Way to Push the Creative Boundaries

Here are some simple ways to push your creative boundaries. These steps can help you figure out what helps the mind tick tock and keep the ideas flowing. Follow the steps and the ideas will follow.

{1} Share Your Work

If you don't know where to start, it's here. Whatever creative projects you want to undertake, start by sharing your work and pointing yourself in the direction of others who share your interests, says Austin Kleon, 2014's SXSW keynote speaker and author of Show Your Work! 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered. It can be small, it can be incremental—just get it out there.

"The technology is really important, and we all have tools that turn us into media producers now," says Kleon. "But what's more important is attitude and spirit, that attitude of jumping into the world you want to join and making your own thing."

{2} Take a Road Trip

Earlier this year, a group of Pinterest employees pitched their bosses the idea of taking Pinterest on the road, largely to promote a new location-based Pinterest feature called Place Pins. Their boss responded with a simple image: a classic Winnebago, only with the Pinterest logo where the iconic "W" would be. They called it the "Pinnebago," a name that stuck. And while the trip was a great marketing move, it also unlocked new ideas within the team.

{3} Create a Surprise Journal

Julia Galef, president of the Center for Applied Rationality, runs courses for individuals and companies like Facebook and the Thiel Foundation about the science of decision-making, so it makes sense that she is keen to understand her own personal thoughts. Her technique? The Surprise Journal. She keeps this journal with her at all times, writing down when something surprises her and why.

For example, she noticed she was surprised that both older and younger people were attending her workshops, because she assumed people would self-segregate by age. She was surprised that her students would mention a concept from one of her colleague’s classes, because she didn’t expect that idea to be very memorable. "I started thinking about surprise as a cue that my expectations were wrong," she says. Once you start to understand your own faulty assumptions, it creates a space to generate new ideas that address things as they actually are.

{4} Get a Weird Side Gig

For the past seven years, editor and designer Brian McMullen had a dream creative job as the senior art director and one of the senior editors at literary and humor publisher McSweeney's. He founded and ran the company's award-winning kids' book department, McSweeney's McMullens, helped to launch food magazine Lucky Peach, and oversaw much of the creative direction of a brand known for its unique and dynamic visuals. And in his spare time, he's a Lyft driver.

"Lyft has offered me a drastic change of pace and scenery," says McMullen. "I think it's probably useful for all creative people to put themselves into new and strange situations from time to time."

{5} Learn How to Brainstorm the Right Way

Stumped for ideas? You might just not know how to brainstorm.

"As sexy as brainstorming is, with people popping like champagne with ideas, what actually happens is when one person is talking you're not thinking of your own ideas," Leigh Thompson, a management professor at the Kellogg School, told Fast Company. "Sub-consciously you're already assimilating to my ideas." To avoid these problems, Thompson suggests another, quieter process: brainwriting, or having everyone write down their ideas beforehand and share them in an orderly way.

{6} Don't Try So Hard

Forcing yourself to be creative backfires every time, says Karin Hibma, one half of the legendary design firm CRONAN, founded in the early '80s and known for naming products like TiVo and Kindle. Learn her unique approach to getting away from the everyday and letting ideas flow.

{7} Get Serious About Your Coffee

It may sound frivolous, but Circa CEO Matt Galligan devotes a good chunk of his mornings to making coffee. It's a routine that's paid off in helping him intensely focus. So whether caffeine is your muse, or something else, take it to the next level.

{8} Hire Other People With Outside Passions

FiftyThree has a one-to-one engineer-to-designer ratio, and an interestingly holistic approach to hiring: Every employee should excel at something outside of their job responsibilities. This model helps light people on fire about their own ideas and collaborate more effectively to make them happen. When creativity is institutional, everyone is better off.

{9} Plan a Field Trip

Three times a year, management at The Via Agency surprises their employees with "go dos," shorthand for "get out, do things," and they're part of a larger effort to promote creativity. The ad agency operates under the theory that creativity comes from having a life outside of the office. "We have found some of our most productive afternoons are after we've done a spontaneous go do," says president Leeann Leahy. "The energy level is raised for the rest of the day."

{10} Don't Get Caught Up in Perfectionism

Legendary animated filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki can't stand to see his own creations, lest he get caught up in his own mistakes. His solution? Move onto the next project. "Making films is all about—as soon as you're finished—continually regretting what you've done. When we look at films we've made, all we can see are the flaws; we can't even watch them in a normal way. I never feel like watching my own films again. So unless I start working on a new one, I'll never be free from the curse of the last one."

{11} When All Else fails, Drink

Back in 2012, when Bespoke Post was just a startup with handful of people, it began as many new businesses do: with conversations around beer. The gang met for a weekly happy hour at Lolita Bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, which offered pints of better-than-average brews for $3. Like at a lot of companies founded by young folks—like a lot of companies, period—booze found its way into Bespoke Post’s DNA early.

http://m.fastcompany.com/3040037/most-creative-people/11-simple-ways-to-push-your-creative-boundaries

{ Typography Terms 101 }

When it comes to knowing typography terms even some of the greatest designers may need a refresher. So here are terms to help you the next time you may need them.

     apex: the top point of a letter form where two angled strokes meet

 arm: a secondary stroke that extends horizontally or diagonally from a stroke at the top and does not connect to another stroke

 ascender: the part of a lowercase letter that extends above the x-height

 barb: the terminal for a curved capital serif letter

 baseline: the horizon on which letters sit

 beak: the terminal for a straight capital serif letter found on the horizontal strokes

 body copy: the text that makes up a paragraph—it reads best when set between 8 and 11 points in size

 bowl: a curved stroke that connects to either a vertical stroke or to itself

 bracket: a piece that connects a stroke to a serif

 closure: the principle that states the eye will complete a path of an object

 compound modules: formed by combining modules horizontally, vertically or both

 continuity: once the eye begins to follow something it will continue traveling in that direction until it encounters another object

 counter: any enclosed space in a letterform. If the space is completely enclosed, it is referred to as a closed counter. An open counter occurs when a curved, straight or angled stroke does not connect to another stroke but still creates an enclosed space.

 cross bar: a stroke that horizontally connects two strokes

 cross stroke: a stroke that crosses over another stroke but doesn’t connect on either side

 crotch: inside of a vertex

 descender: the part of a lowercase letter that extends below the baseline

 drop cap: a larger letter at the beginning of a paragraph that drops down into the lines of text below it

 ear: the small extension that protrudes up and out from the top of a stroke or bowl and is often teardrop-shaped or rounded

 em dash: a long dash that indicates either a change of thought or emphasis

 en dash: a medium-length dash indicating a range of items or the passage of time

 eye: the closed counter of a lowercase e

 font family: all the variations in weight, width and angle of a typeface

 graphic text: text formatted to output as an image file

 grid: a matrix of vertical and horizontal lines that come together to create a two-dimensional structure

 hanging cap: a letter at the beginning of a paragraph that literally hangs outside the edge of the paragraph

 headline: line of text that stands out from the rest of the page and sets the tone for the document, generally set at 18–24 points or larger in size

 hyphen: a short dash used for words that break at the end of a sentence and for compound words

 hyphenation: the splitting of a word at the end of a line and continuing onto the next line

 indent: a small space before the first word of a paragraph equal to an em space, the space occupied by a capital M

 inherent web text: text programmed to automatically resize to match the resolution and viewer’s browser preferences

 italic: angled version of letterforms that are redrawn, but the letters remain consistent with the essence of the overall look

 kerning: a manual adjustment of the space between two letters

 leading: horizontal white space between lines of text

 leg: a secondary stroke that extends horizontally or diagonally from the bottom of a letter

 legibility: the ability to discern all parts of a character and all the styles within a font family

 ligature: two or more letters that touch

 lining numbers: numbers that line up along the cap height

 link: the small piece which connects the upper bowl with the lower loop of a traditionally shaped lowercase g, also known as two-story g

 live text: searchable and editable text

 loop: the lower bowl of a traditionally shaped lowercase g, also known as two-story g

 monogram: a design that contains overlapping letters, usually the first, middle and last initials of a person’s name

 oblique: angling letterforms with little or no change to the letterfoms

 old style numbers: numbers that have varying heights with ascenders and descenders when set along the baseline

 optical alignment: aligning letters that are curved or pointed above the cap height, below the baseline or outside vertical alignment to allow them to align optically

 point: measuring system used for type size—there are 72 points in an inch

 prime marks: symbols that denote inch and feet, also known as dumb quotes

 readability: the level of a word’s comprehension based upon font choice, size, style, kerning, tracking, case and location on the page

 sans serif: typeface with no extra structural extensions coming from the horizontal and vertical strokes. Sans is a French word meaning “without”—hence the phrasesans serif means “without serif”

 serif: small structural extensions that are at the end of a letter’s horizontal and vertical strokes. Serifs come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Serif also refers to the category name of a font that has serif extensions.

 shoulder: a short rounded stroke that connects two vertical strokes or a vertical stroke and a terminal

 smart quotes: quotation marks that curl or angle toward the text, also called curly quotes

 spine: the curved stroke through the middle of an s

 spur: a small pointed extension typically coming off the top or bottom of a vertical stroke that connects to a rounded stroke—oftentimes on a serif lowercase letter

 standup cap: a letter at the beginning of a paragraph that is several times larger than that of the surrounding text but shares the same baseline as the body copy

 stress: the axis created by the thick and thin stroke contrast of a letter

 stroke: a straight or curved line that creates the principal part of a letter

 subhead: brief line of text that divides the body copy into sections between headlines and body copy

 swash: the extra flourish that accompanies many script and blackletter style typefaces

 tail: the stroke that crosses the lower half of an uppercase Q

 terminal: a stroke ending without a serif

 tracking: the spacing between all of the letters in a word or sentence

 vertex: the bottom point of a letterform where two angled strokes meet

 weight: varying degrees of thickness built into a font with a standard range being light, roman (also called book), medium, bold, heavy and black

 whispering headline: a headline that fails to attract the attention of the viewer because it is too small, blends in with the text to which it is assigned or is of insufficient boldness or color contrast

 x-height: the center area of the baseline and cap height, measured against the height of the lowercase x

{ How to Fix a Bad Design }

When it comes to designing, we all have created things that we may not have been so happy about. So here are some tips to fix a bad design.

{1} Scrap Bad Photography

This single step can have a huge impact on a design. Modern, on-trend photography is the only kind of photography that should be included on a website. If it isn't good, it's better not to use images at all. Cheap and tacky imagery makes the website look cheap and tacky. Unless you can replace your photographs with a professional's work, scrap them all and rely on your font choices.

{2} Make Navigation Simpler

Your users won't stick around unless your website is easy to browse and navigate. Surfing the Internet is all about doing something fast and getting it done without obstacles. Clever, easy-to-use bars, straightforward menus and clearly demonstrated buttons ensure that site navigation isn't a problem.

{3} Choose Better Fonts

Fonts can present all kinds of problems in your site's design. Is the font size consistent with the site as a whole? Does the color of the font clash with the background or other text? It is almost always best to go for a unified appearance. It is a novice's mistake to choose more than is absolutely necessary. Use no more than two font sizes and one, or at most two, font styles.

{4} Declutter

Your site's layout can always get better by getting rid of the clutter: minimalist design wins in most cases. Try to eliminate anything that stands out in a distasteful way. You don't want your users to be overwhelmed. Eliminate badges, links and networks, and if you absolutely must include them, put them on the About page.

{5} Fix Bad Call-to-Action Buttons

Call-to-action buttons are a tricky business. They're needed, but when used badly, they can make the site look more like a cheap advertising setup than a classy service. Be discreet. Make them evident but not overwhelming. Camouflage them subtly. Find appropriate positions for them and make sure they work correctly and don't lead the user anywhere irrelevant.

{6} Use a Grid

You make think alignment issues have gone the way of the dinosaur because of grid systems, but amateur site designs almost always suffer from this problem. Sometimes a seemingly cluttered site design can be drastically improved by imposing a much-needed grid layout. Also, if the client's site isn't responsive or at least optimized for mobile, there's a serious discussion to be had on that front.

{7} Correct Broken Links

If a client hands you an aging site and is looking for a refresh, you can bet good money that you'll find some ancient links floating around that no longer work. Checking all the links on a site can be a dull, tedious task, so be sure to use a tool like the W3C's Link Checker.

{8} Coordinate Colors

Another mistake amateur web designers make is choosing terrible color schemes. If the site your client hands you makes your eyes bleed, your first task should be to update the colors. Like everything else, the rule here is to simplify. Like removing ugly wallpaper from an old house, you might find something decent under that bad color scheme!

{9} Harmonize the Text-Background Relationship

Don't let the background harm the readability of your content. This kind of mistake is considered the ultimate crime by professional website designers. Browse your site and pay close attention to any background choices that don't complement the text entirely. Your best bet when it comes to your website's background is almost always white.

{10} Is It Worth The Effort?

The most important consideration to put forth when attempting to fix a bad design is whether or not it's worth the trouble. Always give your honest opinion to a client and let them know when starting from scratch will be faster, easier, and/or better than putting a band-aid on an ultimately doomed project.

https://creativemarket.com/blog/2015/01/09/how-to-fix-a-bad-

{ Printing 101 }

When it comes to graphic design, many people are unaware that printing is actually a form of design. So here are some terms and tips on Printing and the different types of printing. So buckle up because here we go.

Thermographic Printing 

This beautiful method of printing creates a raised or embossed look to the words, which makes it ideal for special occasions like weddings or important business letterheads. Thermographic printing, as the name suggests, uses heat to lift the words off the paper, either using a ribbon or a special dye coating on the sheet, though sometimes a powder is used.

Offset Lithography 

Inexpensive, high quality and fast, this is a popular method of printing for publishers. Roller plates, which are readily available, are run first through water and then through ink. The ink sticks to the letters and images that are raised, while the water coats the flat recessed areas around the images and words. The rollers run across a rubber plate and that plate presses against a paper. Although fast and cheap, there’s no room for changes once the plates have been made.

Letterpress

The original and most famous type of printing, as invented by Gutenberg, is letterpress printing. Like offset lithography, the ink adheres to the raised images and not to the recessed areas. The plate is then pressed against the paper. Though it’s the original style, the many improvements now available have made it a relatively obsolete process in the modern world.

Electrostatic Printing

Eschewing inks and plates entirely, the electrostatic printing process sounds futuristic, but it was in fact developed back in 1778. It’s essentially a dry photocopying style where the zinc oxide-coated paper acts as a conductor when exposed to light (and an insulator in the dark). Popular with cartographers, this style isn’t used for much besides mapmaking, though it is faster than an inkjet!

Engraving

Slow and pricey but with a certain undeniable gravitas, engraving is the go-to option for respectable institutions and Fortune 500 companies who want to impress. Images are printed and carved to form raised areas and recesses, and each one is individually made. The result is extraordinarily beautiful, which makes it nice for logos and invitations.

Screen Printing

You may think of this as the last bastion of t-shirt graphics, but screen printing works for printed paper as well as fabrics, metals, plastic and glass. Screen printing is extremely versatile, the ink is squeezed through a mesh film to form an image, and it isn’t limited to any specific size. Modern improvements make it possible to do large runs that have incredibly accurate colors and sharp lines. It’s a great option for art prints, flyers and, of course, t-shirts.

http://ctv.mk/1xkRezd