July 09, 2014
War rooms, breakout rooms, pods, cafés—what do they all have in common? They are must-haves spaces for creative professionals to come up with new ideas. Without these areas, collaboration and brainstorming would be a bust. Here’s why your in-house agency needs designated space for idea generation. …
July 02, 2014
When we think of the stereotypical agency environment, images of Ping-Pong tables, lava lamps and overstuffed fluorescent chairs come to mind. Sure, outside agencies may have more freedom when it comes to furniture choices and paint colors, but that shouldn’t condemn in-house interiors to be …
June 30, 2014
One of the smartest things an in-house agency can do is align itself with its facilities or building management group. Now I can’t say creative connections are what every facilities team is after, but it’s been my experience that we have a lot in common. In-house agencies and facilities groups …
June 23, 2014
Corporate space design has evolved significantly over the past 15 years. Coveted corner offices are a thing of the past—replaced by open floor plans and low cubes. Where your employees sit and their personal space is a hot topic. When planning for space changes, you need to consider the different …
June 16, 2014
Relationships between creative team members and clients can be good, bad or downright ugly. Whatever it is, your goal should always be ongoing improvement of your client relationships.
The interaction between clients and creatives during projects often invites opportunities for conflict. When …
June 11, 2014
As an in-house agency, you have a choice. You can have a closed ideation ecosystem or one that pushes the boundaries and opens up the ideation process to a broader team. IHAF Member, Vistaprint, recently proved that the latter choice can jump start the creative process.
Vistaprint's in-house …
June 09, 2014
Considering how fast organizational needs are changing, it has never been more critical to be flexible and creative in problem solving and decision making. We've seen many adaptive organizations survive who have embraced their workers’ creative thinking as a core business practice and we have seen …
June 04, 2014
In the external agency world, awards are everything. A creative director early in my career once told me to give the client Headline A (the better headline), even though I told him they would probably reject it. I knew that Headline B was also effective and was probably the one they’d want because …
June 02, 2014
As the service-minded design group that once was blossoms into a strategic superpower within your organization, you’ll find your team’s credibility growing—and your responsibilities tripling. What do you mean you can’t design an award-winning logo, lead an international conference call, present …
May 26, 2014
Over my career, I’ve had many conversations with in-house creative colleagues related to getting respect from clients. Actually, I had one last week. Common refrains include, “They just don’t get it” or “They don’t understand design” and my personal favorite, “They’re art directing me!” So, how do …