Don’t hate her because she’s beautiful. Cameron Russell, an accomplished and in-demand model, shares some very compelling insights on the power of attractiveness, the insecurities of even (perhaps especially) physically attractive females, and the “true life” of models. A sample:

“Saying that you want to be a model when you grow up is akin to saying that you want to win the Powerball when you grow up. It’s out of your control and it’s awesome — and it’s not a career path.” 

She follows this up with some especially sage advice, but you’ll have to watch to hear it – and then to share it with your daughters.

1. Instagram is a photo sharing app that allows you to apply simple filters and frames to your photos and then share them through social media. You share them either through the Instagram app itself or by sending and sharing through other social sites like Facebook.

2. In fact, Instagram was purchased by Facebook for a neat one billion dollars in 2012. (Yes, that is a b.) The deal specified that Instagram would remain managed independently from Facebook.

3. While Instagram has been used and viewed primarily through smartphones up until now, they are in the process of launching Web profiles – photo rich profile pages generated from your Instagram posts. You can learn more about this rollout in this Lifehacker article.

4. Sites like this one offer you a way to capitalize on your Instagram photos by creating a gallery of photos for sale that can be easily ordered – either framed or printed on canvas.

5. There are loads of Instagram compatible apps that extend your photo manipulation capabilities. These allow you to do simple things like expand your filter and framing options through apps like Vintique. Or to add unique special effects – like Mangacamera which filters your photos with manga backgrounds and words.

6. Hashtags allow you to search for tagged photos. The most popular hashtag on Instagram is #love. This link shows you the most popular tags and the most popular users of Instagram.

7. While the popularity of users like kimkardashian and justinbieber demonstrates the interests of many Instagram users, it can serve a more serious purpose, too. During Hurricane Sandy, lots of people turned to Instagram for photos of their shore properties, homes, or favorite vacation spots.

This article on Poynter contains information on Instagram’s record-breaking usage during the storm and some of the criticism that was leveled against individuals posting pictures of damage that some viewed as frivolous.

Here’s a video of a Ted talk that offers an amusing take on the use (misuse?) of statistics. Effective measurement is absolutely essentially to gauging the success of a communications initiative. But here’s a funny reminder of the downside of taking a solely “by the numbers” approach to creativity.

In a brilliantly tongue-in-cheek analysis, Sebastian Wernicke turns the tools of statistical analysis on TEDTalks, to come up with a metric for creating “the optimum TEDTalk” based on user ratings.

Don’t know if infographics are a trend or if they are here to stay, but I DO know that they are among my favorite things to discover on the Internet. (As an aside, if you like infographics, too, your new favorite site might be www.visual.ly – a share site to create and/or view infographics.) Click here to try out an interactive infographic I found there that allows you to find your closest body match among Olympic competitors. Enjoy . . . if you dare.

A really, really smart guy named Salman Khan (three degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard) wanted to help his niece in another city bring up her math grade. So, he started tutoring her remotely. Her grades went up and more nieces and nephews were added to his roster. With their schedules to consider, it just became easier for him to make brief YouTube videos simply explaining the math they had to learn. Pretty soon, other people started watching his videos. And their numbers grew. The result is Khan Academy. And I think it is the best thing on the Internet. At this amazing site, you can now watch more than 2,800 videos where geniuses explain things to you simply – often while making simple drawings to illustrate their point.

Math is still this site’s strong suit, but topics now range from Biology to Art History to Calculus to Chemistry and beyond. Their mission is nothing short of changing the way the world learns – while democratizing access to knowledge.

Check out the TED Talk that Mr. Khan gave about his amazing site:

One other thing about the site – it makes learning fun. Really. You can start at any point and earn badges for successfully completing exercises that accompany the lessons. You can use it to help your kids with complex concepts that you either don’t remember or never learned. Or, you can simply dip in at any point and learn more about topics that excite you.

I love a good video of a kitten falling asleep as much as the next person. But, if you’re ready to use the Internet to its full advantage, Khan Academy should be your next stop.

Earlier this year, we featured a blog highlighting the Ten Questions that James Lipton asks his guests at the end of each interview on “Inside the Actor’s Studio.” The format was actually inspired by the French TV host Bernard Pivot, who would submit to his guests the “Proust Questionnaire,” named after the great French writer Marcel Proust. Proust believed that a person’s answers to these ten questions revealed a great deal about them. Ready to show your true colors? Post your answers to the questions that follow. My answers are below.

 1.) What is your favorite word?

Serendipity

 2.) What is your least favorite word?

Leverage

 3.) What turns you on?

Authenticity

 4.) What turns you off?

Phoniness

 5.) What sound or noise do you love?

The call of the green frog (click here).

Tied for first: A camera clicking.

Close second: A good, old-fashioned typewriter.

6.) What sound or noise do you hate?

Whining

7.) What is your favorite curse word?

Poop

8.) What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

Psychologist

9.) What profession would you not like to do?

Ice Road Trucker

10.) If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Welcome back.

‘tis the season to get interactive!

If you’re an HR professional who’s in the market for:

• End of Year Awards for employees
• Holiday gifts for clients, vendors, or employees
• Party favors/giveaways
• Onboarding info for new hires
• Winter-themed promotional products
• Job Fair/Open House giveaways

now’s the time to see all that YourHRStore has to offer. We’ve updated our highlighted products to fit the season. There are lots of options for organizations with limited budgets.

Even better, we have a chance to win $1000 worth of promotional products! To enter, click here to visit our home page and choose “Start Shopping Now!” Once you’re on our shopping page, look to the column on the left for the green bullet that reads “$1,000 Drawing” and click on it for more details and to enter.

 We’ve all seen promotional products done poorly. The sloppily printed smiley face squeeze ball that ends up rolling around your office drawer. The pen that doesn’t write. The letter opener that you’ll never use. But when promotional products are done correctly they can be one of the most memorable and inexpensive ways to make an impact. In fact, recent studies show that promotional products have the lowest cost per impression of all media. That’s a lot of bang for your buck. And that’s where YourHRStore comes in.

www.yourhrstore.com

 YourHRStore is our new custom promotional products electronic storefront. We’ve developed a convenient venue for HR professionals to find the right products for their very specific needs. A well-chosen and professionally executed product can undoubtedly add impact to your HR initiatives. The new hire who is greeted with a gift that reflects your corporate identity. The career fair materials that draw applicants to your booth. The customized giveaways that reinforce the importance of retaining your employees. These are smart ways for HR to effectively use promotional products.

Take a look at our site and then add YourHRStore to your list of go-to vendors. It’s a smaHRt way to make a big impact.

“O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!”

The above is an often quoted line from a Robert Burns poem entitled, “To A Louse.” The line is probably quoted so often because each of us harbors a secret desire to know what others think of us. What they really, really think of us. Not so much the things they would say to our faces, but the traits that are perhaps a bit less flattering. In short, our failings. Enter the site failin.gs. If you choose, you can sign up at failin.gs, share your profile with your online social circle, and elicit anonymous postings on just what exactly is wrong with you. The site puts it this way:

“As humans, we naturally want to know what others think of us, either to boost our egos or to help us know what skills we need to work on. Failin.gs puts the concept of brutal honesty to the test by letting you post opinions from those who know you, without revealing who says what. Basically, failin.gs wants to help you answer that age-old question: ‘What do people think of me, really?’ “

As this article on lifehacker points out, the site reminds contributors to be kind when posting. I also asked my dentist to be gentle when I was getting a root canal, but I still wouldn’t volunteer for one.

We recently brought you a blog post about honestly.com - a site that allows employers to rate employees. Next up, was a post about GlassDoor.com. This site gave employees an anonymous forum to rate employers. Now, with failin.gs all of this online anonymous critiquing is about to get personal. Will it catch on? I’d tell you what I really think. But I’d have to do it anonymously.

Until Spring arrives for real, I thought I’d brighten your day with a hot pink photo of flowers. I also wanted to share the unconventional method that I used to capture this image.

It might be one of the stranger photo tips that you ever hear – but it’s one that, for me, has consistently produced some interesting results. To take this photo, I used a Nikon D60 set to Automatic mode (equipped with a Nikkor 55-200mm lens set to about it’s shortest length). It should work for any SLR set to a mode with auto-focus and a standard length lens. This picture was taken at a hothouse/nursery, which is one of my go-to locations when I want to take random shots. I’ve found in the past that I prefer flower and plant shots taken at “ground” level, as opposed to views from above, but after some time spent kneeling and squatting to get the right view I wasn’t happy with the results and my aching legs weren’t happy either. So, I simply put the camera down to the level that I wanted (while I remained upright and not looking through the viewfinder) and shot indiscriminately  – literally, from the hip. I depressed the shutter halfway each time, so that the camera could “decide” what to focus on before depressing fully to capture the shot. What resulted was not just one but a series of photos that I found interesting and surprising. In many, taking the photo this way produced an unexpected midfield focal area, with content in both the foreground and the background out of focus. This only works for certain types of subjects – in particular, there must be multitudes of whatever you are shooting – a field of flowers is a perfect example. When Spring finally arrives, it just might be the perfect time to give this unconventional method a try.

It’s mid-January . . . do you know where your resolutions are?

Less than two short weeks ago, you probably made some promises to yourself. Maybe they involved going to the gym more, or refocusing on your career, or losing a few pounds. But even the best of intentions can fall by the wayside when real life intervenes. Staying motivated can be a challenge. Until today. Any time you feel less than optimally motivated, just visit ifeelunmotivated.com. At this site, you can view a series of videos, slogans, or graphics that are sure to keep your head in the game. Below are two of the videos hosted there that are especially entertaining or inspirational. (Have a tissue handy for the second one.) With motivation this accessible, this just might be your year.

My favorite post from the past year is actually one from last December. I wrote “Mango: A Love Story” just a week after we got our first real pet. It’s fun to reread it after having Mango for a year – he’s become such a big part of our family that it’s hard to imagine life without him. Also, it’s funny that I wrote it before we found out that “she” was a “he.” I love that it ends with, “And she is a pretty girl.” Stay tuned for the sequel, “Mango: It’s a Boy!”

 I want to share a TED talk with you that I found especially creatively inspiring.   First, a bit of background on TED: They are a non-profit organization devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Through speaker-focused conferences and events, they seek to share great ideas with the world. Their goal is to bring together “the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers” and to give them a global platform to share their vision. The speakers are limited to 18 minutes. Via their website, TED.com, they make their most impactful “TED talks” available for free viewing and sharing. At the site, there are more than 800 “talks” currently available.   Because TED is an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, and Design and because these areas are often at the center of creative expression, I find the TED site especially inspiring and worthwhile. I visit TED.com when I want to be uplifted, inspired, and challenged.   Marian Bantjes is a graphic artist who believes that her art was transformed when she shifted from “following strategy” to “following her heart.” She shares her beautiful work and her thoughts on this transformation in her TED talk entitled “Intricate beauty by design.”

Percolator is an iPhone app that allows you to creatively modify photographs. The user experience is simple and somewhat intuitive, although it required a bit of tinkering to get what I considered desirable results. Here’s how it works: Within the Percolator app, you start by either choosing a photo from your existing Photo Library or taking a new photograph. Once selected the picture briefly loads into the app – the load bar specifies that it is “grinding beans . . . boiling water . . . percolating.” The photo is morphed into what is essentially a circular mosaic based upon the apps’ default settings of “Coarse” under the Grind Setting; “Rings” under the Brew Setting; and “Black” under the Serve Setting. (As an aside, the coffee lingo used throughout the app is a nod to both the Percolator name and the “bubble” effect of the filter. It’s either amusing or distracting depending upon your point of view. I didn’t mind it.) When I first started working with the app, I mistakenly thought that you had to establish your settings prior to photo load, but that’s not the case. In fact the real fun starts when you tinker with the settings after the photo is morphed. Grind specifies the level of detail in the mosaic (it is also the only setting that does not visually change in the preview prior to locking in your settings); Brew is the type of mosaic filter or effect that you want; and Serve seems to be primarily driven by colors or palette.

It’s fun to try different combinations to various effect. You can also shake your phone to get a random combination. Once you’ve achieved your desired effect, you lock in your selections by closing the Settings option. In their lingo, you’re confirming the “grind change.” Then the app works its magic and the photo is morphed into a final mosaic. If you like the end result, you can Save it to your phones’ Photo Album, which allows you to share it in any number of ways. While some Photoshop purists will view this app as nothing more than a glorified filter, I found it to be both highly entertaining and creatively useful. In the brief time I spent with the app I was pleased with some of the results that I got and it made me want to explore the app at much greater length. As the app developers advise, you can also combine effects with other photo editing software. In addition to my quick example above, some beautiful examples of “percolated photos” can be found here on flickr . My rating: five out of five stars.

Some things seem like a good idea if you agree to them far enough in advance. Case in point: Last year, after my husband finished a sprint triathlon in Brigantine, NJ, my 12-year-old suggested we compete as a family relay team in 2010. It seemed like a good idea at the time and, hey, I had a whole year to train. Right?

Here’s what we agreed to: My husband would do the quarter mile bay swim; I would do the 11-mile bike portion; and our 12-year old would complete the 4-mile run. No sweat. Especially once I trained for it. With a year to go I figured I’d start my training about four months before the event. When the time to start training rolled around, four months of training for an 11-mile bike ride seemed a bit overzealous, three months of training should do the trick. Or maybe I could do it in two. Or one. The night before the event the only option left was to pray for rain.

August 7, 2009 – the day of the Brigantine Sprint Triathlon – dawned as a picture perfect summer day. Not a cloud in the sky and zero percent chance of precipitation. It was on.

Of course, when I say I didn’t train at all, I’m exaggerating a bit. Bike riding is my outdoor activity of choice and in the weeks leading up to the race, I hopped on my bike at least a couple of times a week. A few times I even rode eleven miles just to make sure I could do it. As a suburban soccer mom who had never been in any type of race before, let’s just say I wasn’t your typical triathlon participant – even for a sprint. My relay partners and I agreed that we had one goal – to finish. In my mind, I established a somewhat leisurely pace for myself of 6-minute miles. Factoring in the run through the transition area (gulp), I emphasized to my husband and daughter that they shouldn’t look for me for at least an hour and ten minutes after my start.

As anybody who has ever participated in an event like this probably knows, I wasn’t factoring in race day adrenaline. As I waited in the transition area for my husband to complete his swim, my heart was pounding with equal parts excitement and fear. He made good time on the swim, despite the unusually strong bay current that day, and before I knew it he was running towards me to transfer the ankle bracelet that contained our time chip. Once the transition was complete, I ran the bike through transition to the bike staging area. Then it was eleven miles of pure bike riding adrenaline. After the first five miles I stopped hyperventilating. The last mile I smiled the whole way. I finished the ride twenty minutes faster than I expected. My 12-year-old ran her four miles (with her dad beside her for support) like a champ. The best part? Now we have a time to beat. We’re all in again for next year. Training begins in April.

Top Three Summertime Sources for Creative Inspiration

If you’ve read my “Five Simple Steps to Greatly Increasing Your Creativity,” you know that I’m big on “Creating Your Own Inspiration.” In fact, that’s one of my Five Simple Steps. Years spent meeting agency deadlines have taught me that inspiration is usually sparked by hard work, not the other way around. In my personal quest to create more art, I have been striking out in search of things that personally inspire me. Summer is here. Don’t let this season pass you by without exploring how it can uniquely inspire you too. Here are my Top Three Summertime Sources for Creative Inspiration:

1. Send Yourself Back to School
So many courses. So little time. I’m lucky enough to live in an area that is rich with art schools. Every time I receive a course catalog from one of these schools – from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts to Main Line Art Center – I salivate over the classes that are offered. This semester I actually did something about it and signed up for “Image Transfer Techniques” with Andrea Snyder. Knowing the various techniques to transfer images to artwork will add a new, strong tool to my creative repertoire. Is it convenient to come home from work and head directly to a three hour evening class? Absolutely not – some nights I have to drag myself there. But once I’m there, I find myself re-entering that elusive creative “flow” – the feeling of being fully immersed in what I’m doing. Lots of new ideas are flowing as well. I’m excited by what I’m learning and doing. Busy schedules aside, for me nothing beats an art class to get you inspired.

2. Find a Mentor
Before I embraced this advice, I hated hearing it. How exactly do you go about finding a mentor? And what do you say to them once you track one down? It always seemed phony and unrealistic to me to pursue a mentor in the traditionally advised sense. So I’ve adapted this advice in a way that works for me. I consider my mentor Scott Kelby. He’s a world-renowned author on digital photography and all things Photoshop. He’s also the President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. I’ve also never spoken to him or met him. So how is it that I’ve never met the guy but I consider Scott Kelby my mentor? He transfers his know-how through multiple accessible channels, including books (more than 35), podcasts, web sites and magazines. He is an expert in my primary areas of creative pursuit and he is able to convey his knowledge in a way that I find both compelling and easy to understand. To me that’s the definition of a mentor. This summer, I’m rereading his “Digital Photography Book” and directly applying what I’m learning from him into my photographs. Spend some time finding somebody who inspires you in your own creative pursuits. Even if you don’t have the opportunity to meet the best in your field, you can still tap into their knowledge.

3. Two Words: Road Trip!
For me, nothing beats a road trip for seeing things in new ways – literally. I’m just back from nearly 900 miles on the road. A trip that took me from Philadelphia to North Carolina and back. Stops along the way included Hatteras, Ocracoke Island, Chincoteague, and Ocean City, Maryland. Everywhere I went I was inspired. From photographing wild ponies in Chincoteague to gathering sand for future projects from the beaches of Hatteras – I didn’t go anywhere without coming away with new ideas. Wherever the road takes you this summer, commit yourself to discovering new ways of being creative along the way.

So here I am, armed with new knowledge of transfer techniques, hundreds of photos, and several bags of sand. Will great art result? Who knows? But I’m definitely inspired to find out.

Deadlines. The very word can strike fear into the hearts of anybody who has ever had to meet one. For those doing something creative, doubly so. To work under time constraints is one thing. To create under deadline-pressure is something else entirely. What if inspiration never strikes? (And inspiration seems to run in especially short supply with a clock ticking over your head.) But it’s this very challenge that leads to the wonderful thing about deadlines. In a way, they solve the exact problems that they create. I’ll explain. Here are the top three reasons to love deadlines:

1. Deadlines Change an Idea into a Plan
My job as a Creative Director is to take often abstract creative requests and make them concrete. That means turning a request like “The client wants to see something new,” into an actionable plan. The first step is to specifically establish what you want to end up with. For instance, I might change “needs new client ideas” into “needs two .pdfs of image boards, each with an additional .pdf of a sample collateral item.” Now there’s a concrete goal – but the goal isn’t a plan until that all-important deadline is established. One of my favorite quotes, by French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery, says it best: “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

2. Deadlines are the Engines That Drive Your Projects
If you’ve read my blog posts before on creativity, you know that I’m big on action. Deadlines keep things moving along. Working on something, actually making forward progress, is the most important thing you can do on a creative project. Being inspired while you work is secondary. I’m not saying you should compromise the quality of your creative work. I’m simply agreeing with creative genius, Thomas Edison, when he said “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

3. Deadlines Get Things Done
One of the best things about art classes in school were student critiques. Everybody would put up their work to await comments from their peers. Inevitably, in this setting and in museums across the country, you’ll hear the same comment, “I could have done that.” My response is always the same. But you didn’t. This person did. They stretched the canvas, they got the paints out, and they put brush to canvas. The difference between a work of art and an overused critique of said work is in the doing. The quote that applies here? I guess I’d have to go with Larry the Cable Guy on this one: “Git’r Done.”

So, there it is. Three great reasons to establish and embrace your deadlines. Don’t just think about what you want to do. Make a plan. Set your deadline. And go.

Last Thursday two co-workers returned from their lunch break breathless with excitement. Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro were filming a scene for their upcoming movie, The Dark Fields, just a few blocks from our offices. Our friends had gotten close to the action and they thought that we could too. Angela, Nikki, and I grabbed our jackets and ran for the elevators. But first, I stopped by my office to grab my camera – a Nikon D60 SLR with a zoom lens. The three of us worked our way over to Market Street using 17th Street as our access point. According to our friends, this would put us closer to the filming. They were right. When we got there, we politely worked our way to the front of the crowd in no time. Unfortunately, there were no stars in sight. We watched a few scenes being filmed mainly involving extras. There was a lot of “hurry up and wait” between the scenes. Just as my interest was beginning to wane, a ripple of excitement went through the crowd. The boom mike (which signals where the action is taking place) was moved to the entrance of the building. On scene, the extras were cued to walk, then the doors to the building opened and out walked Robert DeNiro and Bradley Cooper. For take after take, we watched the actors (both looking suave) repeat the scene. I was, of course, snapping pictures the entire time. This is one of the better photographs that resulted. Some days it just pays to have your camera with you.

By day, I am a Creative Director. My team and I routinely complete multiple creative projects in minimal time. At this moment I have at least twenty active projects. The copywriters, designers, and art directors I work with are juggling at least three to five projects each. We are known for the high quality of our creative output. We work quickly and efficiently. Every day, multiple creative projects are completed. Missing a deadline is not an option.

In my free time, I am equally as passionate about my personal creative pursuits. I love photography, writing, and painting. The difference between my on- and off-the-job creative output? In stark contrast to my daytime productivity, I have not put pen to paper, lens to eye, or brush to canvas in a long, long time. Why am I effective, efficient, and inspired to produce at work and so creatively unproductive at home?

To answer this question, and more importantly, to move beyond this disparity, I am taking a hard look at what works at work. I’ve outlined five simple things to carry from work to home to amp up my personal creativity. They are:

1. Establish a Deadline
Work gets done at work because it has to get done. Every project has a deadline and missing deadlines is not an option. So many of our personal goals are less specific. We’ll work on those watercolors when we get a moment or we’ll experiment with black and white self-portraits when we have a free afternoon. That’s what we tell ourselves anyway. If work projects were structured so nebulously, they’d never get completed either. Without a hard and fast deadline, projects just won’t get done. Starting today, establish a deadline for your personal creative goals and make yourself accountable to meet your own deadlines. As with work deadlines, failure is not an option.

2. Prioritize Your Work
You can’t accomplish something if you are trying to do everything. Having too much on your creative to-do list will overwhelm you. Decide what your top five creative goals are and then rank them in order of importance. Establish your deadlines based on these priorities. I would never get those twenty work projects done if I didn’t know which one I had to tackle first.

3. Assemble a “Team”
One reason that work gets done at work is because there is typically a team of people working towards the same goal right there beside you. This one is a little less transferable to home, but there are ways. The simplest? Take a class. If completing a watercolor is your priority, take a watercolor class. You’ll get that watercolor done. If taking a class is not an option, enlist the help or support of a friend who shares your interest. Don’t know somebody? Join a group or club. There are lots of ways to assemble your creative “team” at home.

4. Create Your Own Inspiration
Don’t wait for creative inspiration to strike – strike out for your own inspiration. The idea that great creativity only results when inspiration strikes is a myth. We do great work in our agency because we have to and it’s due, not because we had a random brilliant idea. It’s the act of working on the project itself that often brings forth those all-important lightbulb moments – not the other way around. Get out the paints. The great ideas will follow.

5. Overcome Perfection Paralysis
Your painting doesn’t have to be a masterpiece; your writing doesn’t have to be the Great American Novel. This is not to say you shouldn’t establish lofty goals. You should. But if you are overcome with making sure what you create is absolutely perfect, you’re less likely to create anything. At work, projects get done because they are due. Great work often results. Just get started. Keep pushing. And embrace the messy, less-than-perfect, creativity that results.

That’s it. My new rules for increasing personal creativity. I know they work. They’ve been working for me – at work – for more than a decade. It’s just time to bring them home.

In my last blog post, “Music and Creativity: Let the Music Play. Or Not,” I asked for input on music that inspired people creatively. I got back recommendations that were thoughtful and unique. As promised, I’ve compiled a playlist that partially reflects those responses. As a Creative Director, I have a front row seat to subjectivity, so I know this list won’t fit every musical taste. But I think it does fit the bill for inspiring creativity. Some recommendations were great choices, but they didn’t fit the flow of this list (I’m looking at you, Mike T). That will be another blog post altogether. Anyway, here’s the playlist that resulted – and a download is available here via iTunes. Hope you are inspired by it.

Intro – The XX – XX (Bonus Track Version)

Fans of this buzz band put the “fan” in fanatical. I think I agree. What iTunes describes as “steely quiet-storm soundscapes” is an ideal start to settling in to a creative mindset.

Serenata – Charo – Charo and Guitar

Charo. Yes, that Charo. A great suggestion from Melissa. No lyrics to distract just yet. We’re still getting the easel set up. Really beautiful sounding.

All Apologies – Sinéad O’Connor – Universal Mother

Okay, I just thought Sinead should be on this list. Probably a little too slow for this point in the playlist, but “All Apologies” stays. Bonus points that it’s a Nirvana cover.

Sweet Tides – Thievery Corporation – Radio Retaliation

Loved Lisa’s comment that her Art Teacher always played Thievery Corporation to get them in the creative zone. This one is for all of those inspiring Art Teachers that we all remember with affection.

Act of the Apostle – God Help the Girl – God Help the Girl

This whole cd for me is less a favorite than an obsession. To me, it’s a must have for any music lover. You’ll play it over and over and over again.

Islands  – The XX – XX (Bonus Track Version)

Circling back to another The XX song since they set the overall tone for this playlist from the first song. This one with lyrics, but still in that same low-key vibe.

Congratulations – MGMT – Congratulations

Love MGMT and this one is a good song for when you’re well into the creative process. Haven’t given it a full listen yet, but I’m hoping that “Congratulations” is at least half as good as “Oracular Spectacular.”

To Kingdom Come – Passion Pit – Manners

A great suggestion from Angela for a less-familiar band. Also, a natural progression from MGMT. “The giddiest music possible . . . with dark and soul-searching lyrics.”

God Help the Girl – God Help the Girl – God Help the Girl

More “God Help the Girl,” because they’re so, so good. Love this song, love these lyrics. “You have been warned, I’m going to be contrary.”

A Beautiful Mess (Live) – Jason Mraz – Jason Mraz’s Beautiful Mess – Live On Earth

Fun to end with something live. Hopefully, “A Beautiful Mess” matches up nicely to something you’ve accomplished creatively after listening to this playlist.

As a Creative Director by day and an artist by night, I’m especially interested in tips and tricks to stimulate creativity. As I’m writing this, there is a base line pumping through my office wall. Every once in a while, a “wiki, wiki, wiki” floats over. This is one of our graphic designer’s music of choice while she gets creative. On days she’s out, the designer she shares a workspace with tunes in to the softer sounds of adult alternative. Somehow they make it work. Me? I need silence if I’m writing and something soft and slow if I’m painting. We’re all creative, we just use different types of music to fuel our creativity.

Two recent articles in Psychology Today shed some light on these differences. The first, “Your Music, Your Personality” talks about how taste in music can reveal key components about the listener’s personality, including creativity levels, open-mindedness and extroversion. It may even reveal the intelligence level of the listener. (Hats off to you jazz and classical lovers.)

The other article, entitled “How Music Feeds and Steers Your Imagination,”  provides insights on how music can specifically boost creativity and energy – as anyone who has ever compiled a gym playlist can attest.

So, here’s the challenge. I’m converting a corner of my basement into a den of creativity. In the back of my mind, I’m compiling the ideal playlist to boost my creativity while I work in this new studio. While musical tastes are subjective, I’d like to know what music works for you when you’re getting into the creative flow. I’ll compile the responses into an ideal creativity playlist and share with our readers. Bonus points for obscure tracks. Thanks for your feedback . . . and thanks for listening.

I went to see the movie “The Hangover” before all of the hubbub. Before it became the highest grossing comedy of all time. Before people said it was the funniest movie ever. My expectations weren’t high, in fact, they weren’t even established. I hadn’t heard much about it. During the movie I remember laughing out loud in the theater – something I rarely do. I left thinking that it was one of the funniest movies I had ever seen. A very pleasant surprise. My friend, on the other hand, didn’t get to see the movie early on. She saw it several months into its run – after all of the buzz, kudos, and word-of-mouth. She liked it well enough. She just didn’t get what all of the fuss was about. The difference? Expectations.

We’ve all had similar experiences. While personal tastes largely determine our likes and dislikes, expectations can also play a tremendous role in our reactions and responses. The implications for branding, and especially for employment branding, are far-reaching. The disappointment of a brand underperforming is likely to result in a more negative response than a brand fulfilling even low expectations. The trick with branding is promising something that you can actually deliver.

As Walter Landor, the oft-quoted father of branding, said “Simply put, a brand is a promise . . . ” If your brand doesn’t match what you deliver, you’re breaking that implied promise.

When we work with a client to help shape their employment brand, we’re looking to discover their UVP – or Unique Value Proposition. What makes them special? What can they offer that no one else can? If we are successful, the employment brand we develop will accurately reflect the environment, culture, and opportunities that they offer. This doesn’t just result in more appealing and effective ads – although that’s a nice byproduct. More importantly, it results in better suited hires. The candidates that they attract are the individuals who are actually looking for what they have to offer. It’s a win win. An employment brand isn’t about inflating who you are as an employer, it’s about accurately reflecting it. And that’s a promise you can keep.

A few weeks ago, I posted the first five of my “Top Ten” favorite iPhone apps. The list continues below. In the spirit of new beginnings that comes with the start of a new year, I’m focusing these five on self-improvement. These are the apps that can help you live a better life – and, in the case of the first one, possibly even extend it.

5.) Fit Builder – If you have an iPhone and you are at all interested in fitness and exercise, get this app. At $9.99 (for the standard version) it’s on the pricier end, but it comes with content that makes it more than worth it. I log on to Fit Builder to select from more than 200 iPump workouts. Depending upon my goals, I can select from programs like “Upper Body Stretch,” “Quick Cardio Blast,” “Soccer Conditioning” and many, many more. Once I’ve selected a workout, I scroll through photos and instructions for each exercise in the workout, using the on-screen timer to keep me on pace. If I have a question on how the exercise is performed, there’s a video provided to show me proper form. There are also tracking tools and interesting ways to share your routines. This is a highly motivational fitness app that is fun to use. Seriously, you need this app.

 4.) Wine Ratings – For the umpteenth time, I’m trying to learn more about wine this year. While this will require plenty of tastings on my part and a good, solid “Guide to Wine” book, this app is a great supplement to my, ahem, thirst for knowledge. I can search from a database of more than a million wines by numerous variables, including price, grape, and region. I can also save and rate my own favorites for future reference. In the short time that I’ve had this app, it has come in mighty handy while perusing restaurant wine lists and while making wine selections at the store. With this app in hand, this just might be the year. 

3.) Deepak Chopra’s Stress Free – Who doesn’t want more tools to handle the stresses in their life? Deepak Chopra’s Stress Free is a handy app to keep you grounded. It takes you through a series of steps to reduce your stresses. It also offers videos on things like yoga, meditation, music, and other pointers to reduce stress. Some of it is admittedly simplistic, but it does serve as a useful reminder that our hyped up “fight or flight” response was probably better suited to the wild than it is to the conference room.

 2.) Camena – While we’re on the subject of stress reduction, nothing relaxes me more than singing along to my favorite songs. Conversely, nothing embarrasses my kids’ more than me belting out the wrong lyrics. Enter Camena. This app displays the lyrics to the song you’re playing on your iPod. Very handy. Now I can sing along at the top of my lungs without embarrassing anyone. Right? 

10.) Mouthoff - All self-improvement aside, this one is just for fun. Tap the app, select from a series of hilarious cartoon mouths, hold your iPhone up to your mouth to speak, and watch the hilarity ensue. Trust me. It’s funny.

 The iPhone has proven to be a true game changer. And apps like these can legitimately add to your quality of life. Here’s hoping that 2010 brings all of us iPhone users lots more to love in the coming year. (And maybe even a Tablet to change the rules even more. Here’s hoping.)

I’m getting a jumpstart on the 2009 “Year in Review” articles. Just for fun, I’ve assembled a list of my all-time favorite iPhone apps. They aren’t in any special order and they don’t represent any particular app category. They’re just my go-to favorites. The ones I turn to most often for assistance, information, or thrills. Drumroll please.

Shazam – Even if you’re not an iPhone user, this is the app that you’ve probably heard the most about or remember most readily from the Apple commercials. Hear a song you like? Simply double tap your Shazam app, hit “Tag Now,” and hold your phone up to the music. 9 out of 10 times, Shazam will come back with the song name, artist, album artwork, and numerous helpful links, like “View YouTube video” or “Album Review.” Of course, there’s a link to “Preview and buy on iTunes,” too. The cool factor is definitely there, but the app is darned useful, too.

Maps – It’s not an app per se, because it comes bundled with the iPhone, but nothing beats being able to quickly find out how to get where I want to go. And it couldn’t be simpler. I simply search for my goal destination (in the search box) and then route it from my current location. My built-in GPS gives me a real-time visual of my current whereabouts moving along a nifty map. If I prefer, I can flick on “List” and get written directions. I don’t have a GPS in my car, so this app has helped me more times than I can count.

Doodle Jump – I’m not typically a gamer, but this is an all-time favorite. If I describe it, it won’t sound as fun as actually playing it. Download this game and become instantly addicted. The kiddies love it, too. All you have to do is tilt your phone and fall upward. Trust me. It’s a blast.

CNN – If CNN is one of your preferred news sources, this is a great app to add to your iPhone. It is a well-designed news app that updates content frequently. It puts lots and lots of info at your fingertips, including robust video content, that doesn’t require a wifi connection to view. There’s also a “Live Video” option and a “My CNN” function that aggregates local content from your location. My experience with the “Live Video” option has been positive, even through 3G connections.

Flixster – As a big movie fan, I like being able to find theaters, showtimes, and movie information at the tap of a finger. This was the first and only movie app I downloaded and I still love it. I can effortlessly check showtimes, view movie previews, check out upcoming releases, get ratings and reviews, and lots more. I haven’t tried the Fandango app out yet, so the final jury is still out. But, as of this writing, Flixster has served me well.

This is not another cautionary tale about cybercrime or identity theft. This is about a loss of another kind. The disappearance of something that we used to value highly and guard closely: our privacy.

In many ways, we are colluding in our own loss.

When I log onto my Facebook account, an empty square beckons. “What’s on your mind?” it asks. What it doesn’t say, but is implicit in its message, is: “Tell the world. And tell them in a way that will leave a digital trail forever.”

This should give anybody pause. Especially those concerned with personal branding. As an advertising and communications professional, I know that real consumer branding is created by a tremendous team. A combination of public relations, advertising, and marketing professionals who shape, finesse, research, and test the “face” that an organization puts in front of the public.

Individuals don’t typically possess that kind of savvy or have access to that kind of staff. They are incapable of researching the reaction to an electronic “post” that will be linked to them in perpetuity. That means that if I can look at the “interests” of an acquaintance’s 18-year old and see that she ” . . . likes to paaaaaaaarty!,” then so can future employers and college admissions professionals. And if I can see that a co-worker has updated their status with “I hate my job,” then so can our mutual boss.

Electronic communications present a unique point in time, and a true cultural shift, in our ability to broadcast who we are and what our personal “brand” is. Professionally, it can be a real opportunity. Personally, it can be a real threat.

A word to the wise: Individuals involved in social media should view every post, every tweet, and every shared photo as a kind of personal tattoo. If it’s not something that you want to stand behind forever, perhaps it’s something that you shouldn’t say at all.

By the looks of this blog, you might think we over here at Alstin eat, breathe and sleep all that is recruitment and retention. Every so often we’ll stray from the HR talk and bring you more on some of our favorite things, places and activities that also populate our daily lives.

In the not-too-distant past I was known as a walking, talking restaurant directory. Everybody’s go-to guide for the latest and greatest places to eat. No matter how obscure the request, I had a recommendation. Malaysian food in a kid-friendly atmosphere? Penang, of course. A michelada within walking distance of The Kimmel Center? Try Tequila’s. Particular steak for a particular client? Take them to The Capital Grille. Call ahead for the bone-in filets.

At any price point, for requests that ranged from the exotic to the mundane, I was a one-person Zagat’s. And my recommendations weren’t just canned responses from “Best Of” lists. I had been there. Done that. Tasted it. In the bygone days of fast metabolisms and flush expense accounts, if my friends and I had any one consistent craving, it was this: Something Different. We already had our favorites, but when Friday night rolled around, we didn’t want the usual: We wanted what was next.

So how did this happen? How is it that when friends and I actually do go out we always end up at the same place? What is it about Misconduct Tavern that brings us back again and again? 

You can chalk some of it up to the usual suspects. Nights in the city get trumped by kids in the suburbs every time. Money matters, too, and calories. These days a parade of tapas looks less like a great meal and more like five hours in the gym. But there’s some deeper reason, too. In a world that seems increasingly chaotic, there’s something to be said for a comforting and familiar place. A dim and cozy bar where everybody really does know your name. And Misconduct Tavern is just such a place. It’s comforting right down to the food. Need proof? Try their homemade macaroni and cheese, with a variety of tasty add-ins like bacon, oven-dried tomatoes, and roasted garlic. Want something healthier? Go for the grilled Caesar or baby spinach salad. Or try the exceptional Misconduct fish cakes. And for the best lunch bargain in the city, order the five ounce, five dollar burger. It’s served with a side of thin and crispy fries and their own chipotle mayo. Sure, it’s bar food. But it’s bar food with an emphasis on local ingredients and “home” cooking. And it’s a bar that isn’t afraid to pepper their menu with things like blue cheese butter, tarragon aioli, and truffle oil. While you’re there, be sure to save room for Diane’s “Best of 15th & Locust” cheesecake or homemade bread pudding. There are new flavors every day. If that day’s cheesecake is Turtle, stop counting calories right then and there. 

Have I sworn off new restaurants entirely? Or course not. For special occasions, I’ve still got a go-to list of novel places to try. But on days where I want comfort and consistency (and these days, who doesn’t?), you’ll find me at Misconduct Tavern.

As a creative professional with expertise specific to employment messaging, I’m doing some serious navel gazing these days. It’s a tricky time to be an expert in employment communications.

For more than twenty years I’ve worked on the creative side of an agency that specializes in helping organizations all over the country, big and small, find employees. But there’s no trick to finding employees these days. You probably know the numbers – millions of unemployed people looking for work. Millions more who are employed and looking to make a change. For every one opening advertised, companies are receiving hundreds, sometimes thousands, of responses. The biggest challenge for employers right now? Sorting through the responses. But that’s what got me thinking about pendulums.

One of the things that 20 plus years of industry experience has taught me is that the one constant is change. In the not too distant future, I believe that there is going to be a change. A big one. And, once again, a good employee will be hard to find. Anyone can react to the current circumstances; it’s the visionary who prepares for what’s next. And here’s what I think is next: The jobs will come to me. Directly to me. In my pocket. In fact, in some ways, they already do. I’m an iPhone user and I can currently find jobs through my Twitter app, my Facebook app, and any number of Job or Career apps that I could download, including my personal favorite, iJobs. A quick search in the app store using the word “job” brings up a host of downloadable job search options, including applications like “JobCompass,” “Job Search Coach” and even something called “JobRadio.fm.” A search using the word “career” brings up many more.

Now, here’s my question to the recruiters out there? Are you represented in my pocket job search? Should you be? In short, are you ready for what’s next?

Over the next few months, I’ll be taking a closer look at numerous mobile career apps. Stay tuned for details on what’s working, what’s not, and what’s next.

The majority of employment marketers are simply not early innovators. Often for good reasons: The budget isn’t there, the needs are not great, and the old methods are still working fine. Why rock the boat? But, developing a social media strategy for your employment marketing isn’t about rocking the boat – it’s about not missing it.Through social media, the world is literally having a conversation. A large, loud, raucous, and incredibly varied conversation. If you are not participating in that conversation, your voice is not being heard. As a recruiter, this self-imposed silence represents a tremendous missed opportunity. Of all the possibilities that the growth of digital communications has presented to recruiters, the potential of social media may be the most powerful. Here’s why:

It’s about connecting.
Recruiting is about connecting – person-to-person. Finding the right candidate for the right position. At its heart, social media is about the same thing.

Your message adds value.
If social media contributions have no real value, they quickly become ignored or filtered out. The result? Immediate irrelevance. Employment marketers have the unique opportunity to contribute content of real value to social media. Employment messaging has never been more acutely relevant.

Timing is everything.
There are tangible advantages to entering the social media conversation sooner rather than later. Right now, early innovators are reaping the rewards of early entry. Things like desirable EM Twitter names and Facebook vanity URLs are being gobbled up as you read this. A “wait and see” approach = a lost opportunity.

Ease of Entry and Affordability.
Developing an effective Employment Marketing Social Media Strategy is not difficult or expensive. As the popularity of social media continues to grow, it’s possible, and even likely, that there will be high costs associated with content placement in the future. Right now, however, costs are minimal or non-existent.

Considered individually, the above statements present a compelling reason to plan your social media strategy now. Collectively, the message is clear. The world is waiting. The clock is ticking.

Developing great creative isn’t really the hard part. With the right team of writers and designers – and good information to build on –  Alstin’s usually got that part in hand. Sure, there’s sweat, and sometimes tears, but the lightbulb usually flickers on and the fun part, the creative process, begins. The tricky part is getting buy-in from the client particularly when the “client” is actually many clients.

The more people involved in reviewing and (gulp) revising the creative, the more the work will suffer. There’s nothing sadder than walking into a conference room to present really great work and watch it die a slow and painful death as it is passed from hand to hand, person to person, around a crowded table. Creative is subjective. Some people like blue, others yellow, that’s just the way it is. We can work with that. Even in a crowded room.

But, what if you had to design to please not a handful, but millions, of people.

Douglas Bowman was the first visual designer hired by Google. This was nearly three years ago and, up until that time, Google, the most-used search engine in the world had, tellingly, been running for more than seven years without a designer on staff. At the time he accepted the position, Mr. Bowman viewed it as a plum opportunity. What designer wouldn’t want to be in a position where his or her work would be seen by literally millions of viewers? But in his three subsequent years at Google something went very wrong.

You can find the details on Mr. Bowman’s personal blog in a post entitled “Goodbye, Google” that outlines the reasons for his departure. It makes for interesting reading on its own, but at its heart you’ll find a challenge that every person in the creative industry and those who turn to us for help are facing in the digital age. How much of digital design is driven by aesthetics and how much is driven by data?

At Google, for instance, Mr. Bowman cites a time when Google conducted online tests of more than 40 shades of blue when the in-house design team couldn’t decide between two blues. That’s millions of viewers, with a click, determining what shade of blue to include in the “design.” Creativity by proxy. Other examples abound.

The moral of the story isn’t simply that one person didn’t like a design atmosphere driven by data, it’s that a world-class designer one who was intimately involved in the process says that design was harmed, not helped, by too much information. Too many opinions.

Design, by definition, is an art. It seems that something is lost if we try to make it a science.