Sidenotes – Creative Culture Design and Digital

July 1, 2018 — Comments are off for this post.

Design philosophy: Eleazar Hernandez

I have been contemplating making the leap into higher ed. I love teaching and I find distinct pleasure in working with the young designers. The benefit of working and mentoring young designers is it requires that you know what you’re talking about. Having an open dialogue with some of my mentees about anything from the trajectory of our chosen profession to different program hacks that we’ve discovered to the ultra-nerdy discussions of our desires to work with certain papers is always enlightening. Sometimes I feel like a design vampire, sucking the creative youth out of them for my own selfish purposes.

June 9, 2018 — Comments are off for this post.

Don’t be influenced by someone else’s highlight reel.

Have you ever done this? Have you looked at designers, studios or agencies that you admire and wonder “how do they get this cool gigs?” or “why can’t I get great gigs like that?” We all suffer from designer envy from time to time. It’s that little green (or PMS 15-0343 2017’s Color of the year) monster inside of us that makes us question ourselves, our work and ultimately our ability to produce.

May 17, 2018 — Comments are off for this post.

Will work for tamales.

During a recent staff meeting our owner/creative director Eleazar, shared a memory that we thought was too good to let slip by.

Here are Eleazar's own words:

Recently I was going through some old files to clear off some storage space and I came across a project that I did while working at Creative Civilization. It was a trifold brochure for a San Antonio Catholic organization run by a nun.

April 12, 2018 — Comments are off for this post.

Debbie Millman

Designers must balance both the logic and lyricism of humanity every time they design something, a task that requires a singularly mysterious skill.

March 11, 2018 — Comments are off for this post.

Making connections between your clients and their audience.

When you’re brainstorming ideas for a campaign, there should be no fear, no limits, no boundaries. Sure your client might have some brand guidelines, but when you are working through your ideation process, you are free to create. There are no wrong answers in the beginning. Work through your thinking and scribbling stages and let the ideas flow. The only mistake you can make is not exploring the all ideas.

February 9, 2018 — Comments are off for this post.

Who’s laughing now?

When most communicators think about humor, it’s typically in the context of a TV spot or a clever print ad. Fortunately for those who have a desire to use humor in their work, it can be an effective communication tool across a diverse range of print and interactive media.

No joke! Believe it or not, business people have a sense of humor just like the rest of us. (Well… most of them.) If you think about it, nearly everyone can enjoy a good laugh. (If they don’t, that’s unfortunate.)