Facilitator guide: From Inspiration to Invention

What this lab is for

This is a low-pressure practice in creative judgment. The learner is not being asked to prove they are original, solve a legal question, or make a finished public asset. They are practicing how to move from “I like that feeling” to “here is a different, usable direction.”

Use fictional material by default. Offer the provided plaza scenario, a printed prompt card, or a no-tool paper version. Do not ask learners to expose private images, client material, unpublished work, or emotionally important family photos.

Facilitation sequence

1. Say the boundary plainly: we are not reproducing a named work or testing a tool's limits.
2. Model one ordinary spark and the distinction between general ingredients and source-specific details.
3. Give quiet think/write time before discussion. Learners may work alone, in pairs, or as observers.
4. Ask learners to change several dimensions and add their own ingredients before they write a brief.
5. Invite a few volunteers to read only the source-neutral brief, not the original inspiration.
6. Close with provenance, intended use, and the question: “What would need review before this went public or commercial?”

Traffic lights for proposed materials

Green — use freely in this activity: supplied fictional scenarios; learner-created abstractions; public-domain or licensed sources with a recorded source; assets the learner owns and is comfortable using privately.

Yellow — pause and simplify: a familiar but unnamed source; an asset with unclear origin; an organizational brand image; a family photo; a request that may be public or commercial later. Keep the exercise on paper or use a fictional substitute until the rights and intended use are clear.

Red — do not use in the lab: a request to imitate a living artist or recognizable protected work; a logo or trademarked identity; a private or sensitive image; a request to evade a refusal or platform boundary; a public or commercial decision that needs legal, rights-holder, or organizational review.

If a learner asks, “Is this legal?”

Do not answer as a lawyer. Say: “This lab helps us make a more independent creative brief and record what we know. It does not decide rights or permission. For a public, commercial, or uncertain use, pause and get the appropriate review.”

Keep the language factual and calm. Do not imply that a prompt, an output, a platform response, or a lack of response settles a legal question.

Accessibility and participation

• Read the scenario aloud and provide it in text.
• Offer a written, spoken, visual, or paired response path.
• Treat a source-neutral brief, an alt-text description, or a storyboard as equal alternatives to an image.
• Do not require sharing, tool use, image generation, or a personal story.
• Give learners time to identify boundaries privately before group discussion.

Completion check

Before learners leave, confirm that they have:

• named a general spark or purpose;
• separated it from source-specific elements;
• changed multiple dimensions and added original ingredients;
• written a source-neutral brief; and
• recorded intended use and any remaining review need.

Collect only voluntarily shared, non-sensitive feedback. The local Lab Notebook has no account, tracking, automatic storage, or submission; learners download what they choose to keep.

Provisional timing for facilitator planning

These inherited estimates are starting points for facilitation, not completion targets for learners. Refine them after observing setup, access needs, discussion, and actual participation.

• Lab: 45–60 minutes
• Lab: 45–60 minutes