August 16, 2009

How to get an idea?

There seems to be a common myth that one day you’ll just sit under a tree and get a good idea.

I read somewhere that an idea is nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements. idea_bulb

Archimedes, the greet Greek mathematician got an idea in the bathtub. Sir Isaac Newton got an idea observing an apple fall from a tree. Percy Lebaron Spencer, an American engineer got the idea of Microwave Oven, when the chocolate bar in his pocket had melted while standing by a magnetron.  By his death in 1931 Thomas Edison had gathered over a 1000 patents. Sure, today we may not remember many of them but among were also a handful of world-changing ideas such as the light bulb, the phonograph and the Kinescope.

As you are involved in your work, you keep thinking how to improve your work. This often results in ideas. When you are discussing something with friends, you may have just got an idea. Your necessity may bring out an idea as Necessity is the mother of all invention and then one idea may lead to another. 

I agree that most ideas are just new combinations of old elements but you can not get an idea just because you want to get an idea. It just happens... like accidents. You don’t plan accidents.. do we? I think ideas are certainly new combinations of old elements but they're also more than that in that they take on a life of their own once created and can be enduring and influential. Big or small I believe we only generate ideas when we break old patterns and in that sense the new combination of old elements is absolutely right. To get an idea you should

  • Expose your mind to others who are more creative than you. Not necessary in your own field, though that's helpful, of course. But acquainting yourself with the work of great painters, great musicians, great writers will provide fodder in your mind for your own creativity.
  • Get together with another creative person and brainstorm solutions to your particular project. Often, bringing two or more people together will generate ideas that no one of them would have alone.
  • Play, the creative part of the mind often works "behind the scenes". Carve out time in your schedule for fun, non-work activities and relationships and rest.
  • Carry around a journal and sketchbook all the time.
  • Mind mapping is a useful way to come up with new ideas or concepts. This involves writing various words that are associated with your subject and finding other words or phrases (idioms) that relate.
  • Use the pen and a piece of paper try to come up with 20 ideas to improve something. This something can be you business, health, the amount of money you earn, your life in general or just another idea that you want to improve. The interesting thing about sitting down and starting to consciously generating ideas is that once you get them to start trickling into your mind they often develop into a small stream or sometimes even a river. Before you begin it may seem difficult to gather 20 or 40 new ideas but soon after you get started it seems, at least for a while, like you’re plucking them out of the air as easy as picking a basket of apples.

Everyone has his own way to create an idea but as there is a saying that "No great thing is created suddenly." and one should take time to develop and implement a good idea. Hope you like the idea of this post and would comment your views on it. 

August 9, 2009

Designing-Marketing-Branding

"Designing" play a supportive role in marketing and branding of a product or service. Granted, the marketing of a company and their brand needs to begin with a solid foundation. The marketing and branding is all about creating "differentiators", drawing a line between the competitors and you, a line which is clearly visible and is usually drawn by great designs and creative ideas. It can be normally termed as "Visual Salability" of any product or service. For example Apple ipod is "APPLE IPOD" because of its design and visual appeal.

Marketing makes the market aware of your product or service and make them want to buy it. How marketing do this is the creative part. On the other hand Branding is about making the target want to buy your product over your competitor's by giving your company a "personality" that the audience will relate to.

In these troubling times due to the economy, proper "branding" and "marketing" is critical for companies to position themselves to remain ahead once the economy rebounds. Good design can assist with establishing a unique positioning message for a company. It's important for companies to re-evaluate their message to determine which key word they want to "own" which separates them from others and describes their "brand".

Design is a process for solving or addressing a business challenge in the market. The marketing plan is the guideline that informs the design direction. Ideally, marketing (or more precisely marketing research) provides you with an idea of your target group/market, what they value and what they relate to, what's important to them. The marketer's job with maybe the help of a designer is then to create a marketing message, product design or packaging design that fits the target group so that they can relate to the product, service, or even to the whole brand. So the point is clear that designing play a supportive role in developing brands and marketing of a product or service in a better and creative way.

Sharing here few example of creative marketing. Hope you like it. Enjoy and share your views.

August 3, 2009

Photograph to Vector

vector-face-final This time I did experiment with my photograph and try to convert it in a vector image. I did it using Photoshop and CorelDraw both. Though you can also do it only in photoshop or corel but I used both the software. Also sharing processing steps below. hope you like it.
VECTOR-PROCESS 

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