As a designer, you want your work to be creative, outstanding and fresh. This book will help you reach your potential with advice on how to generate more good ideas, develop those ideas into great concepts, sell those concepts to your clients and ultimately create outstanding designs that will get great responses. Find answers to all your creativity questions, including: I have a lot of ideas, but the designs never turn out as well as I thought they would. How can I give my ideas an extra "push" while I'm implementing them?My client is very concerned about costs. I have a great design idea, but it will cost more to produce than her usual budget. How can I convince her that it's worth the extra money?I come up with great ideas in the shower, but when I'm at my desk nothing happens—what can I do?My clients are so conservative—they always want the same old thing. How can I get them to take more risks and let me be more creative?Our firm has a lot of group brainstorming sessions, but they're not as productive as I'd like. How can we improve them?Twenty-five case studies throughout the book show you how exciting, innovative designers imagine, polish and sell their award-winning designs. The sketchbook style allows you to see ideas under construction in margin illustrations. Oldach offers you a wide range of approaches to producing and executing ideas that will inspire you to keep pushing your thinking during each stage of the creative process. And you'll learn to flex your creativity with a classic exercise involving word-picture association. Open this book and find a place to exercise your inspiration and put the fun and creative zing back into your designs. Mark Oldach is founder and president of Mark Oldach Design, Ltd., a nationally recognized communications design firm in Chicago, Illinois. He and his design staff work with a diverse group of clients including Caterpillar, Inc., Northern Trust Bank, Steppenwolf Theatre, Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, and the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Prior to opening his design firm in 1989, he served as creative director for the American Medical Association. Mark is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is honored, exhibited and published nationally with his firm's work appearing in Communication Arts, ID Magazine, ACD 100 show, AIGA Communications Graphics, Graphics, Print, HOW, and the Type Directors Club. He has served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the American Center for Design. Table of ContentsChapter One: Preparing for Ideas Getting to the MessageThinking With an Open MindControlling the Creative ProcessKnowing Who the Client IsCASE STUDY: The Progressive Corporation Annual ReportsPreparing the Client for CreativityClient as Creativity GatekeeperCASE STUDY: BrainstormManaging ExpectationsBeyond the Client InterviewDecompressing After the InterviewLooking Beyond the Client for InformationCASE STUDY: CD-ROM Packaging Marketing ProgramDefining the Boundaries for CreativityCASE STUDY: Mayo Clinic Pharmacist CD-ROMProcessing the InformationUnderstanding and Clarifying the MessageDefining the ObjectiveCASE STUDY: First Impression Positioning and Marketing ProgramDeveloping the Design CriteriaSpinning the InformationCASE STUDY: Noranda Inc. Annual ReportChapter Two: Getting to IdeasBrainstorming Alone Catching the IdeasMore Is BetterCASE STUDY: Visual Symbols Library on CD-ROMFollow an Uncharted Trail of IdeasLook to the ObviousEmpty Your Brain of the ObviousCASE STUDY: DIFFA, Chicago Benefit Communications ProgramKnow When and Where You Get Most of Your IdeasGive Yourself Some Parameters and ConstraintsCombining Ideas to Make New OnesExtremes and OppositesCASE STUDY: Mark Oldach Design Self Promotion ProgramKnow When to Go for a WalkBrainstorming in a GroupCreate a Haven for InnovationLook for the Creative Potential in all Projects, Big and SmallMerging Words and ImagesCASE STUDY: Andersen Consulting, Marketing Brochure for the Technology Assessment GroupCreative Word PlayCollect WordsCASE STUDY: Step 2 Identity and Kick-off Event InvitationListen to the WordsOrganizing With WordsExploring ImagesCASE STUDY: Champion Paper "Imagination" SeriesDoodle and SketchChoose Tools That Implement CreativityCASE STUDY: Warner Bros., Total Jazz CD CoverA Picture is Worth a Thousand WordsBeyond IdeasWhen Do You Stop Brainstorming?The Voice of JudgementForming Ideas Into SolutionsCASE STUDY: Posted Communications, Poster SeriesChapter Three: Growing Ideas Editing IdeasEvaluating Your IdeasReviewing the ObjectivesRemembering the Design CriteriaCASE STUDY: Jacor, Inc., Annual ReportEditing: Transforming the ConceptEditing: EliminatingCASE STUDY: Passport BrochureAdding Substance to ConceptVoice, Vision and ViewpointCASE STUDY: Museum of Contemporary Art Giant BookRisk Is RelativeIdentifying an Original IdeaUnderstanding StyleStyle With RationalePassion as a Creative ToolCASE STUDY: Cooper-Hewitt Museum Exhibit, Packaging the NewCan You Be Too Creative?Identifying a Good IdeaCan A Creative Solution Look Conservative, Even Boring?CASE STUDY: UCLA Summer Sessions Poster and Claes Oldenburg Catalog for Gemini G.E.L.Pushing IdeasEnhancing the Concept Through ImplementationGridTypeCASE STUDY: Recycled Paper Promotion, Remarque PaperCASE STUDY: Identity Program for Marlene Marks/ Identity Program for Linda ChryleImagesColorPaperCASE STUDY: Caterpillar Capabilities BrochurePrinting and FinishingIntuitionCASE STUDY: Children's Book, Journey: Travel Diary of a Daydreamer AccidentsContrastSweating the DetailsLooking at the Big PictureRemember the Audience, In Spite of the ClientIs the Design Working?Managing Client ExpectationsControlling the Decision Making ProcessCreativity Begets Creativity"
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