Be Inspired.

The #TwitterBlackOut mobilized in the course of two days. Twitter posted a justification for its move to censor Tweets on a Thursday. By Friday, the Twitter blackout had been organized by members of the Twittersphere. The organization and implementation of a global shutdown of one of the Web’s most highly trafficked sites occurred in less time than it takes to fly to Australia. I think that’s pretty amazing.

So what does that mean for a creative like me?

For one thing, social media has changed the way we concept (come up with ideas). In the past, after being briefed on a project, creatives might go sit somewhere, toss around a ball, thumb through a magazine, and hope to get inspired.

Now, we hop onto any number of social media sites and look at what other people find exciting. Just last week, my partner and I were tasked to come up with the look and feel of a client’s unbranded marketing campaign. So we went online and looked at sites like Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook. The resulting colors were inspired by a sports team uniform I saw on a friend’s virtual pinboard. The design was influenced by an old album cover someone had Tweeted about.

When it comes to healthcare advertising, it is often difficult to use the social media tactics other industries take for granted. But that’s no excuse for ignoring the world of social media. Even if the regulatory hurdles make it difficult to implement, we can still find inspiration in what we read and see.

How has social media affected your approach to work?

-Jamie