• Why You Need a War Room

    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. …

    Read Moreright arrow

  • Culture: The Ultimate Interior

    July 02, 2014

    • by IHAF Staff

    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 …

    Read Moreright arrow

  • Creating Creative Spaces—One Wall at a Time

    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 …

    Read Moreright arrow

  • Space Matters

    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 …

    Read Moreright arrow

  • Advancing Your Client/Creative Relationships

    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 …

    Read Moreright arrow

  • Jump Start Your Creative-Development Process

    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 …

    Read Moreright arrow

  • Balancing Creativity with Practicality

    June 09, 2014

    • by John Jacobin, IRS

    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 …

    Read Moreright arrow

  • Why Awards Matter (Even When They Don’t)

    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 …

    Read Moreright arrow

  • Changing Your Relationship Status

    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 …

    Read Moreright arrow

  • Creative Respect: Earn It, Don't Expect It

    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 …

    Read Moreright arrow