E-books are projected to revolutionize education. After our last blog-post about Google, Apple had some big news of their own today. Apple released iBooks 2, an update to their e-book software for iOS devices (the iPod, iPad, and iPhone). In true Apple-fashion, a press event was held to present the new software and it's most exciting features. Phil Schiller, introducing iBooks 2, described Apple's desire to use the iPad for educational progress. Schiller pointed out that students like to learn on the iPad - in fact it was the # 1 item on teens' holiday wish lists this year. He then described that iPad textbooks can replace the cumbersome, short-lived, non-interactive paper textbooks that students are used to. Apple has already partnered with McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to start the ball rolling. These companies are currently responsible for 90%...
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"Smartphone ownership has more than doubled in two years," says Suzanne Choney in this MSBC Technolog article. She's merely interpreting data collected from the past year. That data, collected by Nielsen, a leader in global market research, tells us that over half of people aged 25-34 years, and over half of people aged 18-24 years are all smart phone owners. This generation of smart phone owners use their phone to shop (literally, while at a physical store, they will compare products via a virtual store), engage in social networking (with Facebook being the most popular phone app available), text, and well, I assume to make phone calls sometimes. Why does any of this matter? Because it means your website is increasingly being viewed and utilized on a mobile device. Your Creative People can take your website and design and implement a mobile friendly version for your ...
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The power of a few simple words can make all the difference in the world, as shown by this short Youtube clip. A simple, but targeted message (with minimal or even no design to support it) is the difference between simply having marketing and having marketing that commands attention and gets results. At Your Creative People, we believe that the messaging should drive every piece we create. Creative design should never get in the way; it should simply support and enhance the clarity of the message. It takes time to think through and write a clear, targeted call to action. We believe that it's worth your investment. Let our team of creative people help you craft a message that demands action. We found this clip referenced on the blog of our friends at Brains on Fire:
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We came across this blog-post on www.churchleaders.com about church websites recently and thought the thoughts recorded were worth sharing. The post references the same Lifeway Survey that we mentioned on our blog several months ago. While we don't use (or recommend) Wordpress or pre-designed/stock templates, we do think the 5 simple points made in this blog post are worth thinking about. As a branding company, we believe each client is inherently unique and we strive to design them a website with layout, functionality, and attractiveness that is exactly right for them and reflects their brand, or identity. So, we don't deal with templates and this actually goes hand in hand with the article's point number 1: Engaging Home Page. Having an engaging home page is essential. We as a culture have become content to skim through content and jump from website to website looki...
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"There's also the very keen nugget of wisdom that 95% of graphic design is actually typography" says Cliff Kuang, the editor of Co.Design. Cliff has posted these two compelling infographics to illustrate his point. We thought it was a great find and have posted it here for our clients' enjoyment. To read Cliff's original blog post, you can find it here >
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Posted July 13, 2011
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If you feel stuck in a rut, uninspired or are just drawing a blank, consider these ideas to infuse your project with some creative energy. Feel free to add to the list to your liking. Perhaps you can start by implementing at least one item per day to invigorate your life. Click to see the list. Make LISTS Carry a NOTEBOOK everywhere Try free WRITING GET AWAY from the computer Quit beating yourself up Take BREAKS SING in the shower Drink COFFEE LISTEN to new music 10. Be OPEN Surround yourself with CREATIVE people Get FEEDBACK COLLABORATE Don't give up PRACTICE, practice, practice Allow yourself to MAKE MISTAKES Go somewhere NEW Count your BLESSINGS Get lots of REST Take RISKS BREAK THE RULES DON'T FORCE it Read a page of the DICTIONARY Create a FRAMEWORK Stop trying to be someone else's PERFECT Got an IDEA? Write it down CLEAN your workspace Have FUN FINSH something L...
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An interesting article written by Pastor David Roach describes how church websites are being underutilized by congregations. The article cites a few reasons for this, including limited time to work on the website and limited volunteer capabilities. "There is nothing wrong with using a church website to simply give directions to the church or state the church's beliefs," McConnell added. "However, we must realize that more and more people expect to be able to interact online without having to drive or make a phone call to the church." The article goes on to state that amongst churches that have websites (and most do), “nearly half of churches with websites (42 percent) update them only once a month or less.” This is where YCP can help. YCP makes the process of updating your website easy with our software Backstage. Backstage now is able to offer capabilities to church ...
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Posted June 29, 2011
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The Power of Creative One of the reasons the agency business has survived all of its downs is the simple fact that most agencies are better at coming up with ideas than their clients. Between managing budgets and deadlines, agencies can only succeed in the idea business if you invest time in people to think, to plan, to scheme and to dream. Besides books, blogs and conferences, exercises such as brainstorming between employees and internal award competitions foster the flow of good ideas. A cool creative workspace with some injected personality further encourages taking your creative thoughts to another level. What's Good Enough? You might argue that your budget and deadline don't allow for stellar ideas that are set apart from the average. Every client needs his project designed and produced yesterday. Most jobs don't allow for big time cushions to utilize the full c...
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Does Your Website Design Make People think? Most sites do! Web usability expert Steve Krug gives us valuable insight into what makes a website successful in his book, “Don’t Make me Think." The first thing Krug elaborates on is “Krug’s First Law of Usability." This law states: websites shouldn’t make their visitors think (hence the title, “Don’t Make Me Think”). Krug explains the need for websites to be self-evident and self explanatory to visitors. Web designers should always create websites with the goal of eliminating as many of the visitor's questions as possible. By thinking through the target audience’s potential questions and building the site to answer those questions without having the visitor dig for those answers, we create a simplified, positive, and satisfying experience that very often creates a new customer. At Your Creative People, audience analysis is...
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This article was originally written by Max Luzuriaga on Mar 16th 2011: "These are exciting times to be a web designer. CSS is finally starting to catch up to the visions of the beautiful websites we have in our heads. No longer do we have to rely on hacks and images to create wonderfully engaging interfaces! But we can’t just rely on browsers to usher in this new era. As creators we have to be flexible and adapt our workflow to encourage these new best practicees. It’s time to rethink how we make websites." To Read More: http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/designing-in-browser-a-manifesto/
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This was orginally written by Renee Oricchio and posted on Aug 1, 2008. We have posted the link here for our client's reference. "Uploading a commercial won't fly on YouTube. You have to be subtle, but if you are creative and not too heavy handed and not so obviously shilling your product, you might be able to score lots of free marketing online." To Read More: http://www.inc.com/internet/articles/200808/youtube.html
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