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Those of you who have been regular readers of my blog posts know that my approach to creative is simple. Know who you are talking to and clearly define the benefits of your product or service in an effective, decisive manner. It’s the old KISS principle: keep it simple, stupid.

I want to share with you another tactic that may, at first glance appear to go against this KISS principle. It’s the idea of force-fitting creative. A kind of massing together two unrelated topics or ideas. The best example that I can give you to illustrate this concept is from the television show “Glee”. They take a rock ’n roll song and put in a totally different context.

Recently my 14-year old daughter was watching a reality show called “The Glee Project” where contestants compete to win a role on the parent show “Glee”. In this episode, the contestants performed that 70’s glitter-rock anthem ,“Were Not Going Take It (anymore)” set in the context of social outcast (losers) trying to fit into the defined hierarchy of a school cafeteria. The underlining and uplifting theme was that you don’t have to try to “fit in” you just need to be yourself.

Now take that basic concept and apply it to your design. It’s the idea of selling a high-tech device using a retro look or the parents acting like kids. It’s somewhat unexpected to mesh opposite ideas together, but it will help develop additional or alternative concepts and reshape the way you think about image selection for print or web designs. One key element to remember is that you don’t always have to show your product or service as the main element—unless it’s some brand new item, people will get it. Focus on the benefit and then twist it so the answer to the problem will be the product or services. Try it. I think you’ll find that it will expand your creative arsenal.

I have to admit, I’m not a fan of the “all online” “go paperless” “exclusively digital” revolution I’m living in. Going green is great, but I like when things are tangible. I like making a list of tasks for the day and crossing everything off – nothing beats the satisfaction of finishing that tough job, and scratching it out on the To Do list. It’s the perfect icing on the cake.

Call me old school, but I like a folder I can hold in my hand instead of lost in cyber space, a phone number dialed from memory not automatically from my contacts list, and edits written on the page in red pen (gasp!) instead of changes tracked on a Word document. A hard drive with 600 gigabytes of saved files is just begging to crash, and an average of 150 emails a day means you’re bound to accidentally delete or overlook at least one.

So I ask you, are you embracing or fighting the digital revolution? Do you have a secret app that helps you stay organized? And, most importantly, when you have that very imperative message to get out, how do you make sure it doesn’t get lost in the daily electronic shuffle?

Thinking. Thinking of great ideas is hard. Thinking of great ideas and then implementing those ideas is even harder. When I first applied to art school to be a graphic designer, I honestly went in just wanting to design pretty things. I loved the idea of visually explaining something with type and image. Well, I quickly realized that it’s not just about making pretty things on paper or the computer. There has to be some thought behind it. There has to be some brain power.

During my schooling, I had an instructor once say to the class, “You aren’t going to be hired just because you can quickly whip up a “cool looking” logo in 10 minutes. You’re going to be hired to think. To have a process. To take a vague idea of almost ‘nothing’ and turn it into a concrete, strong ‘something’.”

This concept completely changed the way I looked at my design process. Whether I’m designing a logo or applying a client’s current brand to a direct mail campaign, there has to be some thought behind it. There has to be a strategy. A direction. A path to follow.

That process is completely different for everyone, but if it’s a strong process and it has positive results, then you’ve accomplished something. And in the end, you’ve taken form and merged it with function.