Recycling all those rejected ideas

Failed ideas are a part of every successful designers career. Over the years I have accumulated lots of mock ups and sketches that will never be seen by another living soul. I always try to tell myself that I'm going to use some of these ideas on another project, but deep down I know that it is not possible, since no two project are the same. Instead of hoping for other projects to come along that I can apply these designs to I think they need to take on a life of there own, being there own design projects, maybe a painting, or just putting them on a blog to share them with the world could work. Rejected ideas can still be meaningful in their own way even when they are not the best solution for the job at hand.

The image above is a sketch for an African translation that didn't quite make the cut. The sketch was based off of Senegalese street art. Hopefully finishing this illustration will bring hours of joy and grace the wall of our apartment someday.

Give your Product a Voice

It's hard not to notice all of the different products that companies have given a voice to. Anything from walking, talking M&Ms to wise cracking wheels of cheese that make us laugh out loud. These wildly imaginative characters make it easy to connect with what otherwise would be boring products which only purpose is for filling our stomachs. Even though it may be a little creepy to see a piece of food acting with the same emotions and feeling as a human being I have to admit it can be very entertaining.

Book Review "Creative Intelligence"

Vacations are always a good time to relax and read a book. While soaking in the sun on the sandy beaches of Puerto Rico I took in the new book by Bruce Nussbaum Creative Intelligence.

This book offers an insightful investigation of the creative process. Nussbaum outlines his five competencies of CQ (creative intelligence) which consists of knowledge mining, framing, playing, making, and pivoting. He goes into further detail dedicating an entire chapter to each stage of the process. Throughout the book Nussbaum uses his expertise of the subject along with examples from leading tech companies, design agencies and indie start ups to further explain his concepts. The book is capped off with a final chapter Indie Capitalism where he explains how these five competencies can build an economic model for the 21st century.

Creative Intelligence is not a how to guide, but a thorough examination of the creative process of innovation. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to feel inspired to take advantage of our rapidly changing economy. The tools Nusbaum lays out in Creative Intelligence are easy to understand and can be implemented by anyone who wishes to enhance their own creativity.