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Taking inspiration from our previous post, useful websites for creatives, here’s a more comprehensive look at exactly how you can combat the ‘blank page syndrome’ that periodically hinders people in their attempts at creative expression. For people in the creative industry, the ability to come up with an abundance of ideas is clearly essential, but the benefits to being creative are far more wide-ranging. Creative problem solving is a highly useful life skill: being able to see things from multiple perspectives, and consider a variety of avenues you could take, gives you the opportunity to filter out the best ideas and reach the best possible solution. So, if you are suffering from creative block and need to kick-start your flow of ideas, here are a variety of ways you can flicker your brain back into life…
Explore. If you have the freedom to change your surroundings, go somewhere inspiring: or better yet, try something new. Inspiration is fuelled by experience, so the more you absorb, the more resources you possess to help formulate your ideas. If you don’t have the freedom of mobility, explore the web. The internet is an endless resource, so you could directly search for alternative solutions to problems or seek out inspiring articles or images to redirect your train of thought, and return to the task at hand with plenty of fresh ideas.
Share your thoughts. If you attempt to brainstorm on your own, your ideas can become repetitive and lacking innovation: sharing creativity and bouncing ideas with others can inject them with a sense of energy and excitement. Sometimes you can become preoccupied with a certain way of thinking, so if you can’t progress any further, then ask the opinion of someone who has no connection to what you are doing – it may help you head in a direction that is more conceptual. Remember, in the process of creativity, there is no such thing as a bad idea!
Take a short break. Staring blankly at a page or computer screen, waiting for divine intervention, is rarely a fruitful use of time – and worrying about your lack of productivity can make the problem worse. Stress is not conducive to creativity, so clear your mind. If you’re unable to leave your environment, try donothingfortwominutes.com: take the opportunity of two minutes of inactivity to calm your thoughts, and then start again with a more composed attitude.
Try a different way of working. Stuck in a creative rut? Then consider methods of working that are out of your usual comfort zone. This could mean working in a different environment, such as a coffee shop or outside, or employing a different tool to generate ideas. There are a wide variety of techniques, including brainstorms, mind-maps, checklists, storyboards and lotus blossoms. Different methods will always work better for different types of people and styles of work, so try them out and see what works best for you. If you are unsure of how to use these tools, we will be covering creativity techniques in a future post – so keep watching this space! For now, please share your own methods of idea generation with the team, and re-ignite your passion for creativity!
Inspiration rarely comes from thin air; it is ignited and fuelled by drawing on a wealth of ideas and experiences. Whether you are attempting to write, draw, or brainstorm, there is nothing worse than staring at a blank piece of paper, and realising that your mind is just as empty as the page in front of you. So, whether you work in a creative industry or just have a passion for all things artistic or illuminating, check out these three useful and interesting websites to help stimulate your mind and spark your creativity…
What they say:
Taking its name from Thomas Edison’s famous quote that “genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration,” the 99% includes a daily web magazine, an annual conference, and the best-selling book “Making Ideas Happen.” Through articles, tips, videos, and events, we share best practices that help creative professionals move beyond idea generation into idea execution.
What we say:
Full of interesting and useful articles, from ’10 laws of productivity’ to ’10 books to Gift the Geeky Creative in your life’, the 99% has a whole host of articles that can help you in both your work and personal life. The articles cover areas such as procrastination, how to learn from mistakes, how to focus your attention and many more, so they are definitely worth browsing for useful tips and inspiration to kick-start you into action. Just make sure that you don’t get too absorbed in discovering the ultimate tips, or you may forget what you were meant to be accomplishing in the first place!
What they say:
HowStuffWorks […] is the award-winning source of credible, unbiased, and easy-to-understand explanations of how the world actually works. […] In addition to comprehensive articles, our helpful graphics and informative videos walk you through every topic clearly, simply and objectively. Our premise is simple: Demystify the world and do it in a simple, clear-cut way that anyone can understand.
What we say:
Creativity and curiosity go hand in hand: the more you explore, the more fresh ideas you can have. Any new discovery can be a source of inspiration, so whether you want to know how your digital camera functions, find out how glassblowing works, or browse quotes about creativity, How Stuff Works contains articles covering a wide variety of topics from the everyday to the bizarre- so you are guaranteed to find something of interest! If you want to broaden your mind, or simply find an answer to some of those niggling life questions, then check it out and see where your ideas take you.
What they say:
CreativeFan is a creative media network focusing on providing the highest quality resources, articles, roundups, tutorials and inspiration for creative fields. CreativeFan posts daily updates in fields such as graphic design, web design, audio, music, video, computer graphics, and photography.
What we say:
The Creative Fan is a great site for both creative professionals browsing for inspiration, and creative people looking for help in areas such as Photoshop or business card design. The website contains an abundance of image collections and articles, and endless links to helpful tutorials. Inspiration articles, which include great posts such such as ‘40 killer Photoshop effects’ and ‘30 Amazing Portrait Photographs,’ are always interesting whether you are looking for something specific, or just generally browsing in search of great ideas or a muse for your own creativity.
If you are looking for particular inspiration on blogging or infographics, check out some of our previous blogs. Or, if you have your own sources of inspiration, please comment and share your favourite useful websites with the team! Keep watching this space for more posts on all things creative, enlightening and generally just quite interesting…
Every day we are bombarded with data: facts, figures, statistics and images all fired at us from a variety of different sources, the majority of which we never really engage with or make much attempt to understand. Here’s where infographics come in. They are designed to make data meaningful, condensing information into a visual form that is easy to scan and can engage viewers more fully with the material. Done properly, infographics can appeal to an incredibly broad audience, informing and persuading people who may even have had no prior interest in your subject matter. Data visualisation is by no means a new phenomenon, in fact there are many historic examples, but with the dramatic increase in digital technology in recent years, information presented in graphic form instantly creates content that is highly sharable. If your infographic is cleverly and creatively executed, it is likely to be rapidly forwarded – and there is always the potential that with enough exposure, your infographic could go viral.
Infographics are also an extremely versatile medium, so how you utilise your infographic can be just as creative as the design itself. From a business perspective, the obvious channels to exhibit your graphic are online: via your website, company blog, social media accounts and so on. But why stop there? Infographics can be used to engage not only your customers or clients, but can be actively used in conducting business and to engage your own staff as well. For example, used to illustrate company reports or presentations, infographics can more effectively retain peoples’ attention and even accelerate decision making. If you work in a creative industry, consider more innovative applications for your infographic, perhaps for business cards, corporate literature, or even an infographic CV: a memorable infographic can catch people’s attention, effectively display your creative talents and fundamentally, make you or your company stand out from the crowd.
So, how would you go about creating one? Initially, gather together your information, check it is all significant and thoroughly accurate. Organize this information into a unique concept: there should be a clear story and message within your graphic – it should not be open to interpretation. The most successful infographics also have the added element of entertainment value; to ensure people will want to share your graphic, you should be as innovative as possible in the way you display your information and (where appropriate) make it light-hearted and humorous. Now, transform this information into a fantastic graphic. If you have creative design talents, an infographic is an excellent opportunity to show them off. If you’re not a skilled designer, employ someone who is – a badly designed infographic will not have the necessary impact and could make the information less easy to understand than a simple written report. In terms of design, the data needs to be made to really work visually, not just be pleasing to look at. First and foremost, it should have a clear, eye-catching layout and a carefully chosen colour palette, with relevant images, charts and graphs employed to add weight to the message you are trying to put across. Finally, ensure you have a really catchy title…. and your infographic is ready to be shared with the world!
To further stimulate your imagination, check out this more comprehensive article on the Dos and Don’ts of Infographic Design or ponder Energy Cell’s Top 5 Favourite Infographics. Keep watching this space for upcoming infographics from our own designers, but in the meantime, please comment and share your own personal favourites with the team!
Fantastic infographics do more than just inform – they educate you in a way that is innovative and entertaining. At Energy Cell, we appreciate great design: so here’s our list of 5 top infographics, which we think have struck the perfect balance between style and substance. Just click on the pictures to see the full image, and please feel free to comment and share your own favourite infographics with the team!
In business, failing to plan is planning to fail – your approach to writing a blog for your company should be no different. Without a clear-cut idea of exactly what it is you are trying to achieve, the overall message you are trying to convey, and precisely how you intend to do this, it is likely you will gain little by investing any time or effort into blogging at all.
How to write your blog
Once you establish your objectives and sit down to create your first post, you may find yourself with the dilemma – where do I start? If you are lacking inspiration, research a current topic or news item that many people may have interest in, and then consider how this applies to your own business. Alternatively, publish a post about recent news, events, or accomplishments from within your own company. This keeps your reader updated, shows pride in the achievements of your business and promotes a positive company image. Remember to always maintain the personality of your company: your blog should demonstrate your expertise and professionalism; it is not a direct sales tool or an online personal diary, so should never contain advertising or negative personal opinions. Finally, a fundamental tip is to always proof read your blog, preferably twice, before you publish. If your post does not flow properly, contains errors in spelling or grammar, or doesn’t actually make any sense, readers will instantly become disinterested and it could potentially harm the audience’s overall perception of your business.
How to promote your blog
Whilst putting your efforts into writing exceptional blogs can be a worthwhile exercise in its own right (allowing you to organise your thoughts and objectives etc), again there is little point investing your valuable time in it if no one is actually reading what you have written. So, once you’re comfortable with your writing, the next step is to promote your blog. If at first there is little traffic on your site, do not be put off – adapt. Use the site statistics to uncover which posts are attracting the most interest and use this information to influence the sort of posts you are publishing and the way in which you are writing them.
It is crucial that your blog can be easily found, both on your company’s own website and on the web in general. If your business caters for a niche market, it is more likely you will rank highly on the search engine ratings. If not, you will have to work harder in order to optimise your chances of attracting readers. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is essential: for example, you can improve your visibility by including links to other sites, guest writing and commenting on other blogs. Always do your research: there are free and paid tools online you can use to find out which keywords will maximise your chances of being seen – include them in your titles and heading tags. Lastly, ensure that you update your blog regularly, or at least, consistently: without fresh content, there is nothing to keep readers coming back for more.
If you are still unsure of what to do with your blog or how to go about it, consider how these successful businesses that have used their blogs to their advantage:
Starbucks – they use their blog to directly engage with their customer base, as a forum for exchanging ideas. The website is extremely simple, with only three main links: ‘Got an idea?’, ‘View Ideas’ and the company blog – ‘Ideas in Action’. Starbucks has a free and wide-ranging tool to discover exactly what the consumer wants; the consumer gets their favourite limited edition Mocha Coconut Frappucino back on the menu. A win-win situation.
Sweet Leaf Tea – an iced tea drinks company based in America, this blog perfectly captures the essence of a company that is fun and friendly. The eye-catching infographics are not only entertaining but designed for sharing: helping spread their logo and brand across the net. In addition, their use of competitions – encouraging their readers to send in comments and photos to win free goods or merchandise – keeps readers not only interested but most importantly, returning.
Thomson – examples of posts on this travel blog include positive entries from their own staff on their holidays, the rise of music tourism and tips on travel writing. Their posts encourage readers to consider a variety of different locations and types of holiday, without directly pushing their own services in the text. However, they are all still designed to promote the reader’s interest in travel: after all, you can’t write a travel blog if you haven’t actually been anywhere.
Regardless of what you choose to write about, be passionate, seek to understand your readers and most importantly, always make sure that your blog is a positive and constructive part of your company’s brand. Happy writing!