Blog - Web design Leeds, Big Red Circle we do web design and web applications

I have read a slew of great blog posts recently about being creative and finding inspiration. One article mentioned an artist who is trying to be creative everyday for one year.

This inspired me

Trying to be creative everyday sounds difficult until you really think about it. Am I not being creative when I build a website, write an email, doodle in my notebook or arrange the plants on my windowsill?

For the last few days I have attempted to be creative each day on something that is not related in any way to the projects that I am working on. Being creative for creative sake.

Discovery

This is an extreme challenge and a difficult one to keep on top of every day. I’ve already missed a few days :( Maybe I’ll try to make something every other day? Once a week perhaps?

Creative professionals should try to be creative as often as possible. When working on a project the main bust of creativity comes at the start of a project with different routes, ideas and ways to solve the problem at hand. Once a project is underway the creative demand on the team drops.

The more you use your muscles the bigger, better and stronger they get. Creativity is no different, like a muscle it requires constant flexing and work to improve.

Lets sculpt those guns

We should all try to create something today. It doesn’t have to be a work of art. It doesn’t have to be in-depth. It just has to be something.

Stop Police!

Me and the missus

Green Tea?

I’ll be posting others as they are created here Flickr – Be Creative

Just a quick update from the previous post about the FOWD conference in London.

Those people over at Carsonified have released all of their speakers talks on mp3 and put their keynotes on slideshare. Isn’t that that nice of them.

If you listen to the mp3 and flick through the slides at the same time. It’s like your own personal ‘FOWD at my desk’ conference.

I highly recommend you stop what you are doing and listen to these now, well if you want to.

Some of the best talks in no particular order

Andy Clarke & Steve Pearce – MP3 Keynote

Jon Hicks – MP3 Keynote

Daniel Burka – MP3 Keynote

Sitting watching The Spy Who Loved Me on a lazy Saturday afternoon gives me time for quiet reflection of my previous week. Why don’t all cars come with submarine mode capabilities? It would make for much more interesting trips to Blackpool. Putting aside my desire for a sub-aquatic Lotus Esprit I though I would share with you the best thing that has happened this week…

BigRedCircle went to the Future of Web Design 08 conference in London!

With all the excitement of visiting an underwater base we stepped into Kensington town hall.

This was, personally my second visit to the hall of web wonderment. So, how did it match up to last year?

FOWD07 – I left feeling inspired and hungry for my next web project. Millions of ideas and possibilities were circling around my head. Some of which made it to the web, others are still waiting to be great. Although I think I missed a trick with my amazing idea of selling fresh bread online. I think 2010 will be the year of bread online. Just you wait!

FOWD08 – To compare the two is a difficult thing to do. Its like comparing jasmine green tea with pineapple and grapefruit green tea. They are very similar in many ways but inherently different.

This year I actually learned a lot. The conference seemed slightly more technical, aimed a little more towards developers as oppose to straight up designers.

This was like cat nip to me.

Hicksdesign gave an innovative talk on his development process from start to finish on a website that I can safely say is best cheese website in the world ever. cheesophile.com

The highlight for me was Andy Clarke and Steve Pearce’s tag team, duel blow, double dragon attack on the “User Experience vs Brand Experience” subject. Simply inspiring and really made me think in new ways when I approach such a subject. Inevitably, the outcome was: The two should not be at opposite sides of the ring in a death match style but more naturally be married together in a harmonious way. Expertly depicted and voiced by these two web guys on top form.

Top of the bill, king of the castle, the headlining act… Daniel Burka gave a good insight into the trials and tribulations of developing a webapp from an in-house capacity. Its one thing to create websites in a creative design agency. Always jumping from site to site, but to keep your focus and reiterate and reiterate over and over, always trying to improve a single webapp that is used my millions. A daunting task. The talk was very impressive, I almost felt like whooping. Being an american I think he would have appreciated a significant whoop during his talk but I resisted and bowed to my better judgement and simply clapped a little harder at the end.

All in all I can’t fault the Carsonified guys for putting on such a top notch, blog worthy event. Thanks, from all at BigRedCircle. The fire in our bellies has been truly stocked, the magic wand of inspiration has been waved over our heads.

To the information super highway!