THE BLOG

27
Sep

Think Like A Tourist Series: Think Like A Kid

Greg Heffron_2 Scott Rothstein_2

 

If you’re working in the creative services industry (or any creative field, for that matter), generating innovative ideas or strategies is what you do everyday, on multiple occasions.  Bosses, clients and colleagues depend on your ability to galvanize your forces — wit, tenacity, optimism and grit — as you generate bursts of ideas, thoughts, emotions and, ultimately, solutions. What’s your process for brainstorming? How do you prepare your mind for the serious work of creativity?

In our ongoing series, “Think Like A Tourist,” we know creativity and problem-solving require more than showing up to meet with others. Brainstorming actually requires prepping your mind for brainstorming, and putting yourself in the position to let your ideas flow effortlessly. And flow they will, but you have to know the steps.  At Oishii, we like our teammates to “think like a kid” before some of our meetings.  No, we don’t mean come in ready to play, but rather, put your mind in a playful space, where the world is infinite, options are everywhere and your purpose is to have fun. This is what we mean by taking a kid-like approach to the creative task ahead of you.

So put your “kid thinking” cap on and see how your next brainstorming session goes. We’d love to hear about your experience!

20
Sep

Think Like A Tourist Series: Think Like A Surrealist

Magritte

Magritte’s “The False Mirror”

ABC_color_logo

ABC’s Logo (1964), designed by Paul Rand

Commerce relies on the imagination and talent of graphically inclined artists. At the dawn of broadcast television, for example, surrealist Rene Magritte’s “The False Mirror” (1928) profoundly inspired CBS designers who came up with their own version of the eyeball as the network logo. A few years later, they ditched the background skies. The pop art of the ‘60s aesthetic inspired the ABC font and black dot logo, created by graphic designer and artist Paul Rand.

Perhaps it is cliché to fault corporate designers with relying too much on the imaginative strengths of artists, but the rich connection between art and commerce is valuable and revealing for us creatives. It illustrates the often hidden push-and-pull forces of imagination and reveals the pathways of inspiration. Inspiration is everywhere, and who best to turn to than those for whom imagination and art are daily labors?

To fully inhabit the role of a creative means to take in art, literature and entertainment and beyond. Inspiration is indeed everywhere, but you need to know what you’re looking at and apply that your own work. Perspective helps find creativeness and understand what to do with it.

Where do you find inspiration? Follow our Think Like A Tourist series, where we discuss how to think creatively.

16
Sep

Oishii’s “Under 30”: Josel Cruz

Josel Cruz_2Designer Josel Cruz came to the United States from Puerto Rico as a college student and aspiring designer. Around the Oishii studio space, he is known for his innovative design talents as much as for his love of drumming into the night — and chopping all manner of vegetables for lunch in the office kitchen. We are regularly inspired by his dexterities.

Josel also thinks and practices what we believe to be the new standards and thinking for design talent.

Beyond beautifully designed logos and cool graphics, however, Josel understands the connection between logic and design, art and functionality.

This intuitive connection emerged for Josel as a university engineering student. “I looked at problems visually and spatially, and that gave me freedom other engineering students didn’t always tap into or connect with,” he says.

Josel ultimately left engineering for fine art and graphic design, because, in his words, “art felt intuitive and right.” As an art student, one of Josel’s professors labeled his artwork as uniquely “middle-brain.” This characterization felt like a huge compliment to Josel: “I thought, conceived and processed my ideas and art using both sides of my brain. I embraced the term…it’s where I want to be.”

Josel’s “middle brain” approach is exactly what drew Oishii to him and vice versa. Together, we love synthesizing both sides of our brains to imagine and actualize business-building strategies for our brand, entertainment media and startup clients.

 

 

05
Sep

Yahoo!’s Logo Redesign: Yet Another Highly Overrated Option?

yahoo

This morning, Yahoo! unveiled its highly anticipated new logo, on the heels of “30 Days of Change,” a project in which it unveiled a new logo each day—displaying each one on its homepage and throughout its network in the U.S. Oishii Founder and Chief Creative Officer Ismael “Ish” Obregon says that creating and designing or updating a logo provides an opportunity to refresh a company perspective and demonstrate vision and vitality.

In the competitive tech landscape, boldly speaking through a logo is an effective way of speaking about the future of a company. So does the new Yahoo! logo measure up?

“You can measure the strength of a brand by its ambition and reach,” says Ish. “I always ask myself, ‘Am I designing with the company and its future top of mind?’  Does the Yahoo! logo change much beyond its sans serif font? Is it merely a default change? There’s thinking and innovation going on here…and this may be a step toward a coming design revolution at Yahoo! But companies, in general, need bold action like a logo departure to show their internal thinking and innovation. One of the best examples is when Apple changed its rainbow logo into a sleek and modern representation of its product design and vision.”