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Key Learnings:<ul><li>Why creativity is essential for innovation</li><li>How to foster creativity</li><li>Developing a creative mindset</li></ul><hr>Creativity takes a certain degree of confidence, doesn’t it? It requires vulnerability, the uncertainty of what might come out and where it will end up. But how do you find that confidence that allows you to jump into something new? We sat down with Moon Creative Lab’s Chief Creative Officer, Mike Peng, to hear his take on finding creative confidence. &nbsp;<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Mike_Peng_702f14ff0b.jpg" alt="Mike Peng"><h4>Innovation needs creativity</h4>Innovation is all about creating something new to the world, and often, the way to get there means you need to do things differently. If you do things in the typical way, you will likely get typical results. “You have to use different processes and different tools to achieve out-of-the-box thinking,” Mike says.&nbsp;&nbsp;“The only way you can do that is to utilize creativity – creative tools, creative processes, and most importantly, a creative mindset. Doing so will enable you to get to an outcome that maybe wasn’t originally imaginable, which is exactly what innovation is all about. ”&nbsp;<h3>&nbsp;</h3><h4>Cultivating creativity</h4>The key to manifesting creativity is to ensure that you are fostering diversity. At Moon, experts in design, engineering, product, operations, and more come together to offer their unique perspectives. It’s this collaboration and exploring through others that allows creativity to thrive, which is something Mike is passionate about. “I think creative collaboration is really, really exciting. When you bring together different types of people who each have different backgrounds, skills, and experiences, you’re able to get different perspectives on the same problem. When you have different perspectives all working together, you can come up with something that’s way more interesting in the end, better than if you were to have done it alone.”&nbsp;Experimentation is another key to creativity, and an experiment isn’t always perfect. “We introduce tools like quick prototyping. I think oftentimes we try and perfect the thing we’re trying to create and wait until the very end to launch. But what we do at Moon is a rougher version, a rawer version that we can test into the world, learn quickly from it, and then re-launch an even better version.” So creativity can sometimes be scrappy and imperfect? Got it!&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>&nbsp;</h3><h4>What is a creative mindset?</h4>Mike mentioned the importance of a creative mindset, but what does that mean? In some ways, it means being okay with not knowing what it means! “When you’re trying to create something new, we actually have no idea what the ‘right’ answer is. In school, we’re typically taught that there’s always a right answer and a wrong answer. But applying a creative mindset means that we’re going into the problem being okay not knowing what the answer is. We need to explore, try new things, embrace ambiguity. We need to remind ourselves to be okay with not knowing. I know it’s really hard, but that’s one of the things that I think is key to being creative,” Mike explains. “Often, we’re waiting for people to tell us which direction is right and which is wrong, but utilizing a creative mindset means you’re going to suspend judgment and explore options.”<h3>&nbsp;</h3><h4>Creative confidence at Moon&nbsp;</h4>“We’ve been able to apply a lot of different types of creativity to Moon’s projects,” Mike says. “This involves a lot of exploration and experimentation. Sometimes we launch a simple website just to see if potential customers are interested and will sign up! The thought is that if they do, that’s a great indication of traction. You know that we’re onto something. But that’s something you normally wouldn’t do, right? In most cases, you wouldn’t ever create a webpage until you’re actually done with a product, right?”&nbsp;Creative confidence sounds like the reassurance we need to be unsure. To be open to the unknown, not always knowing the answers, and making just about anything, never striving for perfection. Remember, being creative and innovative means doing something new and discovering what’s possible.Jump in. Find inspiration through others. Get scrappy. Experiment. And be ready for new possibilities. Creativity can be scary, but it’s the only way to create something new. As Mike encourages, “Embrace the ambiguity of not knowing what the answer is and then be open to what those potential solutions can be. I think that’s really exciting.”&nbsp;

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Mateus Rezende, Senior Design Lead at Moon Creative Lab, reports on a recent meetup event held in February 2023 in collaboration with&nbsp;<a href="http://canvas.co.com">Canvas Tokyo</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.figma.com/">Figma</a>. What can someone do in three minutes? What about in three hours? In early February this year, Moon was happy to host our first public event directed at the creative and entrepreneurial communities in Tokyo. The formula was simple. We had a three-hour gathering, where the entire Moon team and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence could commingle with other designers, artists, developers, and entrepreneurs who live and work around Tokyo. The core of the event was an open mic session where anyone could present their portfolio, their personal projects, or pitch their startup in three minutes on stage. This gave presenters the opportunity to quickly share their passion to the entire audience for further collaboration and gather potential feedback.&nbsp; &nbsp;<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/machi_event_4700c763cf.jpg" alt="machi event.jpg"> This event was organized in partnership with&nbsp;<a href="http://canvas.co.com/">Canvas Tokyo</a>, an online platform where creatives can share their work, create discussions on an online forum, and find work on their recently launched Jobs page. We also had support from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.figma.com/">Figma Japan</a>, a widely known tool for UX and UI design. While Canvas Tokyo invited their community of creatives to bring physical works to be displayed on a gallery wall during the event, Figma gifted swag to those who were brave enough to take the mic for three minutes on stage. On the opposite wall from the gallery with displayed artwork there was a six-meter wide projection screen with an online white-board powered by FigJam where creators could place the digital version of their artwork. This wall contained lots of different real-time interaction which created an even greater engagement and unforgettable experience for attendees! &nbsp;<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/PXL_20230203_113522584_2_4e996a721f.jpg" alt="PXL_20230203_113522584 2.jpg"> Overall, it was an evening full of great conversation, endless laughter, and networking opportunities. Everyone had an opportunity to talk and meet with someone new.&nbsp;The only moment there was&nbsp;silence was when the open mic session had started. We heard from one of our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, Satoshi Yoshida, presenting his venture GORIL, and even&nbsp; professionals&nbsp;in the business world who are also artists. Using only one illustrated image and a microphone in hand, those who did choose to present inspired the crowd at the event. &nbsp;<img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/Event_photo_c6fc8854c6.jpg" alt="Event photo.jpg"> This Open Creative Night was the first public event that Moon hosted, in partnership with Canvas Tokyo and Figma, hosted. The intention is to make this event into an ongoing series of gatherings. Our goal is to create a space in the heart of Omotesando where creatives, entrepreneurs and all ofMoon can commingle, learn, become inspired, and connect with people old and new.&nbsp; Be sure to check out our <a href="https://www.mooncreativelab.com/ja/stories/page/1">Moon Stories</a> for upcoming events!&nbsp;Matheus Rezende Senior Design Lead&nbsp; <a href="mailto:mateus@mooncreativelab.com">mateus@mooncreativelab.com</a>

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Moon Creative Lab, Canvas Tokyo, Figma event 

ILLUMINATE, an event series by Moon Creative Lab, shines a light on the next generation of business creators. It’s our way of connecting with teams and individuals across Mitsui to create something that’s never been done before within the company.On November 28, 2022, we hosted a kickoff event for the upcoming February ILLUMINATE at Moon Creative Lab’s Tokyo studio in order to inspire and educate future participants. Over 40 Mitsui &amp; Co., employees hoping to create new businesses gathered to learn how to create memorable pitches and attend business design workshops to further develop their ideas. Through group discussions, participants exchanged feedback on their ideas and brainstormed together to explore ideas even further.Kickoff Event Key Learnings<ol><li>How to create a memorable pitch&nbsp;</li><li>Define problems using design thinking&nbsp;</li></ol>All Mitsui employees were invited to share new business ideas with Moon through a company-wide open call. Once submissions closed, selected Idea Owners were asked to present their ideas for new business at the ILLUMINATE pitch event in February. If their idea is selected from the pitch event, they will be seconded to Moon to become Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs) and start their journey towards incubation.&nbsp;In order to grow excitement for the upcoming pitch event and help people learn more about Moon, we hosted a kickoff event with Moon Creative Lab team members. During this kickoff event, the Moon team provided a variety of programs to help potential idea owners and future entrepreneurs prepare for the upcoming event.&nbsp;Some of these programs included a workshop explaining the different types of Moon offerings and support towards business creation. Additional workshops offered tips on how to create a memorable pitch and how to refine ideas using design thinking.<h2>1.How to create a memorable pitch</h2><figure class="image"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/L1500034_1bc6c9ba8b.jpg" alt="L1500034.jpg"><figcaption>&nbsp;Tomoyuki Takada, Head of Growth at Moon Creative Lab, explains how to create a memorable pitch.</figcaption></figure>Tomoyuki Takada, Head of Growth at Moon Creative Lab, gave participants tips on how to create a memorable pitch. He shared that in order to see your business idea come to life, you need to give a convincing pitch to receive any sort of investment. In order to do this, Tomoyuki stated that it’s important to create a memorable pitch, which you can do by following these six components:<ol><li>Keep it simple&nbsp;</li><li>Share the unexpected&nbsp;</li><li>Be specific&nbsp;</li><li>Share reliable facts</li><li>Make it emotional&nbsp;</li><li>Tell a good story&nbsp;</li></ol>Tomoyuki emphasized that it's important for entrepreneurs to be able to explain their ideas simply in just a few words. For example, explaining your idea by comparing it to existing services and products that people are familiar with such as Uber, AirBnb, or Google.&nbsp;One example might be, "Uber that arrives at your home to watch your kids."Tomoyuki also explained the importance of including unexpected information to surprise listeners by incorporating expressions using the five senses such as color, smell, taste, sound, and temperature. He also mentioned tips on including research to ensure reliability, telling personal experiences to convey emotions and reliability, and telling ideas in a story-based manner.<h2>2.Workshop: Define problems using design thinking</h2><figure class="image"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/DSCF_6947_3af1ce85fd.jpg" alt="DSCF6947.jpg"><figcaption>Brainstorming using post-it notes</figcaption></figure>In this specially designed 90-minute workshop, participants experienced a condensed version of the design thinking process, which normally takes a few days or weeks. Similar to Moon's incubation process, participants went through several brainstorming sessions to identify challenges and their personal visions. Participants were able to identify the four key processes to prepare for research:&nbsp;<ol><li>Painpoint mapping&nbsp;</li><li>User exploration&nbsp;</li><li>Bias check&nbsp;</li><li>Research preparation&nbsp;</li></ol>Participants need to not only identify issues and problems themselves, but also the reason why. Clarify motivations by answering questions like, “Who is impacted and how? What are their needs?” And by asking questions from various perspectives, as shown below, we can make ideas more concrete.<ul><li>What are the users’ needs?&nbsp;</li><li>Which of these needs are unfulfilled?&nbsp;</li><li>Are there any needs that users are not aware of, but will notice once it’s mentioned? &nbsp;</li></ul>Identifying questions and using the answers to help clarify issues can make your pitch more convincing.&nbsp;Once issues have been identified with a painpoint map, examining market data can help understand feasibility. Analyzing the data can show how many people are experiencing the problem trying to be solved and find more details about target users.&nbsp;When brainstorming, it’s more about quantity than quality. It is important not to judge the quality of an idea right away, but to focus on visualizing the ideas. Map hypotheses and questions while being aware that ideas can be biased.After identifying ideas, clarify the vision based on achievements, construct a story, consider what kind of hypothesis testing is necessary, and prepare for the next stage: research.<h3>Participants’ reflections</h3><figure class="image"><img src="https://moon-website-prod-images.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/3_2113d5c560.jpg" alt="懇親会 3.jpg"><figcaption>Kickoff social was held at Moon Tokyo Studio following the workshops</figcaption></figure>Some people who attended the event arrived with business ideas in mind, but there were also attendees who were genuinely interested in Moon and design thinking. A wide range of participants gathered, ranging from those with extensive overseas work experience to individuals in their first year at Mitsui. Moon team members also had a chance to interact and get to know participants even better.&nbsp;Be sure to stay up to date on ongoing ventures and newly selected ideas to be incubated on our website’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mooncreativelab.com/ventures">venture page.</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Recommended Related Articles・<a href="https://www.mooncreativelab.com/stories/ascend-zero">Building Ascend From 0 to 1</a>・<a href="https://www.mooncreativelab.com/stories/prototypes">Low-Fi Prototypes for High-Tech Solutions</a>・<a href="https://www.mooncreativelab.com/stories/entrepreneur-journey">Beginning the Entrepreneur Journey</a>

Our Programs

About Moon

Our Stories

Getting To Know the Unknown: The Importance of Creative Confidence

Moon × Canvas Tokyo × Figma Open Creative Night

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Our Programs

About Moon

Our Stories

design - Moon Stories Blog

Getting To Know the Unknown: The Importance of Creative Confidence

Moon × Canvas Tokyo × Figma Open Creative Night

First-Hand Experience Designing a New Business | Kickoff Event Key Learnings

In The News

Moon Welcomes Community of Individuals, Corporations, and Startup Teams To Build Innovative New Businesses

Moon Opens Doors to Palo Alto Startup Community

What Does Artificial Life Reveal About Us?