Unlocking Creativity in Post-Production: The "30 Circles Challenge"

In our post-production class, we’re often focused on tools, techniques, and polish — but creativity is the real fuel behind good work. This week, I stepped out of my usual design comfort zone and tried a creativity exercise I found online called the 30 Circles Challenge. It completely shifted how I think about idea generation.

Source of the Exercise:

The 30 Circles Challenge is from IDEO's Design Thinking Toolkit. It’s also been shared on Stanford’s d.school site and featured in IDEO U's online courses. You can view a version of it here:
👉 https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/try-this-creative-warm-up-activity-with-your-team

How the Exercise Works:

You start with a sheet of paper that has 30 blank circles (you can quickly make this in Illustrator or draw it by hand). The challenge: in 3 minutes, turn as many circles as you can into recognizable objects. Don’t overthink — just go! Turn a circle into a pizza, a basketball, a clock, a Pokéball, whatever pops into your head.

The goal isn’t to be perfect, it’s to stretch your imagination under pressure.

What I Did:

I printed the 30 Circles and set a timer. At first, my brain froze. Then I started filling them in fast: a donut, a power button, a cat's face, a vinyl record. I ended up with 22 filled circles — not bad for 3 minutes!

Afterward, I grouped my ideas into categories (food, tech, pop culture, symbols). This helped me see where my creative comfort zones are and where I could explore new directions.

What I Learned:

  1. Quantity leads to quality — pushing for 30 ideas means not everyone will be amazing, but some surprises will pop out.

  2. Speed kills perfectionism — when you're on a timer, you stop judging and start doing.

  3. Categories reveal patterns — I noticed I rely a lot on pop culture and round food. Now I know I can challenge myself to think beyond that.

Why It Matters for Post-Production:

In post-production, we're editing, animating, and solving visual problems. Exercises like this train our brain to work faster, explore unexpected solutions, and get over creative blocks — all critical when deadlines hit.

I’ll be using this exercise as a warm-up before future editing sessions to loosen up my creativity and help find original transitions or motion ideas.

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