CreatoBlog

It’s Finals Week, and all my fellow design students and I are all in the same zombie state, running around trying to finish everything on time.Seeing everyone scrambling, and the look of 2 days without sleep (and way too much caffeine) on their faces has got me thinking about the way everyone works and handles deadlines and projects.

I was in a photography critique yesterday, and my professor was explaining the way he works. He spends a good amount of time thinking about a project, and then at the last second puts everything together. For instance, if he were given a deadline of a month to work on a project, he would probably spend about 28 days mulling over the project and thinking about how he might accomplish it, then the last 2 days he would actually start and finish the project.

Another classmate was praised for his work in the final critique, and he hadn’t worked on the project until the day before; and to the amazement of my classmates and I, had a really successful project to show.

It’s funny to hear that all my classmates apartments are immaculately cleaned, everyone has done their laundry, grocery shopped, organized that bookshelves that they haven’t looked at all semester and color coded their clothing, but their final project hasn’t even been started. Oh finals week…and the art of procrastination.

Check out this article for some more thoughts on procrastination as well as some inspirational quotes! Also, let us know how you complete your work; we’d love to hear about it.

http://whodesigntoday.com/practice-what-you-procrastinate-inspiration-to-do-what-you-love/

–Stephanie

You would probably have a hard time today trying to find someone not on Facebook or Twitter (heaven forbid both!). But what use are they for someone not  promoting a huge brand? Sure we keep in touch with friends, share news, and see what’s the latest and greatest online, however there is so much more to be had by the everyday user.

On my 14^th birthday, my parents gave me a drum set. They had no idea what this single instrument would spark. It’s been 8 years, and from a lowly cheap drum set, I have created my own image in music production. I now DJ and produce tracks and have had some fun as well as some great opportunities.

The title of this post says it all. I, being no big-time music superstar, have had my share of big-time fame (at least I like to think so). Awhile back, I started making mash-ups (see: GirlTalk. [side note and speaking of social media, I can’t believe I just linked to Myspace…]). I decided to take one of my favorite bands, Matt & Kim, and make an entire mash up album with one of the most influential rappers of all time, Jay-Z.

I had always made my music for myself and friends, so while I was making this album, I really had no intentions of having any great exposure. Wow, I was wrong. I finished my 9-track album, put it on my blog, and tweeted the link to Matt & Kim. I figured, if they get the link, they get the link. If not, oh well. This music was for my friends, really, anyway. But wouldn’t you know it, a few days later I woke up to a text from my buddy, Phil. In all caps, it read, “OMG CHECK OUT MATT AND KIM’S TWITTER PAGE.”

Groggy, I opened my laptop, went to Twitter, and almost died.

And just like that, my album, MY album, had over 10,000 downloads, and their tweet had over 150 retweets  in a matter of days. Jay-Z, Matt & Kim was born. Friends of mine were at random parties across the country calling me so kids could talk to the producer of their favorite album. It was surreal. I decided mash up albums were the coolest thing to make, so I started making more. I made one with Kanye West and a Chicago band, it had almost 6,000 downloads in a week. I kept on making albums. The numbers weren’t ever as big as the first few, but total, I have 8 albums at almost 50 tracks.

As lucky as I have been with my encounters resulting from my music and social media presence, you might not be too far off yourself. It’s a simple formula and it’s really what social media is all about: Take what you are passionate about, connect with people who are just as passionate as you are, repeat. My stint of internet fame honestly just happened to happen! So get out there and find some cool people and put in some work. You never know when you’ll get your break!

Puns in ad copy can be powerful because they help people quickly grasp and remember what you have to say. But, not so much when they are used gratuitously.

I’ve been hearing a radio spot touting Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin as an academic medical partnership. It suggests that using a teaching hospital assures you of more effective medicine. The spot brightly ends with a punned tagline that goes something like this: Froedtert and MCW, it’s academic.

Cute, and it illustrates my point well. The phrase, “it’s academic” usually means that the point being made is somehow moot or that it doesn’t have real effect. But that’s really contrary to what they are trying to say, which is that the academic partnership makes them more effective.

You might ask, but doesn’t the fact that it made me think about it make the spot effective and perhaps work in this way? I’d say the point is academic. Directness and clarity of ad copy are more important every time.

The Occupy Wall Street protests have bloomed for many reasons. But mostly because technologies like Twitter have allowed people to organize them. That’s wonderful from a free speech perspective. But could your tweets be seen as organizing to break the law? If so, be warned. Your tweets can be used against you because they were made publicly. Read more in the Wall Street Journal.

Looking for new ways to market your business? Look no further! What your business needs is a square box of dots and squiggles to catch the consumer eye. Where can they be placed, you ask? On virtually anything, even cupcakes!  Check out these QR Code fails: http://mashable.com/2012/03/04/funniest-qr-code-fail/

If I have to read another article on how the richest people in the world (or even “highly-effective” people) spend their money, you can just gag me with a 24-carat, gold-plated spoon. But what about those elusive HAPPY folks out there? What are they spending their hard-earned paycheck on? It turns out the happiest people in the world have acknowledged that blurry line between “work” and “life” and spend accordingly.

My Midwestern sensibilities are getting the best of me right now, but notions such as:
A) Spending on “Experiences” not things.
B) Forgetting the big house, big yard and two cars (Excuse you? Two cars? I need two wage-earners at my place.)
C) Saving like crazy AND find other revenue streams, such as another job, not just flimsy “freelance.“
D) This is a biggie: Don’t expect to officially retire, like, ever.

…don’t seem that foreign to me.

Yes, I like material possessions, but I will gladly give up those in order to acquire some convenience or time. The very two things that the experts say make a person happier. It’s common sense though, especially when you have kids. It comes more naturally to want convenience over flash when you’re in the middle of hectic-family life. As for challenging convention with the big house, giant yard? I’ve long-ago given up keeping up with the Joneses, chasing lousy freelance clients who don’t pay, and lucked into a part-time teaching gig instead.

Here’s where the happy folks get a little dicey: this whole notion of working the rest of your life. Ouch. It’s veiled under the guise of an “encore” career and the trick is to really love it. I mean really, really love it. It could be the job you’ll be performing from age 65 on. And the folks retiring this year at 65 can expect to live another 21 years. Could I really be the starter at my local golf course for 21 years though?

Anyway, here is the link to the article, check it out!
www.fastcompany.com/1817649/how-the-happiest-people-in-the-world-spend-their-money