Written by Kristina Schott, Email Marketing Designer
Design is not a deliverable, it’s a process. It’s a way of seeing the world, not the black rimmed glasses on your face or the Chuck Taylors on your feet. Here are a few ideas from ExactTarget’s Design Team on boosting creative thinking.
Always keep a sketchbook handy
You'll never lose a great idea if you write it down. I like Moleskine Pocket-sized plain notebooks.
Write down everything
Don't be shy to write or draw anything that will help you remember it later when it's time to put it into action. An idea can come in the form of a word, color, shape, concept or a feeling. Write down all of them - get those bad ideas out of your head and on paper in order to make room for the good ones.
Change up your scenery
Go to a new place so you can focus on the problem and solution at hand. Depending on your industry, maybe go somewhere to put yourself in the shoes of your subscribers.
Do something repetitive
Have you ever noticed that good ideas arrive while you're lost in the zone of doing something like driving, showering, washing dishes, running, importing lists into ExactTarget...
Abandon a good idea
Are you holding onto a design, color, photograph or concept solely because you personally like it and put time into developing it? These are not good reasons to keep it around if you're starting to discover that it's not a good design solution. The creative process is not a linear path.
Surf for inspiration
Here are some of our favorite web sites for visual inspiration. Browse the items that come up first, or search for keywords associated with your challenge or project.
flickr.com/explore
ffffound.com
smashingmagazine.com
designarchives.aiga.org
digg.com/design
images.google.com
Get active
Free play opens the mind, reduces stress, and creates a positive environment that fosters creative thinking. Kick around the hacky sack, play a quick game of 4-square over lunch, or just throw the stress ball back and forth while talking through concepts.
Embrace restrictions
Remember that not every concept you come up with can translate to email. Love that dancing hamster on your website? Remember that animated gifs aren't consistently supported in email. Can't stand settling for Arial? Sorry, but Univers 67 Bold Condensed is not a web-safe font. See ExactTarget's Design Whitepaper for best practices. Adding limitations will challenge you to push yourself toward creative solutions.
Hire ExactTarget Design Services
Don't have time to navigate the creative process, or need a professional to guide you? Our Moleskine-equipped team is ready to pour our creative energies into your email marketing efforts. Dancing hamsters not included.
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