Update, Update, Update!

By TAICHI KOZAKI 

If you receive update notifications for your mobile apps, that means the one you have right now is old. Technologies advance every day, and we need to keep ourselves updated. 

The same thing can be said about our skills. 

The main difference? 

We don’t really get push notifications for them. 

When I started my college career at SCAD two years ago, no one was talking about HTML5, only half of my classmates were wired to Twitter, and there was no Instagram. 

But now, things have been changed. 

Not having a Twitter account is almost as bad as still using MySpace. If you are one of those people who upload hundreds of photos to their Facebook album named “Summer 2012” in September 2012, your friends might not appreciate your great photos as much as you think – because they have probably already seen similar photos.

On their other friend’s Instagram.

Two months ago. 

And as a designer in this digital age, knowing HTML5 is probably more useful than knowing Spanish or any other foreign language. 

Knowing what’s out there in the digital world and familiarizing ourselves with new apps, technologies and skills are some of the most basic – yet critical – daily tasks that we have to do.

AKQA hosts the Future Lions Competition (student competition) at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity every year. And there is only one thing on the brief:

Advertise a product from a global brand in a way that couldn’t have been done five years ago, to an audience of your choosing.

This very open-ended style of competition lets students from all over the world explore the new possibilities of advertising and encourages them to come up with innovative ideas. 

More than 1100 ideas were entered into the competition this year, and the five most innovative teams were awarded the Future Lions title. 

This year’s – and all of the past winners’ projects – can be seen here.

All of those winning projects demonstrate very smart thinking, and also gives me those, “Why didn’t I think of that?” moments. All of them use apps or other technologies that we are already very familiar with – but in a way that no one has ever tried before. 

The ability to be innovative and push the brands along with what’s trending in the digital world has become a very important skill. 

So if you are not trying to familiarize yourself with any of the upcoming apps – or trying to keep yourself updated with new digital trends – you might lose out on big opportunities to come up with something truly innovative. 

Like me, maybe you’ve stumbled upon a smart interactive campaign on the Internet and said, “Why didn’t I think that?” 

At this point, you are already very behind in the race.

Especially today – when the whole industry is eager to come up with new, innovative ways to connect brands with their target audience; especially as the targets are becoming more and more tech-savvy themselves. 

Being the first to produce the idea is crucial, as we all know that the public will bash a copycat.

So keep yourself updated. 

Because if you receive an update notification from someone, then you just became outdated.


I Need An Inspiration

By TAICHI KOZAKI

Sometimes, simply talking to another person can be the most powerful inspiration source. I believe many of us experienced that during Creative Week. 

As a design student, seeking inspiration is a part of my daily life. 

I use Pinterst to organize things I find online, and I use my mobile phone camera to capture things offline. These sorts of inspirations often help me develop visual styles in my design work. But they don’t necessary help me when I am trying to come up with ideas to solve advertising problems. 

And I assume many of us share that same problem.

I attended the CREATION STORIES: FINDING THE INSPIRATION TO MAKE NEW THINGS session where four of the most interesting senior creatives in marketing and design discussed where to find inspiration. 

During the session, all of the panelists mentioned that “people” are a very powerful inspiration source. Rob Trostle, Design Director of Mother New York, said that organic process is very important. Having a group conversation can be a more effective way to seek an answer than going to an online search engine. When you are looking for something on Google, search is very convenient; if your job is to be creative, you have to be careful about using them. 

This is a very un-organic and streamlined tool; the answer to the question is already prepared – and that can limit the inspiration or even the process of creation itself.

I strongly agree with his point of view. 

If we are all looking at the same things and using them as an inspiration, many people are probably going to end up making something very similar. And of course, the new things won’t come out from it if you are looking at something that already exists. 

Another problem is that the Internet doesn’t have the answer to all of the questions that we have anyway. Joe Stewart, Global Creative Director and Partner at HUGE, said it is difficult to look for digital inspiration – because it’s new, and we are the first generation in the digital era. He said that human behavior can be a very powerful inspiration source. 

Just by having a conversation with somebody, you will learn a lot about things you didn’t know. 

When I receive an assignment brief, I often go out and do some research. Simply going to the supermarket and observing what kinds of people are going to buy the product that I am working on sometimes gives me a better understanding of what kind of advertising problem it is that I am trying to solve. 

Once I find the human truth that is hidden in the product, coming up with ideas becomes easier. 

During the last few days, I have spoken with many people. It didn’t matter if they were creatives, planners, students, or anything else – they all inspired me tremendously. Now I am back in my room writing this. To be honest, this is my first time writing more than 140 characters in awhile. 

I usually don’t like writing at all; after Creative Week, I actually wanted to share my thoughts with others. 

Talking to someone leads to inspiration. 

Inspiration leads to motivation.

Motivation leads to an action.

And an action leads to an unexpected outcome. 

After all:

We are in the industry of people – not the industry of “I am going to sit in front of a computer and make cool stuff”. 

So the next time you need an inspiration, step away from the desk and go take a walk. 

Because the computer doesn’t make the creative person.

It’s the person who returns to the keyboard, inspired by the people out in the world.