Creative Learning and Inspiration

I've been doing some online training via Lynda.com, a great digital resource for learning creative software tools. I'm focusing on Flash, Photoshop and Illustrator which are tools that I've worked with for many years. However, watching online videos of top-notch professionals is teaching me tons of new tricks. In addition, Lynda has a library of inspirational videos. I definitely recommend checking out these mini-documentaries of creative professionals. It is really inspiring to see the stories of artists, photographers, musicians and designers who've been successful in the creative industry. Note: I have a subscription to this site, but there is a ton of content available to non-members. I especially enjoyed looking "into the life and home studio of one of the entertainment industry's most sought-after motion graphics designers, Rick Morris." Also, don't forget to "take a ride in the Big Spaceship with this intimate look at the inner workings of one of the web's most innovative firms."

Family RoadTrip 2009

I hereby subject my readers to home movies. Behold! Actual video footage of our madcap adventures. See the Seattlites drive to Idaho and Montana. Thrill to the footage of bears! Rock to the sounds of Evil Little Men with special guest stars The Beatles. Chico Hot Springs. Yellowstone, Bozeman. Missoula. Coeur d'Alene. Big Sky. And much more...

The Lost Art of Sketching

I've been working with computers, lo these last 20 years. I've always gravitated toward the crowd that liked pencils with their digital tools. I've been an advocate of the low-fidelity prototype since the early days. As an Internet industry worker, I recommend drawing in a journal/sketchbook at least a few times a week. Lately I've forced myself to do it every day. The results are extremely beneficial to me...I work out problems conceptually before I implement them in my professional life. Plus, it's just therapeutic to draw a dragon, skull or robot at least once a day.




Please see some of my recent sketchbook doodles by clicking on the thumbnails above. I've removed most of the text and words, but I wanted to collect these pen & pencil sketches in a digital way. I also posted them to my Flickr page. If you have a Flickr account, you can see the super hi-res versions of these.

It seems sketching is enduring a bit of a resurgence. Sketching comes back into fashion. I love it. Below are some examples of these concepts.

For ages, people in power have used simple pens and pencils to work out complex problems. Check out the great book called Presidential Doodles: Two Centuries of Scribbles, Scratches, Squiggles, and Scrawls from the Oval Office from the creators of Cabinet Magazine. See a great excerpt and samples in The Atlantic.

The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam is a fun, prescriptive book which helps you "solve any problem with a picture".

Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design by Bill Buxton is a must-read. Earlier this spring I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Buxton speak in Las Vegas at the Microsoft MIX conference. Check out my post from that event for more links concerning lo-fi prototyping and design sketching.

Learn about mind mapping, graphic facilitation and sketchnoting in the great post, "The Joy of Sketch: explorations in hand-crafted visuals" by Kate Rutter of Adaptive Path.

LISTEN: Hear the NPR story "Bored? Try Doodling To Keep The Brain On Task" by Alix Spiegel. There are also some of President Obama's doodles on the website.

Next year, don't forget National Doodle Day.

See these helpful tips and tutorials: Drawing Tips - Top 10 Mistakes Beginners Make.