We all have little tricks and ways of jump-starting the creative process, but sometimes what you need is a little guidance.  That’s what a new book by Dave Gouveia and Chris Elkerton offers. Creative Stuff: An Activity Book for Visual Thinkers is stuffed full of activities and exercises designed to help break that mental block.

 The review

Overall, I think the creators of this book have done a pretty good job. Admittedly, there are some pages that seem like filler to me (word games and puzzles that I don’t think help much). That being said though, there are plenty of fun and challenging activities that make up for the fluff. The book itself is well designed, colourful,and playful. There is also an abundance of useful information and interesting trivia.

If you need a little kick in the pants to help get those creative juices flowing, this might be just the thing.

www.creativestuffthebook.com

Once again, I’ve sorted through thousands of new books to find the gems for you. 2011 has turned out to be a pretty darn good year for book design. The themes of the year seem to be great art, understated typography, the return of white space, and unique materials/binding/packaging.

Enjoy!

At the request of my readers, I’ve tried to include the designer credits where possible. If you know who designed any of the unknowns, please drop me a line with the info.

Designer: Paul Sahre

Designer: Darren Booth

Designer: Catherine Casalino

Designer: Bob Aufuldish

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Designers: Anne Winslow and Keith Hayes

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Alex Miles Younger

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Peter Mendelsund

Designer: Paul Sahre

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Suzanne Dean

Designer: Rob Grom

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Suet Yee Chong

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Helen Yentus

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Betsy Stromberg

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Paul Kepler

Art Director: Darren Haggar    Designer: Tal Goretsky

Designer: Miriam Rosenbloom

Designer: Abby Weintraub

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Susan Miller

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Diane Hobbing

Designer: Michel Vrana

Designer: Paul Sahre

Designer: Unknown

Designer & Illustrator: Andrew Roberts

Illustrator: Joe McLaren    Designer: Susanne Dean

Designer: Unknown

Designer: Unknown

Illustrator: Guy Shield    Designer: WH Chong

Designer: Jeff Miller

Designer: Natalya Balnova

Designer: Unknown

Art Director: Jennifer Lum    Illustrator: Michael Cho

Designer: Chip Kidd

So there you have it. All the best of book cover design 2011 has to offer. So what are your thoughts?
Do you have a favorite? Are there any that aren’t on this list that you think should be? Sound off in the comments.

Recognizing that, FITC decided it was high time to enter a new direction in their brand design that better represented the brand it has become.

“FITC has evolved into a brand which is embraced by digital creators around the world for playing host to innovative speakers, who share the latest in technology and the creative things being done with it. We wanted our name to capture that, so we came up with four words which represent what our company and the events we host are about.” – Lindsay Munro on the FITC blog

The four words that the acronym FITC now stands for are:
FUTURE. INNOVATION. TECHNOLOGY. CREATIVITY.

Of course the star of the show is the new logo, below.

The identity was designed by fellow Canadian James White, of Signalnoise. You can read a detailed account of the design process here.

Of course, any time a rebrand is announced, opinions are never in short supply. Some say it looks too much like Leica (What, we can’t use red circles and white type ever again?), others say it shouldn’t be lowercase, and the trolls say “lame”. I for one think James has done a pretty good job on this. The mark is clean, stylish and bold, and meets all the crucial criteria of quality execution. So what do you think? Is this a hit or a miss?

In the last couple of posts, we’ve been talking about how to be creative. In The Creative Mind, we covered the mindset required for creative production. In The Creative Space, we talked about how our surroundings can help us foster our creative thinking. Now let’s talk about the actual creative process.

The Creative Process

How do we go about solving creative problems? Although it may sometimes seem like a mystical or mysterious process, creative ideation is no mystery. Creative problem-solving can actually be made quite simple by following a few tried and true methods.

Research

Research isn’t really part of the ideation process, but is more like the prelude to it. Nevertheless, it’s a crucial step. The internet is my primary source of research information. Depending on the problem you are trying to solve, your research may include a trip to the local reference library, a visit to the field, or conversations with customers. Either way you need to gather as much information about the problem as you can in the time you have. Are there existing solutions? What’s working? What’s not? What is the competition doing? What is the market asking for? Are there places you can look to for inspiration?

Brainstorming

Traditional brainstorming is most effective with groups (I think 5 to 10 is a good size). It is a method that allows you to generate lots of ideas from different perspectives. The more diverse people are in their experience, role, and outlook, the better. One person will have to act as a facilitator and write the ideas down on a board or large sheet of paper. Some suggest giving yourself a time limit or an idea limit. I’m not convinced this is necessary. You’ll get a sense of when people are tapped for ideas. If you do want to set a time limit, 15 to 30 minutes is probably about right.

1. Define your problem. Make sure everyone understands the goal of the exercise. The problem is sometimes best posed as a question, such as “How can we reduce the cost of producing our widgets?”, “What can we do to get people to join our mailing list?”, or “How can we improve the design of our thingamajig?”

2. Generate ideas. Get everyone to verbalize their ideas. Put absolutely everything on the board. No filtering of any sort should be happening. Criticism has no place at this stage.

3. Filter the ideas down. Once all the ideas have been written down, ask for input on which ideas have true merit. Try to narrow it down to 5 or so.

4. Evaluate the ideas. Now is the time for critical analysis. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each idea? What are potential problems? You may wish to have a list of criteria and assign a score to each solution depending on the criteria they meet.

5. Decide which idea is the strongest. The decision may be made by a vote, by enumerating the score assigned to each idea, or by executive decision. Depending on the problem, it may be that multiple solutions can be used simultaneously. Regardless of which solution you choose, make sure to record all the ideas, in case you want to go back to them and reevaluate.

Mind Mapping

In ideation, a mind map is a sort of concept diagram that is formed via mental association. This is my preferred initial method of brainstorming. It works quite well for graphic design and branding problems. I think the reason for this is that it mirrors the way the brain actually works. It starts with a central idea and expands outwards as associations are made.

Many people recommend starting with an image that is representative of your main idea, as well as using images to represent ideas. I guess it’s a matter of personal preference. It can make the resultant mind map more engaging and memorable, but personally, I don’t find it helpful. Perhaps it’s because I am a visual thinker and can easy visualize imagery around the words without having to actually illustrate them. Do whatever works for you.

1. Start with a large blank sheet of paper (in landscape) or a big whiteboard and place your main idea in the center.

   

2. Think of things associated with that idea and place them around it, drawing branches to each.

   

3. Now take one of the new things and start building associations around it, adding them to the main branch.

   

4. Keep expanding outwards until you have as many ideas to draw from as you think you need.

   

5. Highlight ideas that you think have potential in solving your problem.

   

Lateral Thinking

Lateral thinking is the process of solving problems by way of an indirect approach. It approaches a problem obliquely, using ideas that may not be immediately obvious and may not be obtainable using traditional logic. Here are a few of my favorite techniques:

Aleatoricism (a.k.a. Introducing Randomness): It’s a big word, but it’s a simple idea. Aleatory creation involves the introduction of chance into your creative process. It can be a great way to break thought patterns and clear creative blocks. There are innumerable ways to do this. Try taking a random dictionary word. How can you associate that word with your problem? How can you incorporate it into your solution? Pick up a random object. Think hard about how the design of that object might relate to your problem. John Cage, one of the early pioneers of aleatoric music, created compositions by consulting the I Ching, overlaying star maps on blank music sheets, or by rolling dice and flipping coins. There are no limits to the methods used. Be creative. In design, everything we do must have purpose, but sometimes the way we find that purpose might surprise you.

Challenge Facts and Ideas: Consider what you assume to be the facts related to the problem. What differences or advantages might exist if they are not, in fact, fact? Could a particular fact possibly be wrong? Can you modify the fact to better suit the situation? Ask “Why?”. Why is something designed a certain way? Why does it exist at all? What happens if you assume that an idea is wrong? A computer mouse should have multiple buttons and a scroll wheel. Why? Does it have to be that way? By challenging this idea, Apple created the multi-touch magic mouse.

Wishful Thinking: This is sort of related to the challenge facts technique, but it approaches it a different way. This technique asks you to imagine if everything was ideal. What if conditions were perfect? What if money wasn’t an object? What if laws and regulations weren’t an issue? What would your ideal solution look like? Once you’ve dreamed up this perfect situation, what can you take from it? Are there parts of this ideal solution that can be adapted and used?

SCAMPER: This technique uses a series of directed questions to spark creativity and break thought patterns. I won’t go through all the questions, but a thorough explanation can be found here: Creative Problem Solving with SCAMPER

Now that you know my secret, I’ll have to…

…ask you to share it! If you found this article helpful, please pass it along to anyone you think would like to learn about the creative process.

So now you can see, creative ideation is not a mystery. All it takes is the right mindset, a conducive environment, and knowledge of these methods and processes. You now have all the tools you need to be a creative genius. Go out there and create something amazing!

In the last article, The Creative Mind, we discussed the mental aspects of fostering creativity. This week, we pick up where we left off. If you haven’t read that article, I recommend checking it out.

Now that we’ve got ourselves acting like kids and thinking like crazy people, let’s talk about some of the external factors that help foster creative thinking.

The Creative Space

Before we are ready to start the process of ideation, it’s important that we take a look at our environment. An environment that encourages creativity can really help ease the process. So what makes a good creative space? There are two factors here — the physical environment and the mental environment.

The physical environment should be comfortable above all else. If we are too cold/hot or our back hurts because we have a crummy chair or there’s too much noise, we will be distracted and unhappy. In the last article, we talked about solitude, and it’s worth re-iterating here: a good creative space should give us the ability to have quiet, and to isolate ourselves if needed. It should also be a place where we can be loud and move around without disturbing others, especially if working in a group. It should not be boring and sterile. Nothing kills creativity like a vast expanse of grey cubicles. If your regular work area is like this, move somewhere else to do your creative work. Decent decor with a little colour helps. Having interesting objects around also helps for a number of reasons. Personally, I love having toys around. It doesn’t have to be Peewee’s Playhouse, but having an area to work in that stimulates the senses seems to make the process more natural. It’s also very important to have writing surfaces. Even if you work alone, having whiteboards, chalkboards, paper easels etc. is essential. I personally have in my office a big whiteboard and a door painted with chalkboard paint. I actually wish I had more writing surfaces. I find I do my best thinking on my feet. I like to move around, pace, pick things up, and write things down as they come to my mind in big chunky sloppy letters. You may find the same is true, especially if you have issues with maintaining focus (ADD etc.). Being on your feet keeps the energy flowing and keeps you focused. It also helps having the ideas up on a board to stare at while doing your deep thinking.

The mental environment is equally as, if not more important than, the physical environment. The crucial factor here is judgement. Whether working alone, or in a group, it is vital that all judgement be deferred to the latter portion of the process. We need to allow ourselves to bring forth every possible idea, even if crazy, stupid, or impractical. We need to remain open to experimental methods, sideways approaches, and outlandish solutions. If working in a group, people should be encouraged to share their ideas and should not be criticized. They should feel comfortable and appreciated, and all hierarchy should be left at the door.

Great examples of creative spaces

So what do you think? How important is your work space in your creative process? What’s your creative space like? Please share!

If you like this post, please help me spread the word by sharing on your social networks.

Next up: The Creative Process | Reliable methods for coming up with great ideas

It’s one of the coolest things that make us human. It’s what has allowed us to become what we have become. Creativity is the driving force of innovation. It’s what keeps us moving forward as a society. It’s also bloody hard. In a connected world of nearly 7 billion people, it’s sometimes easy to think that it’s all been done before. How can there possibly be any new ideas? Even if new ideas are possible, how the hell am I supposed to come up with them?

Well, it is possible, and while it’s never easy, with the right mindset and the right tools, it’s not as hard as it might seem. It can also be a lot of fun.

This is the first in a series of articles on the subject of developing and fostering creativity. I’ll be talking about what makes us creative and how we can foster our innate creative abilities. I will also share some processes that will help you unleash your creative potential. I hope you enjoy the series!

The Creative Mind

The Ancient Greeks believed in some serious craziness... like that inspiration came from goddesses known as muses.

What makes a person creative? Oddly, creativity is a relatively modern concept. It wasn’t until the Renaissance that it came to be understood as a mental process. Prior to that, creation was believe to be solely of divine provenance. The Greeks didn’t even have a word for it. Plato believed that poetry was given to poets by a spiritual entity, the muse. He also believed that art was only able to imitate. Thankfully, we have moved beyond mystical understandings of creativity and have adopted a more pragmatic approach.

Science has only begun to answer the question of what makes a person creative. Who knows, maybe in 10 or 20 years, we’ll be able answer it with authority. In the meantime, one thing is clear: every single human being has the capacity for creativity. Yes there are some who seem to be much better at than others. Not everyone is cut out to be Georges Braques, Dr. Suess, or Brian Eno, but the creative mind is something we can all tap into and take advantage of.

You might be led to believe that being creative is all about thinking a certain way. Actually, it’s more about thinking in an uncertain way. It’s about forgetting about the rules and dogmas and “truths”. It’s about approaching things from an angle that doesn’t make sense. It’s about creating things that fall outside of the established connections in our brains.

Crazy People, Children, and Creative Genius

Uhhh... ya... Maybe my friends have a point when they say I'm not quite sane.

Creativity is strongly linked with mental illness. Perhaps there’s a good reason for that. People who are out of touch with reality aren’t tied down by what’s considered “normal”. Things don’t have to make sense. There are no rules about what can and cannot exist. What does this mean for us, The “sane” ones? Ok, some who know me might argue that I don’t exactly fall cleanly into the category of “sane”, but I think I’m grounded enough to be able to bridge the gap. What it means is that to access the same “outside the box” mindset, we have to act a little crazy. Seriously, go nuts. Let your mind go to the weird places. What if the rules of the universe don’t actually apply? What if rain falls up? What if Canada’s national tree is bacon? What if unicorns are real and we all ride them to work?

I know it sounds childish, but that’s kind of the point. Children are naturally creative. The sky doesn’t have to be blue and the moon isn’t so far away that they can’t fly there on a giant bird. We all started out this way. Somewhere along the way, we were indoctrinated with the restrictions of adulthood. We have to be proper. We have to be civil. We have to behave. Things have to make sense. Bull. Shit. Go ahead. Act like a kid. Hell, act like a crazy person. No one ever accused Einstein or Da Vinci of being perfectly normal, proper, sensible people. Hell, Van Gogh cut off his own damn ear! I’m not suggesting you go out and start hacking off your own body parts — that’s still a really bad idea. What I am suggesting is that if you can channel your 7-year old self, if you can forget that you are “supposed to” act a certain way, you might just be able to tap into the same part of the brain that Van Gogh used to create Starry Night. Shed your inhibitions, be playful, be curious, be silly, be random, and have fun!

Antisocial Loners and the Concept of Mental Space

Creation is, for many people, a lonely pursuit. It requires solitude and quiet. It requires a clear mind, free from distraction. This is why some of our best ideas come to us when we are in the shower, staring out the window of a bus, or sitting on the toilet. During these times, we create a mental space for ourselves that is clear of other concerns, clear of distractions, and clear of obligations. We aren’t there to solve the problem, but once our minds are empty, the solutions have space to arise. I personally incorporate meditation into my creative process. The unfocused mind is like a pond with ripples on the surface. It is only when we stop throwing pebbles that the surface becomes clear and we can see what lies beneath. I know this may seem flakey to some and I suppose it’s not for everyone, but for me, it works. The important thing to remember is that sometimes, to hear the message, we need to get rid of the static.

Social Butterflies and Inspiration

Wait… What? Didn’t I just say that creation requires solitude? Well yes, but it also requires social engagement and cultural participation. Inspiration doesn’t come from the muse, as Plato thought. It also doesn’t come from thin air. Instead, we take it from our experiences and our surroundings. So if we are to be highly inspired, does it not follow that we need to have rich experiences? Surround yourself with culture. Books, art, magazines, artistic performance, music, food, and nature can all be amazing sources of inspiration. People are also a crucial part of the equation. Hang out with friends. Make new ones. Talk to strangers. Go to festivals. Experience public spaces. Watch people (but don’t be a creep). As creatives it’s far too easy to think we can just sequester ourselves and create. Sometimes we can, even for long stretches, but eventually, we have to crawl out of our studios and into the light. After all, isn’t this a cultural pursuit?

I hope this post on the creative mind leaves you feeling inspired and motivated. I’ll be writing more on the subject of creativity over the coming days. I’ll be talking about creative spaces, creative processes and techniques, and fun creative exercises. In the meantime, go out there and create something, you crazy, childish, antisocial, social, creative genius!

Next up: The Creative Space | How our surroundings can help us tap into our creative potential

© 2011 Shaun Hensher

“What is branding?” is kind of a tough question. It can mean different things to a lot of people. Even when well-defined, branding is a massive subject with complexity approaching the bounds of comprehension. That being said, my goal in this article is to help you understand what people are talking about when they refer to branding and identity design and also to help you understand why it is such a crucial concept for you to understand if you wish to succeed in business.

Before we can attempt to define branding, we must first answer the question “What is a brand?”

According to Merriam-Webster, a brand is “a class of goods identified by name as the product of a single firm or manufacturer”. Although technically correct, this is an entirely inadequate definition. Interbrand defines it a little better: “a brand is a combination of attributes, communicated through a name, or a symbol, that influences a thought-process in the mind of an audience and creates value”. Personally, I define a brand as the totality of the identity, personality, and perceptions associated with a company, product, or person. A brand is something that is only partially under the control of the person or company it represents.

So What is Branding?

Again, the dictionary is not much help here. Merriam-Webster defines it as “the promoting of a product or service by identifying it with a particular brand”. In practice, branding is quite a bit more than that. Branding, as I see it, is really any action one takes with the intention of controlling any aspect of a brand. Such actions may include things like designing a logo or a website, choosing to use a specific type of imagery to represent your company, hiring spokespeople, instructing employees to answer the phone a certain way, or attempting to associate your product or company with a certain ideal. The term brand management can also be used to describe this effort.

The area most people associate with the term branding is identity design. A brand identity (sometimes referred to as a corporate identity) is those elements of a brand that can be directly controlled. These elements are often referred to as brand assets. This includes non-visual and visual elements. The central component of a brand identity is the visual identity system, which includes things like the company logo, business cards, marketing materials, signage, websites, etc.

Why is Branding Important?

Your company and/or product is seen by your target through the lens of your brand. They form opinions about your product or service based on the messages you deliver to them, what friends and influencers say about you, and most importantly, through the experiences they have with your brand. Branding allows you to affect the colour of that lens. A strong brand intelligently sculpts the audience experience at every point of contact in a way that reaffirms your target’s positive opinions.

In essence, your brand identity is a promise. The messages you create, the imagery you use, the emotions you elicit and the beliefs that you foster create an expectation in your audience’s mind. Positioning yourself highly in the prospect’s mind and consistently delivering on that promise is how you build a strong brand that will keep customers coming back again and again and again. In other words, branding is what creates that holy grail of marketing: loyalty.

So How do I Build a Strong Brand?

Patience, grasshopper. Building a strong brand takes a long time. First, you need to understand your audience. Who are you targeting? What do they believe? How often do they buy? Where do they buy? How do they make purchasing decisions? How can you deliver your marketing message to them? You also need to understand your competition. Who are they? What are they doing right? What are they doing wrong? What makes you different/better? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, you have some work to do. I recommend a fully realized business plan. At the very least, you need to do market research and a competitive analysis (a.k.a. SWOT analysis).

Assuming you know your audience and your competition, the next step is to hire a professional graphic designer. Only a professional designer or branding strategist will have the necessary knowledge and skills to sculpt your visual identity in a way that properly targets your audience. If the designer you are working with doesn’t ask you questions about your audience or competition, you haven’t found the right designer.

Your graphic designer will create a visual identity package for you. Depending on your budget and needs, this will usually include a logo, business cards, stationery (letterhead, invoices, envelopes etc.), usually a website, and often, marketing materials (brochures, flyers, posters, advertising). If your budget allows for it and it makes sense for your business, you may also get a brand manual, which is a manual outlining guidelines to follow to maintain brand consistency. It is important that you have a reasonable budget set aside for this process. A skilled graphic designer will cost money, and your visual identity is not something you want to skimp on.

Once you have your brand identity established, you can begin the work of building brand awareness and positioning. Brand awareness is (perhaps obviously) the level at which your audience is aware of your existence and the basic message of your brand. Positioning, in simplest terms, is the process of creating a positive impression of your brand in the audience’s mind. Brand awareness and positioning are mainly built through your marketing and promotions strategy. This may include advertising, social media strategy, sales calls, SEO, or any number of methods, but it should always stem from the knowledge gained by your market research. Positioning is also greatly influenced by your brand design.

From there on, it’s mostly a matter of consistently fulfilling the promise made by your brand identity and marketing. If you you do this, over time you will build brand recognition and loyalty.