Welcome to this week’s round-up of the Dream Team’s inspiration. We hope you have as much fun as we did finding this stuff in the world! Thanks to Devon on Devonshire St for hosting us, and providing Amy with the most delicious and colourful rice pudding bowl (check out that pic below)!
INSPO #1 // Change Your Mind // 57 Ways to Unlock Your Creative Self
I visited the Archibald Prize on the weekend and subsequently felt really inspired. While in the gallery, I even asked myself what I always ask my team..."But, why?" Why do I love the gallery so much? I love it because it shows me that there are other people in the world who have such a strong feeling about something that they are compelled to do something or make something to express their message. Artists are not totally focused on getting an exact reaction out of people, unlike the commercial world of design. They are about evoking an emotion, their art is up for interpretation and often the interpretation can be the art in itself.
The gift shop is always the perfect way to end a 'gallery high'. I picked up two books, one I am keeping up my sleeve. Lately I’ve been exploring what makes Dream & Do different from any other agency, what are we great at that we can get even better at and be the best!? The answer is creativity. I am beyond the belief that it is a natural talent, to be an expert you have to train, you need to learn tools and that is my aim for myself and my Dream Team. We will be the most creative minds to work with in the industry. I really do dream big!
This book - 57 Ways to Unlock Your Creative Self - totally appealed to my yearning to learn more about creativity. But what made it so good? The 57 ways is an odd number that seems highly factual. The simple colour palette of black, white and yellow made complex ideas energetic but simple. Each point is no more than 250 words so you can flick and read within three minutes. The content frequently references artists and scientists; this opened my mind to realising that designers are not the only creative ones. New ideas are creative; you don't need to know how to draw. Business is creative as you bring something new into the world.
And you? YOU are creative. Because you, my dear, you create your life.
Tara, Founder & Creative Director
INSPO #2 // Brand Balance magazine
It wasn't me that noticed this at first, instead it was my boyfriend. He owns a vintage Leica M3 camera that has been passed down to him over two generations, from his grandfather to his mother, to him. He can most certainly be called a fan of the brand. Picking up the magazine wrapped in plastic, he exclaims "I think the plastic intrigues me..."
It's a magazine that's not quite a magazine.
It's smaller than a traditional magazine, it holds no advertising, and focuses on one particular brand each issue and NO they receive no funding from any brand itself. B:alance stands apart as it’s retains its independent view/perspective on the brand featured, which is lost in this overpopulated world of media. Studying branding, it is the perfect magazine for me and everyone who plans to start a business or has an interest in brands.
B:alance itself has become a respectable brand, staying true to their values. I hope they eventually write an issue on themselves, much like Season 4 of Seinfeld. Maybe your 50th issue? I've already back ordered the issue on Google - I can't wait to read it! Thank you B:alance for giving back something of quality.
Renata, Designer & Photographer
INSPO #3 // Goldieblox – the original commercial
One of my good friends is incredibly inspiring, empowering and feminist. A few months ago when I was feeling a bit defeated and ‘What does it all mean?’ she showed me this video. It instantly gave me goosebumps, and when I watched the TED talk, I definitely shed a tear or two.
Goldieblox is an interactive toy, launched in 2012 via Kickstarter and a well-deserved win for a Superbowl advertising slot, designed to inspire innovation in young girls. It’s a series of books with associated engineering-style toys, featuring the character of Goldie, who works to solve problems because she’s super awesome and smart and clever. Basically, the story goes that Debbie Sterling was constantly frustrated by being the only female, or one of a handful, in male-dominated classes, placements and employment situations. hated seeing the ‘girls’ aisle in toy shops worldwide, dominated by pink and dolls and princess-y things, when the boys got to play with fun stuff like blocks and LEGO and the like. Debbie graduated with a degree in engineering from Stanford University in the US and went on to design a prototype for Goldieblox, which was rejected by sooooo many ‘big wigs’ before she launched the crowd funding campaign. (Does this sound a bit like J.K. Rowling trying to get Harry Potter published? Kids, DON’T GIVE UP!)
Interestingly, the song used in this original commercial video is a parody of the Beastie Boys’ ‘Girls’, which is blatantly sexist. A rep for the band sued Goldieblox because of some stipulation in a late band members’ will saying that none of his songs or name or whatever could be used in any advertising material. They won, and Goldieblox paid a percentage of their profits to selected charities. So it’s all good. Love a fun fact!
The best thing about this video is that it doesn’t try to sell us anything, except for the awesome idea of girls being clever and creative and innovative. It’s a fun thing to watch, it keeps you in suspense, it makes you ask all the questions we were asking like ‘How long did it take them to do that?’ ‘It reminds me of…’ and ‘I want to make something that cool!’ and it’s only in the last three seconds that the cartoon Goldieblox character pops onto screen and we can read the tagline. Man, if I had kids, I would be at the next toy store, stat. (Maybe I should just go buy one anyway?!)
Amy, Copywriter & Content Editor
INSPO #4 // The Liberators International
Liberty - Def. The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s behaviour or political views.
This is something that the majority of us strive for, hope for and should be entitled to. How wonderful this world would be if we had the freedom to be exactly who we wanted without fear of judgement. If we all loved and respected one another regardless of our backgrounds, race, sexual preference, gender… (the list could go on forever). So many of us dream of this beautiful world of acceptance between our fellow brothers and sisters. But how many of us actually do anything about it?
This week my faith has been restored when finding out about these guys… The Liberators International. A group of people who put their money where their mouth is, go out there and actually take action to help create this world of liberation and kindness that we so wish for. "We create participatory public and private events that involve and encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in acts of unconditional kindness, dance and human connection. We record each of our public actions with the intention to then inspire people from all over the world to create their own similar unified participatory actions. We do not force, we simply give rise to a new opportunity”.
The event that initially caught my eye was a social experiment ‘party' on the London underground. From personal experience of living in London and using the tube on a daily basis, I can definitely relate to the lack of social connection and interaction between fellow mankind. I’ve been sat on my way to work so many times day-dreaming about what would happen if I stood up, put music on full blast and tried to get everyone to dance along with me. And low and behold, these guys have actually done it. And apparently it worked. Check out the video here https://www.facebook.com/LovehelloU/videos/1199317930133663/.
The Liberators International - you are my heroes. You are massively inspiring and I have every intention of joining you to actively create the positive change we, as a human race, need to see.
Jo, Creative Coordinator
INSPO #5 // Radio station for dogs
After trying to think of something creative and fun to bring into my first Creative Show & Tell, I decided to rely on the greatest muscle of them all - my brain - to think of something that was really memorable and stuck out to me. I wanted something I'd seen, rather than go straight to trawling the internet for hours (which, let's be honest, can be all too distracting in itself).
The only thing I could think of that seemingly made an imprint was a great advertisement campaign put together by Pedigree. This could've been because it was so great that I sent it to all my non-creative friends who thought it was incredible. I think this is an important point because as designers we're so often caught up in our own creative world of sharing great typography and editorials. We forget that often the intended audience would never notice these details. In the words of designer heavyweight Chris Doyle, this is something we can learn from advertisers. The power of communication. To be a designer is to ultimately be a communicator between the client and the audience. Therefore, we need to stop trying to talk to other designers and look to advertisers who have mastered the art of speaking to EVERYONE. Even if you don't have a little pup, this ad really gets you in the feels with the emotional connection that it has formed between the audience and the 'product'. Although it's great that they aren't directly trying to sell you a product - very smart.
It's a wild and great concept that was a risk; a risk that paid off. It adds value to the Pedigree brand and communicates that they really care about the wellbeing of your dog. The radio station was a huge success with 1000+ calls coming into the station in the two weeks; along with sales for Pedigree reaching a three-year high. If that's not successful then I don't know what is. Although to be real, I just love dogs...
Nadia, Creative Intern
The Dream Team xx