Let Creativity Flow

Throughout my internet adventures I have found websites, articles, and web comics dedicated to bad clients. ClientsFromHell.net, 6 Warning Signs of a Potentially Bad Client, and this comic from TheOatmeal.com are just a few of the things I have discovered.

These three links have one thing in common: the creative people feel like they are too restricted by their client. They feel as though they were hired to come up with a creative to a solution to a problem, while the client micromanages and hinders their creativity.*

It gets tricky, because the client has stated what they want, and since they are paying the creative team they should get the results they want. At the same time the creative team is working to make something to draw people in. They are trying to approach the problem from different angles to come up with an interesting and unique solution. Sometimes the solution is something the client had never even thought of (which is often why they hired the creative team in the first place), so they need to let go of the reigns a bit and trust that the end result will be great.

That is the solution to the client and creative team butting heads: trust. The client needs to trust that the creative team will do their job, and do it well, and the creative team needs to trust and respect what the client wants. When a client is constantly sending revisions and morphing the creative team’s ideas into an awful mess, it only makes both parties angry. The client gets angry because they’re getting a bad end result, and the creative team gets angry because they’re not able to do their job.

The client should certainly be updated with how things are going, and the direction the creative team is going in, and are certainly welcome to voice their opinions and critiques. The creative team should respect the client’s ideas, and if they begin to stray uncomfortably far from what the client wants, should step back and adjust accordingly. At the same time, they should not allow their design to turn into something they don’t like, because their name will always be attached to that project. It can be difficult, but when a business relationship like this goes sour, it’s best to drop the client or creative team rather than keep the bad relationship.

When a client and creative team can communicate respectfully, and trust that the other knows what they’re doing, it makes for a much better working relationship.

 

*This certainly does not happen between every client and creative team, and not every creative agency feels this way about their clients.

PBS Revamps Using YouTube

We all know that a YouTube presence gives us the ability to reach a larger audience. The question is, how have companies been able to use that to their advantage? PBS, the Public Broadcasting Service, found that on TV they had a strong hold on children aged 0-6 and adults 55 and older, but they lacked a following from everyone inbetween, on TV and online.

Jason Seiken, Vice President of PBS Interactive said, “We realized that what we needed to do was get away from what we do on television, and do things that are very native to this medium—we call it PBS quality with a YouTube sensibility.” PBS Digital Studios was born, and have created such videos as Mister Rogers Remixed – Garden in Your Mind, and Bob Ross Remixed – Happy Little Cloud, among many others.

Seiken explained that PBS received about 165 million video streams online last month, as opposed to about two million a few years earlier. Around 62% of last month’s streams were viewed on a mobile device, which is significant because according to Seiken children view PBS material on mobile devices 10 times more than adults do. So, in order to hold a more modern audience and bring people to view PBS material, PBS has created 3 mobile apps; 2 for adults and 1 for children.

PBS also utilized Facebook and Twitter to help reel in a larger audience, and they’ve got over 1 million followers on each platform.

So, what can you take away from this? It’s a good idea to shift just a little bit to better suit your target audience. This doesn’t mean you should change your brand entirely, just do the research to find better ways to reach your audience, and adjust accordingly. The results may surprise you.

Communication is Key

I found this comic a few weeks ago, and recently shared it on our Facbook page.

I thought it was funny, and made a good point. Communication can be tricky. We have all of these great tools that enable us to communicate essentially 24 hours a day, but I’m finding more and more that they’re not really enhancing communication skills.

I am a visual communicator. It’s easiest for me to express what I want face-to-face, with a pen and paper in hand. If I can draw out a quick picture, or write as I’m explaining exactly what I want, I’m golden. When I try to describe what I want over the phone, the other person can’t see my pictures or hand gestures, they can only hear my “um’s” and “uh’s” and “kind of like this but not’s”. Emails are a little better, but they get lengthy, filled with unnecessary details and descriptions so I feel that no one will be mistaken as to what it is I want.

I know I’m not the only person like that. I know that even with face-to-face meetings (and pictures and hand gestures) things can be misinterpreted or poorly described. So I’ve come up with a few tips to help make communication a little more effective.

Know what you want. Before you meet with someone, whether it’s face-to-face or on the phone, you should have a good idea of what you want. Even if you’re a little fuzzy on some of the minor details, you should know what you want. Jot down a few notes beforehand, so you’re not racking your brain trying to remember that great idea you had the day before.

If you don’t know what you want, have a plan. If you go into a meeting with no ideas and no structure, it’s only going to be a waste of time for everyone involved. Even if you don’t know exactly what you want, write down some ideas and be willing to brainstorm to come up with more. Come to the meeting with some notes jotted down, and some photo research done, so that you have something to start with. At the very least, know where you want to start. Don’t show up with nothing.

Be prepared. Make up a list of things you definitely want to walk away with before the meeting, just so you know that by the end of it you will have accomplished the most important things.

These are basic communication tips, but still important. Don’t talk over other people. It can be easy when brainstorming to yell out your idea the second it pops into your head, but if someone else is talking, it’s best to wait your turn. If a meeting starts to go sour, and you or the other person are getting frustrated, it can be easy to cut them off at every opportunity. Don’t. It will reflect poorly on you and your business.

Listen. This is probably the most obvious tip of all, but it’s still the most important. Asking someone to repeat something multiple times is frustrating to the other person, and can make them feel like you’re not paying them the attention they deserve. Really listening will help the meeting run smoothly, and will help to make the end result exactly what you or the client wanted.

No one wants to end up with a piece of rope instead of a tire swing, and through good communication it can be completely avoided.

Creating Realistic Sound Effects

Creating original sound effects for your video can be difficult. In order to achieve powerful and professional sounds to go with your video there are a few things you need to do.

Get the Gear

For custom sound work you will need a few pieces of equipment:

  • condenser microphone
  • audio interface
  • computer audio software (such as Pro Tools or Logic Pro)
  • headphones or good speakers

Import Your Video

For the best sound, you should import the video you are working on into your audio software’s workstation. You can then record sounds and noises, and place them exactly where you want them to go. Depending on the size and quality of the video, you can free up CPU by importing a smaller, lower quality video. This will allow your computer to run faster and more efficiently while still giving you control of where the sound should be.

Layer

A custom sound is custom because the sound designer created something amazing out of a bunch of smaller elements. The clip below shows a good example of this, where the sounds used for gunshots are actually 5 different elements put together. Individually they were just random sounds, but together they made a realistic gunshot noise.

Creating SFX can take time and practice, but they are essential to make a professional-sounding video.

Black Friday Madness

Thanksgiving is a time for family, turkey, and football. We play, cook, eat, sleep, and watch the games on TV. Over the past few years it has also become a time to save. This year, my family spent an hour or so sifting through Black Friday ads to find the things they wanted to get for Christmas.

Shopping on Black Friday is not something I enjoy doing. Before this year, the last time I went I was 15 and I got punched by an old man who was reaching for the same camera as me. 4 years after that I was working in retail and stood at a cash register from 3:30 AM-12:00 PM. After that I never wanted to leave the house on Black Friday ever again. I’ve weighed the costs, and reached the decision that I would rather spend a little extra money than drive around in a sleep-deprived manic state on the hunt for sales.

I didn’t really understand why people would sacrifice their time, and sometimes their safety, to save money on toys and clothes and other gifts, until I did some reading. After last Friday a lot of articles came out about the shopping day, and I was enlightened. People get up crazy early or just stay up all night because there are stores that promise the chance of winning x amount of dollars in gift cards. For example, there could be many gift cards handed out between $5-25, a few less for $50-100, and one lucky winner of $1,000. Other stores have really great deals that you can only get between certain hours (early bird specials).

This year I caved and ended up going out to pick up a few things around 10 AM. It was perfect. I knew exactly what I needed, and it only took me about 20 minutes at each of the two stores I went to (40 minutes total). When I reached the counter I smiled extra big and was overly-pleasant on purpose, because I know what it’s like to stand behind the register. I know that people get mad at you if what they wanted is gone, and that if something rings up even 50 cents more than it should have you get chewed out. I read this article about Black Friday from a worker’s perspective, which sparked this post in the first place, and it made me so grateful for everyone who has to work on this day.

There are some things to take away from the Black Friday Madness. I didn’t want to admit it, because it might be my least favorite day of the year, but I can’t deny that there is some good that can come out of it.

Give an incentive. People will come to you if you give them a reason to. For Black Friday, the big incentive is all of the discounts. For your company it could be a discount or prize or free sample. If your consumer can be rewarded, there is more of a chance they will come to you.

Spread the word. There are so many different ways to get the word out that it’s your own fault if you don’t. You can use your website, social media accounts, flyers (in stores and in newspapers), billboards, radio ads, and even TV ads. The best is always word of mouth, so try to tell as many people as you can about it. It may not always spread, but it never hurts to try.

Throw in a surprise extra. A lot of places give gift cards for spending x amount of dollars, or a free drink or appetizer at a restaurant or fast food place that the consumer gets right at the register as they’re checking out. When people come to you, it doesn’t hurt to throw in an extra deal or discount or free sample. Usually the consumer will go on and tell their friends about the sample, which will bring in business, regardless of what you’re selling or what your company does.

Dumb Ways To Die

I love this clip so much I feel the need to write a post about it. “Dumb Ways to Die” created by McCann Melbourne is a campaign created to raise train station safety awareness. It combines cute little animated characters dying in these “dumb,” outrageous ways, and ends with a few train safety tips.

It’s effective for a few different reasons. The first is that it’s appropriate for all audiences. The characters are cute and don’t scare children, and they’re funny enough to keep adults engaged. Each piece is easily understood by people of all ages, so it is able to reach a very large audience. The second is that the song is catchy. After seeing this, I’m sure it will be hard for someone at a train station to not have at least a piece of this song run through their head. One of the best ways to remember something is to put it to music, and this clip does it beautifully. The third is that it is able to show how dangerous trains are without scaring the viewer. It’s presenting a serious message in a fun, light-hearted, and memorable way.

What to take away from this: simplicity is good. This isn’t flashy or loud. They didn’t write a symphony or get Mariah Carey to sing the song. They kept it low-key, and in the end it turned out perfectly.