Creative Process

There’s plenty of discussion about stock photography.  Love it or hate it, searching for the right pictures and spending money for them is a part of most designers’ lives.  Whether we’re amateurs or pros in putting together pieces for our communication materials, we need to think about why we’re using stock images. 

This post isn’t about saying “yes” or “no” to using stock photography.  Instead we want to help you think through why you’re using stock stuff and when you might want to avoid...

When was the last time you went to a major venue or mainstream restaurant and Coke or Pepsi wasn’t on the menu?  Better yet, do you recall a time where  the drink of choice was RC, Dr. Pepper or 7-UP? 

Welcome to the new reality for Chicago Bears fans the next time they venture into Soldier Field.  The Bears just signed a seven-year deal that makes products from the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group the official soda and juices of the Bears. 

What makes this news interesting—besides the fact that...

I’ve been thinking about church stages lately.  It seems the trend—which probably isn’t a surprise to many of you—is to do more with lighting and projection instead of building big elaborate sets as in the past.  The stages at churches I’ve visited have been simple.  There may be some interesting draping with big white curtains, simple wood structures with clean lines or fun shapes to allow for projecting video or special lighting effects.  But on an average weekend, I’ve rarely seen the big...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about designing with the end-user in mind.  This isn't a new concept, but Joshua Blankenship replanted the seed a couple of weeks ago at the Echo conference.

For me, designing for the end-user goes far beyond graphics.  When you’re starting something new, stop to think about how it will actually work for the people who will use it.  Is it something that will truly serve your population?

The last time I went to Dominick's (a grocery store in the Chicago...

Good conferences like Echo can leave you with a little bit of information overload.  While I shared some notes from most of the sessions I went to, I want to share some of my personal takeaways.  Consider it a tasty tidbit from each presentation.

• What is your social media mission?  When we start using a tool, we need to ask why we’re doing this and what we hope will come of it.  Get more focused than just a digital extension of your organizational statement.  If we don’t know where we’re...

(Scott Belsky is the author of the national bestselling book Making Ideas Happen.  He’s also founder and CEO of Behance, a company that develops products and services for the creative industries including the 99%.)

Most ideas never happen. Even great ideas suffer great odds.

Why don't ideas happen?

• Energy is high when a new idea strikes. A few days pass and we enter the project plateau where most ideas die. We want to return to the high, so we use our creativity and we come up with a...

(Joshua Blankenship is the Design Director for New Spring Church where he handles overall design, brand and web strategies.)

Big idea: if you don't value design, then you don't love people.

What is design? It's not just aesthetics, Photoshop or the last step in a process.  Design is every decision made about an experience, product or service.  Design is decisions, so everyone is a designer in some way.  People can contribute in their specialized area. For example, people with no web...

(Jon Acuff is best known for his website Stuff Christians Like,  He's also an author and his latest book is called Quitter.)

We are the “I’m, but” generation.  I’m a ________ but want to be a _______.

What do you do in the gaps between where you are and where you want to be.

• Ignore the voices.  The internal voice is rarely positive. You may think someone is better or more creative than you.  Social media makes it easy for us to play the comparison game. Never compare your beginning...

Graphic designer Paul Nielsen wrote a really interesting piece about church graphic design.  Nielsen says churches often find themselves in one of two camps.  They either aren’t thinking about design at all or they’re way overthinking it.

I always say everything a church does communicates something, so why not intentionally think about it.  And that’s really the philosophy Nielsen follows when looking at churches who don’t put much thought into their signs, brochures, worship folders, etc. ...

There are times when we all face a creative block.  We’re sitting in front of our computers like comatose zombies because we can’t type words on the screen.  And sometimes it’s even worse.  We’re ready to get going, but we feel like there’s no creative idea in our head to share.  So as we’re coming off a week of taking a blogging break, I thought it would be good to share some tips for breaking through your creative block.

Listen.  Blaine Hogan’s the Creative Director at Willow Creek...