Image Copyright: Creativity by German 'gerbenher' Benito [deviantART]
Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten. Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with books on algebra etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the creative bug is just a wee voice telling you, "I'd like my crayons back, please."
New Space for Ideas
A change in the environment will keep your creative juices flowing. Redecorate your workspace. If you can, get a room dedicated for creativity and a comfortable space for ideas to help generate ideas. International feng shui doctor, Paul Darby, suggests having a specific room in the west side of a building – in feng shui the west is symbolic of creativity, new ideas and new beginnings. Use colours such as white, cream and silvery grey. Have food and drinks readily available to create a relaxed atmosphere. Have flowers and plants. Research has shown that it can help to produce 15% more ideas in a workplace. (The Impact of Flowers and Plants on Workplace Productivity Study was conducted by Roger Ulrich, Ph.D., Behavioural Scientist, Director of the Centre for Health Systems and Design, Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, 2004)
Ask Questions
Ask ‘Why?’ several times until you explore undiscovered parts of the problem you’re working on. Let's say you're creating an advertisement. Why are you creating an advertisement? Because they need one. Why do they need one? Because they’ve got this interesting product to show off. Why is the product interesting? It glows in the dark. Why does it glow in the dark? Because... Suddenly, you’ll find yourself with more information to spin around.
If you’re stuck half-way in a design, let your mind wander with the What If? Technique. What if this was seen mirrored? What if these two switched positions? What if I inverted the whole thing? What if it was (put in whatever adjective you can think of)? It may sound more like an acid trip but it works.
Apply Osborn's Checklist and see if it generates any new ideas or perspectives. Try to avoid being held back by assumptions of how things should be done.
Put to other uses? As it is?… If modified?..
Adapt? Is there anything else like this? What does this tell you? Is the past comparable?
Modify? Give it a new angle? Alter the colour, sound, odour, meaning, motion, and shape?
Magnify? Can anything be added, time, frequency, height, length, strength? Can it be duplicated, multiplied or exaggerated?
Minify? Can anything be taken away? Made smaller? Lowered? Shortened? Lightened? Omitted? Broken up?
Substitute? Different ingredients used? Other material? Other processes? Other place? Other approach? Other tone of voice? Someone else?
Rearrange? Swap components? Alter the pattern, sequence or layout? Change the pace or schedule? Transpose cause and effect?
Reverse? Opposites? Backwards? Reverse roles? Change shoes? Turn tables? Turn other cheek? Transpose ‘+/-‘?
Combine? Combine units, purposes, appeals or ideas? A blend, alloy, or an ensemble?
Brainstorming and Mind Maps
A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. Combined with Brainstorming, is a very effective way to generate sacks of ideas on a specific issue and then determine which idea – or ideas – is the best solution.
To brainstorm by yourself, start by writing down the problem to be solved. Then write it down several more times, restating it each time. "We need to save money for a down payment on a house," may be restated as "We need to buy a house," and "We need to get out of this place." Now just spend thirty minutes writing down all the elements of the problem, and everything that comes to mind. Try several creative problem-solving techniques also, writing down the solutions and ideas that are produced. As with brainstorming in a group, it is important at this point that you don't stifle the creative process by judging your ideas. When you are done with this part, you should have a mess. Only now should you look at that mess with a critical eye. Pick through for the ideas with the most potential. If you are lucky, the best solution may jump out at you. More often you'll have a few decent possibilities that you have to evaluate further. Brainstorm again if you have to.
Wait! There's more..
Go for a walk when you can't think. The break will prime your brain into another way of thinking and will surely bring an idea with you when you get back.
When you're not putting you're creativity to work, feed your mind. Read as much as you can about everything possible. Books exercise your brain, provide inspiration and fill you with information that allows you to make creative connections easily.
Oh, and don't do drugs. People on drugs think they are creative. To everyone else, they seem like people on drugs.
How to Boost Creativity
Free Starbucks Coffee Recipe E-book
Everyone loves Starbucks so I thought people might find this interesting. There's a free Starbucks Coffee Recipe E-book at the Coffee Fair blog that's just waiting to be downloaded. It's a 32 page collection of Starbucks' world famous coffee recipes like iced Frappuccino, Caramel Macchiato, Chai Tea and more. Plus coffee pastries and coffee sauces.
via CoffeeFair
Greatest Business Card Design Collection
Need some business card design inspiration? Check out this business card Flickr set from dailypoetics that features (at the time of writing) 882 different designs.
Pixlr - Free Online Image Editor
The new online image editor Pixlr is the closest you can get to an online Photoshop. Even closer than Adobe's web based Photoshop Express.
Pixlr was created by Sweden-based developer Ola Sevandersson who spent a year writing–and re-writing–his Flash-based image editor.
Pixlr works just like a desktop app. The standard top bar begins with File. Creating new images, or loading from your computer occurs via this menu. Other online image editors use HTML forms for uploading, or partially implement the desktop menu metaphor.
The best thing about Pixlr is that it's the only online image editor that has layers, which is necessary in basic editing. There are still some features missing, but this is already the best online photo editors I've seen so far.
Link: Pixlr
Most Addictive Online Flash Games
Image copyright: Reality by Eran "pyxelated" Cantrell [deviantART]
Warning: Playing the following games may result to a proposed form of psychological addiction composed of compulsive playing, self-isolation and focusing almost entirely on in-game achievements rather than life events. Otherwise, it's a perfect way to kill time.
Desktop Tower Defense
Desktop TD is a fun flash based puzzle/strategy game where you have to protect your desktop from invaders by spending money on attacking pieces and building a maze for them to follow.
Click here to play Desktop Tower Defense
Stackopolis
Recreate the blueprint pattern on the main game board to complete each level.
Click here to play Stackopolis
Line Rider
In Line Rider the player draws their own landscape with a simple pencil tool creating as many ramps, hills, and jumps as they can imagine. Then they send a virtual sledder careening down the course until he wipes out. The possibilities in Line Rider are only limited by the player's imagination.
Click here to play Line Rider
3D Logic
Fascinating Logical Flash game by Alexei Matveev from Minsk (Belarus). Try it to test your IQ level!
Click here to play 3D Logic
Blueprint
Get the ball to the target. Click and drag the objects and arrange them to make a path for the ball.
Click here to play Blueprint
Team behind Photosynth Returns with More Mindblowing 3D Photo Effects
If you think you’ve seen what’s possible with Photosynth, then you’ve seen nothing yet.
As part of the SIGGRAPH 2008 conference in Los Angeles, the collaborative research team from the University of Washington and Microsoft Research showed off some even better technology they’ve been working on which they call "Finding Paths through the World’s Photos".
The new technology actually manipulates the photo to give you a seamless and more lifelike experience instead of just presenting individual photographs in a 3D environment. Check out this video demonstration all the way to the end.
The idea of taking thousands of photos from Flickr to generate the experience of being at a famous place makes me wish Microsoft had succeeded in buying Yahoo.
via I Started Something
Major Overhaul
Yup, the site gets a major overhaul.
The new design is based from the 3-Column version of Bryan Gardner's Revolution theme for Wordpress, which was converted to a Blogger template by Zona Cerebral. Less work for me. I was surprised by just how different the template could appear with a simple color change.
I've also added Ramani's Expandable Posts hack which shows only the summary rather than the entire content of each posts in tha main page.
Graphika Manila 2008
On its third year running, the Graphika Manila International Multimedia Design Conference will be held once again on September 20, 2008 at the Premier Cinema, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay. The event will run from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, with tickets costing P1100 for regular attendees and P800 for students. Early birds get P850 and P650 on or before August 22.
This year, Graphika Manila's lineup of speakers aims to inspire attendees on their presentations on print and graphic design, motion graphics and animation, visual effects production, design ideas and inspiration, freelancing techniques and a lot more. Speakers for this year include Kristophe Vergne from Pixar and Simone Legno from Tokidoki.
Link: Graphika Manila 2008
Wanokoto Labs Makes Your Photos Look Old
There are a lot of tutorials about how to create the "old photo" effect in Photoshop but the Bakumatsu Koshasin Generator at Wanokoto Labs does it in one step. You can either upload an image to the site from your computer or point it to an image URL online, then click Convert. Wait a few seconds and you'll get a 100 to 150 year old photo version of that image. It's quick and easy, and you don't have to learn Japanese.
Link: Wanokoto Labs
Power Unleashed
Power Unleashed is a 4-minute film for Roadrunner Network to showcase their special effects capabilities. Directed by Sid Maderazo, visual effects by FX Guru Dave Yu and the Roadrunner FX team. Very impressive.
www.powerunleashed.com.ph
Pinoy Transformers
I know, the Transformers fever is over and it's a little too late for this post. But if you're still wondering what it would be like if the Autobots and the Decepticons landed in the Philippines, Aaron John Yap will give you an idea.
Also found these images from Neil Maranan's blog post where he said they were made by his former classmate, Kons.
The KISS Principle
Image copyright: Kiss by Tony Guerrero [deviantART]
Last time, I talked about CRAP. I'll be sweet this time.
The term KISS is an acronym of the phrase "Keep It Simple, Stupid", and the KISS principle states that design simplicity should be a key goal and unnecessary complexity avoided. The principle roughly corresponds to Occam's razor, and Albert Einstein's maxim that "everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."
In logo design, simplicity itself makes a good logo. Simple logos are recognized faster and easily remembered because a quick glance will not be enough to get all the details in a complex logo. A simple logo also works better in terms of scalability and reproduction. There are many more arguments but perhaps the best examples of the importance of simplicity in logo design is to look at the big brands: McDonald's Golden Archers, Nike Swoosh, Apple.
Google vs Yahoo
Simplicity is also an obvious factor in the success of Google. Google offers a very clean and simplistic interface, whereas Yahoo!’s is busy and cluttered. Simplicity is one of the best estimators of whether a Web site is aesthetically pleasing, and a simple design should always be used to avoid complexity and confusion to the user. When a user is not bombarded with excessive text and images, they will feel more at ease and comfortable while using your website. Ultimately, a simplified interface means that the Web site will be accessible to all types of people with different skill levels, thus increasing the potential for a significant user return. Source: Website Appraisal: Google vs Yahoo by Jeffrey E. Collins
The KISS principle is useful not only in design but also in a wide array of disciplines, such as software development, animation, journalism, photography, engineering, and strategic planning. Common variants of the acronym include: "Keep It Sweet & Simple", "Keep It Short & Simple", and "Keep It Simple and Straightforward".
Google Dumps Page Creator
UPDATE: The Google Operating System blog posted a tutorial on how to Export Files from Google Page Creator for users who want to move to a different service or maybe to buy a domain.
After over two years, Google took its Page Creator service out of Beta-by discontinuing it. Google is no longer accepting new sign-ups for Page Creator though existing users can continue to use Page Creator and their pages will automatically be transitioned to Google Sites later this year. The problem is that it will lead to broken links because Google Sites and Google Pages follow a different URL structure.
Google is now focused on developing Google Sites, which offers many of the capabilities of Page Creator along with new features like site-level navigation, site-level headers, control over who can see and edit your site, and rich embeddings like calendars, videos, and Google docs.
Here’s a video from the product manager of Google Sites explaining the individual features:
I personally don't like it because I can't edit the source directly, nor run any scripts. For now, I can only share Google Sites to someone who asks me to build his/her website for free. :D
8 Ways to Drive a Graphic Designer Mad
Ghislain Roy made a list of things you can do when working with a graphic designer that will surely drive him straight into the madhouse.
Link: 8 Ways to Drive A Graphic Designer Mad
Creative Ads in the Philippines
Gabriella "Duct Tape"
Ponds "Curtain" Billboard
Gillette Venus Escalator
Pizza Hut "Bride" Print Ad
Pizza Hut "SWAT" Print Ad
Pizza Hut "Paramedics" Print Ad
TV Commercials
Coke "Sakto" TVC
Nation Paint "Poster" TVC
Splash Biolink "Vogue" TVC
Healthy Options "Teenager" TVC
Coca-Cola "Angel" TVC
Nestle All Purpose Cream "The Offering" TVC
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