Pro Tip: Best Source For Design Thinking Inspiration (and It's Free)

Visual thinking is a framework for finding solutions.
We use it is brand design, advertising and marketing.
 It is also used in architecture and urban planning.
I am here to tell you that it can and should be considered in most every task and ever profession.
It influences how we think, and how we are perceived by those around us.
It is business, art and science.
Above all, it is a process. A structured process. There is a specificity to it all.
We must train ourselves, practice and learn.

You must imitate and learn the basics before improvising and creating new.

So, as designers, writers, concept strategists and more, how do we learn?

My 'Pro Tip' is to get yourself to the Institute of Design at Stanford.
Wait, you can't just take off today for California?
Luckily, the 'D.School' believes in everyone sharing in these lessons virtually.

They offer a 90-Minute Crash Course Program.
Additionally,
They have a listing of
various learning experiences through courses and project work.
Finally,
You can explore their way of thinking and working.

Now, find some time to doodle, sketch, write and explore.

Also, let me know what other resources you use for design thinking, inspiration and improvisation.

Happy creating.

The Best 15:37 of Your Day: Rob Forbes on Ways of Seeing

This TED talk delivered all the way back in 2006, is even more relevant today. Looking at the world and interpreting the patterns and designs around us becomes more difficult by the day.

Rob Forbes, the founder of Design Within Reach, and more recently PUBLIC, a design-based alternate transit business, takes us on a tour of how he views the world.

Mr. Forbes shares some great ideas in his TED talk. Here are a few more ideas to consider when working to spark your own creativity:
1. Walk the streets. Walking in places both familiar and new will bring new ideas and patterns to you. You will be able to experience them with all of your senses and consider how they function collectively.

2. Put down the phone. You can only experience the world when you are in it.

3. Pick up your phone, but as a camera. Archive your experiences. This can be accomplished by photos, notes, sketches or verbal notes. Whatever works for you. Organize them in different ways. Consider viewing your various collections by color, or subject. You might be surprised what ideas develop.

4. Small can be huge. The smallest vignette sometimes brings the biggest ideas. I like to call them the 'unexpected delight.' These can be a sidewalk pattern, a handwritten sign, most anything.

5. Be a consummate student. Ask questions. Read, read, read. Then read some more. Learn about the bridge you walk over daily. Find out why that sculpture you enjoy is there. Knowledge is truly power.

6. Don't view the world with a commercial mind. If you are seeking a specific product to develop or monetize, you won't get the full value of your experience. File away your specific challenges, but stay open to simply experiencing the world around you. Then overlay later how those ideas may be used to address your challenges.

7. Frequency equals success. The more often you can turn your mind to truly viewing the world, the more you will get out of it. Try an attempt it once a week on your walk to lunch. Then continue to increase the frequency.    
       
As we enter 2013, we should all take a fresh look at how we view the world. We are entering a time that Mr. Forbes saw forming years ago. An age that values fewer material goods, but ones that are quality and well-designed. An age of curation over our lives and our possessions. It is exciting, but will require that the innovators work hard to interpret our world and respond to it.

Enjoy. Then start really seeing your world.

Wes Anderson & an 8-Year-Old Inspire Us [Video]

A really exceptional stop-motion commercial from director Wes Anderson.

The spot is for the Sony Xperia Smartphone, and tells the story of how the phone works, as imagined by Jake Ryan, an 8-year-old boy. In Jake's world, little robots inside the phone make it work. It is a really enjoyable and sweet commercial. Further proof that storytelling is the key to advertising. Also, that kids are usually the most creative among us. 

For added inspiration, I have also included a Wes Anderson Hyundai commercial that is equally enjoyable as well as a highlight reel of some of Mr. Anderson's incredibly awesome and quirky films.

Enjoy.  

Wes Anderson Hyundai Ad Wes Anderson Highlight Reel

The Best 1:58 of Your Day: Buenos Aires

We usually don't plug specific products or companies on this site, but today's inspiration comes from Black Sheep Films. We have never worked with Black Sheep, but when we discovered their reel it went well beyond thinking they had some nice commercial work. No, it was more of "WOW! Have you checked this out? How cool is that!?!" Thus we had to share their work "Buenos Aires."

Why is this so engaging? It obviously is very well shot, with great editing and great effects. However, it enters the sublime with the beauty of the build, the pacing and the incredible backing track by the very talented Langhorne Slim. If you are like us you will watch it twice, then view their other work, then go back and watch it again. We love Escalas too. Yes, it has the same song usage, to less degree of success. But the opening is exceptional.

Happy Friday. Enjoy a bit of beauty and creativity as you start your weekend.



Buenos Aires - Inception Park from Black Sheep Films on Vimeo.

The Best 3:51 of Your Day: The Technology of Storytelling

Do you know Lothar Meggendorfer? You probably don't, but you most certainly have enjoyed his invention as a child and perhaps as an adult. This talented 19th century German illustrator is credited with inventing the pop-up book. The self proclaimed story telling artist and creator, Joe Sabia (on Facebook) gives us a brief and entertaining glimpse into the technology of storytelling. Using his own humorous style based in technology, he gives us a nice starting point for further conversation.  

Does technology harm our storytelling abilities? I would say yes, but it doesn't have to. 
Did we falter in creative storytelling when moving from oral tradition to written? How about to movable type, or radio, television, computers... These are all simply devices that are there for us to shape and use. A child can explore amazing worlds sitting in the pile of dirt with a stick, but having the majority of all human knowledge at their fingertips shouldn't be the limiter to that exploration. Shifting how we educate our children is what will preserve, and even grow our creative spirit and our storytelling abilities. 

Robert Sabuda "Wizard of Oz" 

It is crucial that we encourage freedom of exploration and allow kids to explore the full gamut of storytelling traditions. Give them the basic tools of language and grammar to fully tell their story and stop fighting so hard to confine their learning to standardized tests. We are already seeing that simple acquisition and retention of knowledge is not what sets us apart anymore. It is the ability to efficiently seek out knowledge, curate it, build off it, create new ideas from it and convey it to others. Funny enough, these are the same skills that most employers need to be looking for.

Once again, TED has given me fodder for exploring my own new ideas and storytelling. Thank you.   

Joe Sabia: The Technology of Storytelling