Inspiring ideas doesn't come easy, day 5.

Hello World

Here is day 5 of inspiring ways to develop creative ideas.

21. Collect Stuff That Catches Your Eye

Keep objects that scream creativity. From a coster at a restaurant or an event guide from a conference, hang on to creative objects. When the time is right, pull them out while brainstorming on you next project.

22. Review Past Projects

Did you miss any opportunities to develop or articulate the brands message to its audience. In retrospect can you use anything to help you on current projects.

23. Take A Twenty Four Hour Computer Break

No Photoshop. No Email. No Facebook. No Twitter. Not even a last look at your current project.

24. Form A Sketching Habit

Use your spare time, TV time, and waiting time to induce skills and creativity by sketching.

25. Hire A Creative Coach

A creative coach can help you clarify your goals and develop a strategy towards reaching them.

Well I hope these ideas help you create more ideas.

Rick Harris

Brickle Thumb

design@bricklethumb.com

Posted via email from Brickle Thumb's posterous

Inspiring ideas doesn't come easy, day 4.

Hello World,

Here is day 4 of inspiring ways to develop creative ideas.

16. Take Hold Of Everyday Objects And Look For Inspiration

Look differently at your mouse or mouse pad. Take you pen cup and empty it out, turn it upside down and look inside. Challenge yourself to discover something new about everyday objects.

17. Play Board Games

Having fun promotes bonding and helps you recapture awe and wonder.

18. Pick Three Brands That Seem Like Opposites

Then spend 20 minutes listing as many similarities between them as you can.

19. Experiment With Different Software

Do you always work in InDesign? Take on a real challenge, open Illustrator for your next project. 

20. Create A Critique Group

Find other creative thinkers and get together once a month and share, discuss, and assess favorite work from each person in the group.

Rick Harris

Brickle Thumb

design@bricklethumb.com

Posted via email from Brickle Thumb's posterous

Inspiring ideas doesn't come easy, day 3.

Hello World,

Here is day 3 of inspiring ways to develop creative ideas.

11. Teach The Future

Find a young group to teach, even if it's not related to design or your primary job, you will practice explaining concepts in a way that's clear and inviting. This will produce a skill to brush up on your client.

12. Create Your Dream Professional Biography

Then work backward to see what you need to do right now to put yourself on the path to making it come true.

13. Find A Mentor

Find someone whose work you admire or who simply excels in a single area where you would like to expand your skills.

14. Buy New Supplies

Update your work area with a new stockpile of basics supplies.

15. Make Creativity Your Habit

Touch bases with a hands on creative project. Work on a rough layout or brush up your sketching skills.

RIck Harris

Brickle Thumb

design@bricklethumb.com

Posted via email from Brickle Thumb's posterous

Inspiring ideas doesn't come easy, day 2.

Hello world, 

Here is day 2 of inspiring ways to develop creative ideas.

6. Take On A Project That's Completely Different From Your Weekly Work

By doing this you will develop a fresh perspective to your regular work.

7. Open A Novel In The Middle And Read The First Three Pages

Then guess the main plot of the book and make predictions about what is going to happen to the main characters.

8. Find A Colleague To Share Goals With

Keep up with each other twice a week concerning your creative aspirations and how you will achieve them. Accountability is key when your goals are not being completed.

9. Change Your Daily Routine

Breaking up your daily routine will introduce new influences into your life. Take the bus to work or turn your TV off and read a book.

10. Search For Inspiration In The Least Likely Places

Take a walk on a nature trail. Go bird watching. Visit your local museum. Shake up your visual intake in order to produce unorthodox ideas.

Rick Harris

Brickle Thumb

design@bricklethumb.com

Posted via email from Brickle Thumb's posterous

Inspiring ideas doesn't come easy.

Hello World

While reading Steven Johnson's latest book Where Good Ideas Come From, I have been thrown into a chasm of scientific assertions with more concentration on his belief system/world view than the actual question, where do good ideas come from? I agree with Johnson's proclamation that the creation of good ideas have a lot to do with your environment, therefore we will use this entire week to produce 25 inspiring practical and environmental methods to produce ideas. We will give 5 methods a day. Of course the methods will concentrate on professional designers but they can be used for any job in any professional industry.

Have fun, here is day 1.

1. Change The Scenery

When you feel lost or if you encounter the white art board of blankness, pack up your tools and head to the zoo, the park, the corner coffee shop or the nearest body of water. An environmental relocation might be more than enough to shake things up to produce creativity.

2. Question Your Presumption Concerning Your Profession

Does this project have to be structured the same as the last one? Is there flexibility in the client's budget? Is the target audience exactly the same? Can you use a local photographer instead of stock photography. A great book to get is Bob Gill's Forget All The Rules You Ever Learned About Graphic Design. Including The Ones In This Book.

3. Don't Look At The Clock

Stop. Stop. Stop paying attention to how much time its taking you to come up with an idea, solution or initial concept. Work more on flushing out the over all theme of your project. Turn off or disable your clocks and focus on the work, increase the time of your projects deadlines. Would you prefer to have dinner at Mc Donalds or at Flemings? The nutritional value of fast food compared to slow food is better for your health, your taste buds, mind and body. When a designer takes his or her time to develop a great logo for an organization it produces lasting essentials for that organization. The days of rush delivery design are over! We will speak more on this subject at a later date.

4. Ask For Advice Please

There is no such thing as a dumb question. Whether you describe your issue to a peer or your grandfather you are likely to receive a new perspective. An act as simple as putting your problem into words may help you out. 

5. Stop Being So Serious

Take a 4:59 moment. Surf the web, play tic tac toe, jump up and down for no reason, come up with some utterly ridiculous concepts for your current project. You never know what you might come up with. You will certainly have fun.

Or find a beautiful moth outside your door.

Rick Harris

Brickle Thumb

design@bricklethumb.com

See the full gallery on Posterous

Posted via email from Brickle Thumb's posterous

Inspiring ideas doesn't come easy.

Hello World

While reading Steven Johnson's latest book Where Good Ideas Come From, I have been thrown into a chasm of scientific assertions with more concentration on his belief system/world view than the actual question, where do good ideas come from? I agree with Johnson's proclamation that the creation of good ideas have a lot to do with your environment, therefore we will use this entire week to produce 25 inspiring practical and environmental methods to produce ideas. We will give 5 methods a day. Of course the methods will concentrate on professional designers but they can be used for any job in any professional industry.

Have fun, here is day 1.

1. Change The Scenery

When you feel lost or if you encounter the white art board of blankness, pack up your tools and head to the zoo, the park, the corner coffee shop or the nearest body of water. An environmental relocation might be more than enough to shake things up to produce creativity.

2. Question Your Presumption Concerning Your Profession

Does this project have to be structured the same as the last one? Is there flexibility in the client's budget? Is the target audience exactly the same? Can you use a local photographer instead of stock photography. A great book to get is Bob Gill's Forget All The Rules You Ever Learned About Graphic Design. Including The Ones In This Book.

3. Don't Look At The Clock

Stop. Stop. Stop paying attention to how much time its taking you to come up with an idea, solution or initial concept. Work more on flushing out the over all theme of your project. Turn off or disable your clocks and focus on the work, increase the time of your projects deadlines. Would you prefer to have dinner at Mc Donalds or at Flemings? The nutritional value of fast food compared to slow food is better for your health, your taste buds, mind and body. When a designer takes his or her time to develop a great logo for an organization it produces lasting essentials for that organization. The days of rush delivery design are over! We will speak more on this subject at a later date.

4. Ask For Advice Please

There is no such thing as a dumb question. Whether you describe your issue to a peer or your grandfather you are likely to receive a new perspective. An act as simple as putting your problem into words may help you out. 

5. Stop Being So Serious

Take a 4:59 moment. Surf the web, play tic tac toe, jump up and down for no reason, come up with some utterly ridiculous concepts for your current project. You never know what you might come up with. You will certainly have fun.

Or find a beautiful moth outside your door.

Rick Harris

Brickle Thumb

design@bricklethumb.com

See the full gallery on Posterous

Posted via email from Brickle Thumb's posterous