Have you ever sat stuck with a large group of people, all with good ideas, but the very thought of getting started as a group is absolutely paralyzing?
That’s because groups ain’t good at starting things. A person is.
And yet, we celebrate consensus and compromise and synergy and brainstorming and all that crap. It’s not bad crap, in all fairness. It just isn’t everything.
For example, one of the worst things about brainstorming is that it leaves you overwhelmed by all the things you then have to go do. So you don’t do any of it. More so, you feel like you have to do it all together as a team because you came up with it as a team.
Designers need strong marketing direction, creative briefs and strategic guidelines to design print pieces, website and other creative projects.
Rules often get a bad rap, but it’s rules that actually make freedom and imagination possible. As I commented on his blog post, limits and rules provide the framework in which we can be creative. It’s creativity with direction.
Mark has posted an excellent article on enhancing creativity by increasing your limitations. In essence, he explains that the blank page approach to creativity and innovation usually isn’t the most productive way to capitalize on our creative juices. Rather, limit yourself in certain areas and see what happens. I completely agree with his belief, and [...]
Chris found the WebDesignerWall’s 50 Best CSS Sites in terms of design. Take a look. My favorite is this one by Freelance Switch. Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
It’s not too often that you see a designer really take major changes to a design, or better, direction, and really answer the challenge. Thanks to Dennis for pointing the way to Brand New. This post discusses how VSA Partners designed a great logo for Chicago’s big for the 2016 . . . then had [...]
Does a day go by at your office that you’re not reminded of the system, or process, or procedure, or protocol? Yes, they’re all important, but they also have one thing in common: Their very nature is to create ruts and habits. Say what you will, but ruts and habits don’t often produce new ideas. [...]
Since design has been a popular topic on this blog for the past week or two, it hit me that I’ve had the privilege of working with quite a few great designers myself, and then I know many other great designers that I haven’t worked with. And with the onset of online portfolios and blogs, [...]
This is what happens when well-meaning designers go bad. Real bad. Thanks to Gary for his interesting take (which is far too forgiving), and for pointing the way to Seth’s post on it, which is a bit more on-point, I think. This is a logo, believe it or not. Probably the worst one I’ve ever [...]
Creative departments and agencies often won’t get it. In fact, you should assume they won’t. They’re wired to think abstractly, on the edge. And that’s why you hired them – to a point. Sometimes the creative team can bully you into a certain design, certain copy, certain concept. They know what’s hip, what’s cutting edge [...]
