January 2011
9 posts
Stop motion chalkboard by Adam Voorhes.
Absolutely loving this stop motion digital magazine cover from Adam Voorhes.
If you’ve forgotten the power of a chalkboard, let this be a reminder of how fun and creative they can be. Recently I installed a chalkboard wallpaper over my bedroom door. Being able to use the chalkboard to quickly jot down notes or just sketch out ideas has been a great source of inspiration in my day‒to‒day...
All good ideas are...
“All of my good ideas are battles.”
From Design Work Life: “For Stefan Sagmeister’s ‘Things I Have Learned in My Life’ project, [Adam Katz] came up with something I think all designers can relate to… For the installation, Adam spray painted 1500 plastic army men and applied them to a glass window…”
One look at this instillation and you can’t help but let...
Why you should strive for criticism.
When someone tells you that you’re wrong there are three likely and extreme ways to respond. The two most powerful responses to being told that you are wrong are anger or sadness.
If you react to criticism with anger, you either missed the point of the feedback or you misunderstood the person giving it to you.
If you react to criticism with sadness, you definitely missed the point of...
Write, write, write, write, write.
Stefan Sagmeister, one of our lifetimes most prolific creative thinkers, believes that keeping a diary supports personal development.
Writing daily, or even just regularly, not only helps promote personal development, but also creative development. Writing allows us to take the intangible and make it real, it helps us to explore our thoughts and ideas, history and culture, through physical...
Jumping the tracks and discovering creativity.
Think for a minute about the things you do every day. How often are you following the “tracks” laid before you?
It doesn’t matter who laid the tracks – it could have been your parents, a boss, your teacher, or even yourself – but how often do you find yourself doing the same thing, or thinking the same way? Day in and day out?
Thinking the same way, on the same mental tracks, is easy...
Seeing isn't believing.
It’s hard to not believe your eyes when you see something. It’s even more difficult to believe in what you don’t see.
The video above demonstrates one example of “selective attention”, or the minds ability to filter out elements of the world around us before they even reach consciousness. That is: sometimes our brains automatically filter out or blocks things before we can...
Seth Godin explains the problem with creativity.
Recently I stumbled upon an old podcast interview between two incredibly talented writers and creative thinkers: Seth Godin and Merlin Mann.
In the interview, Merlin gets Seth (who truly is one of the most inspirational people around today) to discuss creativity and that little thing that holds us back, which Seth refers to as “the lizard braind”.
What stands out in this interview is...
On risk, from Francis Ford Coppola.
”If you don’t take a risk then how are you going to make something really beautiful, that hasn’t been seen before?” – Francis Ford Coppola.
Be sure to read this powerful interview with Francis on the 99 percent: Francis Ford Coppola: On Risk, Money, Craft & Collaboration.
Three ways to get the most from your ideas.
When an idea strikes the feeling you get is unlike any other. If you’re smart, you run to write down the idea or email it to yourself or tell a friend. If you’re really smart you’ll do just a little more the next time you get a creative idea. Here are a few ways to get the most from your next idea.
1. Doubt your idea.
We’re not talking about doubting the power,...