It’s not every day I get to meet the CEO of a highly-influential technology company, but the other day I did. Philippe Roche from Alioscopy USA came to town and even though I have been working with his team for many months it was not until last Monday that we met in person.

Mr. Roche is an intelligent and interesting person who also happens to be a savvy Frenchman. I was warned by friends before the meeting that there is a stereotype about Americans being arrogant and gauche. Arrogant I can deal with, but gauche?! Pleeeeez. I decided to prove my friends wrong and determinedly tried not to be gauche whatsoever and in so doing…was more gauche than ever. Yes, I just used gauche 4 times in a sentence.

Un, Deaux, Trois…

Here’s a few helpful tips you may want to consider the next time you are going to meet the CEO of a company:

	Whatever you do, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT experiment with new hair products before your meeting particularly products that say ’shine’ or ‘gloss’ on the bottle.
	Remember to try your pants on in advance to make sure they fit especially if your meeting happens to be a few weeks after the holiday season as a few pounds or say, ten pounds, may have snuck up on you.
	Make an effort to minimize the usage of the words “cool” and “like” to just once every 30 minutes instead of every 5 minutes.
	Do the pre-meeting crumb and stain check. This is very important especially if you have small children because you never know if you will have a blueberry hand print on your back.
	Avoid eating onions, scallions, chives or anything in the allium family before your meeting unless of course you are being introduced to the CEO of TheOnion.com (har har).
	Refrain from shouting. The exception to this tip would be if you are telling a story about “Blue in Spanish” and absolutely must shout “BLUE! IN! SPANISH!” for effect.
	Try really really hard not to burp, but if you must…turn AWAY from the CEO, lift the coinciding arm up (but not too far up or it will look like you are sniffing for something) and mock *cough* burp into your sleeve.
	When saying good bye and thanking the CEO for his (or her) time, look where you are going. The possibility that you may kick trash, walk into a light post or fall over a chair is quite high.

About the author Sara Richardson-McCreery is a 12-year veteran Web designer with proven expertise in custom Web site design, development and usability for clients ranging from big brands to start-up organizations. She is the creative director for Spike Likes LLC, an award-winning Web design company.

I keep my creative mind fresh by taking walks wherever I am even if it’s for 15 minutes after a client meeting or a quick dash out of the office, but especially when I am visiting someplace new. It helps me think, clear my thoughts and often assists with sorting through whatever design issue I may have on my mind. Today, I thought I would do something different and I encourage everyone to give it a try.

I decided to let my eye pick out all the red along the way…kind of like honoring the color today. Maybe next week it will be green, violet or silver, but today I selected red and randomly photographed red objects. You would be amazed how your mind and eyes begin to hone in on the color, pulling it out of the scenery.

Below are 12 of the random red things:

About the author Sara Richardson-McCreery is a 12-year veteran Web designer with proven expertise in custom Web site design, development and usability for clients ranging from big brands to start-up organizations. She is the creative director for Spike Likes LLC an award-winning Web design company.

This post was origially published on the Microsoft Office Live Small Business web site (thank you, Monte).

No doubt, finding design inspiration for a website can be a tough job. Combine running a website with your normal business operations, and it can be even more difficult for you to fire up the creative side of your brain when you need to.

In honor of the holiday season, I’d like to give a gift to everyone in the Office Live Small Business community: a design tip. Let’s unwrap it together, shall we?

The tip is to…slow down.

Really, that’s it. Slow down and take a moment to think. As in stop and smell the roses. I’m encouraging everyone who is working hard on their websites to stop, look at the roses, and keep your mind open. Why? Because you never know what you’ll discover when you pause. By changing your pace for a bit, it may mean finding the inspiration to resolve artistic dilemmas, page layout problems, struggles with content development, or online campaign issues.

Before I begin working on a client’s project, I always spend time looking for and researching design inspiration. Most of the time I roll right along, but every once in awhile a project will have me stumped until I change it up and shift gears. That’s where that slowing down and pausing comes into play.

A short, snappy story

Here’s what I mean by slowing down and keeping your mind open. Recently, MapMyFitness co-founder Kevin Callahan asked me to design a new set of mapping markers (12 total) that would define the look and feel of all of the markers used in his company’s mapping engine. I must have scoured resources online and off-line for a week straight and mocked up 10 different ideas to no avail. I had nothing I felt comfortable presenting to Kevin.

Then one day, while dressing my toddler, I became fixated with the snap on his shorts. I slowed down. I stopped. I thought about it. Snap on, snap off. Snap on! Snap off! I sat down on the floor and tinkered with the snap for a few minutes and victoriously shouted, “That’s it!” to no one in particular (little one having wandered away at this point).

Once I got into the office and began sketching the idea, I realized I had it — distinct, easily recognizable markers that “snapped” onto users’ route maps, inspired not just by universal road signage, but my toddler’s shorts!

The images below are a side by side comparison of the snap and the finalized MapMyFitness map markers.

More tips for getting design inspiration:

• Make your own design inspiration resource book. Don’t be alarmed, the book does not have to be anything fancy. You can cut images and text that inspire you from your favorite magazines, newspapers, or even mailbox fliers, and tape them onto sheets of paper to make your “book.” Collect ideas for future use or refer to it when you are in a crunch.
• Don’t feel limited to using only graphic art as a point of inspiration. I often find music, poems, paintings, and books helpful. There have even been instances where I have bought movies a client may have mentioned as a point of reference.
• Get out of your office. Part of finding inspiration in unlikely places is actually giving your eyes and mind a break so you can have a chance to rethink the design task. On many occasions I have resolved design problems by taking a long walk.

Happy Holidays!
Sara Richardson-McCreery

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