Thinker-Makers Unite: Chicago CreativeMornings with Digital Kitchen

The third installment of Chicago CreativeMornings took place at Digital Kitchen, who call themselves “thinker-makers” focused on creating “disruptive communication strategies and assets designed for this era.” Keeping “this era” in mind, Executive Creative Directors Camm Rowland and Anthony Vitagliano shared their takes about branding, which is getting more immersive, and the evolution of digital tools for designing, producing and distributing information. One particular theme was being in a workspace that provokes “blank-page ideation”, as Rowland and Vitagliano put it. Here were some grounded bits which echo thoughts shared at previous Chicago CreativeMornings:



A reminder worth treating as a refrain. There are no shortcuts to making something—and that includes unfolding the process that the act of working requires. What shines through with swissmiss Tina Roth Eisenberg (speaker at the debut Chicago CreativeMornings) Jim Coudal of Coudal Partners, (guest speaker at the debut Chicago CreativeMornings), and Jason Fried of 37signals, (guest speaker at the second Chicago CreativeMornings): nothing succeeds like #DoTheWork.



What this underscores is versatility. Channel what you love learning-and-doing and find out if it can benefit another discipline, subject matter, or challenge. Jim Coudal singled out curiosity as the most fundamental skill. And it’s evident in Coudal Partners’ efforts that creativity can be demonstrated in a lot of diverse ways: from making ads and products, such as Field Notes, to making contests, such as Layer Tennis. Never let your discipline keep you at bay.



Without a getting-along and play-together factor, a work environment will eat itself. Coudal and Fried both expressed the importance of a work culture that truly works, in more ways than one.

Inherent in the name of Digital Kitchen: keep cooking.

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“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook—try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!”
— Chef, Author and Television Personality Julia Child

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Big thanks to organizer Mig Reyes, videographer Craig Shimala, photographers Chris Gallevo and Rosario Edwards, and Admin of Awesome Victoria Pater for their great work on making CreativeMornings, Chicago, happen.

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Typeface of quotes is called Massive designed by Shawn Hazen, who also makes awesome typographic illustrations for series Creative Roles.

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Read CreativeMornings-related posts:

• “It’s simple until you make it complicated”: CreativeMornings in Chicago with Jason Fried of 37signals
• Design Conference Reworked and Reloaded: CreativeMornings

Sketching is Believing: Whitespace’s Debut

Event Co-Creator, Moderator Brad Neal with panelists at the first Whitespace event

No doubt: sketching is critical to making something. Come to think of it, I don’t see the word “sketching” used in a lot of the creative processes published online by designers, design studios and agencies. But talk with a designer and the importance of sketching comes to the fore. Designers may be beholden to sketching—but they are not alone. Scientists sketch theories. Lawyers sketch arguments. Writers sketch characters.

It was especially good to see a writer in the speaker-panel mix at the debut of Whitespace, a new creativity-related series in Chicago. The panel consisted of painter, muralist and teacher Max Sansing; designer, illustrator and speaker Mig Reyes; and experimental fiction writer Megan Milks. Here were some bits from Whitespace’s inaugural installment “Works in Progress: Examining the Sketchbook”:

Sansing on sketching’s role in his murals:



Reyes on the immediate benefit of sketching:



Milks on the natural by-products of sketching:



Part of the event was a communal sketching wall. One participant, “designeresearcher” Joe Meersman, demonstrated his knack for “mecha”:



His sketches for digital products are just as artistic.



I’m reminded of what Shimon Shmueli, Founder and Partner at Touch360, said, “Design is art optimized to meet objectives.” On the surface, sketching is a piece of abstract art. But its purpose, within the context of work, of problem solving, is to rule out abstraction, in order to make something concrete and useful.

What was relearned: Must keep sketching.

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Laws of attraction strikes: See the sketches of characters, lettering and illustrations by Designer, Illustrator and Art Director Adam R. Garcia. Discovered via grain edit.

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Photos by Nate Burgos. See more of Whitespace’s “Works in Progress: Examining the Sketchbook”.

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Typeface of panelists’ quotes is called Massive designed by Shawn Hazen, who also makes awesome typographic illustrations for series Creative Roles.

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Read related posts:

• Thick Marker, Bold Sketching
• Minimize the Language Barrier between Designers and Developers

“It’s simple until you make it complicated”: CreativeMornings in Chicago with Jason Fried of 37signals

Top: Jason Fried, Founder and CEO of 37signals; Bottom: packed venue at Energy BBDO’s workspace at the second CreativeMornings in Chicago. Diptych by Nate Burgos.

After experiencing the first CreativeMornings—which made its Chicago debut in June and featured Coudal Partner’s Jim Coudal—I looked forward to the second installment.

The guest lecturer was Jason Fried, Founder and CEO of webapp maker 37signals, which used to occupy a part of Coudal’s workspace before carving out their own office. Like Coudal, Fried created his own reality of work, moving from serving clients to serving the customers aligned to his sensibilities—the “laws of attraction” evident here.

My interest 37signals team was already established: I’m an avid Backpack user, a regular reader of their blog Signal vs. Noise, and I applaud their atypical business book “REWORK”. Bottomline: I respect a company whose opinions are informed and justified by their doing and redoing. The conference reinforced appreciation for the force behind products that are truly “frustration free” (What other companies can advertise this claim?), and most of what Fried expressed was consistent with recorded talks I’ve viewed over the years.

A colleague of mine (who didn’t attend) hoped that Fried would offer something new. But what’s wrong with saying the same things and having a consistent message? Statements of truth don’t diminish in return. They’re like echoes—they bounce back with familiarity, a by-product of practice. Here are some of Fried’s key messages—things worth practicing and may work to your advantage:







From a CreativeMornings in Brooklyn, Creative Director Paul Soulellis shared the leadership principles articulated by John Maeda. They offer a comparative lens to Fried’s opinions:

Maeda: [Build new foundations] “Artists have to get their hands dirty, starting with core foundations and basic principles.” Brass tacks. In designing user interfaces, Fried recommends using a thick black marker to focus on what’s essential and not what’s extraneous. In their book “Getting Real”, which is about building software, and more so about building a business, the method of “epicenter design” reinforces this focus on what’s fundamental and work from here.

Maeda: [“Craft the team.”] “This is a principle I didn’t know from art or design. I was very ‘un-teamish,’ very lone-wolfish.” Work culture. Fried repeatedly stated that his company is composed of a few, in the very low double digits, which Field expressed was a lot. Even more important for everyone to get along and share the same vision for what’s being worked on and shipped.

Maeda: [“Sense actively.”] “Artists are always trying to sense something.” Curiosity. In an interview at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Fried stressed that 37signals only hires curious people. Examining a process or object, minding the details, can lead to self-discovery.

Maeda: [“Take leaps.”] Fried’s version of “leaps” is in the practice of making small decisions. This way, the mistakes aren’t large to fix or recover from.

Maeda: [“Fail productively.”] Success. In his keynote at BIG Omaha 2009, Fried questioned the promoted actions to fail, fail more, and fail more often. Instead, succeed.

Maeda: [“Grow from critique.”] “Anyone who exhibits art or ships product knows that these are quick ways to get critique. Artists want to do this to change, to find out who they are.” Take a stand. Fried believes in having an opinion because it shows that you care for something. If it’s not shared by some—fine. It’s not meant to please everyone. No opinion; no creativity.

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Big thanks to organizer Mig Reyes, videographer Craig Shimala, photographer Chris Gallevo and Admin of Awesome Victoria Pater for their great work on making CreativeMornings, Chicago, happen.

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Typeface of Fried’s quotes is called Massive designed by Shawn Hazen, who also makes awesome typographic illustrations for series Creative Roles.

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Read related posts:

• Design Conference Reworked and Reloaded: CreativeMornings
• “REWORK”: Audio Review of 37signals’ Book on Less being truly More