These are 10 bonus challenges in addition to those that you'll find in "Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills," which is out now from HOW Books.
They were released at South by Southwest Interactive at my author's talk.
Better Ideas Faster: How to Brainstorm More EffectivelyDavid Sherwin
Use these practical methods to help you brainstorm better, smarter, and more effectively, no matter the timeline. Using these methods, you can approach a design problem with the right questions so you can focus your creative energy on finding solutions.
Creative Workshop: Author's Talk at SxSWiDavid Sherwin
This is an author's talk about "Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills," delivered at South by Southwest Interactive festival on Friday, March 11th, 2011.
Why Outsourcing Graphic Design Projects is the Next Big Thing?Rahul Aggarwal
Design Studios, Brand Consultants, Ad Agencies, Printing Firms, Digital Marketers etc. can grow their businesses manyfold by outsourcing their graphic design projects to Designhill, one of the world's largest graphic design marketplace. With over 25,000+ professional designers, Designhill provides a secure, risk-free and affordable solution for such business to source high quality designs.
This presentation outlines the various difficulties, frustrations and challenges faced by creative agencies and highlights how Designhill can help overcome them.
To be a good designer you need to be curious about life; the strongest ideas are born from our experiences and the knowledge we gain from them. The more we see and the more we know, the greater the amount of fuel we have for generating ideas.
Whether you work in-house or at a design studio, it can be a struggle to get your clients to think more like designers—while at the same time encouraging your team to understand the value those clients provide to your design process. This talk is about how to craft successful (and fun) collaborative design sessions for your designers and internal clients. It was delivered by Principal Designer David Sherwin at the HOW Design Conference on Saturday, June 25th, 2011.
VDIS10022 Advanced Graphic Design Studio - Lecture 3 - Selling IdeasVirtu Institute
This lecture discusses ways in which you, the graphic designer can sell your ideas and concepts to clients through successful pitching and mood boards. Communicating a concept clearly and efficiently to a client can save hours of design time and lengthy changes.
As a designer you need to make your client
Believe in the idea and love the concept.
Better Ideas Faster: How to Brainstorm More EffectivelyDavid Sherwin
Use these practical methods to help you brainstorm better, smarter, and more effectively, no matter the timeline. Using these methods, you can approach a design problem with the right questions so you can focus your creative energy on finding solutions.
Creative Workshop: Author's Talk at SxSWiDavid Sherwin
This is an author's talk about "Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills," delivered at South by Southwest Interactive festival on Friday, March 11th, 2011.
Why Outsourcing Graphic Design Projects is the Next Big Thing?Rahul Aggarwal
Design Studios, Brand Consultants, Ad Agencies, Printing Firms, Digital Marketers etc. can grow their businesses manyfold by outsourcing their graphic design projects to Designhill, one of the world's largest graphic design marketplace. With over 25,000+ professional designers, Designhill provides a secure, risk-free and affordable solution for such business to source high quality designs.
This presentation outlines the various difficulties, frustrations and challenges faced by creative agencies and highlights how Designhill can help overcome them.
To be a good designer you need to be curious about life; the strongest ideas are born from our experiences and the knowledge we gain from them. The more we see and the more we know, the greater the amount of fuel we have for generating ideas.
Whether you work in-house or at a design studio, it can be a struggle to get your clients to think more like designers—while at the same time encouraging your team to understand the value those clients provide to your design process. This talk is about how to craft successful (and fun) collaborative design sessions for your designers and internal clients. It was delivered by Principal Designer David Sherwin at the HOW Design Conference on Saturday, June 25th, 2011.
VDIS10022 Advanced Graphic Design Studio - Lecture 3 - Selling IdeasVirtu Institute
This lecture discusses ways in which you, the graphic designer can sell your ideas and concepts to clients through successful pitching and mood boards. Communicating a concept clearly and efficiently to a client can save hours of design time and lengthy changes.
As a designer you need to make your client
Believe in the idea and love the concept.
Practical guidance on how to present data using PowerPoint. This presentation covers best practices taught in management consultancies and visual cognition. Based on a lecture given at Tsinghua University, Beijing in December 2011.
If you have feedback or suggestions (especially specific examples of great or terrible slides you think could be included in a future version), please email professionalenquiries@gmail.com or leave comments below.
A non designeris guide to creating memorable visual slides.
If you’re like most people, you’ve probably created dozens of presentations in your lifetime, and many of these in just under a few hours. But ask yourself: Do you really know how to design a memorable presentation that will stick in your viewers’ minds for months, even years to come?
The answer is probably no. Most of us have never actually learned the design principles necessary to impact audiences through visual storytelling. Perhaps the closest we have ever come to crafting a visual message is a PowerPoint presentation full of bullet points, overused stock photos and bland color schemes.
But these kinds of presentations rarely inspire real change, especially in this new age of visual communication.
Using Design Thinking for Growth is a transcription of a Business901 podcast.. It contained great thoughts on how Design Thinking may be to Business Growth the way Lean and Six Sigma has been to quality.
Jake Truemper and Morgan Noel from XperienceLab discuss Human-Centered Design. What is it? How is it applied? and what are some tools and methods that the audience can take away and apply in their own businesses?
Designing a human centred mindset to lead at the edgeZaana Jaclyn
Workshop delivered by Huddle Academy for ALIA Online 2015, February 2, Sydney, Australia.
Workshop outline: Customer expectations are continually increasing, demanding more personalised and customised services and experiences. As a result, understanding your customers and designing services and experiences for them is critical in drawing them to engage with your organisation. Simultaneously it is essential to understand the people in your organisation and enable them to be adaptive to changing needs and to provide them with enjoyable and meaningful work experiences. This means being in service to your customers as well as the people who work in your organisation.
This one day workshop is for those who are seeking to be more effective leaders through developing a human centred mindset. It will focus on building your understanding of the value and principles of being human centred. These principles include putting people first through being empathic, curious, collaborative, and courageous. You will learn methods for how you can better understand your customers and your organisation for the benefit of designing and delivering amazing services and experiences. We will do this through a range of practical hands on activities where you will have the opportunity to experience a set of tools you can apply within your workplace.
Sketching As a Communication and Collaboration Tool.Aaron Irizarry
Product teams often consist of team members with various disciplines and approaches to product design, this can often present communication hurdles with team members (designers, devs, product managers, marketing,research, etc) as well as kinks in team collaboration. In this talk, Aaron will provide tools, tips, and insights into using sketching to help improve communication and collaboration within product teams.
UX South West - Engaging clients meaningfully in the process of digital designAlan Colville
Great digital experience happen when we engage clients, not just users, meaningfully in the process of digital design.
This workshop describes techniques, which not only demonstrate the value of UX, but build better client / designer relationships.
Engage Clients Meaningfully in the Process Of DesignAlan Colville
Great digital experience happen when we engage clients, not just users, meaningfully in the process of design.
This presentation shows how focusing less on 'tad-dah' and flat images of web pages, and more on the inevitable outcome, which happens when a client is engaged in the process of design, is the key to great digital experiences.
101 Filmmaking Tips & Tricks: a FREE Filmmaking eBook.
We’re giving away a FREE moviemaking eBook! It’s a fantastic resource for anyone interested in breaking into the film and video industry. Here’s how to get it.
"From Design Thinking to Design Doing" Suzanne Pellican's presentation from the O'Reilly Design conference on January 21, 2016 at Fort Mason in San Francisco, CA.
Was bedeutet eine optimale Ressourcenplanung und –verfolgung für ein oder meh...remasoft
Inhalt
Was sind Ressourcen?
Was ist Ressourcenplanung?
Was bedeutet Ressourcenverfolgung?
Ressourcenplanung und -verfolgung in der Organisation?
Was kostet die Ressourcenplanung und -verfolgung?
Was bedeutet eine optimale Ressourcenplanung und -verfolgung?
Welche Werkzeuge sind sinnvoll?
So finden sie die perfekte Personal- und SocialmediazeitplanungIntermedia Concept
http://torstenjaeger.de
In vielen Unternehmen ist Social-Media inzwischen angekommen. Es wird meist über Facebook-Fanpages, Corporate-Blogs, oder Twitter-Accounts täglich genutzt. Über das damit verbundene Social-Media-Marketing machen sich aber nur wenige Unternehmen richtig Gedanken. Dabei ist das Marketing ein wichtiger Faktor, damit sich über eine Social-Media-Kampagne der notwendige Erfolg einstellen kann. Und dazu gehört nicht nur eine umfangreiche Ressourcen-Planung in den Bereichen Zeitaufwand und Personal.
Practical guidance on how to present data using PowerPoint. This presentation covers best practices taught in management consultancies and visual cognition. Based on a lecture given at Tsinghua University, Beijing in December 2011.
If you have feedback or suggestions (especially specific examples of great or terrible slides you think could be included in a future version), please email professionalenquiries@gmail.com or leave comments below.
A non designeris guide to creating memorable visual slides.
If you’re like most people, you’ve probably created dozens of presentations in your lifetime, and many of these in just under a few hours. But ask yourself: Do you really know how to design a memorable presentation that will stick in your viewers’ minds for months, even years to come?
The answer is probably no. Most of us have never actually learned the design principles necessary to impact audiences through visual storytelling. Perhaps the closest we have ever come to crafting a visual message is a PowerPoint presentation full of bullet points, overused stock photos and bland color schemes.
But these kinds of presentations rarely inspire real change, especially in this new age of visual communication.
Using Design Thinking for Growth is a transcription of a Business901 podcast.. It contained great thoughts on how Design Thinking may be to Business Growth the way Lean and Six Sigma has been to quality.
Jake Truemper and Morgan Noel from XperienceLab discuss Human-Centered Design. What is it? How is it applied? and what are some tools and methods that the audience can take away and apply in their own businesses?
Designing a human centred mindset to lead at the edgeZaana Jaclyn
Workshop delivered by Huddle Academy for ALIA Online 2015, February 2, Sydney, Australia.
Workshop outline: Customer expectations are continually increasing, demanding more personalised and customised services and experiences. As a result, understanding your customers and designing services and experiences for them is critical in drawing them to engage with your organisation. Simultaneously it is essential to understand the people in your organisation and enable them to be adaptive to changing needs and to provide them with enjoyable and meaningful work experiences. This means being in service to your customers as well as the people who work in your organisation.
This one day workshop is for those who are seeking to be more effective leaders through developing a human centred mindset. It will focus on building your understanding of the value and principles of being human centred. These principles include putting people first through being empathic, curious, collaborative, and courageous. You will learn methods for how you can better understand your customers and your organisation for the benefit of designing and delivering amazing services and experiences. We will do this through a range of practical hands on activities where you will have the opportunity to experience a set of tools you can apply within your workplace.
Sketching As a Communication and Collaboration Tool.Aaron Irizarry
Product teams often consist of team members with various disciplines and approaches to product design, this can often present communication hurdles with team members (designers, devs, product managers, marketing,research, etc) as well as kinks in team collaboration. In this talk, Aaron will provide tools, tips, and insights into using sketching to help improve communication and collaboration within product teams.
UX South West - Engaging clients meaningfully in the process of digital designAlan Colville
Great digital experience happen when we engage clients, not just users, meaningfully in the process of digital design.
This workshop describes techniques, which not only demonstrate the value of UX, but build better client / designer relationships.
Engage Clients Meaningfully in the Process Of DesignAlan Colville
Great digital experience happen when we engage clients, not just users, meaningfully in the process of design.
This presentation shows how focusing less on 'tad-dah' and flat images of web pages, and more on the inevitable outcome, which happens when a client is engaged in the process of design, is the key to great digital experiences.
101 Filmmaking Tips & Tricks: a FREE Filmmaking eBook.
We’re giving away a FREE moviemaking eBook! It’s a fantastic resource for anyone interested in breaking into the film and video industry. Here’s how to get it.
"From Design Thinking to Design Doing" Suzanne Pellican's presentation from the O'Reilly Design conference on January 21, 2016 at Fort Mason in San Francisco, CA.
Was bedeutet eine optimale Ressourcenplanung und –verfolgung für ein oder meh...remasoft
Inhalt
Was sind Ressourcen?
Was ist Ressourcenplanung?
Was bedeutet Ressourcenverfolgung?
Ressourcenplanung und -verfolgung in der Organisation?
Was kostet die Ressourcenplanung und -verfolgung?
Was bedeutet eine optimale Ressourcenplanung und -verfolgung?
Welche Werkzeuge sind sinnvoll?
So finden sie die perfekte Personal- und SocialmediazeitplanungIntermedia Concept
http://torstenjaeger.de
In vielen Unternehmen ist Social-Media inzwischen angekommen. Es wird meist über Facebook-Fanpages, Corporate-Blogs, oder Twitter-Accounts täglich genutzt. Über das damit verbundene Social-Media-Marketing machen sich aber nur wenige Unternehmen richtig Gedanken. Dabei ist das Marketing ein wichtiger Faktor, damit sich über eine Social-Media-Kampagne der notwendige Erfolg einstellen kann. Und dazu gehört nicht nur eine umfangreiche Ressourcen-Planung in den Bereichen Zeitaufwand und Personal.
Planungszeit im Projektmanagement und was kostet das?remasoft
Keynote REMAsoft Anwendertag Ressourcenplanung 2013
“Planungszeit im Projektmanagement und was kostet das?”
Prof. Dr. Andreas Daum, Hochschule Hannover, Fakultät für Wirtschaft und Informatik
The five parts of a great PowerPoint templatePresentitude
How much time do your employees and co-workers spend creating and updating PowerPoints every day? Is your PowerPoint template correctly defined or does it cause a lot of daily headache for users, contributing to organizational inefficiency? These are the five important parts of an efficient PowerPoint template.
Personally designed (content + graphics design), officially accredited AgilePM® V2 (Agile Project Management V2) Foundation courseware.
AgilePM® is a Registered Trade Mark of Dynamic Systems Development Method Limited.
Trademarks are properties of the holders, who are not affiliated with courseware author.
10 things presentation designers are thankful forPresentitude
What does a presentation designer have to be thankful for this season? Except getting a few days break from screens, keyboards and presentation software? We have created a list of 10 things at least we are thankful for this year.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Read a more detailed description at www.presentitude.com/10-things-presentation-designers-are-thankful-for
In Anlehnung an das klassische Projekt Management von Institutionen wie das PMI oder IPMA kann man einen erweiterten Blick auf Impediments als eigenständige Projekt Management Teams unter Moderation unserer SCRUM Master probieren. Im folgenden Workshop wird die dunkle Seite der Impediments und ihrer Wirkung im Vokabular der Opportunities and Risk Managements aufgeleuchtet. Auf Basis eines kurzen Überblicks der klassischen (one-man) Methoden der IPMA wird eine Reihe von Games präsentiert, die man als Team anwenden kann. Diese Games dienen um Impediments aus dem Sprint Alltag und Chancen/Risiken aus den Reviews und Retrospektiven anzupacken.
The yearly Presentation Summit conference takes place every fall. It is a four day retreat for all presentation designers alike. After participating you come back inspired, full of wisdom, a smile on your face and can't wait for it all to start over again next year. This year we concluded the Presentation Summit 2014 in a ABC guide.
This is my greatest hits album of major business mistakes I've made over my career, both as a freelancer and while working within agencies of all shapes and sizes.
I presented this first at the SCAD Entrepreneurial Forum in Savannah, GA on February 18, 2011. The material is drawn from my second book, "Success by Design: The Essential Business Reference for Designers," which will be out in Fall 2012.
What is Creativity made of? Where do ideas come from, and how can you get more of them? How can you make them better? What happens when there is no box to think outside of? Jason Theodor, a long-standing Creative Director in the digital advertising world, has asked himself these questions for years. These are his observations from the field, and his tools for ideation.
This presentation breaks down the creative method and explores the fundamental elements of creativity. It describes multiple systems for idea generation, problem solving, and originality. It emphasizes the importance of routines, explains appropriate brainstorming techniques, and much more: all with unexpected examples and takeaways.
If you want to live a more creative life, or give yourself an edge in the Age of Ideas, this presentation is a must see.
Visual and Creative Thinking:What We Learned From Peter Pan and Willy WonkaKelsey Ruger
Presentation on Visual and Creative Thinking. The presentation explores how professional in all fields can apply creative and visual thinking skills to their work as well as why people ignore the talents that made them naturally creative as children. He will discuss the myths that people hold about creativity, why they exist and how you can overcome them.
Cover design is so important to the success of a writer's project. It's critical to invest in a professional's help, or if doing yourself, to consider some of these points covered.
Participatory Design: Bringing Users Into Your ProcessDavid Sherwin
Good user research has a big impact on product quality. But Agile teams can struggle to integrate user research at the right places. In this talk by Erin Muntzert and David Sherwin, we talk about how Participatory Design can help Agile teams better understand the needs of their customers and get the right design ideas into their products. This talk has been adapted from a workshop that we have delivered at UX Week, Interaction, and UX London: http://bit.ly/pdesignux
You’ve Only Got Two Eyeballs: Designing Products for the Responsive WebDavid Sherwin
People expect to access and use the products that they love everywhere that they go. With an ever-increasing number of different smartphones, tablets, computers, wearables, and televisions that allow us to view websites, this makes our jobs as interactive designers even more challenging. Are you helping them focus on what they really need to get done, on the devices where they need that functionality the most?
In this workshop from HOW Design Live 2016, which was led by David Sherwin and Drew Bridewell with about 250 people, we shared techniques to help teams:
● Prioritize what product features will have the most value for your users across smartphone, tablet, desktop, TV, wearables, and other devices—so you’re investing your time and energy into the right features in the right places
● Validate your product assumptions and hypotheses through paper and digital prototypes, so you can start building those features intelligently
● Plan the implementation of your product features for development in a modular, componentized manner that makes them easier to test and scale
Along with workshop activities rooted in the above techniques, we shared how we used similar approaches in a redesign of the learning experience of Lynda.com as a responsive web product.
Interested in starting your own design business, but don't know how to do the "business" part? This comprehensive presentation covers how design studios make money, the ways design studios organize themselves to support making money, considerations for managing your studio's finances, a method for creating your own studio model, and the story of Design Commission (http://www.designcommission.com), a successful design business in Seattle, Washington. This presentation was delivered by David Sherwin and David Conrad as part of AIGA Seattle's "Design Business for Breakfast" series and is now part of David Sherwin's book "Success by Design: The Essential Business Reference for Designers" (http://www.davidsherwin.com/success).
Designing for Positive Behaviors and HabitsDavid Sherwin
We live in a world where we expect the applications and services we use every day to not only help us do what we want to do, but encourage us to help reach our goals in ways that will make us healthier, wealthier, and happier. In this talk I delivered at HOW Interactive Design Conference 2014, I explore a growing trend in the interactive space, where product designers are using techniques drawn from the social sciences to support and shape the choices their users make. With the tools I provide in this talk, you can create your first draft of a product intended for positive behavior change, as well as test the first iteration of your design solutions in a responsible manner.
What are the best ways to create creative superteams? These are teams that are able to effectively communicate and collaborate to create even better solutions to huge challenges. In this talk presented at HOW Design Live 2014, I shared different tools that I use as part of how I lead project teams to build trust, create shared norms, and encourage dialogue in the service of creating more powerful design work.
Example Organizational Models for Design BusinessesDavid Sherwin
An organizational model describes how your studio employees work together: how tasks are delegated to people, how people collaborate to complete projects and who supervises the work to make sure it’s great. It should be a reflection of how your studio earns revenue—the mix of types of work and products created for your customers—and of your studio philosophy. This document visualizes illustrations of common organizational models for certain types of design businesses. This content is referenced on page 264 of Success by Design: The Essential Business Reference for Designers by David Sherwin, published by HOW Books. Get the book at http://amzn.to/successbydesign
Elements of Design Studio Experience v1David Sherwin
Use this worksheet to begin determining what your ideal design studio experience should be like. Directions for the activity are on page 260 of Success by Design: The Essential Business Reference for Designers by David Sherwin, published by HOW Books. Get the book at http://amzn.to/successbydesign
What can your staff do to create their ideal studio culture? And how can that culture align with everyone’s desired working environment? This worksheet is part of an activity to answer these questions. Directions for the activity are on page 267 of Success by Design: The Essential Business Reference for Designers by David Sherwin, published by HOW Books. Get the book at http://amzn.to/successbydesign
This Progress Evaluation Worksheet is used as part of a growth assessment for your design business. Directions for the activity are on page 280 of Success by Design: The Essential Business Reference for Designers by David Sherwin, published by HOW Books. Get the book at http://amzn.to/successbydesign
This worksheet goes along with an activity to help you determine what skills and roles you may need to hire for your design business in the future. Directions for the activity are on page 272 of Success by Design: The Essential Business Reference for Designers by David Sherwin, published by HOW Books. Get the book at http://amzn.to/successbydesign
This e-book is an accompaniment to the book "Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills," more details here: http://www.davidsherwin.com/creative
"Creative Workshop" contains 80 creative challenges that will help any designer reach a breadth of stronger design solutions, in various media, within any set time period. Exercises range from creating a typeface in an hour, to designing a paper robot in an afternoon, to designing web pages and other interactive experiences. Each exercise includes compelling visual solutions from other designers and background stories to help designers increase their capacity to innovate.
Before the book, however, there was a quarter-long class where design students had to complete 80 projects in just 11 weeks. This Teacher's Guide describes the pedagogical methods behind the book, how to create your own Creative Workshop class or workshop series, as well as how to utilize challenges from the book most effectively in a classroom setting. This text is intended for teachers of design and creative thinking, but it may also be helpful for designers and creative managers.
The kickoff deck for the HOW Interactive Design Conference 2011's Progressive Design Challenge. In this deck, we introduce the theme and the rules for winning a great prize (only for attendees of the conference!)
Prototyping Interaction with Video ScenariosDavid Sherwin
Aaron Rincover and I presented this workshop at Seattle Make-a-Thon on November 6, 2010, sponsored by IxDA Seattle, AIGA Seattle, and Interact.
When designing interactions that transcend singular devices and form the basis of device ecosystems, wireframes just don’t cut it. Much of the interactions you’re looking to define and refine are evoked through motion, sound, haptics, and other variables that can’t be easily documented without "dancing about architecture." In these situations, it’s often most effective to create video scenarios that describe how an interaction would happen out in the real world. These scenarios are useful not only for explaining ideas to your clients—they’re an effective way of capturing prototypes to see if they make sense and feel real.
Over the course of this workshop, we explored the various flavors of video scenario that you can create, depending on the design problems you’re seeking to solve. Then we’ll spent the balance of our time working in small teams to create a short interaction vignette about gestural input to activate a teleportation device.
Designing with the Body: Learning to Physically PrototypeDavid Sherwin
This is a 75-minute workshop about physically prototyping products, services, and experiences. Workshop attendees selected a design challenge, which was structured in a way to teach them about the value of prototyping their design ideas earlier in the overall design process—especially for highly complex problems. I facilitated this workshop twice at AIGA Seattle's "Into the Woods" conference at Sleeping Lady Lodge in Leavenworth, WA on October 15-16, 2010.
White wonder, Work developed by Eva TschoppMansi Shah
White Wonder by Eva Tschopp
A tale about our culture around the use of fertilizers and pesticides visiting small farms around Ahmedabad in Matar and Shilaj.
You could be a professional graphic designer and still make mistakes. There is always the possibility of human error. On the other hand if you’re not a designer, the chances of making some common graphic design mistakes are even higher. Because you don’t know what you don’t know. That’s where this blog comes in. To make your job easier and help you create better designs, we have put together a list of common graphic design mistakes that you need to avoid.
Dive into the innovative world of smart garages with our insightful presentation, "Exploring the Future of Smart Garages." This comprehensive guide covers the latest advancements in garage technology, including automated systems, smart security features, energy efficiency solutions, and seamless integration with smart home ecosystems. Learn how these technologies are transforming traditional garages into high-tech, efficient spaces that enhance convenience, safety, and sustainability.
Ideal for homeowners, tech enthusiasts, and industry professionals, this presentation provides valuable insights into the trends, benefits, and future developments in smart garage technology. Stay ahead of the curve with our expert analysis and practical tips on implementing smart garage solutions.
Expert Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Drafting ServicesResDraft
Whether you’re looking to create a guest house, a rental unit, or a private retreat, our experienced team will design a space that complements your existing home and maximizes your investment. We provide personalized, comprehensive expert accessory dwelling unit (ADU)drafting solutions tailored to your needs, ensuring a seamless process from concept to completion.
Book Formatting: Quality Control Checks for DesignersConfidence Ago
This presentation was made to help designers who work in publishing houses or format books for printing ensure quality.
Quality control is vital to every industry. This is why every department in a company need create a method they use in ensuring quality. This, perhaps, will not only improve the quality of products and bring errors to the barest minimum, but take it to a near perfect finish.
It is beyond a moot point that a good book will somewhat be judged by its cover, but the content of the book remains king. No matter how beautiful the cover, if the quality of writing or presentation is off, that will be a reason for readers not to come back to the book or recommend it.
So, this presentation points designers to some important things that may be missed by an editor that they could eventually discover and call the attention of the editor.
7 Alternatives to Bullet Points in PowerPointAlvis Oh
So you tried all the ways to beautify your bullet points on your pitch deck but it just got way uglier. These points are supposed to be memorable and leave a lasting impression on your audience. With these tips, you'll no longer have to spend so much time thinking how you should present your pointers.
1. BONUS CHALLENGES
You’re speaking Greek, I mean Latin. Having fun being
carded. Charting the path of your design decisions. This ad is
confidential. Going nuts over dangerous nuts. I wouldn’t touch
that client until you did. Two-person identity mashup. Just what
is that scent? Redesigning careers. Signs of beautiful progress.
For more challenges, click here to buy the book
Creative Workshop from Amazon.com!
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2. Lost in Translation
30 minutes Layout, writing
Your ad reads: “Lorem ispsum consequat dolor ix vox
populii.” Either your audience is fluent in designer’s
Latin, or you need to roll up your sleeves and start challenge
writing some real headlines. Crafting copy for a
Find a foreign-language adver-
design project can be fun if you have a strong
tisement and redesign it with text
command of your native tongue—though if writing is
you’ve written in your native tongue.
not your forte, the process can be nerve-wracking.
Try not to adjust the layout to fit
But don’t be scared. You’ve probably been a your words. What will help this
copywriter at some point in your life. Just think back foreign ad make sense to those
to when you took a trip to a foreign land. When who speak your language?
confronted by cryptic billboards and bewildering
ad images, you couldn’t help but write sales copy
on the fly. How else could you process that otherwise
unintelligible mass of foreign characters atop a
smiling, bikini-clad woman clutching a piping-hot
cappuccino?
“Most advertising
Use the following challenge to take a journey into
experts agree that
the mind of a copywriter. an attention-getting
headline is the
take it further
key ingredient in a
Find a television advertisement in a foreign
language, take screen captures from key scenes
successful advertisement.”
that incorporate written text, and retouch them with
—Robert W. Bly, The Copywriter’s Handbook
dialogue in your language that makes sense of the
progression of images.
2 Exercise 81
3. Creativity,
First Class
60 minutes Illustration, photography
On my desk is a pile of postcards at least three inches
tall, sent to me and my wife from people all over the
world. They are inscribed with sentiments evoking a challenge
specific sense of place.
Ask a friend to write a paragraph
For example: Here’s one of “The Bean” in Chicago’s for you from a vacation destination
Millennium Park, or a pink-purple sunrise over the wet- they returned from recently. Take
lands of Hillman Marsh in Ontario, or a bald cypress that paragraph and design a post-
tree at sunset in Louisiana. There are also many card for it that evokes a sense of
colorful landscapes of the mind: Andy Warhol’s silk place from that destination. Then,
screened “Four Monkeys,” classic paintings by Matisse when it’s complete, send it to your friend
and Chagall and van Gogh, a lovely gouache happy with the paragraph written on it.
face by the late designer Alan Fletcher. Postcards
purchased from art museums and bookstores, or
discovered in attics or at flea markets—often telling
tales of places that no longer exist, whose history
is preserved through these yellowing squares of take it further
thick paperboard.
Ask for multiple paragraphs from people that
In the following challenge, you’re going to design you know, then create an accordion-folded
your very own postcard, but for someone else’s travel postcard book that links the locations through
observations. Will they recognize the spirit of the place the overall design.
they’d visited from what you create?
“Like all great travelers,
I have seen more than
I remember and
remember more
than I have seen.”
—Benjamin Disraeli
Creativity, First Class 3
4. My Design Graph
60 minutes Information design
Don’t believe it when other designers tell you,
“You’re only as good as your last project.” It’s the
trajectory of our career that tells the story of our
growth as designers. Some designers just keep
“Habit is necessary;
creating the same project over and over again— it is the habit of having
which may lead to some solid design work, but
it does little to push them into new and unexplored
habits, of turning a trail
territory. The resulting portfolio will show competency into a rut, that must
in craft, but little curiosity.
be incessantly fought
Much in the same way that we meander toward
the coffee shop around the corner for our espresso
against if one is to
fix, breaking ourselves out of professional ruts takes remain alive.”
concerted, mindful effort over time. In this challenge,
you’ll dive into the nuts and bolts of what makes your —Edith Wharton
work tick, and uncover what new directions you may
want to take in the next phase of your career.
challenge
Look over at least 10 of the past designs you’ve created. Based on patterns that you detect in
use of typography, grid, color, photo and illustration use, and other factors, create an 11"x17"
chart that quantifies major trends in your work. Use this chart to highlight opportunities for new
approaches you can attempt in the next few months to spur your growth as a designer.
take it further
Draw inspiration from the work of Nicholas Felton at Feltron.com and create
an annual report of the trends you’ve exhibited across your last year’s complete
portfolio, as well as any other artistic outputs.
4 Exercise 83
5. Concept, Redacted
60 minutes Advertising
When providing documents under the Freedom of
Information Act, our security agencies sometimes see
fit to strike through confidential information with bold
black bars. When those documents are printed online
“The closer and more
or in magazines, we often spend more time trying to confidential our relation-
decipher exactly what’s missing rather than using
what is provided for context.
ship with someone, the
Use this visual trope to create a novel promotion for a
less we are entitled to
local nonprofit in your town. ask about what we are
not voluntarily told.”
—Louis Kronenberger
challenge
This is a two-person challenge.
In 45 minutes, you are both
responsible for creating individual
advertisements for a woman’s
take it further
health center. The ad’s headline
should read: “It’s a Private Matter.” Incorporate your ad concept into a pamphlet
For the last 15 minutes of the challenge, that can be distributed on college campuses.
swap your ads. You are now required to
selectively redact ten words from your friend’s
ad with a black marker. What will you delete,
and how will it influence the meaning of your
friend’s ad?
Concept, Redacted 5
6. GoingNuts.Org
60 minutes Interactive media, research
The humble peanut is a staple of the American larder,
present in everything from lunchbox sandwiches
to granola bars to ice cream to addictive peanut challenge
butter-filled pretzels. Whether we’re aware of it or
Create an interactive point-of-
not, peanuts find their way into pet foods, cosmetics,
purchase display intended to help
and a host of other household products that line our
people understand how peanuts
grocery store shelves.
are grown, harvested, and pro-
Due to the recent peanut scare, where dozens of cessed by manufacturers for use in
products have been recalled due to the possible household products. The display
presence of salmonella, some of those shelves have must convey an editorial slant grounded in
been bare—and some people are finding new foods your initial research on the subject, consider-
to replace the peanut as part of their diet, much to ing questions such as: Are peanuts an impor-
the chagrin of farmers and manufacturers. tant part of our daily diet? What is the impact
of their growth on American soil? How critical
Do people understand how the peanut came to
is their presence in available products and
prominence in our daily lives? Do they have all the
industries beyond processed foods?
facts about the recent recalls? In this challenge,
you’ll help to separate fact from fiction, and educate
the populace.
take it further
“Since new developments Bring the thinking behind your display into a mobile
are the products of a application that you can use while you’re in the store.
creative mind, we must Include in the application not only peanuts, but all
kinds of nuts that are utilized in processed foods.
therefore stimulate and
encourage that type of mind
in every way possible.”
—George Washington Carver
6 Exercise 85
7. Realpolitik
60 minutes Advertising
Every designer needs to have a clear ethical stance
toward the client projects that they’ll take on. Many
designers would rather not help sell industrial-grade challenge
weaponry or promote industries that may not
This is a challenge for two designers.
contribute a net-positive benefit for society.
Part 1: Write down on a slip of paper
However, designers often don’t know their own
three products that, for ethical or
boundaries with clarity until they’re offered what
political considerations, you just
seems to be a plum project, only to realize as they
can’t bring yourself to take on as
dig into the client problem that the end result runs
a client. Trade lists with another designer.
counter to their beliefs.
Choose one product from their list and
The following challenge will help you better under- sketch the most compelling, polished
stand the slippery slope that all designers face when billboard design you can muster promoting
taking on a client problem that may not align with that product.
their personal politics.
Part 2: You are now a key decision maker
representing one of the products you would
never take on as a client. The designer that
“Realpolitik, n.: politics based on practical created a billboard for your company must
and material factors rather than on theoretical give a three-point presentation as to why
or ethical objectives.” their design will meet your product’s needs
—Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 6th Edition in the marketplace. You will be allowed to
ask three questions regarding their work,
press-conference style, in order to better
understand the ethical stance they are
take it further
taking with regard to said product. Then
Create a poster that you’ll keep in your studio that out- you must trade places with the other
lines your personal policies towards the kinds of work designer, and present your billboard
you’d like to do in the future—and the kind that you concept to them—while they play-act
should always decline. being your client.
Realpolitik 7
8. Shared Space
15 minutes Identity development, stationery
Designers band together in many ways: through their
tribal appreciation of typefaces, their considered
purchases of well-crafted products, their affinity for
social media chatter, and so forth.
“It’s really hard to be
Designers also share their studio spaces, seeking roommates with people
camaraderie through long days spent sketching out
ideas, kerning headlines, finding that perfect photo if your suitcases are
for the otherwise pristine web page layout. All work
and no fun over just a few days can make designing much better than theirs.”
feel like… work.
—J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
In this challenge for two designers, quickly determine
how you can share not only your workspace, but also
the space that you share on paper.
challenge
In order to save on rent for your new design studio, you’re going to split it with a fellow designer.
And to further slash your operating costs, you’re also going to share letterhead, while still pre-
serving the identities of each of your separate businesses. Over the course of 15 minutes, deter-
mine how you can integrate both of your design identities into a single sheet of paper for client
communications.
take it further
Design a portfolio website that highlights both of your efforts separately—and that
continues the conceit of your stationery system.
8 Exercise 87
9. Perfume
Is Overrated
60 minutes Branding, packaging
Needles floating down from a Douglas fir. Popcorn in
a big ceramic bowl, fresh from the kettle. Salt wafting
high on the morning sea breeze. challenge
Whole industries have been built from laboratories Invent a new brand of “natural
synthesizing perfect simulacra of things that exist natu- scents” for men and women that
rally in the world around us—then selling those scents are neither deodorant nor perfume.
to us, whether through highly seductive advertising or This brand will require a new cat-
the “bonus” smells that assault our nostrils as we inter- egory and method of selling them,
act with people throughout our day. meaning you can’t stock them in
perfume shops, pharmacies, or department
What would the world be like if people relied more on
stores. Consider how these scents would
“natural scents” that we enjoy out in the world, rather
be applied on the body, at what price point
than those that were designed by perfumers? With this
they would be sold profitably at volume (or
challenge, let your nose lead you to a novel answer to
not sold at all), and summarize your recom-
that question.
mendation in a one-page cheat sheet that
explains everything a person would need to
know about your brand.
“I love the smell of juice
boxes in the morning.” take it further
Design how one would apply your “natural scents” as
—Robert Duvall
a physical prototype with instructions. Give them to a
friend and see if they can understand what it is and
how it’s utilized.
Perfume Is Overrated 9
10. Rifftastic
30 minutes Poster design
Finding steady employment has been hard for many
of today’s designers.
challenge
A few years ago, when our economy slowed down,
many agencies and companies ended up cutting Your local municipal government
back on marketing, advertising, and other core has tasked you with creating an
activities that require designers. In the aftermath, the eye-catching poster promoting the
market was flooded with thousands of highly talented new career center that just opened
design professionals. in your town—specifically speaking
to retraining out-of-work designers.
In conversations with some of my out-of-work
Can you sell your creative peers on why they
colleagues who have struggled to land a stable gig,
should find alternative employment?
many of them are now using their time off to seek out
creative and fulfilling work—whether for new clients or
for their own personal projects and efforts. For those
that haven’t fared well, there often aren’t many stones
to overturn for new jobs—and some are falling back take it further
on previous professions or other skills lateral to design,
Design the career center from the inside out, knowing
until they can land just the right gig.
you’re creating a space for people to give up what
This challenge is for you to help convince designers, they want to do. What would the experience be like?
through design, to not be designers. What kind of materials would a designer receive there
that they couldn’t find anywhere else?
“Hunger is not the worst
feature of unemployment;
idleness is.”
—William E. Barrett
10 Exercise 89
11. Please Sign Here
30 minutes Environmental graphics
I worked with an excellent proofreader whose cubicle
you would never approach until she had flipped a
little sign from “No Coffee” to “Had Coffee.” challenge
At that same job, one of the designers kept a mini- Create an interactive piece of
whiteboard up to date with her ongoing projects, signage you can place on your
what’s on her plate, and when she was planning to design studio door, desk, or other
take lunch—so she wouldn’t be surprised by rogue clearly visible place. The signage
project managers while she was running out the door. must be easily modifiable to note
your current project status, overall
These designed moments become part of our studio
mental state, and any other data points that
environment and culture. So for this challenge, show
are critical to the health and wellbeing of
us how you share your status to your co-workers—
yourself and your co-workers.
like only a designer can.
take it further
“A sign on the Door of How would your sign translate into an iPad or
Opportunity reads Push.” mobile application?
—Anonymous
Please Sign Here 11
12. For University Bookstore sales, contact F&W Media at 1-800-289-0963.
My Design Shop: http://www.mydesignshop.com/product/creative-workshop/
Amazon: http://bit.ly/CWTheBook
The first 24 pages are available free on Scribd:
12 http://www.scribd.com/doc/42672850/Creative-Workshop Exercise #