Being an artist, I’m influenced by so many things. It’s the combination of these things that keeps my head thinking of all sorts of creative ideas that I can use on a daily basis.
Every once in a while however, we all run into major “creative block” and feel stuck and we’re not able to create new insightful work. Whenever we run into these blocks, it’s always helpful to be reminded of what inspires us.
I came across an influence map online the other day and decided to make my own. Influence maps can be made out of anything—artist’s work, music, paintings, movies etc. I suggest that everyone try making one of these, in case the ol creative block rears its ugly head.
What other ways do you keep your creativity in your industry flowing?
Often in the creative world, we sell our “reaching-the-moon” design concepts to clients. More often than not however, budget permits us to only purchase a telescope. But it is our job as designers to find creative ways to meet and exceed our client’s vision, while working within any guidelines that come with the project.
Lee Morris with fstoppers took on the great task of producing a beautiful and professional photo shoot while limiting himself to only using an iPhone.
I think this video is proof that with a little creativity and hard work we can really stretch how far we can go with our everyday projects. Just because some budgets in the B2B market are not as large, that doesn’t mean we can’t find ways to still accomplish something great and unique.
What other ways do you save time and money without sacrificing the end result?
As a designer working in B2B marketing, I’m always looking for new and unique tools that can take my projects to the next level. Below are five Wordpress Plugins that I found that can help enhance blogs.
1. HeadSpace2 SEO: Wordpress SEO made simple. With this amazing all-in-one meta-data manager, you can fine-tune the SEO potential of your blog, including configuration of meta-data for posts, pages, categories, setting tags/keywords, descriptions and page titles.
2. WPtouch iPhone Theme: Customize many aspects of your blog’s appearance and turn it into a stylish smartphone Web site that visitors can view on their iPhone, Android, Opera Mini, Palm Pre or Blackberry.
3. Thank Me Later: Automatically e-mail anyone who comments on your blog. Or, you can set it up to send a message to all first-time visitors welcoming them and reminding them to sign up for the RSS feed. It also lets you send messages after a pre-defined amount of time, making them appear more unique.
4. Wordpress Related Posts: Generate related posts and add them to the feed. Once a visitor reads your post, they can read other suggested posts and keep clicking through your blog.
5. Polldaddy: Create polls that can easily be embedded into your posts, pages or sidebar via the widgets panel. There’s also a cool reports section in your WP control panel that displays results.
Have you used any of these Plugins? Do you use other Plugins to add features to your blog?
Recently, I stumbled upon a new site that is still in beta testing called Readernaut by Nathan Borror. Readernaut makes the process of reading a little more interesting and fun!
The site is very easy to use. You sign up, create your profile, search for books and buy them directly online using Amazon, Google Books or BookMooch. They have books available in all topics including B2B marketing, design and leisure books.
Readernaut also allows you to create a list of books you are planning on buying and keeps track of the books you are currently reading. Then, Readernaut keeps up with how far into the book you are, and it allows you to rate books, record notes and share thoughts with others. But, I think the best feature of this site is the ability to follow other readers and see what they are reading. It’s a great way to get inspired. How neat is that?
And, as a designer, I must say the interface was designed beautifully. So go ahead and check it out for yourself here. If you are a book lover, this site was designed for you.
If you are new to the site and are looking for friends to connect with, make sure to find me at http://readernaut.com/renata.
Innovation is an interesting concept in business. Every company is continually innovating to remain competitive, whether through designing new internal processes or creating new products and services. While innovation remains a key component of growth, most people, including myself, find it difficult to pinpoint those consumer needs that should be fulfilled.
I recently read an article titled, “Spark Innovation Through Empathic Design” in which the authors, Dorothy Leonard and Jeffrey F. Rayport, discuss the importance of observing customers when innovating a new product or service. According to the article, the problem with listening to customers through traditional approaches, such as surveys and focus groups, is that customers don’t know what they want. Therefore, they don’t know how to improve what they currently have. Consumers are so used to current conditions that they don’t think to ask for new solutions.
This is where observation comes into play. Observing customers in the act of using your product or service before conducting quantitative research can provide an in-depth view of their thought processes and can unearth needs they didn’t know they had.
So the next time you’re launching an exciting new product line or improving upon an existing product or service, try observing your customers before having them fill out a survey.
Have you ever used observation techniques? Did it help you discover ways to improve your product or service?
