards can then be spread out, shuffled, reorganised and packed up for a second look at will. They come in a range of colours, apparently:
- Sunshine Yellow,
- Peacekeeper Blue
- Apple Green
- Conscious Orange
Sunshine, peacekeeper and apple I can see -but why is orange “conscious”? Prices for the cards range from about £10 for the playing-card size to over £30 for larger ones.
Now I am all for physical interaction when generating ideas. Whenever I train preachers I advocate the use of two pieces of paper and a pencil in their preparation. The two pieces of paper allow hermeneutical (what does it mean) and homiletical (how shall I say it) notes to be kept apart from each other. The pencil is to encourage messy and vigorous thought, connecting and reconnecting ideas until a clear picture emerges. I wholeheartedly endorse the move away from the screen and onto bits of paper or card in order to free up thinking from that little illuminated rectangle at which I am staring just now. I am sure many who buy these cards will find that they encourage their minds to come out and play in the wide open spaces of free thought.
Do we really need bespoke items to achieve that aim though?
Whatever happened to the back-of-an-envelope?