I love this new Branding campaign for TARGET from Allan Peters, it’s simple, fun and effective. You can see the whole campaign on his site, cargocollective.com

cartoon by Hugh Macleod. © gapingvoid.com

After reading Hugh Macleod’s book, Ignore Everybody and 39 Keys to Creativity the one point that really seemed to stick with me was his Sex and Cash Theory. Put simply it’s:

“The creative person basically has two kinds of jobs: One is the sexy, creative kind. Second is the kind that pays the bills. Sometimes the task in hand covers both bases, but not often. This tense duality will always play center stage. It will never be transcended.”

In a nutshell, don’t quit your day job. There’s examples in the book of photographers, coders and writers who work for the faceless corporations to survive (cash) and get all their personal works done on their free time (sex).

“This tense duality will always play center stage. It will never be transcended.” As soon as you accept this, I mean really accept this, for some reason your career starts moving ahead faster. I don’t know why this happens. It’s the people who refuse to cleave their lives this way- who just want to start Day One by quitting their current crappy day job and moving straight on over to best-selling author… Well, they never make it. — Hugh Mcleod,

I’m buying into this theory more and more. After quitting my day job to get more creative freedom, it seems I’m working harder and longer trying to make my cash which leaves me little time to get my sex (creativity) on.

sketch of the day - coffee shop characters

Whatever your chosen medium or work, everyone has the capacity to be creative. Sometimes getting inspired is the hurdle and other times, staying focused and excited about your project is the challenge.

Managing your motivation means long-term maintenance. Getting inspired can be tough, but once you get the ball rolling consistency and discipline become key. Losing gas half-way through a project can happen to the best of us. These simple solutions might help you keep the creative fire burning but in the end, it’s up to you to find what works best.

Set Goals
Motivation is easiest when you’re accomplishing. Give yourself something to achieve. Setting bite-sized goals is the best approach. This way, your goals are manageable and easy to complete. The more goals you reach, the more motivated you’ll be.

Have a Creative Cave
Having a place set aside for being creative is important. The more you create within your space, the more your mind will click into creative mode whenever you’re there. It’s important to let your family or roommates know that once you’re in your cave, you’re not to be disturbed. Distractions are a sure way to get off track.

Keep a sketchbook or notebook
This one should be a requirement. A sketchbook or notebook is an immediate way to jot down ideas or thoughts. Putting your ideas on paper clears your mind for new ideas. It also serves as a library of ideas you can fall back on when you’re in a dry spell. There’s tons of sketchbooks out there, too. I have a preference for Moleskines because they’re durable and come in a variety of sizes.

Don’t give up
If you’re stuck and feel like throwing in the towel, picture Mick from Rocky yelling for you to, “Keep fightin!”. In other words, don’t quit. If you have to, take a break but make sure you plan to come back for another round. Every project has a solution, some a little harder than others but when it’s tough, quitting should never be an option.

Prime time
Find out when your creativity peaks. Everyone’s mind and body has their own internal schedule for certain functions and creativity is no exception. I feel most creative late at night but some might find the morning better. Find your time and use it to your advantage.

When it comes to creativity, it’s important to get that ball rolling and keep it rolling. I hope you find these suggestions helpful. In the end however, it’s really up to you to decide what works best. The important thing is to start rolling that ball.

There’s lots of trends in design and this video makes light of one I never really paid much attention to:
Den ganzen Beitrag lesen…

Now you can Bitch about Adobe products at: Dear Adobe. Apparently the site is actually visited, read and discussed by Adobe employees as cited on John Nack’s blog. Adobe VP, Dave Story asked the site creator to for the top complaints which you can read here.

I might be behind the times with this, but I’ve recently discovered some amazing use of exceptional typography animation with music and words. The emphasis of the words with the music, phrase or idea in these examples is done extremely well.

Let the Drummer Kick, by Citizen Cope. Animation by: Artur Dimke.

Oceans Eleven Project