Kate Harper's Blog: Tools for Creating Ideas

I ran across this interesting list of ways to come up with ideas from a website creatingminds.org Each one has a detailed descriptions on how to do it. Pretty amazing stuff.

Absence Thinking: Think about what is not there.
Art streaming: Keep creating until you get through the blocks.
Assumption Busting: Surfacing and challenging unconscious assumptions.
Attribute Listing: Listing attributes of objects and then challenging them.
Brainstorming: The classic creative method for groups.
Braindrawing: Good for reticent groups.
Brainmapping: Combining brainwriting and mind-mapping.
Brainwriting: Group doodling for non-verbal stimulation.
Breakdown: Careful decomposition to explore the whole system.
Challenge: Challenge any part of the problem.
Crawford Slip Method: Getting ideas from a large audience.
A Day In The Life Of...: Building creative tension from contextualized situations.
Delphi Method: Explore ideas or gain consensus with remote group.
Doodling: Let your subconscious do the drawing.
Essence: Looking elsewhere whilst retaining essential qualities.
Forced Conflict: Using conflict to stimulate the subconscious.
Guided Imagery: Letting your subconscious give you a message.
How-How Diagram: Break down problem by asking 'how'.
How to: Frame statements as 'How to' to trigger focused thinking.
Incubation: Letting the subconscious do the work.
The Kipling method (5W1H): Ask simple questions for great answers.
Lateral thinking: Thinking sideways to create new ideas.
Lotus Blossom: Unfold the flower of extended ideas.
Chunking: Go up and then down elsewhere.
Mind-mapping: Hierarchical breakdown and exploration.
Modeling: For the artist in everyone.
Morphological Analysis: Forcing combinations of attribute values.
Nominal Group Technique: Getting ideas with minimal personal interaction.
Pause: Think more deeply for a minute.
Post-Up: Brainstorming with Post-It Notes.
Provocation: Shake up the session by going off-piste.
PSI: Problem + Stimulus = Idea!
Random Words: Using a random word as a stimulus.
Rightbraining: Combine incomplete doodles around the problem.
Role-play: Become other people. Let them solve the problem.
Remembrance: Remembering solutions not yet discovered.
Reversal: Looking at the problem backwards.
Reverse Brainstorming: Seek first to prevent your problem from happening.
Rubber-ducking: Get someone else to listen to your talk.
SCAMPER: Using action verbs as stimuli.
Six Thinking Hats: Think comfortably in different ways about the problem.
Storyboarding: Creating a visual story to explore or explain.
Take a break: When creativity is fading.
Talk streaming: Just talk and talk and talk until you unblock.
TRIZ Contradiction Analysis: Use methods already used in many patents.
Unfolding: Gradually unfolding the real problem from the outside.
Value Engineering: Deep analysis to understand and innovate in areas of key value.
Visioning: Creating a motivating view of the future.
Wishing: State ideas as wishes to expand thinking.
Write streaming: Write and write and write until you unblock.

BOOKS FOR THE CARD DESIGN

These are books I own and recommend. Some may be out of print, but used copies may be available. Check link.

Start & Run a Greeting Cards Business Book covers starting a card business in the UK. Good basic info, but financial/measurement info is in different monetary units.

Greeting Card Design Book that shows examples of professional card design.

Publishing Your Art as Cards How to make and sell your own cards for an extra income.

Pushing the Envelope How to work with greeting card sales reps.

Complete Guide to Greeting Card Design and Illustration Great Book on understanding the greeting card profession and how to develop a style.

1000 Handmade Greetings: creative cards and clever correspondence This is not a simple craft book for hobbyists,instead it is a picture book of professionally handmade cards by leading companies and designers.

By the Batch: Creative Cards, Postcards, Envelopes & More Book that addresses how to "manufacture" handmade greeting cards.

How to Write and Sell Greeting Cards, Bumper Stickers, Tshirts and Other Fun Stuff

Sell the Fun Stuff: Writers' and Artists' Market Guidelines for Greeting Cards, Posters, Rubber Stamps, T-Shirts, Aprons, Bumper Stickers, and More!

Writing Card Sentiments

Freelance Writing for Greeting Cards Another good book on how to write for cards professionally.

You Can Write Your Own Greeting Cards Clear guidelines on how to write card sentiments professionally.

Finding the Right Words One of many basic books of this series that tells you how to add words products, cards, etc.

Licensing Your Art to Companies

Licensing Art and Design

Licensing Art 101 Good beginners guide on the art licensing business.

2011 Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market List of greeting card companies, art licensees and agents.Detailed information on submission guidelines.

Gift and Product Design

Start with a Scan One of a kind book that tells you how to transform your art into a scan and what to do with it from there.

Design Your Own Repeat Patterns Simple book on learning repeats.

Twentieth-Century Pattern Design Great book for inspiration and creative approaches to designing patterns.

How to Break into Product Design Overview of product design in all industries.

Designing a Digital Portfolio Shows you how to put a digital portfolio together for the modern era.

Mary Engelbreit: The Art And The Artist Amazing story of how Mary ended up doing licensing.

Principles of Pattern Design Good info on pattern design

Imagery on Fabric Basic info on putting images onto fabric.

Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook of Pricing Yearly updated guidelines for pricing for people in art careers.

5,000 Years of Textiles Far East, Americas, Africa, Scandinavia, and Egyptian. Good for studying fabric design.

Abstract Design and How to Create It Over 380 illustrations, diagrams, designs, border patterns and textile patterns.

Creative Illustration Workshop Exercises for integrating illustration with other mixed-media techniques, and scan and layer your illustrations using a computer.

Print Workshop Hand-Printing Techniques for low budgets. Interesting ways to put imagery on products. Perhaps a good technique for putting our designs on model items to show what they would look like on real products.

Digital Alchemy Printmaking techniques for fine art and how to transfer images to a variety of surfaces. It includes decals and skins.

Critical Mass Cutting-edge developments in international printmaking. Since printmaking is fundamental in most surface design concepts, this book's goal is a modern approach on a traditional printmaking.

Tradeshows and Booth Design