desicreative.com

Dear Friends,

I am looking after a team of creative people and I would like to know how you are helping your own teams to stay updated and creative.
The following is what I am doing for my team for the past seven-eight years.

• One video per day on the 75" LED Screen on anything creative (E.g. TED, VFX Breakdowns, short films...)

• Weekly "You & I Talk" on Projects (Past and Present projects)

• Impromptu presentations on what I learned last week (E.g. Latest trends in Product Design, Critique on the book 'Rocket Surgery Made Easy')

• Bi-weekly design challenge (E.g. Redesign TATA Motors logo...)

• Designing e-birthday cards for team members

• Shooting short films on a whim (YouTube links are available only on personal requests... )

• Discussing movies/web-series during lunch/tea time

Could you please add to this list based on your experience?

I am a solo worker, so I have to self motivate. It isn't as structured as you do, but more like constantly washing and read design related blog posts.

DesingMilk and DesignShack are two blogs I visit regularly.

Not a big fan of watching video.

I am a freelancer as well. Inspiration is various websites, like Ek Kanya mentioned, including CreativeBloq, DesiCreative. ComputerArts etc.

@Antzfx you and your team are lucky. I work at a small agency and we have no such program. Its upto us as individuals to invigorate our creative skills...

@Ek Kanya and @Saumya: Thank you for the inspirational websites! Going solo is still a dream for me

@Vikas: Interesting! At one point in my career, I interned with Rediffusion Bengaluru and also started my UX Design career with a Bengaluru startup that had only 12 employees. Both the companies had creativity 'boosting' programs and those inspired me to start the same in my team.

I'm also trying out design podcasts whenever I'm driving between office and home. Will write about it separately in a new thread.

When I used to work in advertising we had company sponsored workshops.

JWT had a program called 'Entrez Vous' for all fresh recruits. Most agencies used to have periodic workshops.
I doubt if that happens at all these days.

In my new role i often organise screenings of films and a general open mic kind of session encouraging questions.

About the podcast: One of the key things on DesiCreative is the creative interviews. I have often wanted to do these as podcasts but the time and effort required for it plus the co-ordination, has always discouraged me., Its like running a radio station. Maybe I should try it.

@Paramvir:
Screening of films to inspire a team is a good idea. Will try this...

You should convert the interviews into podcasts. Please take this up as the New Year resolution 2020

I'm a big fan of 'Obsessed By Design' podcast by Josh Miles.

From his website:

A podcast designed to inspire.

On this podcast, I interview some of the most creative people in the world: architects, graphic designers, product designers, interior designers, process designers, and anyone who’s a little obsessed with their craft and industry. Our show explores the common threads that tie creative people together, how they got started in their craft, and what makes them tick.