A sense of humor can go a long way and businesses can profit by engaging with customers and making an impression by stepping outside the realm of the expected.
“Laughter relieves stress and boredom, boosts engagement and well-being, and” – according to Harvard Business Review – “spurs not only creativity and collaboration but also analytic precision and productivity.”
There is no shortage for outdoor art experiences this year. Earlier this year we mentioned how “The Outings Project” was putting paintings on the street, this summer Longwood Gardens brought us “Nightscape: A Light and Sound Experience” and the Philadelphia Museum of Art is sharing some of it’s masterpieces in a series called “Inside Out” in the borough of West Chester (among other places).
“Manne-Porte, Étretat” – Claude Monet | “Pichincha” – Frederic Edwin Church | Sketch for “A Boat Passing a Lock” – John Constable | “Two Dragons The open air exhibit is part of a series throughout the Greater Philadelphia region, which lets you encounter art in unexpected places and includes works by Andy Warhol, Claude Monet, Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Thomas Eakins. Video via Philadelphia Museum of Art In addition to providing free art in the borough, the Museum is offering West Chester residents free general admission to the Museum from Friday, October 16, through Sunday, October 18, 2015.
[in Clouds]” – Kano Hōgai | “Groundhog Day” – Andrew Newell Wyeth | “Little Painting with Yellow (Improvisation)” – Vasily Kandinsky
While plenty of PowerPoints presentations have a reputation to bore people to tears, they are still widely used to distribute information. And a great presentation can get the point across, while holding the audience’s attention. To help out, Udemy, the place to learn real world skills online, put together this infographic:
I recently had a chance to see IN PIECES – a multimedia collaboration between LEGO® sculptor Nathan Sawaya and photographer Dean West – that is showing at the Franklin Institute, as part of “The Art of the Brick.”
At first look nothing seems out of the ordinary, until you notice some detail about the picture that is not like the rest, but made out of LEGO®.
The images have been constructed by combining West’s modern photography techniques and Sawaya’s unique sculptures made out of LEGO®. Key to the series narrative and aesthetic Sawaya’s sculptures are much like the construction of a digital photograph. Thousands of bricks are glued together to form recognizable objects much like the assembly of pixels in a digital image. The similarities in technology not only help shape the aesthetic of IN PIECES, they are key to deconstructing each tableau composition.
For more images visit their website In Pieces
Images from inpiecescollection.com
Last week Photoshop, Adobe’s photo editing software, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the release of it’s first version. The program is a standard in the design industry and “Photoshop” has come to be synonymous with image manipulation. (Photoshop, the verb, was added to the Oxford English Dictionary back in 2006.)
To celebrate the tool that has helped shape creativity, artists from all over the world contributed their most amazing dreams—and their working files with layers for the following video Adobe put together:
We all had that moment in the shower, when something we had pondered finally clicks. It’s the wandering of the mind that let’s our brain take a different look at a problem. But as many have noticed lately, in the age of connectivity, we hardly have time any more to be bored.
The Atlantic’s Dr. James Hamblin explores the link between creativity and boredom in another installment of his off-beat perspectives on health topics in the IF OUR BODIES COULD TALK series.
“This hearty, yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings and interiors.”
– Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director, Pantone Color Institute®
Pantone’s color of the year – Marsala (PANTONE 18-1438) – named for the red wine with it’s sophisticated, natural earthiness, is one color I can whole heartedly embrace. Unlike last year’s pick, Radiant Orchid, a fuchsia-pink-purple (PANTONE 18-3224) or 2013’s Emerald Green (PANTONE 17-5641), this year’s color has been part of my personal color scheme for years. This beautiful, rich color is extremely versatile, while radiating warmth.
Summertime might mean slow business, so stay motivated and start planning your next moves. Here are six tips to make future marketing efforts a success:
Reflection. Use your down time to take a look at what worked in the past and what didn’t.
Think Seasonal. Summer offers endless ways for fun approaches to seasonal marketing tie-ins.
Online Presence. Now is the time to devote some energy to create the content material for your newsletter or website you might have been putting off.
Connect. Chances are you are already spending time at barbecues, festivals and other gatherings. Make new connections – you never know where they might lead.
Reconnect. Reach out to existing customers to keep you in their thoughts.
Relax. The best ideas happen when you are not thinking about a task at hand. So take a step back, enjoy your summer and revitalize your mind. Your creative juices will be flowing in no time.
Most of us grew up playing with LEGO, building elaborate structure, being entertained for hours. And while the company has faced some controversy lately about gender specific toys, for the most part the simple concept of connecting bricks and letting your creativity and imagination soar is what still holds true to this day.
With the LEGO movie in theaters I stumbled across this history of the LEGO company – a reminder that you have to have an idea that is truly unique, quality will make your product stand out and lastly, if you fail, try and try again.
