Jul 6
These are uplifting as well as inpsirational. 12 videos from Vimeo to blow on your creative spark.
Jun 22
Found this wonderful video by Terry Timely via the equally wonderful SynthGear.
Just the thing to get the creative juices folling on a Monday, or any day in fact.
May 18
In 1978 Karol Józef Wojty?a became Pope. He was born this day in 1920, and 58 years later became the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. The odds were stacked against Karol becoming pope as he was also from a Slavic country, a country that has never delivered a pope before.
When someone becomes pope they take on a new name. For Karol, he took the name of his immediate predecessor. The pope before Karol has reigned for only several weeks. But Karol was inspired by the one who had come before and, in honour, and to lead himself to achieve even greater things, he took on that name.
The rest, they say, is history. Karol became Pope John Paul II. And Pope John Paul II, became a pope who far surpassed his predecessor. Karol was inspired to do greater things than had been done before. What are you being inspired to do today?
May 10
There is a great post over at one of my favourite sites, Smashin Magazine. It is all about using music to inspire your visual creativity, enjoy:
Drawing Inspiration From Music | Inspiration | Smashing Magazine
Apr 28
In recent years Dr Who and Battlestar Galactica have been successfully reinvented and given a much needed creative boost. The original ideas had run their course and had been relegated to nostalgic archives to all but the faithful. The same is just about to happen with Star Trek as the new movie is released around the world.
- How have these franchises managed to reinvent themselves?
- What can I learn in my own creative journey?
Dr Who successfully returned to the small screen in 2005 after an almost twenty year absence. But it also had an unsuccessful return in 1996. Why was the 2005 version a success?
Effective series
The original Dr Who was characterised by its poor special effects and cliffhanger endings. When it returned advances, and reduction of cost, in computer graphics allowed it to step into the same league as films like Star Wars. It also changed the format from half-hour cliffhanger episodes into the popular hour long length. It replaced the cliffhanger with the story arc. So along with good characters and writing it was set.
Unbelievable shocks
Battlestar Galactica returned to our screens after a similar break in time. This series hadn’t had any abortive attempts to revive it beyond the extension of the original series with a few TV specials. When it did return it came back with a radical reworking of the original. Gone was the glitzy, safe, middle of the road TV series. In its place was a hard hitting and edgy series that pulled no punches and surprised its watchers week in, week out.
Fit Trek
And finally we have Star Trek. Its success is pretty much guaranteed. JJ Abrams has taken control after several other successes, he’s on a roll. But he is also about to tweak the untweakable and mess with a story that has been filled in by the fanatical fans of this Sci-fi franchise. But that is why it will work. Star Trek has faded from popularity with the masses because it became tired. The new film will pull away the fat from the original kernel, and breath life once more into Roddenberry’s child.
So what can we take away into our creative journey?
- Use new tools as they become available – open source is great for cheap or free software
- Change format, learn from what else is popular
- Be prepared to go against what everyone is used to
- Don’t be afraid to change things from what people expect
- Get back to your basics, why are you creating. Live your dream
Mar 11
This is truly amazing.
Take a group of unrelated youtube videos, mash them up and turn them into complete video / music tracks.
Jan 27
Jan 27
Happy New Year by Electrabel – Fubiz™
just follow the link, trust me
Nov 25
In my current job incarnation, I need to be creative. I need to be creative at certain times, to meet certain deadlines. Planning my time with these deadlines in mind helps. A creative space, days or weeks before a deadline, eases the pressure and allows free creativity. But what happens when I, or you, need to be creative and create something within a couple of hours. How can we be creative on demand?
Deadlines can be persuasive. It is easy to see deadlines as the enemy when they loom in front of us, but they are a source of encouragement. The added stress that a deadline brings will get adrenalin and the creative juices flowing. We all need an amount of stress to provide motivation. So, being given a short time to be creative in, can actually be exactly what we need.
Open the cupboard of hints and tips. If you are getting nowhere, give yourself a helping hand with the simple creativity exercises we love to hate. All of the following, and many other, tips can help trigger the creative process, so don’t be afraid to get back to basics.
- Think of five related words around the main subject of your project and see where they lead.
- Think of the opposite to what your subject is, again seeing where that takes you.
- Think of your subject in a situation where it is not normally found, what ideas does that spark?
Avoid a blank sheet or screen. The pressure is on, the deadline is imminent and all you have in front of you is a blank sheet of paper or an empty electronic document… run! No, seriously, get away from it. As the pressure and stress levels rise, the last thing you need is an empty space. This blank nothingness will grow and grow engulfing any hope you have of creative lift-off. A quick walk around, a little tidy-up or a ‘phone-a-friend’ moment can break the ‘blank’ spell. Taking your mind off a problem can often allow your mind to solve it, and be creative. Be sure to keep a capture device relatively close by though… that deadline isn’t far off.
Nov 17
There’s a great post on creating a Swipe File. Writie to Done shows you the why and how to create this inspirational idea.
