It should come as no surprise that having an idea is one thing, and actualizing that idea is entirely another. Take it from us; many are the things that serve to stand in the way of an idea coming to fruition, and what's more, these obstacles can be the difference between a truly game changing idea that comes to fruition, and one that never sees light outside your office walls. 

Ideas are what drive us forward as a people. They are paramount to progress in art, in science, and in moral society, and that’s why our team at STARMEN is pleased to share its foolproof plan for getting those ideas off the ground!

It should come as no surprise that having an idea is one thing, and actualizing that idea is entirely another. Take it from us; many are the things that serve to stand in the way of an idea coming to fruition, and what's more, these obstacles can be the difference between a truly game changing idea that comes to fruition, and one that never sees light outside your office walls. 

Ideas drive society forward. They are paramount to progress in art, in science, and in moral society, and that’s why we are pleased to share our foolproof plan for getting those ideas off the ground!

First, stand firmly behind your concept

As a general rule of thumb, the best way to help your idea take flight is by standing squarely behind it, and going at it with gusto. Consider what makes this idea worth pursuing. What will it accomplish for the betterment of the team or client? What problems does this idea solve or current gaps does it fill? Only once you can truly advocate for your idea can you fully master the art of selling that vision to motivate others to stand with you behind the cause. 

Second, blueprint your plan of action

Once you have fully wrapped your mind around the idea, you’ll be in good shape to start mapping out the steps required, including the often underthought middle parts of materializing a new idea -- the part where creative exploration gives way to the meticulous, the tedious, and the nitty gritty. It is in this lengthy, drawn out period of tireless work that most great ideas tragically fizzle. Scott Belsky, author of Making Ideas Happen and founder of online portfolio platform Behance, dubs this part of an endeavor the “project plateau.” For artistically-driven individuals, this plateau can be particularly painstaking because it is the time when creativity is at a standstill, and laborious task management is at an all-time high. As Belsky adds, “To escape this pain, we generate a new idea (and abandon the one we were working on). This process can easily repeat itself ad infinitum, without us ever finishing anything meaningful.”

Team STARMEN ardently believes that careful planning and strategic delegating can help your project avoid such a fate. By mapping out the forecast of a project, you’re allowing those involved to have a clear picture of present status and next steps, which leaves little room for doubt or lingering notions of “how will this all come together?” What’s more, when everyone on the team is weighted only with tasks they are truly competent and capable of fulfilling, they’ll be more likely to come through, leaving the team as a whole running efficiently, and the project progressing on schedule.

“All great inventions emerge from a long sequence of small sparks; the first idea often isn’t all that good, but thanks to collaboration it later sparks another idea, or it’s reinterpreted in an unexpected way. Collaboration brings small sparks together to generate breakthrough innovation.”
— Scott Belsky

Now that your vision is clarified, and a plan of action’s in place, it's time to get going! 

Third, be patient

With all of the moving pieces required to materialize your idea, it’s imperative to constantly circle back to that all-important first step. Remember why you embarked on this journey to begin with, and you’ll be much less likely to make decisions in haste or try to rush tedious parts of the process. However, there are a few steps you can take to alleviate any doubts that your venture is moving toward its target. When holding meetings with team members, be sure to commence with each person reviewing next steps for his or her respective responsibilities, as well as a brief synopsis of what each person is taking away from the meeting. This recap should be no more than 20 or 30 seconds per person, and can save immeasurable time down the road because it will confirm not only the overall productivity of your meetings (whether or not goals, feedback, and notes are being clearly communicated, for instance), but it also will help hold individual team members accountable for what they are working on.

Fourth, remain focused

This idea, with you at its helm, is premised on a single, solitary concept. Reduce cluttering that vision by remediating new ideas to the backburner. There may come a time and a place for new endeavors to roll out, and when that time comes, those new ideas will deserve the same undivided attention as the one presently before you. 

Another excellent way to remain aligned with your objectives? “Avoid a reactionary workflow,” Belsky iterates. In a typical workday, we’re inundated with messages -- from our social apps, text messages, array of email accounts, and instant messengers -- and that’s not even considering phone calls and interpersonal conversations. As such, we, as professionals, are suspended in a constant state of reaction, responding to these various entities with little time leftover for proactivity -- which is essential to moving whatever we’re working on forward. To counter this, schedule yourself time each day where you’re totally unplugged to incoming communication, and can focus on outgoing productivity. There is a time and a place for conversation and connectivity, but progress is what truly moves ideas from ethereal into the ether of reality.

Photo credit: Adweek.com

Most people assume that extending their brand’s reach to the masses will be astronomically expensive, costing hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. General opinion suggests that the more embraceable the brand messaging is, the more it will cost. However, this is no longer necessarily the case.

In this day and age, brand messages travel at the speed of a click, with content being consumed on an array of different devices, and across platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Google+. Create compelling messaging in the right format, and it won’t be your brand doing the heavy lifting. Instead, the people your message reaches will evangelize your brand through all of their own communication channels. 

Photo credit: Adweek.com

Most people assume that extending their brand’s reach to the masses will be astronomically expensive, costing hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. General opinion suggests that the more embraceable the brand messaging is, the more it will cost. However, this is no longer necessarily the case.

In this day and age, brand messages travel at the speed of a click, with content being consumed on an array of different devices, and across platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Google+. Create compelling messaging in the right format, and it won’t be your brand doing the heavy lifting. Instead, the people your message reaches will evangelize your brand through all of their own communication channels. 

Catalyzing word of mouth ‘buzz’ is the new, smarter and less expensive way to generate and promote brand awareness. In today's beautifully integrated world, it’s more viable than ever to create compelling content economically. Crowdsourcing king, Frito-Lay, developed 'Crash the Super Bowl', an annual commercial competition wherein entrants submit their homegrown commercials for a chance at a monetary win, and the chance to see their work aired during that year's game. This is a win-win situation for the Doritos brand that enables them to cut production costs almost entirely (apart from airtime, and the monetary portion of the prize package), all while dramatically increasing brand awareness, community, and loyalty.

In another campaign, Chevy partnered with MoFilm’s creative community, inviting filmmakers to create their own 30 and 60-second spots highlighting ‘significant human moments’ with the Chevy brand, with the winning commercial airing alongside other Chevy spots during the Academy Awards telecast. The ultimate example of ‘spend less, win big,’ though, is a Tesla commercial called ‘Modern Spaceship’ that two recent college grads — James Khabushani, 25, and RJ Collins, 24 — made on their own for $1,500. Tesla and CEO Elon Musk loved the spec commercial, and the project garnered tons of publicity for James and RJ, who created the commercial in one 12-hour day using their friend’s home and Tesla Model S.

These case studies stand as a true testament to the fact that you simply no longer need to spend big bucks to create quality brand awareness. An evolving and innovative generation is using technology to produce content of the highest quality at an extremely low cost, and usergenerated content is a wonderful way to build a communal relationship with your marketplace. We’d love to help your brand shine, and be über-sharable across platforms … affordably.

We feel very grateful that as our team here at STARMEN grows, so does our awards list! We recently received 2 Summit awards for our work with Minus Zero and DirecTV.

We feel very grateful that as our team here at STARMEN grows, so does our awards list! We recently received 2 Summit awards for our work with Minus Zero and DirecTV.

Since 1994, the Summit Creative Awards has enabled creative firms to receive the recognition they deserve. This international advertising competition offers participants a unique opportunity to showcase their talents alongside similarly positioned agencies, and to have their work judged by experts in the advertising field. This year, the Summit Awards received entries from over 50 countries across 5 continents. The competition is geared toward smaller and mid-size agencies that produce great work, but are normally overshadowed by large companies with significant budgets. The Summit Awards gives smaller agencies a chance to earn some deserved recognition among their industry peers.

Submissions were judged on concept and execution in design, broadcast, and interactive media by judging panels comprised of industry professionals from across the globe. Judges included entities like Wieden & Kennedy, Tribal DDB, Grey Advertising, TBWA/Chiat/Day, Y&R, The Art Institute, New York University, Leo Burnett, Ogilvy & Mather, and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Gold Award: Minus Zero, Product/Service Promotion Video

Minus Zero recently approached us to redesign and rebrand their online presence. In addition to refreshing their identity, we developed, filmed, and edited a video to be featured on their new website homepage. The video introduces users to the company’s CEO, Sabastian Hunyh, and gives a brief overview about Minus Zero.

Our objective for the video was to create a story-driven piece that would help define the brand, and engage users on the new website. We steered clear of the dry “corporate” video feel, and instead captured the essence of their new identity: passionate, exuberant, and results oriented. The executives we were targeting don’t merely sit behind desks — they embrace a sports-like mentality, love taking risks, and are design-oriented.

To showcase these attributes, we incorporated a few key points from their “Leaving Nothing to Chance” brand platform, and combined them with bold images, clips, and audio. The result was a visually-rich portrait of Minus Zero that we’re proud of, and it marks our first award for video production!

Silver Award: DirecTV, Entertainment website (Roguemedia.tv microsite)

When DirecTV launched their first television series, Rogue, they wanted a digital press kit that would give users a behind-the-scenes look at photos, cast/crew bios, and full episodes. We created a microsite to match the dark and ominous tone of the show using a “skeuomorphic” approach with textures like paperclips, manila folders, and wood. DirecTV also wanted the site to be viewable from mobile devices, so we implemented an adaptive design with a custom content management system. See the work, here.

We are grateful to have such an amazing roster of clients, as well as the talented team to support them. Creating award-winning work is always our goal, so we are grateful for these two recent awards from the Summit International Awards!

Whatever day you go to Vegas, you can generally expect to find a flurry of activity in two specific places: the business convention circuit and the roulette table. Unfortunately, too many visitors think the same strategy for success applies to both.

We were in Vegas a couple of weeks ago, hitting the Consumer Electronics Show and a few roulette tables. (Just a few.) In both cases, if you don't play, you can't win. That is pretty much the only similarity – well, that and the engaging hosts and dealers to get you to stay and play. 

The key difference is that, with a convention, it's not enough to be in the right place at the right time — which is the fundamental rule of roulette.

Whatever day you go to Vegas, you can generally expect to find a flurry of activity in two specific places: the business convention circuit and the roulette table. Unfortunately, too many visitors think the same strategy for success applies to both.

We were in Vegas a couple of weeks ago, hitting the Consumer Electronics Show and a few roulette tables. (Just a few.) In both cases, if you don't play, you can't win. That is pretty much the only similarity – well, that and the engaging hosts and dealers to get you to stay and play. 

The key difference is that, with a convention, it's not enough to be in the right place at the right time — which is the fundamental rule of roulette.

Walking around the Las Vegas Convention Center, it seems that a lot of exhibitors were employing nothing more than a roulette strategy. They had their booth, they had their people, and they stood there waiting for their numbers to come up. They seemed very lonely. 

Many exhibitors forget two critical convention strategies: creativity and communications.

At a roulette table, too much creativity and communications can get you kicked out. In a convention hall filled with hundreds of competitors, all vying for the attention of attendees, creativity and communications are critical. 

If you and your competitor have booths right next to each other (a common occurrence at a congested show like CES), whoever is more visually appealing will capture the attention and interest of passersby.

Two companies did an amazing job of capturing attention at CES: Audi, with its giant walk-in lightbox filled with hot cars, and the House of Marley, which departed from the techno-vibe of the rest of the show with its reggae vibe and generous use of natural materials, like wood, leather, and steel.

In addition, savvy exhibitors communicated with potential customers and the news media long before the show opened. They sent personalized invitations, teased exciting new products, or made special offers to get people to show up. Lenovo got a lot of people buzzing about their table-sized tablet before CES opened.

In other words, conventions are not like roulette tables. Not every number has an equal shot of turning up, so you you can't leave anything to chance. Here are three guidelines to enhance your odds — and avoid major mistakes.

The Three B's: Brand, Buzz, and Behavior.

Here at Starmen we use these 3B's to guide our work. They don't just apply to conventions: they also apply to websites, packaging, even a simple tweet.

Brand

Your reputation always comes first. If anything you do creatively can hurt your reputation — and Vegas presents a lot of opportunities to do that — then you're better off staying home. This means don't do anything that might offend anyone, such as sexist displays, even if they attract the attention of other attendees. It also means making sure everything at your booth functions correctly (especially your display products!), and that your booth staff are well trained and informed. In addition, use this opportunity to enhance your image. You don't need to build a giant lightbox to do that: some creative and well-designed signage, a compelling video running on a monitor, and a booth layout that doesn't look like a discount shop can make a big difference.

Buzz

Inspire your target customers and the news media before, during, and after the show. A lot of companies think their products alone are buzz-worthy, but at a giant convention like CES, they go up against a bewildering array of buzz-worthy products and exhibitions, such as the mind-controlled helicopters we saw. By the end of the first day (not to mention the whole week), attendees are so jaded about electronics, a great product alone doesn't stand a chance of creating a buzz. This is where creativity and communications work together. Before the convention, use smart, savvy communications — social, media press releases, direct mail, etc. — to build awareness and anticipation. At the convention, use your imagination (or, hint, our imagination) to create a booth that becomes a "must see." After the convention, reconnect with your booth's visitors to remind them about what they saw, and tell them where they can get even more info and a special offer (your website, a sales visit, or an invitation to your HQ).

Behavior

What do you want visitors to do when they visit your convention booth? Of course, to justify the large investment, all exhibitors want deals. At the same time, keep in mind that not every visitor is ready to buy, particularly if they've never heard of your brand or product before. If they're just learning about you, at most you will get their attention and awareness and perhaps their interest. With these tentative explorers, the behavior you should strive for is a simple exchange of information. At a business-to-business convention, ask for their business card and provide them with a compelling reason to sign up for your e-newsletter. At a consumer show, encourage them to like or follow your social media on the spot. Yes, those leads won't entirely satisfy the finance department, but they're a measurable result. And don't forget: follow-up is essential. In business, what happens in Vegas shouldn't stay in Vegas.

Now as you know, there are no guarantees in Vegas or in business. However, by adopting these strategies and guidelines, you will certainly increase your odds of success before you place that big convention bet.

As an Illinois native and history buff since the 3rd grade, naturally I've had a fascination with one of the greatest political figures in American history, the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. 

When I found out Steven Spielberg was planning to make an epic film on the last days of his intense life, I knew it was going to be something big, iconic, something I wanted to be a part of, well... I got my chance. Entertainment Weekly released this first photo of Daniel Day-Lewis as 'Lincoln'. First, I was amazed at the resemblence of Day-Lewis' as the commander in chief and then excited because it was exactly the iconic image I knew would make for a great movie poster.

Click below... see the "one-sheet"! 

I'd long been planning to use my creative skills to interpret this legendary story of Lincoln to promote the film and I knew it would all start with an iconic image. Below you'll see the still from the film that was released, keep in mind at the time, a poster for the film had not been created. All I had was this image and a bunch of ideas to running through my mind. Below, you'll see how I created an iconic poster  or 'one-sheet' out of this single image to establish the branding campaign for the film.

The Poster (One-Sheet Concept)

Click here to view full-size version.

About the Design

This darker, more dramatic alternative to the final poster (which has now been released) uses a familiar profile image of Daniel Day-Lewis that is forward facing similar to the iconic profile of Lincoln seen on the "penny". My artistic approach to using a darker black background gives more contrast to Lincoln's stern, determined expression. Overall the viewer is left with a dramatic visual that aims to connect poster to the dramaticism of film.

Finally, after a closer look, you'll notice Lincoln's actual signature being used as the title or 'logo' for the film. I felt it was a fitting authentic touch, no typeface (like the predictable Trajan) can achieve.

Social Media - Facebook Fan Page

Outdoor Advertising Campaign

The New Year always sparks a renewed interest in making changes! As a business, this should include taking a closer look at your brand – both from your perspective, and from your audience’s. Some questions to consider: How do your customers perceive your brand? Is it aligned with how you see yourself? Do people hear and understand exactly what your brand is saying?

There’s always room for improvement. Starting with these three strategies, you can help strengthen your brand in 2012!

The New Year always sparks a renewed interest in making changes! As a business, this should include taking a closer look at your brand – both from your perspective, and from your audience’s. Some questions to consider: How do your customers perceive your brand? Is it aligned with how you see yourself? Do people hear and understand exactly what your brand is saying?

There’s always room for improvement. Starting with these three strategies, you can help strengthen your brand in 2012!

Build a Consistent Brand

Consistency is the name of the game in brand identity. Do you think Coke and Apple became what they are by not showing the same ‘face’ to everyone, everywhere? The more consistent your brand is across all customer touch points, the more likely it can create a powerful impression, and be easily recognized by the target market.

One of the most important (yet often overlooked) aspects of branding is that it MUST remain consistent through all communication channels. From business cards and collateral pieces to your online marketing tools, there should always be a clear, consistent look and feel to everything you present.

Innovate Your Brand and Image

Keeping your brand up-to-date doesn’t mean changing it to stay current with every trend or fad. However, being attuned to what is happening in your industry, as well as what appeals to your target demographic, should play an important part in the evolution of your brand! 

With 2012 upon us, it might just be the right time to consider modernizing the visual image of your brand in terms of logo, tagline, typography, color palette, and design. Small changes, tweaks, and updates can re-energize an existing customer, and catch the eye of a new one! This is one step in the right direction towards staying ahead of your competition, and becoming a category leader.

Be Social, Diversify Your Online Presence

Being online today means much more than simply having a website. If you are not on Facebook and Twitter or don’t have a content rich blog, you might as well not exist in the eyes of the consumer. Your online presence speaks volumes to those who will buy from you. A successful social media engagement model is not about spitting out corporate messages, but instead focuses on developing a two-way dialog with your audience. Of course, you’ll want to make sure your brand’s ‘voice,’ through status updates, tweets, and blog posts, is aligned with your brand. Aim to be human in the social space.

As design professionals, we spend considerable time each and every day thinking about influence.

Of course, we’re continuously developing new strategies for how we can help our clients generate influence. Yet, we also devote much thought into how consumers influence others in an increasingly connected world.

As design professionals, we spend considerable time each and every day thinking about influence.

Of course, we’re continuously developing new strategies for how we can help our clients generate influence. Yet, we also devote much thought into how consumers influence others in an increasingly connected world.

In the short film, Influencers, written and directed by Paul Rojanathara and Davis Johnson, we get a snapshot of New York’s most influential and creative individuals who are defining today's pop culture. Influencers seeks to identify and explain not only who the influencers are, but also what makes them so compelling. Youthful, confident, fearless early-adopters are those who are now shaping our buying decisions, the music we listen to, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and even how we communicate with each other. These people can swiftly embrace something not mainstream (a drink, a brand, music), and make it wildly popular – all through the power of viral communications.

Unlike the celebrity-endorsed Nineties, today’s influencers are not bought or paid by a brand to wear/drink/talk about their product.  Rather, influencers embrace a product that they believe in, and then the buzz begins. This profound change has dramatically shifted power back into the hands of consumers. Being able to express likes and dislikes to a global audience is transforming the very essence of marketing and brand strategy.

Who are the influencers in your industry?

Have you identified who is talking about your product, sharing details about their customer experience, or tweeting about your service? If not, you could be missing out on valuable opportunities to reach out to your market. Are you ready to learn more about leveraging the power of influencers? Creativity is contagious...

The newly revamped, flash-based HBO.com features enhanced interactive and video features, personal dashboard.

Our good friends over at HBO have relaunched their website, HBO.com, adding interactive features and enhanced video support. The HBO Go web site itself is visually stunning, with lots of full-screen visuals for each of the featured TV shows, movies, and other bits of programming that scroll once a user is logged in. Browsing through the different featured sections — Movies, Series, Comedy, Sports, Documentaries, and Late Night — is quick and painless, with each offering up an easy-to-navigate interface for choosing between titles. Users can customize the viewing experience by choosing between cover, grid, and list modes of viewing available content.

The newly revamped, flash-based HBO.com features enhanced interactive and video features, personal dashboard.

Our good friends over at HBO have relaunched their website, HBO.com, adding interactive features and enhanced video support. The HBO Go web site itself is visually stunning, with lots of full-screen visuals for each of the featured TV shows, movies, and other bits of programming that scroll once a user is logged in. Browsing through the different featured sections — Movies, Series, Comedy, Sports, Documentaries, and Late Night — is quick and painless, with each offering up an easy-to-navigate interface for choosing between titles. Users can customize the viewing experience by choosing between cover, grid, and list modes of viewing available content.

Here's a quick list of the site's key expanded features:

• Streaming video – high quality videos of HBO shows in full-screen resolution — regardless of monitor size — that provide users with more of a TV-watching experience than a PC-viewing experience
• Enhanced schedule – easy to use accessibility from every page on the site
• Community – ability to upload your photo, create a personal identity, and establish a unique voice by posting comments and stories throughout the site
• Shareability – ability to share content with friends in and outside of the HBO community, with a robust set of share tools that includes e-mail, video embed, and post functionality
• Personal dashboard – ability to create a dashboard of favorites, plus bookmark discussions, clips, and even get recommendations for new content based on favored programs

Overall, we think this is a prime example of how entertainment companies can expand their online presence in today's digital age. HBO.com uses the best in web design techniques in conjuction with the latest technology to accomplish an optimal viewing and experience for its users. We believe that the HBO approach can set a standard of design for companies who stream video content online.

As an award-winning creative agency specializing in brand design, we are proud to announce the redesign of the STARMEN web site. But ‘redesign’ doesn't really cover it. We’ve made more than an aesthetic adjustment or surface-level change, we’ve ‘refreshed’ internally and externally. The new starmenusa.com reflects our new ideas, fresh thinking, and innovative approach to our clients’ brands, as well as our latest design work. 

As an award-winning creative agency specializing in brand design, we are proud to announce the redesign of the STARMEN website. But ‘redesign’ doesn't really cover it. More than an aesthetic adjustment or surface-level change, we’ve ‘refreshed’ both internally and externally. The new starmenusa.com reflects our new ideas, fresh thinking, and innovative approach to our clients’ brands, as well as our latest design work. 

Our LA headquarters are buzzing with excitement! This site has been a labor of love, created with synchronized hard work, absolute enthusiasm, and meticulous attention to effective design. What remains unchanged is our unwavering resolve: We are here to produce solid, valuable results for you! Now, we just look even better!

We warmly invite you to visit our new site, and enjoy our latest work.

Situated in the heart of Los Angeles, STARMEN separates itself from the plethora of design companies by remaining independent, creatively led, and modest enough in size to work closely with clients.  The November issue of Runway Magazine explains just this! Runway Magazine called us ‘Hollywood’s Rising Stars,’ and their article illustrates how our boutique design agency has found great footing in the entertainment capital of the world! 

Download the full article here.

Situated in the heart of Los Angeles, STARMEN separates itself from the plethora of design companies by remaining independent, creatively led, and modest enough in size to work closely with clients.  The November issue of Runway Magazine explains just this! Runway Magazine called us ‘Hollywood’s Rising Stars,’ and their article illustrates how our boutique design agency has found great footing in the entertainment capital of the world! 

Download the full article here.