Hot Type

Word play is essential in the creativity exercises I play in class with my students. While on vacation, I am still on a quest to find ways to make students embrace these techniques as a way of thinking rather than just for a grade. On these summer days, the indulgence in magazine reading gave me the opportunity to spot a couple hot text trends. Word play is alive and well in magazine design. Take a look at some examples from the August 2013 edition of Company magazine, a Hearst publication.  

1. Handwritten fonts

2. Highlighted text to emphasize key sentences.

3. Major underlining to make it look like its a work in progress in edit mode

4. Paint effect headlines in black ink with grainy texture

5. Asterisks that are computer generated equivalent of scribble

6. Text over notebook paper background    

7. Typewriter font  (see 1, 3, and 5)

8. Collaged text as if its been cu tfrom a magazine and newspaper and glued down again in contrasting and complimentary interplay with other words and images.

9. Doodles

10.Comic book hero retro text bubbles with sound effect text  

Overall thoughts about the Hot Type trends from this magazine..."the grass is always greener" as there certainly seems to be a yearning to embrace simpler times of handwritten, handcrafted and even typewriter driven text in personal communication of times gone by. 

"Your Best Teacher is Your Last Mistake" - Ralph Nader

Everyday if you visit facebook you will see quotes being shared.  Most often they are moving copy over an image or even simply handwritten snapped with an iphone and then uploaded.  If liked, they are also often shared and passed around.  This movement is great to spread ideas but whose idea was it originally is being lost.  Today, like many mornings I did this very same thing...looking through the newsfeed, I found an image posted and shared by Shale Hrvoje Salkovic, a writer.  He and I must have some common connection but I do not know him outside of Facebook. He does have over 76,000 likes to his Facebook profile.  To this particular post after just 11 hours on July 18, 2013 there were over 3,000 likes and 202 shares.

I moved on to thoughts of my class today where students have to prepare business plans and carefully document their sources.  Then I shifted back to the saying Your best teacher is your last mistake that Mr. Salkovic was inspired to share and then for me to pass on.  In a matter of seconds, I verified my thought that someone must have said it before today.  Yes, indeed it was Ralph Nader, an American consumer advocate and one-time Presidential hopeful.  I tracked back and added a comment with the link to make sure he was name checked in the future.

About 6 hours after I posted my comment, it had received 2 likes.  I was very glad to see that the Shale Hrvoje Salkovic was one of them.  I have around 900 Facebook friends, he has over 84 times as many fans but yet he read and acknowledged the comment relatively quickly so it was validating that the effort was worth while.  Its not always appreciated but from his choice of quote, he is always open to learning.

Now as an example I will use the tool I recommend to students in order to properly document their references, Son of Citation Machine, which generates properly formatted citations with its online generator. There mission is to get users to recognize that "Someday the information someone else wants to use....will be yours" which is featured on their home page.

Here are a list of references for this blog entry:

A E Television Networks, LLC. (1996-2013). Ralph Nader biography. Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/people/ralph-nader-9419799

Salkovic, S. H. (2013, July 18)."Your best teacher is your last mistake." [Web log message]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shale-Hrvoje-Salkovic/171890232948967

Warlick, D. (2000, October 29). Son of citation machine. Retrieved from http://citationmachine.net

Results of the Idea Journal experiment

The Idea Journal experiment was to give a simple idea starter kit to students.  Substance should be 10 ideas and style could be online or offline.  The results have been beyond my expectations.  There were baloons with QR codes linking to different online sites and commentary.  There were wall coverings neatly compartmentalized with impeccable handwriting, there were Pinterest boards, Smilebox animated scrapbooks and more.  I still have to read through them but over the next couple days I will keep updating this post and show examples of some well thought out and designed idea journals.  Bravo students.

Sampling of Idea Journal Links

• Ramón Aduna Quezada http://raduna.wix.com/ideajournal
• Luis Angel - http://pinterest.com/luisaold/idea-journal/ 
• Bozena Boro http://prezi.com/vw0p8bclz3nz/present/?auth_key=v9ed5yw&follow=ukzjhehzn21z
• Nahema Cissoko http://pinterest.com/nahmac/idea-journal/
• Basak Guven http://anideadaykeepsmindlessbrainsaway.tumblr.com/
• Ivana Paradinović http://cookingupideas.blogspot.com/
• Julio Pastrana http://julioideajournal.blogspot.com/ 
• Bojan Pavlović http://zeen.com/read/Iz66EB/idea-journal-by-bojan-pavlovic
• Maja Roso http://majaideajournal.tumblr.com/
• Ivan Stipančić http://pinterest.com/istipanc/boards/

Idea#10: Repurposing the Mall

One problem that I see is underutilized spaces.  When I spoke at the TedxZagreb event in 2010 this was my platform as the "Huntress of Hidden Potential" I reimagined spaces and the audience was with me but I am not sure what impact it had as I did not move it in any particular direction except to make an awareness building exercise in my entrepreneurship course.  The students regularly have to take pictures of places they think could be something as in take a picture of an vacant building, lot, field, etc and reimagine what it could be.

Luckily, Candy Chang and her powerful Ted video on "Before I die, I want to..." really helped to elevate this issue.  She also has prepared with a team a toolkit where the community can be more involved in transforming their cities and places and connecting citizens.  In our class, we did an experiment during the last session and put on the white board "I wish..." and it was interesting to see the cooperation and resistance of students to share their wishes.

One wish I have is that spaces are fully utilized.  Empty spaces to me represent missed opportunities.  For every square meter of space underutilized...how many people are equally underutilized?  I have selected for my issue of space the large mall complexes that are built and then despite of all the financial investment that goes into them, they quickly turn into vacant "should have beens".  This is not just locally which is illustrated with the beautiful, modern, conveniently located Cascade Mall before/after in Zagreb but many others like
New South China Mall, North Street Arcade in Belfast, and the rise of people who are tracking this urban dilemna like www.deadmalls.com, http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/ and other stories of the retail wasteland.

We can choose to look it as a problem or see it as an opportunity to reclaim these underutilized properties like the excellent NYT piece on 101 different ideas for unused malls.  Their article featuring (contributors to deadmalls.com) offer examples of reuse for the following purposes:
- Libraries
- Incubators/Accelerators for Small Business Startups
- Educational space, college classrooms and campuses
- Urban clubs and recreational centers
- Non governmental and other civic services organizations
- Mixed use centers for housing, business, religion

Comments from some of the readers of this article include other suggestions like
-  Biospheres and Urban Gardens
-  After-school programs for kids
-  Entertainment complexes (Paintball, Skate parks)
-  Food kitchens and Free clinics
-  Ethnic and Cultural Centers
-  Museums and Exhibition Showcases
-  Senior Centers
-  Health and Wellness Centers
-  Prisons
-  Science Centers and Space Labs

What does it get you thinking about?

Idea#9: Trend Inspiration Unconferences and DIY

As I sought in an earlier post to rethink conference signage, I need to see what other elements are possible to infuse an "Unconference" with DIY techniques without it becoming a distraction.  If it can still keep the right tone of the theme then it has the potential of adding dimension and a personalized atmosphere to the event.

The conference we are preparing is for Invest for the Future.  It will have 2 days of full programming and first day and last day for travel to the destination of Struga, Macedonia, a resort area.  What signage is needed is usually a welcome sign in the lobby to signify the conference is being held and currently in progress.  But before they even get to the hotel they will be travelling to the destination some attendees (mostly women entrepreneurs and those in related positions representing government, corporations, ngos and the like) will come in by bus from their points of origin in regional countries or via airport connections from Skopje.  There is then an opportunity to put some type of signage in the bus windows and inside of the bus to signal they are attending the IFTF#Talent: Mine, Yours and Ours unconference.

The DIY touches that could add to the event for women could be:

Pennants with the Invest for the Future logo sewn in.  If we do these on white fabic with the red logo it will not be too complicated and we can source a local ngo to sew based on a pattern by one of our talented contributors, Helena Habdija could make.

We can add diy touches to the onsite catering that personalizes brown bag take-away, the buffets and coffee breaks like:

Take-Aways: Simple Snack Packets - which could be distributed on the bus rides so that everyone has a drink and snack along the way, Gifts could also include a handcrafted business card holder or luggage tags.

Coffee/Tea Time: Tea bag wallets - which could be part of the in room welcome basket, Make the ordinary, extraordinary with happy sugar cubes,

Buffet Decorations - which could make up the style quotient of the dining experiences with custom centerpieces, or some shabby chic touches mixing recycled (but sanitary) items with elegant trimmings.

Networking Enhancements - for the unconference sometimes you want to make sure people with similar or divergent interests find each other and there are a few options like Chalkboard Placemats, Photo Place Cards, Table Name Tags

While all together it may be overboard, the point is that even the little touches of customization and using talents of local ngos could add a hint of feminity and style with a jolt of creativity from them unexpected.  It also lends itself to csr of an event of including an ngo in the value chain instead of just paying for printed materials that are the standard.

Idea#8: From Parade Banner to a DIY Event Banner

In order to realize and idea and investigate more about its opportunity potential, an entrepreneur how to know how to implement.  But if entrepreneurs are really on a journey to explore new and create value then they often will be on a constant path of research, prototyping and refinement.

For my example, I thought of diy (do-it-yourself) event banners. Instead of buying the regular pop up displays that help conference attendees identify the conference facilities and direct them around the venue, we might draw inspiration from sports fans and parade participants.  The more enthusiastic, the more banners, signs and detail they put into slogans and communicating those messages in a form that reflect their passion for their home team, marching band or any other organization they represent. Since we would model after them, to some degree, I needed to find out "How to make a DIY Banner".

After reading what Ehow advises, I summarized that when making a banner the following considerations should be taken into account:
1. Material - Cheap/Expensive, Shortterm/Longterm, Before Care/After Care, etc.
2. Dimensions - Shape, Size, Weight, User-friendly
3. Content - Organizational Restrictions, Design Standards, Elements, Motifs, Lettering, Finishing

Idea#7: Springwise.com (or a substitute) Inspiration

For years it seems I have been recommending visits to springwise.com for unlimited inspiration.  However, it seems that the site itself in now limiting viewers by membership fee.  Monthly and Yearly membership is now emphasized and blocks the visitor who has not committed to recognize the value of an idea clearinghouse to enter beyond today's top picks.  In light of this new blockade, I discovered moreofit.com which finds sites similar to the ones we might like as alternatives.  Here are some of their suggestions to finding entrepreneurial inspirations...

Cool Business Ideas  which upon my first visit features Solar Powered Rental cars, Digital Dog Collars and the zoomable paper map.

Unusual Business Ideas that Work  which featured wireless provider, lice eliminator and crm solutions

Trendwatching.com featuring a newsletter with trends now and what's up next

But I still miss the free version of www.springwise.com for my fix...(I may have to give in and subscribe).