Joshua Porter from MFA Interaction Design on Vimeo.

A great idea by Liz Danzico

she sought out the advice of digital designers and designer conspirators far and wide, to ask them to respond to the following:

So you’re thinking about becoming a designer? If I could tell you only one thing about going into the field, my advice would be ___________ .

These are their answers:

Emotional advertising

This is one of the first ads I remember watching when I started my career in advertising.

Great concept, great casting, great song, beautifully executed.

A strong call to action in 3 words, and a strong emotional idea.

"Stay in touch"

I want to call my dad every time I see this ad.

Increase your creativity.

It seems that the phrase "distance yourself from the project" has actually a lot of insight.

According to a set of studies published by Scientific American by By Oren Shapira and Nira Liberman psychological distance (anything that we do not experience as occurring now, here, and to ourselves) increases our ability to be creative.

Consider, for instance, a corn plant. A concrete representation would refer to the shape, color, taste, and smell of the plant, and connect the item to its most common use – a food product. An abstract representation, on the other hand, might refer to the corn plant as a source of energy or as a fast growing plant. These more abstract thoughts might lead us to contemplate other, less common uses for corn, such as a source for ethanol, or to use the plant to create mazes for children. What this example demonstrates is how abstract thinking makes it easier for people to form surprising connections between seemingly unrelated concepts, such as fast growing plants (corn) and fuel for cars (ethanol).

These means that we can actually take some steps to increase our creativity:

traveling to faraway places (or even just thinking about such places),
thinking about the distant future,
communicating with people who are dissimilar to us, and
considering unlikely alternatives to reality.

Perhaps the modern environment, with its increased access to people, sights, music, and food from faraway places, helps us become more creative not only by exposing us to a variety of styles and ideas, but also by allowing us to think more abstractly.

So the next time you’re stuck on a problem that seems impossible don’t give up. Instead, try to gain a little psychological distance, and pretend the problem came from somewhere very far away.

Stand out imagination and creativity.

What if you bought a bike on Ebay, write a wicked ad hoping to sell it for much more than you paid for it just a few days earlier?

The guys at George Patterson Y&R did it and created this video to share with the world the results.

I have talked often about creativity being a state of mind. A way fo seeing the world that can't be contained or just apply to advertising.

Creativity wins because makes us feel different and unique.

Why clients see a threat on this?

Stop and move on.

It's part of being a creative; you get stuck.

You seem to be unable to move forward and everything looks like a roadblock.

Zenhabits offers some advice to become more productive by taking a break.

when you don’t take breaks and allow yourself to recover, you’re less than 50% there. 50% you = 50% work.

It’s obvious that taking short, rejuvenating breaks is the more effective way to work. So what are some examples of these types of breaks?

• Change channels. Most of us do a lot of work on the computer, so doing some kind of physical activity for 10 or 15 minutes can be a great way to change our state. Bodyweight exercises, a brisk walk, or yoga can be a great way to get your body moving and put yourself in a different state.
• Breathe. Do 10 or 15 minutes of meditation, focused on your breathing.
• 30 second headstand. Support your feet and legs against a sturdy wall (or tree).
• Juice it. Stop by your local health food store and get a wheat grass shot or vegetable juice.
• Refuel. Eating some kind of snack or small meal every 90 minutes is a great way to keep your glucose and energy levels steady. Go for fresh, organic fruit or a salad to get a quick pick-me-up.
• Power nap. A 20 minute nap in the afternoon feels awesome and rejuvenating.
• Motivate. Take a time out and listen to a Paraliminal session, guided meditation or personal development video on YouTube.
• Flood your body with consciousness. This is something I’ve been doing lately that’s been really working for me. Take 10 minutes out to lie on your bed and flood your body with consciousness. Focus your awareness first on your toes and feet, then gradually move your focus up through your body, into your legs, pelvis, torso, chest, back, shoulders, arms, hands and fingers. Then back up through your arms into your neck, up your throat and into your face and your head. Really focus on feeling the energy in your body and only move your conscious awareness up your body after you’ve really felt it in the last part.
• Total relaxation. This is a follow up to flooding your body with consciousness. After you’ve completely immersed your body in awareness, focus on relaxing each muscle in your body. In the same way previously, start with your toes and work your way upward through your body. Really let go and relax.

These are just a few ideas for ways that you can really relax, recover, and rejuvenate your body. Once you do that, you’ll be re-focused, recharged, and ready to work at 100% capacity.

Hopefully, next time we are pressured with a deadline we will remember to stop and take a break so we can deliver on time.

Awards for what they are.

Creative, funny and original.

Boondoggle is the agency responsible for the very successful Axiom Banners.

Awards are good to win, but are not the golden ticket.

well done Boondoggle.

Service the customer.

Most of us do customer service in one way or another. And most of us believe that customer service represents an investment and a commitment.

Customer service has become the ultimate commodity.

We all have had experiences dealing with good and bad examples of customer services, and some even have created an equation: it takes 8 good experiences to erase one bad experience.

You can find an interesting definition on Wikipedia:

"Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation."

Dealing with the customers expectations is complicated because our expectations tend to be higher and even unrealistic.

But the fact remains that customer service is about enhancing the level of customer satisfaction. And that is pretty tangible, easy to measure and easy to design a program and tactics around.

Why is excellent customer service so hard to find then?

Are our expectations so unrealistic? Why are companies so in the defense? why is it so hard to hear the words "you are right sir"?

I think that customer service is misunderstood. I believe that most companies and people feel that since clients expectations are so different and unrealistic, they will never be met and since I can't satisfy everybody, I aim at the middle and go on with it.

Obviously this is the wrong tactic in a day where so many people can so easily share their experiences and opinions.

I'm not an expert but I am an avid observer and I think that there are 3 easy ways to enhance customer satisfaction:

1. Listen to consumer's experiences and questions and engage in an honest conversation with your customers. Create an environment that facilitates this exchange.
2. Reward those who care enough to speak about your brand or service, even if it is bad.
3. Consider every moment an opportunity to enhance my experience. Be creative and innovate your service in unexpected ways. You will always over meet an expectation that people didn't have.

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