crowlack.

http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131113135819-10842349-the-secret-to-innovation-think-like-a-kid?trk=mp-reader-card

This is an article about having the confidence to think like a kid. It says that "many kids lose confidence in their creative instincts, especially during their high school and college years." I know that I am a perfect example of this, and it took me many years after high school to work my confidence back up.

In the article they ask two questions, first: How might we inspire young people to cultivate their creative confidence? and second: How do you encourage the young people in your life to fulfill their creative potential?

I hear of a lot examples of parents playing with their child's' imagination. I think that it is a creative way to have fun with kids. My friend's parents used to write tiny fairy sized notes for when the tooth fairy came to visit. Then in return my friend would write tiny letters filled with questions about the tooth fairy world. No matter what age I think it's important to exercise your imagination and creativity, then it becomes easier for you to have fun in this world. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUa7oBsSDk8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWwii1dX4v8#t=13

This is a true example of designism. In Lima, Peru people are suffering from the lack of portable drinking water. UTEC made the  first billboard that produces drinking water OUT OF AIR. It consumes enough water to supply hundreds of families with drinking water. 

Coca-Cola is one of the world's leaders in marketing and advertising, and when given the chance I am willing to learn anything that they offer to teach. While researching Coke for a school project I came across an interesting article that listed Coca Cola's long history of social purpose in The Coca-Cola Company’s marketing.

Currently I'm doing a lot of research on Coca-Cola for a project at school. So my blog might be bombarded with a lot of interesting things I find on Coke. As a company Coke is a leader in creative communication and advertising, and has been since they begun. 

I present to you my top 5 favourite Coca-Cola ads: 1.1979 Mean Joe Greene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xffOCZYX6F8

2. 2007 Video Game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tnm53uXIvg

3. 2007 Happiness Factory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGjBV9roQhA

4. 2005 Make it Real Documentary http://vimeo.com/60212514

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671728/5-clever-product-packages-that-dissolve-after-use?fb_action_ids=10151450432596753&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582#1

Aaron Mickelson is a designer who has completely eliminated packaging from 5 household everyday products. According to the article "Americans alone throw away some 70 million tons of boxes, bags, containers, and inserts each year". You cannot become a designer this day in age without thinking about sustainable design. When looking for inspiration, looking at Mickelson's designs is a good place to start. He thought outside of the box by entirely getting rid of the box. In the article it also says that there's no crazy new technology or cutting-edge manufacturing process, each solution is unique to the product. Just like any other project a designer handles.

Maybe slowly designers will start to adopt Mickelson's product packaging ways by eliminating waste completely and together we can reduce that 70 million. 

Waiting is a photography series by a Russian photographer Jana Romanova. The series is all bird's eye view of expecting-parents-to-be sleeping. This is a really unique project that would take a lot of time and devotion, especially to search and find 40 couples to part take in this project. This is a real look inside into people lives at an interesting time of the day, which she picked because it's "when people don't really care about their appearance and one can see their attitude to each other and to this life that is growing inside their family." Personally I'm not sure I would volunteer in a project like this, so I'm glad Romanova was able to find couples to help her out. 

An element to being successful in graphic design is being able to market towards your target market. The best way to do that is to understand their want and needs, likes and dislikes and so on. 

I find that through story telling, whether its a show or a movie, to gain an interesting perspective is to do a bit of a role reversal. For example in the cartoon American Dad they use role reversal to make their plots more interesting and comical. For example a story line that would be typical for the daughter of the family would somehow through the secret technology of the CIA be transferred to the son of the family. It's a smart way of teaching the regular morals in a new and different way. 

So maybe the next time you are stuck brainstorming ideas try to imagine someone least likely to fit the position of your idea. Or literally dress them up in their shoes. Like these men from Moto Corsa promoting the Ducati Panigale 1199 motorcycle, it adds an element of surprise that will surely make anyone take a second look.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/magazine/be-wrong-as-fast-as-you-can.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

You may have read in a previous post of mine that I used to regret a lot of my decisions and hold onto past mistakes, which did nothing but way me down. Obviously, this wasn't getting me very far, but harder then making a mistake was for me to admit I made a mistake. 

I believe from personal experience that learning to admit that you're wrong, learning from that situation and then moving on helps a designer when designing. 

When I'm talking to younger designers (and I use to do this a lot myself), I find that they constantly ask "what if" like questions. What do you think if this blue? What if it was bigger? Would it look better if it was this way?

Why are we too scared to make a mistake? It would take much less time for the young designer to make the changes and see for themselves if the design looks better. 

For my next logo history appreciation I decided to pull up the Evolution of Batman. Even in the world of fantasy a logo may become outdated.

As long as the different versions of Batman stories continue to be told then their will be a logo created to match him. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1uyQZNg2vE#t=27

When I saw the video for Google Glass I almost couldn't believe it. It is pretty much a tiny computer that sits in front of your eye. Without a keyboard and any buttons you are able to command this piece of glass just by speaking to it. You are able to take pictures, videos, make phone calls, update your twitter and much more. 

http://vimeo.com/43038579

This is a link to a video that explains the amazing invention of the invisible bike helmet. I ride my bike a lot, almost everyday during the summer season. As for wearing a helmet... I avoid it at all costs. I find them very uncomfortable and just as the article states "they take a lot of the open-air-joy out of things". 

This is innovative and creative design making history. I would definitely like to try one of these helmets one day: see how they feel and if they addressed the issue of comfort. 

http://elitedaily.com/life/the-20-mistakes-you-dont-want-to-make-in-your-20s/

This link tells you: These are the 20 Mistakes You Don’t Want To Make In Your 20s. I hope any 20-something year old reading this list would see that it is the worst advice given. I'm only approaching my mid-twenties, maybe a few years from now I'll see differently, but I really doubt it. 

I have received a little gift from my past. Four years ago, a trend was happening on facebook to write 25 things about yourself, appropriately named 25 Things. Since this is a blog that I am using to record how my thoughts change over time (or stay the same), I thought I would compare the same 25 things from February 19th 2009 from me today.

You may notice that some numbers are missing. This is because some of what I wrote on the list were "inside" jokes between me and my friends, which nobody in cyberspace would understand.

List of 25 Things from 2009:

1. I hate my name. 2.I'm haunted by the number 43. Oh look I even started this note at 1:43. I'm not kidding, it's a real curse! 3. I've been told that I'm a pessimist more then a few times. 4. I regret quitting piano lessons. 5. I have started and stopped a lot of things including dancing,french immersion, swimming, soccer, badminton 6. I tend to regret things instead of being happy for the experiences. 7. Michelangelo is my favorite ninja turtle. 10. I'm still not sure if the program I'm in is for me. 12. I'm a cat person. I want a kitty but it's highly possible I'm allergic .. . it just happened that one day I played with a cat and my eyes went red and itchy.  13. If I was able to have a job handed to me would probably choose to be a comedian because making people laugh is awesome. Two problems: I'm not that funny and I cannot speak in public/ in front of a crowd. 14. I hate speaking in front of crowds, like class speeches. 17. My glasses are fake. I wear them just cause. 18. I bring the dance to the dance parties:] 19. My favorite flavor of ice cream is chocolate caramel cone explosion. It's the BEEEEEEEEESST!!! 21. I love the 1990's. I wish I was born a little bit earlier so I was older experiencing the 90's. I love the high tops and neons, fresh prince, hip- hop and the old YTV shows. 22. My biggest fear is sharks. Just picturing being stranded in the water where you are not able to move fast enough to get away... loosing breath... getting tired... 23. I dont have a purse, I carry everything in my pockets. I saw the prefect purse but I did not buy it because I was broke, now I will never find one like it. 25. I will not marry a dude who has a last name starting with P. It will just not happen.

New Revised 2013 List