Make Your Holidays Bright

As part of one of my other projects, I've created three CafePress.com stores that feature original DTIG-designed holiday art printed on shirts, greetings cards, magnets, and the like.

My favorite of the three designs is (of course) the "Be Bright" illustration displayed below.

There is also a Christmas tree design (Be Merry), and an illustration of the fat-boy in the red suit himself (Be Jolly.) It seems like it's been forEVER since I had the chance to stretch the old cartooning muscles, so it was a fun exercise and I'm pleased with the results.

Visit the stores, check out the designs, and tell me what you think.

Introducing... DTIG.07

Welcome to the new 2007 design of DonTheIdeaGuy.com
The site has wide open spaces -- and it's wide open to new possibilities!

Just a few of the sites changes you'll notice...

• Brand new logo!
  I'm really liking this new design. I haven't been this happy with a logo since the 'superhero-style' light bulb/lightning bolt combination from a few years ago. I think this new design is a little more business-like (but still has a bit of the Batman about it!)
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• FeedBurner subscription feeds for all the primary content pages -- INSIGHT, INSPIRATION, INNOVATION, and (of course) MY BRAINBLOG. This means you can subscribe to one or all of your favorite pages using your favorite RSS Reader (I like BlogLines.)
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• The BOOKSHELF content will be combined into the INSPIRATION pages. The books were always meant to inspire anyway, right?
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• ASK DTIG chat box
  No matter where you are on the site, you access to The Idea Guy! Ask questions about the site, brainstorming services, product reviews etc. You can tell at a glance if I'm logged in -- feel free to send me a message!
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• Join the DTIG Yahoo Group
  I don't add to the clutter of your email inbox very often (I tend to post most things on the BrainBlog), but as part of the IDEAS4U Yahoo Group, you'll have exclusive access to additional creative content -- brainstorming tools, links, resources, articles, and ebooks -- all collected in one convenient place. You also have the opportunity to participate in group chats and online brainstorm sessions with me and the rest of the DTIG community.

I'll be adding more items soon (I have a couple podcasts in the works) and a few other projects I can't wait to share with you. In the meantime -- keep on clicking!

They're Behind You!

An amusing vid of people getting "stealth disco'd" by some creative troublemakers at the PodCastCon UK 2006.



Fun to watch, but there's a bigger idea hidden here.
See if you can figure it out.

I know I'm trying to...

Just what the world needs... another podcast.

Announcing a new podcast show in production --
"ASK THE IDEA GUY."

This is your chance to have questions answered on how to create ideas out of thin air, pitching ideas to people who can help put them into action, and selling your ideas for a profit. If you don't have a question on generating or selling ideas, this is also a good way to get a free DTIG mini-brainstorm. ;)

If you'd like to submit a question and have a chance to be featured in the show, call the 'Ask The Idea Guy Hotline' at 614-654-5180 and leave your question in the voicemail. Be sure to leave your Name, City, and email address (please SPELL your email address sloooooowly.)

If your question is one of the those featured in the first couple shows, I'll give you a t-shirt or mug or magnet or postcard or CD or something. If you're too shy to hear your voice on a podcast, leave your question in the comments area below -- but if you want a reward when we air your question, you're gonna have to leave an audio message!

C'mon -- help me give this podcast production a boost! Call 614-654-5180
Ask your most puzzling creativity question. The area code is for Columbus, Ohio. While I'm not personally charging you anything for the call, you can bet the phone company is -- normal long distance charges will apply.

Operators (as they say) are standing by!
Details on on how to access the show will be announced with the release of first episode.

Don't Be An Asshole

Guy Kawasaki reviews a book that will be immediately purchased and moved to the top of my 'to-read' stack -- "The No Asshole Rule" by Robert Sutton. (But... I mean... not because I personally need it or anything.)

Sutton is the same guy who wrote "Weird Ideas That Work", one of my favorite books on innovation in the workplace. (I really need to add that title to my online bookshelf.)

In case you think you may BE an asshole, Guy's article shares ten tips on how to avoiding the label. In case you KNOW an asshole, there are seven pieces of advice on dealing with them.

While I definitely plunk down the bucks for this book, it looks very similar to a series of books I've had on my Amazon WishList for awhile. I think I'm going to purchase and compare them. Let me know if any of you have read the books listed below:
Asshole No More
Assholes Forever
The Asshole Conspiracy

The books were written using an obvious pen name (Dr. Xavier Crement, MD -- a proctologist), so I'd be curious to know if it was Sutton all along?

The Ugly Truth About "Pretty"

You've probably seen or heard about the Dove "Evolution" video that shows the progression of a model that goes from photo-shoot to Photoshop.

One of my marketing and promotion consulting clients is Dr. Mary Beth Mudd (The Beauty Doctor), and M.D. that specializes in "Advanced Medical Aesthetics" -- that is to say, skin and beauty treatments that stop short of surgical alterations. Dr. Mudd positions her practice as "dedicated to enhancing a person’s natural beauty, without asking them to trade their integrity for a popular notion of 'good looks'."

Since the subject of the Dove video is intended to show an extreme version of our society's preoccupation with what is considered "pretty" -- I thought it would be interesting to hear a view from The Beauty Doctor, who I believe falls somewhere between the two extremes.

Dr. Mudd accepted the challenge (which I think should earn her extra points when it would have been so easy to duck the question entirely) and here's a link to what she had to say --
Artifical Looks or Swellegance?