At IDEO, big innovation lives on the edge of ridiculous ideas

At IDEO, being playful is almost an obsession. The company believes that great, innovative work cannot happen without trial-and-error, experimentation, and maybe even a little tomfoolery. Have a read of this post on the brilliant Behance site, 99 Percent, and have a think how it can apply to your environment.

http://the99percent.com/articles/7080/IDEO-Big-Innovation-Lives-Right-on-the-Edge-of-Ridiculous-Ideas

Fiverr out of Fiverr for this idea

Proving there's a market for anyone for anything...what would you be willing to do for $5? There are heaps of people selling their talents right now

Jump on board - I love this...

http://fiverr.com/

29 Ways to stay creative... and happier

Can't say much more about this. Just watch and enjoy. I love it!



WK

You MUST get your hands on this...

You know when you discover a product and feel like it's been made just for you? For me it's 'Smith Journal'. My favourite magazine of 2011 by a well groomed and styled country mile.

From the moment I opened the cover and saw two full page colour ads for Urban Outfitters, I knew that I was in print heaven. The adventurous publishers of classy chick mag 'Frankie' have decided to tap blokes on the shoulder and prickle our intellect, and their first offering is so carefully and obviously lovingly edited.

Articles in Issue One include 'Typewriters and the men who loved them' (Woody Allen, Hemmingway et al); a touching piece on brothers who have gone through adversity; and a missive on life by everyone's favourite retail philosopher Alain De Botton. Plus too many other interesting features to mention.

The photography is sublime, Art Direction and typesetting is deliciously highbrow. It's a totally indugent read and until you get the heavy card pages into your hands, you'll have absolutely no idea the beauty you're missing.

Get it. Now.

www.smithjournal.com.au

Commercial Creativity - Post #1 of many

Speaking of Sorkin... I haven't seen any of his critically acclaimed but commercially unsucessful series 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'. Did you? It's hard to get something highbrow working on a powerhouse commercial network like NBC. But based on this opener to the show, maybe it was a bit close to home?



Drama aside, it brings up the issue of balancing commercialism and creativity. It's a long and challenging tightrope but there are plenty of people out there getting it right. It's just that you might not know about them because they aren't as lauded amongst their own communities.

Ken Done for example is a highly successful commercial artist, yet is not held in massively high esteem for the quality of his art. It's seen as somewhat common/downmarket, (I personally disagree), yet I don't see him worrying about it from his harbourside mansion.

So how do we balance the commercial and the creativity?

It's a worthy topic and one I'd love to discuss with you on this blog in the weeks and months to come. Feel free to post your examples.

WK

The world's best screen writer in a very funny cameo

Aaron Sorkin is a genius. Just ask him. The creator and writer of 'The West Wing' and 'A Few Good Men' played himself in a recent ep of '30 Rock'.  Check him out...



What's your fave cameo of all time? This one is up there for me.

WK