Fifty years ago today, we lost one of the greatest creative minds the world has ever known — Walt Disney. From his humble beginnings as a doodler in Marceline to the head of a multifacted media and entertainment empire, “Uncle Walt” could seemingly do it all. “If you can dream it, you can do it” was one of his favorite quotes and one that I always have believed in, no matter how tough things have become. Today’s infographic takes a brief look at the early career, and later highlights of this brilliant man. [VIA]
No matter what it is you are trying to do — write, draw, paint, engineer — at one time or another you’ve encountered a little mind block. Don’t worry though, they are very easy to overcome (even if it doesn’t happen as fast as we would like sometimes). The folks at Creative Market have come up with a wonderful infographic to give you 40 ideas to try and help you overcome whatever mental block you are having and get back to creating all your wonderful things. [VIA]
We often wonder how some of the most successful and prolific people in the world can do all that they do in 24 hours. We have those same hours in which to work, play, exercise, and sleep, but what makes them different? Oftentimes it’s their daily routine. Today’s infographic takes a look at the average daily routine for some of history’s most creative writers, scientists, and composers to see just how they were able to accomplish what they did in a day.
Included in the graphic are:
Gustave Flaubert Ludwig Van Beethoven W.A. Mozart Thomas Mann Sigmund Freud Immanuel Kant Maya Angelou John Milton Honore de Balzac Victor Hugo Charles Dickens W.H. Auden Charles Darwin P.I. Tchaikovsky Le Corbusier Benjamin Franklin
With the New Year coming, there is a tendency to create new Resolutions and reflect on the old. One of mine is to always try to be more creative, whether it be in making things, being crafty, or writing. I can never seem to find the right inspiration or focus, however. Today’s infographic helps give you some ideas on how to focus and get on track.. Let those creative juices flow!! [VIA]
Daily Video — “Fan Art: An Explosion of Creativity“
Today’s video from the PBS Off Book series takes you through the concept of fan art — where artists take established characters from TV, movies, video games, cartoons, etc. and either create their own visual pieces of fiction that includes those characters in new or unique situations. Learn how many artists got their start drawing fan art or writing fan fiction and how it provides a very unique and creative outlet for them that is also accessible to the masses. It is interesting to see what is the evolution of a subculture among artists and fans of the subjects as well as some of the unique pieces and “mash-ups” created.
All videos are owned by their respective YouTube channels and users and are embedded here for your benefit to use in class in compliance with the appropriate copyright provisions.
From PBS Off Book, learn about computer coding and programming from an artistic point of view. Many artists are now emerging with very creative ideas, designs, and applications for computer programming and coding. Today’s video walks you through a few of the programming platforms they use and the applications and artwo0rk that has been created using them.
All videos are owned by their respective YouTube channels and users and are embedded here for your benefit to use in class in compliance with the appropriate copyright provisions.
Daily Video — “Animated GIFs: The Birth of a Medium“
From PBS, learn the history of the .gif file format and how it is quickly becoming a new online art form driven by social media sites. Moving from the pixellated images of the late 1980s to modern cinemagraphs, see how thee files are being used by artists and not just for dancing babies and cats anymore!
All videos are owned by their respective YouTube channels and users and are embedded here for your benefit to use in class in compliance with the appropriate copyright provisions.
Another in a great line of creation and creativity apps, iBrainstorm allows students to collaborate on projects through their iPads. It is essentially a free form drawing and writing app that can allow students to set up flow charts and graphical designs, storyboard their creative writing, or even create notes or comics.
iBrainstorm allows multiple users to create place their ideas on the board as well as add annotations, suggestions and notes through a sticky-pad feature. This is ideal for group collaborative projects and allowing students who might need the added help to map out their thoughts and ideas.
A sister app, iBrainstorm Companion is also available for the iPhone or iPod and allows up to 4 students to work on the same document at once. They can add or create notes and pieces on their iPhone or iPod then “flick” them to the connected iPad to produce their final product.
iBrainstorm would be ideally used in a collaborative, project-based learning environment where students are comfortable with, and responsible enough, to use their own technology independently to produce great content.
Lots of our students want to create presentations and projects, or just fun things with their iPads, iPhones, or iPods while in class. Sometimes they need a little help with this, especially if they need to touchup, crop, or edit photos they’ve taken in anyway. Today, two free apps that can let them do just that!
This app is a very simple one for editing photos quickly. Aviary has a very similar interface and feels very much like Instagram. Students can choose from an Enhance menu where they can adjust the color and lighting in the photo, Effects where they can choose different tones and blurs, frames, stickers, and text. Aviary also supports basic photo editing like red-eye reduction, whitening, blemish removal, brightness, saturation, and sharpness adjustments, as well as simple cropping. Aviary is available for both the iPhone and iPad.
Similar to the full version, Adobe Photoshop Express offers hundreds of photo enhancement, effects, and adjustments options for students. From a simple auto adjustment by clicking on a want icon to choosing from the hundreds of effects and borders Photoshop Express offers a great deal of choice in adjusting photos. Also included are the basic editing tools, including brightness and contrast, hue and saturation, tint, sharpening tools, noise reduction, and red-eye reduction. The interface is not as graphically appealing as some other editors, as Photoshop Express chooses to allow the photograph to maximize the real estate on the screen, rather than its menus. Photoshop Express is available for both iPhone and iPad.
From PBS, meet a few different street artists and learn about their craft, their inspirations, and why they choose to use the world and city streets as their canvas..
All videos are owned by their respective YouTube channels and users and are embedded here for your benefit and use in class in compliance with the appropriate copyright provisions.
NJBiblio 