Inspiration
I Have an Idea…
I have an idea… That’s how it always starts. It scares practically everyone I say it to. This time of year it feels like I say it every single day. I have always been a planner – when I was little my dad would say, “You must have gotten hit in the head with a…
Read MoreLife Without Digital: Another Digital Detox Done
It’s done. Another digital detox. Can you hear it? Can you smell it? You can touch it, breathe it, and feel it all around you. What is it that I’m talking about? It’s Life. The dearest gift humans can be thankful for. Are we thankful enough to cherish the small things life has to offer?…
Read MoreThat Awkward Moment Before You Write
Have you felt that awkward moment before you try to write something… like a blog? If so, do you like it or hate it? If you hate it, you probably don’t like blogging. But if you like it, then writing for you harbors a powerful, inner drive to inspire people. I embrace that awkward moment.…
Read MoreTake a Position
It’s my theme for this year – Take a Position. It’s not like I didn’t have a position. I did. My business does. We build healthy brands, and we help organizations that help people. But during the course of a year, or five or ten, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day stuff…
Read MoreTwo Bulls on a Hill
Before I get to the Two Bulls on a Hill, I’m going to tell you what I’m most thankful for in this world. It’s my father, Larry Culbertson. Since I was a kid, my father has allowed me to develop into the man I was meant to be. He never directed me, never pushed me,…
Read MoreSimple Ways to Fall
I know a lot of simple ways to fall. Here’s a selection of my current favorites. I didn’t include the song I wrote, titled appropriately enough, A Simple Way to Fall. Perhaps I will in a future blog. Feel free to share your own simple ways. Fall Classic Indians and Cubs in the World Series. An…
Read MoreMy Digital Detox
Inspiration My Digital Detox Shaun CulbertsonAugust 5, 2016 I did my detox, and I feel better. What about you — Can you let go? We all do it. Daily. Some of us all day long. We can’t live without it. We wake up to it. Go to bed with it. And if you are like me,…
Read MoreWine and Gold Winners
Something wine and gold happened to me while trying to figure out what to write in my color blog. Something wine-believable. Something unfor-goldable. Something impossible that I need to share. Sunday, June 19, 2016 It’s getting late and I’m stuck at my baseball game because the umps showed up forty minutes late. I’m happy to be playing ball…
Read MoreUP JUMPED SPRING! MOTIVATION
My motivation is being hit with a case of Up Jumped Spring, one of my favorite seasonal jazz tunes, and one of Freddie Hubbard’s best. It’s a tune that feels like what happens when spring jumps up (thankfully a bit early this year). It delightfully messes with my motivation and direction. Different music. Different clothes. Windows open. Furniture…
Read MoreEnding Leads to Beginning
All through Charlie Parker’s bebop tune, Anthropology, practically every ending leads to beginning. It’s a trait peculiar to bebop, and a lot of jazz music in general. The syncopated phrases seem to end, only to push you forward to the next phrase. Every harmonic cadence (an ending of sorts) pushes forward to another key, a chord,…
Read MoreMarsala – Pantone Color of the Year: PMS 18-1438
When we establish a new identity or refresh an existing one, we provide our clients with brand guidelines. These guidelines are a set of rules that help to maintain the consistency and integrity of a brand over time. Within the guidelines, we provide specs for the brand’s exact PMS colors. Pantone Matching System (PMS) is…
Read MoreAll In.
Before this month the phrase “ All In ” meant something very different to me than it does today. “All In” brought to mind a scene of individuals sitting around a table praying that the odds are in their favor as one of them slides all their chips to the center, hoping no one guesses…
Read MoreMessaging and Music
It is well researched and well documented that a simple tune can amplify any message. So unless you’re a Keats, a Shakespeare, or a Maya Angelou, you should probably set your messages to music if you want them to be remembered. We see messaging and music done well in a lot of marketing and advertising. We…
Read MoreColorful Perceptions
Our moods can be affected by so many things. A melancholy song, the weather, or even a smell. While many of these mood influencers can be clear as day, one of the biggest subconscious influencers is color. Remember the mood rings that were all the rage in the early 90’s? Well as it turns out there is some…
Read More5 Great Resources for Unique Imagery
For years stock photography was been something you order from other companies, but thanks to the advent of digital photography and the Internet, we now have access to thousands upon thousands of images online from innumerable sources. (Hopefully) Gone are the days of the strange perspective, wacky poses on white backgrounds, but the new trouble designers across…
Read More20+ Years of dRC Holiday Cards. Which is your favorite?
Here is a fun look back at all of the designRoom Creative Holiday cards. Let us know which one is your favorite. Bonus points if you can guess the designers (no cheating past dRC designers). Hint: I try as hard as I can to get out of doing the card every year, but some of…
Read MoreMy White Christmas
I’ve had my white Christmas, and it was enlightening. Among other things, the holidays for me mean once-a-year kind of projects, both here at dRC and in my music career. The holiday card-making I’ll leave for Chad to write about. I’m going to share my holiday music work. Last year through the holidays I played…
Read MoreRandom Wacky Image Search Results
I believe, as the result of many an internet image search, our world is becoming more random. And wacky. If you have a teenager, you’ll know what I mean by random. And wacky. Just check out this video. My daughter thought it was hilarious. When she showed it to me, I just stood there dumbfounded…
Read MoreMy Top 7 Resources for Color Inspiration
I spend less than two minutes picking paint colors from that massive swatch kiosk at Home Depot. I go with my gut. But I really only have myself to please. It’s different in my design work. There are so many factors that go into developing a color palette for a brand, a campaign or even…
Read MoreI Love Black, and Other Color Trends.
I own a creative studio. Every day here is colorful. Our designers are immersed in color, recommending palettes for client brands – digging deep into color psychology, meaning, relationships, competition, hierarchy and every other aspect you can think of. Even our walls are a bright orange and pale blue. I oversee this colorful kingdom while wearing…
Read MoreReign of Radiance – Pantone Color of the Year: PMS 18-3224
When we create a new brand or update an existing one, we will provide the client with a set of brand guidelines. In these guidelines are specs for the brand’s exact PMS colors. So, what on earth is a PMS color? PMS is the Pantone Matching System – a proprietary system used universally in design, fashion…
Read MoreInspiration in Infrared
When we present concepts to clients, I often wonder if they think about how we got from the creative brief to the visual solution. I wonder if they try to understand the leap from words and thoughts to images/colors/type. Maybe they understand more than I give them credit for. Or maybe they don’t care at all and I am just wondering how I do it myself. I’m always a little surprised where inspiration comes from.
Read More15 Design Apps For Your Consideration
When the iPad was released it was panned for being a large iPhone. Tablets were thought of as media consumption devices, because of their size and their touch interface. Now though, they are extending out from general use and into creative and development capabilities. But fret not, traditionalists. These mobile platforms have a long way to go before they replace the trusty desktop workhorse and convince me to stop using my iMac. Even so, I am increasingly finding design apps that integrate easily and effectively into my workflow.
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