💡Stefan Mumaw

It is commonplace to wonder how some people can be blessed with seemingly endless creative output, as if the gods of creativity have somehow bestowed upon them a divine gift. But what if I told you creativity isn't what you think, that it's not a mysterious moment that strikes suddenly and sharply? What if I told you creativity isn't a rare talent but rather a practical skill? What if I told you that creativity could be taught, that it can be trained? What if I told you that creativity isn't a… Show more

It is commonplace to wonder how some people can be blessed with seemingly endless creative output, as if the gods of creativity have somehow bestowed upon them a divine gift. But what if I told you creativity isn't what you think, that it's not a mysterious moment that strikes suddenly and sharply? What if I told you creativity isn't a rare talent but rather a practical skill? What if I told you that creativity could be taught, that it can be trained? What if I told you that creativity isn't a moment, creativity is a habit? And you can get better at it.

Creative Boot Camp is a 30-day crash course on creativity, exploring what creativity truly is, how it works, and what you can do to generate ideas in greater quantity and quality. Complete the Creative Boot Camp program, track your results online at creativebootcamp.net, and discover how relevant and novel your ideas can be. Show less

This is your idea and it's THIS CLOSE to going monster

This is more than just another big marketing idea, this is YOUR big marketing idea. You bore it like a child (didn't hurt nearly as much), you nurtured it, you held it up against the other ideas its age, and said, "You're waaaay prettier than those warthogish-looking ideas." You KNOW this is a big idea—you can feel it in the tingly parts of your body that you forgot knew how to tingle. This idea, you say to yourself (and anyone else… Show more

This is your idea and it's THIS CLOSE to going monster

This is more than just another big marketing idea, this is YOUR big marketing idea. You bore it like a child (didn't hurt nearly as much), you nurtured it, you held it up against the other ideas its age, and said, "You're waaaay prettier than those warthogish-looking ideas." You KNOW this is a big idea—you can feel it in the tingly parts of your body that you forgot knew how to tingle. This idea, you say to yourself (and anyone else within earshot) is a monster idea. So you let it loose into the world, sit back, and wait for the shrieks and screams to rise like applause. Only, there aren't any shrieks. No blood-curdling howls. Not even a sniffled whimper. There was a yawn—you heard that. What happened? Or better yet, what didn't happen? The idea didn't grow monstrous like you thought because it lacked what all monster ideas need: monster parts. There are seven characteristics marketing and advertising ideas need to have the potential of going monster. The more monster parts the idea sports, the more monster the idea becomes.

Does your idea have what it takes TO GO MONSTER? Show less

Brainstorming. In your office, your school or your group, it may have already become a bad word. You're charged with generating a great idea "the next big thing" the perfect concept. But you only have a limited amount of time, and you have to do it with your whole team. There's great pressure to come up with something outstanding.

Working with a team can be difficult, and generating viable ideas with a team can be even harder. But a solution is at hand! Caffeine for the Creative Team is… Show more

Brainstorming. In your office, your school or your group, it may have already become a bad word. You're charged with generating a great idea "the next big thing" the perfect concept. But you only have a limited amount of time, and you have to do it with your whole team. There's great pressure to come up with something outstanding.

Working with a team can be difficult, and generating viable ideas with a team can be even harder. But a solution is at hand! Caffeine for the Creative Team is the only tool you need to encourage successful brainstorming. This collection of short, focused creative exercises is just the boost you need get your team's collective brain working. Inside, you'll find:

- All new exercises. As a companion to Caffeine for the Creative Mind, this book's exercises are targeted to teams. Each exercise is labeled for the appropriate sized group: two people, three people or four or more.

- Powerful tools. The exercises will call on everyone in the group to think differently, leading to fresh insights. This collection is sure to get your team thinking in new ways.

- Interviews with real designers. There are also interviews with with some of the brightest creative leaders in the industry who have first-hand experience with brainstorming in teams. Each one shares valuable insights and team brainstorming techniques.

Caffeine for the Creative Team offers a solution to those dry, boring, unproductive brainstorm sessions you might be used to. Crack it open and start innovating today. Show less

We prepare our bodies for physical activity, but what do we do for our minds? Throughout our day, we are asked to be creative, to invent ideas, to create. If ideas are the currency of the creative industry, what do we do to prepare our brains for idea generation? How do we train ourselves to come up with more ideas, and better yet, greater ideas? We stretch, of course!

Caffeine for the Creative Mind is a collection of short, focused creative exercises that get the brain working along a… Show more

We prepare our bodies for physical activity, but what do we do for our minds? Throughout our day, we are asked to be creative, to invent ideas, to create. If ideas are the currency of the creative industry, what do we do to prepare our brains for idea generation? How do we train ourselves to come up with more ideas, and better yet, greater ideas? We stretch, of course!

Caffeine for the Creative Mind is a collection of short, focused creative exercises that get the brain working along a path that is more in tune to creative invention. The book contains over 250 “creative stretching" exercises. The exercises are brief, fun and are meant to invoke creative, thought-provoking responses. Get your brain moving by engaging in an exercise right at the start of your day or stop and do one whenever you need a creative jolt. The exercises are simple and conceptual, some with pad and pencil, some with digital camera, markers, words, phrases, icons, pictures, magazine cutouts… anything that might stimulate the brain into thinking alternatively...coming up with solutions that challenge you to alter your perspective and see your environment differently. Show less

Once websites were simple and easy to navigate, but didn’t contain much useful information. Today, they are packed with information and oftentimes are equally packed with complex navigational systems that confuse more than they help.
Many top Web designers have discovered that there’s an art to creating sites that are both vastly informative and simply organized. Their trade secrets are revealed here. This book explores the thinking and methodology behind the creation of 24 simple yet… Show more

Once websites were simple and easy to navigate, but didn’t contain much useful information. Today, they are packed with information and oftentimes are equally packed with complex navigational systems that confuse more than they help.
Many top Web designers have discovered that there’s an art to creating sites that are both vastly informative and simply organized. Their trade secrets are revealed here. This book explores the thinking and methodology behind the creation of 24 simple yet content-rich sites. Here, you’ll find insights into how each designer began creating a structure, progressing to wire-frames that illustrate each site’s internal organization, and on to screen captures that showcase the final product’s simple and accessible design.

With tips from successful professionals, as well as inspiring visual examples, this is a book that no Web designer today can afford to be without. Show less

In the first wave of e-commerce, the challenge for designers was to create new websites for clients. Now that challenge has changed. To meet the shifting demands of the digital marketplace companies are asking designers to help them upgrade of revamp their existing sites - an entirely different and often much more difficult proposition. Featuring in-depth case studies of 22 redesigned websites, this book uses a before-and-after model to reveal the purpose of the original site, the reasons it… Show more

In the first wave of e-commerce, the challenge for designers was to create new websites for clients. Now that challenge has changed. To meet the shifting demands of the digital marketplace companies are asking designers to help them upgrade of revamp their existing sites - an entirely different and often much more difficult proposition. Featuring in-depth case studies of 22 redesigned websites, this book uses a before-and-after model to reveal the purpose of the original site, the reasons it was no longer effective and the specific ways each designer solved those problems through redesign. Screenshots illustrate the old and new designs for each site and useful sidebars address more general themes: determining how drastic a redesign should be, orchestrating a site redesign following a merger and changing the central purpose of a site (such as changing from an interactive site to an informational one). Show less