10/06/07
Be a Creative Sponge
I’m just back from @media Europe where I talked about the importance of maintaining design collections and how to use them, under the banner “How to be Creative Sponge”. Having only ever resided on panels before now, and with the exception of a 15 minute talk at Oxford Geek Night 2, it was my first ‘proper’ speaking engagement. I was concerned that what I had to say was too obvious, too common-sense, but feedback so far has been good, and I’m really appreciative of those that took time to tell me they got something from it.
As promised, here are the slides from the the talk, and all the URLs mentioned in the talk can be found via the sponge tag on my delicious account: http://del.icio.us/jonhicks/sponge.
As for the conference itself, I had a whale of time. I meet new, lovely, interesting people every time, and always come away with new ideas and motivations. In particular though, I absolutely loved being able to share it with Leigh, and I have her parents to thank for that.
My lasting image of the event will undoubtedly be Drew whipping up the crowd in chants of ‘There is no fold!’, aided by placards. Especially after receiving a Request for Proposal that week, containing the requirement “All information on the homepage must be visible above the fold”, I was tempted to take one of the placards and send it back with my proposal!
Tags: atmedia, design, presentation, sponge, talks
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Kirk said 342 days ago:
Thanks again to both you and Leigh (the card she gave me will be used to start a new “collection”). Really glad you caught a shot of Drew’s placards. I was too busy clapping to click.
Dusan Smolnikar said 342 days ago:
I’ve gone trough your slides…
I’ve always felt bad for storing designs I like just to borrow ideas from them. So thanks for clearing that one out. :) Just one thing though – how often do you go trough your own designs to gather ideas for the next project?
And by the way, was the presentation recorded (audio/video)? For those of us who’ve missed the conference…
Adam said 342 days ago:
Thanks for the slides! I was there for your speach and it will help in the future for sure!
I always kick myself when I find out about stuff like this and think “ohhhhh yehhh it makes sense nowwww” but life goes on I guess!
Thanks again!
Simon Willison said 342 days ago:
That was your first hour long talk? Wow, you came across as a total seasoned pro. Great talk, really enjoyed it.
Colly said 342 days ago:
Darn my two (yes, two) printer-related disasters that robbed me of countering Drew’s placards with my own. Oh well, we had a blast all the same. Oh, and thanks to you both for the “Hickshug” – something to treasure.
Scott O'Raw said 342 days ago:
Ok, where do I order my “THERE IS NO FOLD ON IT” t-shirt ? ;-)
I really liked Dunsans’ idea of audio/video versions of the talks. Maybe something for @Media to consider for next time would be to have 2 different registrations – one for physical attendance and one for online live streaming of the talks? Incidentally, if this idea takes off you are all my witnesses that I though of it first!
Thanks for the slides and the del.icio.us links.
Michael Grinstead said 342 days ago:
I can’t believe how nervous I was to chat with you after your talk :) As an avid reader/follower of your journal/work I was very much looking forward to hearing you speak, I wasn’t disappointed!
There’s no mistake you have a passion for design, this was certainly seen on stage.
Thanks for the slides, I especially love the sponge Hicks.
P.s. Yes Dr Who was a blinder, but not as good as the previous two Ep’s.
Ross Boardman said 342 days ago:
Great talk. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to catch up with you.
I did want to ask if you scan any of your printed ‘treasures’ so they can sit happily in iPhoto with the rest of your scrapbook?
Shaun hare said 342 days ago:
Great talk Jon, I would have never guessed it was your first!!
As a developer (non designer—-yet!!) you even inspired me to drop into WHS at King’s Cross on the way home and buy a notebook and start recording/collecting/gathering
Jon Hicks said 341 days ago:
@Ross – I only ever scan in sketchbooks when I need to send something to a client, otherwise they stay on my shelf for browsing through later on.
I haven’t heard for sure yet that the sessions are going to be podcasted, but I think they are.
Andrew Pendrick said 341 days ago:
Well paced, intelligent and plenty of ideas to trial and adopt. If I had any gumption or a dash more courage then I was going to ask you if you thought that there was a difference in ‘sponges’ between those designers who have a fine art background and those who are self taught. Thanks for the ‘mail icon’ tip though – easily found and now I have good old brit mail!
Sam Hardacre said 341 days ago:
Hi Jon,
I spoke to you briefly on Friday and I’m not ashamed to say I’m amongst the people who were gabbing about how much your presentation inspired me.
Having only just got back from London this evening, I’ve been doing the tourist thing for the last couple of days and the effect has been instantaneous. I think my girlfriend was getting quite peeved off with me because I kept stopping to take photos of interesting looking things (mainly signage) and as for the leaflets…well I won’t go into that…
Anyways, thanks again for the inspiration and for taking the time out for a quick natter!
Sam
Taz Hussain said 341 days ago:
Hi Jon,
I thought your talk was brilliant. You have shown me a new way of organising all the ideas & inspiration I come across. Hopefully see you soon at another conference.
Barry Bloye said 341 days ago:
I can say in all honesty that your presentation was the pick of the conference for me. It brought back the feeling of complete inspiration that I had after the first @media in 2005, and it was reassuring that even seasoned pros get creative block!
The only trouble was that I spent the rest of the day itching to get in to a new project!
Marko Dugonjic said 341 days ago:
Jon, the session was great! We spent a rest of our time in London seeking for various displays around the city.
The personal highlight was your choice of a sketchbook (landscape type, so it fits in front of the keyboard)... Lovely stuff!
James Leslie said 341 days ago:
More gushing from me, Jon!
The session you gave was great and has already inspired me to build my collection beyond desktop based images. I did get weird looks grabbing tons of flyers over teh course of saturday night though :-)
Michaël Guitton said 341 days ago:
Jon, your talk was the most inspiring of all of @media07.
A true eye-opener, I mean it.
Congratz!
BTW, you should check this:
tembé art #1
tembé art #2
Chris said 341 days ago:
Just downloaded your presentation from Slideshare; stuff like this is sooooo useful for would be designers starting out. Many thanks for doing this talk and sharing the material with those who couldn’t make it to @media!
Andy Croll said 340 days ago:
Mr Hicks
Presentation great. Slides great. Delivery great. As a presenter you have no worries, your enthusiasm shines through.
I now orient my moleskine in landscape. Thank you for that particular gem!
Was lovely to meet Leigh as well.
Nathan Rutman said 340 days ago:
Jon,
The slides are great! Thanks! But it looks like the links on the last slide both point to http://del.icio.us/jonhicks/geeknightwebtype — can you fix that? :-)
Thanks again!
-Nate
Alex Ciobica said 339 days ago:
Thanks for posting the slides!
I have one question: Where can I find the flickr sets with design patters ? :)
Alex Ciobica said 339 days ago:
Thanks for sharing!
I have one question: Where can I find the flickr design patterns sets?
John Goodwin said 339 days ago:
Great presentation Jon – if I’d known it was your first, I wouldn’t have gone on about how ‘you’d better not let me down – I’m counting on you’! The beer was talking a little too much, perhaps…
A real inspiration, brilliant ideas and very entertaining delivery – thanks again.
Antonia said 338 days ago:
Thank you for your presentation at @media, I really enjoyed it. It ‘allowed’ me to buy a brand new Moleskine that very evening!
( I am glad I’m not the only one with a thing for leaflet racks…)
Lee Tucknott said 337 days ago:
Really enjoyed your presentation (which I heard was one of your first? How can that be…?). I like to be inspired (and reminded) to do all those things that I know I should, and want to be doing…I’ve ‘re-opened’ my sketchbook, so to speak… :)
Arsart said 328 days ago:
Many thanks for that great presentation, we took your idea over “moodboard” and, and I bought a Moleskine at last and strangely started writting in it instead of drawing :D, but that’s another song!