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digital creativity blog

by Flow Bohl


Content is not king!

Content is everywhere and always present. It is what we read, watch, listen to or look at. Digitally, content is data. In the UK, data employs 1.52 mio people in the IT industry. In June 2011 there were roughly 346,000,000 websites worldwide in over 4000 languages. 60 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute and 200 mio pictures to Facebook every day.
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Innovation - can following a process help?

Working in the creative industry, I have asked myself the question, what makes a great innovator? What can I learn from great creative minds like product designer Dieter Rams or illustrator Jamie Hewlett? Can innovation follow a standardized approach or does it stifle creativity?

In design there are two approaches: To play safe and give the client what they are looking for, or ...
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Form or function, what matters more?

"Form follows function" is a frequently used phrase, incorrectly quoted from the original "form ever follows function" by architect Louis Sullivan. His point from the 60's is that architecture's style is determined by its functional purpose. Le Corbusier's Brutalism concrete architecture as found in the suburbs of Paris is a perfect example, an arguably outdated approach to urban planning and design.
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The value of UX design - 6 principles

Often, especially when pitching for new work to clients who have little understanding of what you do, it's worth reminding them of the value you bring to their business. User experience and interaction design brings value when it is purposeful, understanding, aesthetic, timeless, honest, and simple. These six principles I created over time, working as a UX designer and art director at SapientNitro.
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Usability - The importance of comparison

What marketers and UX designers are measured against is the effectiveness of their work, which mostly implies an increase in sales. An alternative measure however is consumer satisfaction. So what are the underlying motives that drive satisfaction (and happiness in a broader sense).

The British economist Richard Layard suggests that the amount of wealth doesn't matter as much as the amount people have ...
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Usability - Best practice for UX design

Things we take for granted don't always happen by chance, they happen by design. Well designed buildings affect peoples' lives and well designed websites have an impact on sales. Good design isn't only about good looks than it is about making things usable and useful. Usability goes beyond sales, it determines how we use products or interfaces and interact with them. Whatever the objectives are, ...
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Interactive Art Direction explained

It has always been the conviction of copy writers and art directors that creativity in marketing and in particular advertising, increases the chances of breaking through the information clutter. Ads based on solid concepts have better chances of being memorized by prospects than pure information-driven campaigns, which only recently has been proven by empirical research.
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5 golden rules for email communication

Writing and designing emails for commercial purposes follows coherent objectives and adheres to technical principles. The objectives have an impact on how you approach the task.

Is the email a reminder to do something familiar, is it informing about something familiar or new or is it persuading someone to interact or buy something. Each objective has a different approach and is measured differently.
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