My wife loves to watch “deals” websites that specialize in children’s and moms’ stuff. Zulily is one of those sites that she recently ordered some items from. Now, I know, I know. It’s not magic related, but I couldn’t get over the thank you card they sent along with her order and I think there’s something we can learn from it. Here, have a look at it:

First of all, here’s a short comment on the design: all of the design elements work well to portray a store that specializes in baby and motherly products. It’s simple yet elegant and is soft and calming. The thing I really liked about it, though, is the copy around the edge of the card which reads:

A simple card isn’t quite enough to thank you properly. You deserve something extra. Please consider yourself high-fived and confetti-showered. We also did a happy dance in your honor. With spins! Still, we want to give you more. That’s why we put a Very Fun Thing on the back of this card.

Of course on the back they put a fun, short activity that you may or may not take part in.

That short bit of copy around the edge adds a fun, light-hearted human element to what would normally have been a bland, yet well-designed thank you card. Personally, I think it takes it up a notch to being remarkable and all it cost them was a little time and creativity.

Consider how we can add that human touch to our own materials. Sometimes all it takes is interjecting a little conversational humor.

As you may have heard, it was announced today that Steve Jobs passed away. He truly was a great creative man who had a knack for being able to tell what people wanted before they wanted it. If only some of us magicians could master that!

Of course he’s responsible for more than a few things, like creating computers and hand-held devices that are as beautiful as they are easy to use, or changing the way people buy and consume media.

I’d like to direct your attention to an article, One thing we owe to Steve Jobs, published on CNN, that credits Jobs for the fact that you have the choice of a multitude of fonts on your computer. It’s a very interesting story and offers a small look into Jobs’ life you may not have known existed.

For a little more inspiration, here is A Collection of 60 Inspirational Steve Jobs Quotes About Life, Design and Apple.

Mr. Jobs, thank you for being a great example of creative thinking, leadership and good old hard work. Take a load off, sir…you deserve it.

I came across a really great resource for business card inspiration. This oughta get your creativity flowing if you’re putting together your business card. There are a lot of great ideas over at this link!

The Best of Business Card Design

Here’s a little followup to a couple links I shared in the past from Toxel.com. It’s another interesting look at large brands only this time asks the question: what if they swapped logos? This is sure to put a smile on your face!

Companies Swapped Logos at Toxel.com

Similar Posts:

Keep It Simple, Sparky (Simplified Logos)

Fun Link: Honest Logos

I like to call this piece "amoebas."

What you see above is the result of taking one of my own doodles and manipulating it in Photoshop for five minutes. Here’s a little offshoot of last week’s post:

Want to fire up your creativity? Try doodling! It’s a great way to really stretch yourself sometimes. It’s not just for artists and designers, either. Get out a pen and a piece of paper and go to town!

It’s sort of like when your English teacher in school told you to free-write about absolutely anything during class, only this is drawing. So for five minutes, do nothing but draw. You don’t even have to draw on a piece of paper. Try drawing on your napkin or cup from lunch. Make your drawing interact with whatever designs might already be on there. The point is, do it!

Now, don’t you feel more creative? I thought so.

I know, you probably wanted me to go with the original KISS meaning ending with “Stupid,” but hey, I make the decisions around here! I came across the following post that had some “simplified logos” and in each case I was able to tell who the logo belongs to. There are a couple lessons that can be learned here.

First of all, here’s the link: Simplified Logos

Finally, here are the lessons:

Number one: branding can be incredibly strong. These logos are an extension of each companies brand, yet they don’t outwardly include the company name. Think of ways you can effectively use branding to strengthen your business.

Number two: it is always best to be concise. It is possible to get your message across using less. Work at what you would like to say and then work to simplify, simplify, simplify.

Parting note: I know that we’re probably not giants like the companies featured at the link, but we can still take a tip from and gather inspiration from them. After all, they started out small too!

So I was surfing the net “procrastinating” while I came across this fun blog post from Toxel.com. It shows the true colors of some well known companies. Follow the link below. I’m sure you’ll love it!

Honest Logos

I ran into these a while ago while reading a blog that I follow. My last post about the April Fool’s joke reminded me of it and I wanted to share it with you. These cards come from a UK based design firm called Hat-Trick Design.

This is a great example of creativity and a source of inspiration for design. The design on each of  these cards is different, and each face design is created using the card’s value number or letter. Each design reveals an interesting pattern that also depicts the card’s suit. Be sure to not miss the joker’s face and when you take a closer look at the back design, you’ll see the values creating the pattern. I don’t think they reveal the face value however…

Click here for more info, pics and a video!

(Unfortunately, at the time of this post you can’t purchase them, though the creator says more are being printed.)