Inspiration blog - by PaperNotes

Yuko Shimizu's art

Find the style very nice. Of course there's more @ her website: Yukoart.com.

Nice modern Tenugui patterns

Check out these Tenugui patterns and short piece about Tenugui tradition, from PingMag:

"Tenugui has a long history and tradition, but there is more to it – it makes people want another one. There is this feeling of wanting to make a personal collection, indeed. I think it’s perfect for a casual present, too. You can think of it like “She or he likes pandas, so let’s give her or him a panda Tenugui as present!”

Wall art at TheCoolhunter.net

Was just visiting TheCoolhunter.net and noticed their search for cool wall art. They already have some nice examples:

Do you know some good ones? Tips can go straight to tips@thecoolhunter.net!

Interactive banners from Webby Awards

It's already some time ago that this years Webby Awards winners were announced. Of course I went to check out what cool stuff people have made to be nominated.

 

First wanted to start by sharing some banner ideas with you. These stood out to me while surfing the webby site.

• This idea from Coca Cola is very cool. The leaderboard works with the skyscraper and both are highly interactive!
• This one is called the SlimJim Snapalope Trap Banner. Pull the rope and see what happens. Funny huh? Simple, but it works...
• Another interesting one was made for Greenpeace. I love it!
• How about a talking banner? This one's from SitePal.
• Drawing on a Yahoo ad:the idea is cool, but this particular way it's been used is not very exciting, to be honest. This shake your booty Yahoo banner is better

Of course there are many more. Check them out at the specific Interactive Advertising section at the Webby Awards website.

Cardboard baby bed

Some people have very creative ideas. This one is a bit silly, but worth sharing for inspiration though... Check out this cardboard baby bed:

Thecoolhunter.net describes it as: "a baby bed made of cardboard that comes with the implicit invitation for creative mums and dads to paint it, graffiti it".

Well, if these mums and dads are that creative, they might as well buy a second hand cradle and customize that one. What happens if the baby starts sucking on the cardboard? :-)

But, the idea is totally out-of-the-box (funny expression to use in this sense) and thus inspiring. At least that's what I think. Yet another example of looking beyond the regular ideas...

Simone Jessup's Illustrations

Got these beautiful illustrations straight into my inbox, through the Lost at E Minor newsletter. 

Check out more of Simone Jessup's work at her website!

Inspiration and creativity during busy times

When you're really really busy, inspiration is not always something that comes to you easily. When you have a lot to do and need to do it quickly, you're obviously not going to look at new ways for doing what you normally do.

Creativity and inspiration are indissolubly connected to each other, if you'd ask me. To be creative you need inspiration. And, just as you're not open for being creative when you are very busy, inspiration doesn't necessarily come to you in these times either. Because you tend to close yourself off of new impulses. You already have enough to think about, don't you?

Anyway, to be creative and find inspiration in busy times, I think you need to give yourself dedicated time for that and really focus. Drowning in day to day stuff is killing for your inspiration and creativity. At least, that's the way it works for me.

So, how you can get your inspiration and creativity back? Re-focus! For example: book a whole evening for yourself and start with writing all things down you're currently busy with. Just to make sure these things won't pop up when you don't want them to... Then, start looking for new things and inspirational images, books, websites etc. Make sure you're really open for new stuff and don't let the daily things bother you! If something does pop up, write it down and continue your search for inspiration.

For me it specifically works to look for cool art or illustrations, surfing the web boundlessly and reading articles and books. Hope this helps, enjoy your inspiration!

Illustrations and logo's by Jan Felix Kallwejt

Came across this illustrational work by Jan Felix Kallwej. Of course you'll find more on his website, if you also like the style.

   

Creative negotiations

Quite a serious topic today, but nevertheless interesting. This edition of the Report103 newsletter was about negotiating in a creative way. Don't let the way it looks scare you off, the contents are really interesting, so I found...

At the first glance it looks quite regular information, but the specific way negotiation is explained I found inspirational. There are some good tips in the article, that salespeople probably know very well. But, for 'other' people it's also interesting, since negotiating is a quality you're able (and probably need) to use in many situations!

SlideShare - sharing presentations online

Have you already been using SlideShare? It's a website very similar to YouTube, but then to share presentations about all kinds of topics.

The application (or website) itself is not very surprising, but I did find some quite interesting presentations on there... And it's great to expand your knowledge, isn't it? It's even nicer when it comes to you by surprise :-)

"SlideShare is a free service for sharing presentations and slideshows. (...) What's more, the transcripts of your presentation will be indexed by internet search engines and show up in search results. It's a great way to share your ideas with others, or to learn from other people. And it's free." - so the SlideShare team tells us on their website.