We’ll save you thousands of dollars in travel and museum admission costs.

Google has an amazing collection of art online now and you can see browse by artist, collection, location, genre, medium and more. You can zoom in on the high resolution statues and paintings, too.

It’s called the Google Art Project and it resembles Google’s Street View product, but this time you can take a first-person tour through museums and other art houses around the world.

Found your inspiration? Let imPress Printing bring it to life — contact us today!

One reason retailers love Halloween is because they get two rushes of purchases. The first is from people wanting to stock up ahead of time. The second is from last-minute shoppers, but also from those same first-round customers who ate through their rations weeks back.

But the holiday is not just for grocery stores and costume shops.

Halloween brings with it unlimited opportunities for you to get the word out about your products or services by using promotional treats.

How about advertising on Halloween candy bags and pails?

You could put your logo on flashlights or safety armbands for kids and adults.

Are you a school or dentist’s office? How about putting your logo on a packet of customized safety information for kids?

Not for kids

Even if you’re not interested in the above ideas, how about a classy candy bar? You’ve probably seen them given out as wedding favors.

Why not put your logo on a Halloween candy bar for your clients?

Need help getting ready for Halloween? Let the experts at imPress Printing lend a hand.

Here at imPress I developed a concept I like to call “Food For Thought Lunches.”

Every so often, I round up any staff members interested in participating and bring in a creative, fun, or thought-provoking exercise to share with the group over our lunch break.

Some days it’s a crafty project, other days it’s coloring pages, short writing projects or list making. Regardless of the task, the lunches are a fun mid-day stress reliever, a great teambuilder, and an awesome creativity boost

So how can you implement something similar for your staff? I suggest grabbing a creative exercise book and using that as a starting point. I love “Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain.” by Stefan Mumaw and Wendy Oldfield.

Here is one sample exercise from the book, “Does This Dress Make My Brain Look Fat?”

And here is what some of our staff came up with…

So grab your crew, grab some crayons and markers, (and your lunch, of course!) and GET CREATIVE!

Although it’s super fun to help businesses express themselves, we can’t help but wish that once in awhile we could do the same for some individuals. How cool would it be to help some dude bring out his crazy side by styling his hair into a green mohawk, or help another guy display his inner child by tattooing Elmo on his arm?

The Next Best Thing

Realistically, we don’t see ourselves moonlighting as hairstylists or body artists any time soon. So we thought we’d use today’s post to direct you to a couple of websites that feature products that can help you express yourself. (We figured if we can’t ink anybody up, at least we can show you guys some less painful ways to show the world what you’re all about.)

One such website we’re into is imakemycase.com, a site that lets you create a personalized smartphone case. Whether you want to start from scratch and upload your own original design, or put your own spin on designs already out there, you’ll end up with a durable and unique case for your phone. Show off your individuality every time you talk, text, play with apps, or surf the web with that smartphone.

Or every time you wear your kicks. You can be sure never to have the same shoes as the guy next to you if you buy your next pair at NikeID.com. Here you can count on Nike quality shoes designed completely by you. You pick the style and the colors of each element of the sneaker, and you can even add a word to the back of each shoe. Your sneaks can tell the world whatever you want them to if you buy them from this site.

And that’s just the beginning. There are a number of sweet sites out there that can help you express yourself through personalized stuff. If you’re ready to let the real you be known, there are a bunch of great companies out there waiting to help you.

Of course, if you feel that your personality is sufficiently expressed but your business is ready to make itself known, then go no further – imPress Printing is all you need to make that happen.

The iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad and their apps have changed the way the world spends its free time. But these devices have a lot more to offer than just a touch screen and the ability to keep you posted on the weirdest ebay auctions.

Making Working Fun

That’s right. Don’t forget that your favorite toys have a lot to offer the business world too. (That’s why you bought your iPad anyway, right? Or at least that’s what you told your accountant…) But seriously, from Bento to FedEx Mobile, there are apps for these devices that can keep things running smoothly at your business.

Today we want to share a cool iPad app that designers use for work but that is so entertaining, you could also use it for fun. It’s called iFontMaker, and it’s just what it sounds like – an app that helps you to develop fonts. We sometimes use it to make creative custom fonts that we can incorporate into the marketing materials we design for our clients.  (This keeps us from getting stuck in the rut of overusing those overused fonts over and over and over.)

The app lets you pick existing fonts to trace, edit, tweak, and shape until you’ve made your own version of every letter. Then you can actually convert the letters you’ve drawn into a true type font, which can be imported to other applications. It turns out that it’s pretty neat-o to type in what looks like your own handwriting. (Or in the crazy bubble letters you’ve been perfecting since fifth grade.)

If you have a minute and are looking for a creative outlet, give iFontMaker a whirl (and some loops and swoops) and we’re sure it will bring you quite a few moments of ‘appiness.

And let’s say you receive this resume

This dude’s hired, right?

This brilliant idea superstar came up with a really cool way to use a QR code to make a boring piece of paper like a resume come alive.

Get Their Phones Dancing

Since a QR code can bring someone’s phone just about anywhere, there are a ton of ways you can use them in marketing. And something like this guy did is fantastic because it uses creativity to take the hipness of QR codes to new levels.

If you want your marketing collateral to stand out as much as Victor Petit’s resume, we’d be happy to show you other ways to use QR codes to make it happen. We went over a few ideas in a previous entry, but to be honest, the sky’s the limit. If you want to use a QR code and a YouTube video turn your printed postcard into a movie, we can make that happen. If you want to bring each recipient of your direct mail to a PURL, we’re on it. If you want a coupon to pop up on your targets’ phones when they scan a QR code, no problem.Or if you want something totally out of left field, you got it.

But please imPress Printing know if you want to give your marketing materials a QR code makeover.

After all, if QR codes can make a resume fun, they can bring the fiesta to just about anything.

Still, there are some people who seem especially creative, aren’t there? Like that Martha Stewart-esque aunt of yours or that artsy girl at work. How do they come up with so many darn good ideas? And could they teach other people to be creative?

Toning and Honing

We came across a neat-o discussion on quora.com the other day about whether creativity can be taught. Our take on it? Creativity is one of the elements that makes humans what they are, and since everyone already uses some creativity, anybody can learn to improve their creative thinking skills and maximize their creative potentials.

Besides creativity, there are lots of skills out there that most humans develop naturally, but that education can improve. Take speech, for instance. Most people develop a functional use of speech pretty early on without any particular instruction. And the average Joe can get by in life with not much more than those basic language skills he picked up early in the game. But if Joe feels like taking some lessons and practicing, he can improve upon those basic language skills and become an especially articulate person. And with a lot of lessons and practicing, he could acquire even more complicated language skills – like, say, becoming trilingual.

Just like the average Joe can learn to build on his speaking skills, he can also learn to build on his creativity. Since Joe’s days in the sandbox, he’s been using creativity to play and invent and navigate through life, so his creativity muscles are there. If he wants to get them toned, there’s plenty he can do. He can open his mind to new ways of thinking by networking with particularly creative people who may have different backgrounds and experiences. He’ll learn a lot by finding out about the creative processes and inspirations of these creative minds.

While learning directly from people with strong creativity skills will help, Joe’s own creativity workout plan will help more. He can practice coming up with solutions to different problems and different solutions to the same problem. The more he flexes his creativity muscles, the easier it will be for him to come up with interesting ideas and solutions in the future.

Learning by Doing

So yeah. Creativity can be taught. But since creativity is all about coming up with unique ideas, what people are taught won’t go too far without plenty of practice.

After all, the most creative people you know aren’t spending their lives learning about creativity – they’re out there creating things.

But the other day we received a mailer from Nissan that was so unique we would have had to pay attention, even if we weren’t the direct mail junkies we are. Check it out – this thing rocks.

A mailer like this gets people talking. Here we are right now talking about it and giving Nissan some free advertising at the same time. Spring-loaded cardboard cubes don’t usually explode out of direct mail, and when they do, people pay attention.

We love that direct mail can do things like this. E-mail, social media, and web marketing are terrific in their own ways, but they just can’t capture someone’s attention like a flying object can.

Be Their Soulmate

Well, maybe not quite their soulmate, but at least their soul cousin or something like that. The truth is, in the course of telling stories, your thoughts and beliefs and values have a way of showing themselves. And when you reveal those thoughts and beliefs and values, and your reader identifies with them, you’ve suddenly established a bond with that reader.

Let’s say your company sells those cell phones designed for the elderly. You send out a letter in which you paint a nice little picture about how somebody’s Nana has regained tons of independence since she’s had this phone clipped to her belt. You mention how much you love Nana, how much you know Nana values her ability to live on her own, but how scary it can be wondering if Nana’s going to be able to reach her land-line phone in an emergency. As your target reads this letter, he or she is likely to connect with the thoughts you are expressing in your story. The letter reader might think, Whoa. I love my Nana, too, and I’ve been worrying about her.  I wonder if this phone would make her feel more secure… The story is confirming some thoughts that are on your targets’ minds, which helps them form a connection with you.

And Be Their Buddy

Even if your business doesn’t lend itself well to stories that will stir up deep emotions in your readers, stories can still help you establish a rapport with your audience. A well-told funny story can get your readers thinking, Hey, these guys are a riot or I totally get these people. If you phrase your story in a way that appeals to your targets’ senses of humor, a story can give them a good feeling about your company.

So on top of hooking your audience in and entertaining them, stories are also a great way to get tight with your targets. Whether you confirm their beliefs, tug on their heartstrings, or make them laugh, stories can do a lot to turn targets into clients.

But it’s not that easy. It’s easier. Our ideas come from our imaginations, which are open 24:7, and everything in our imaginations is available at the bargain price of…free.

Of course, keeping our imaginations well stocked with unique thought bubbles does require a little work. We have to read a lot, view art a lot, play a lot, dream a lot, sing a lot, and occasionally do our best to remember what life was like when we were three years old.

Three Years Old?

Of course.

Next time you’re in a creative rut of any sort, watch toddlers. Toddlers’ imaginations are bursting at the seams with ideas. Give a toddler a spoon, and he’s got a microphone, a missile, a catapult, a drumstick, a toothbrush, a phone, a key, a chew toy, and a doll. Then, he’ll lick it, throw it, bite it, balance it on his thumb, and look at it from every possible angle to come up with more fun games. Why? He’s not limited by what’s been done before with that spoon – he just looks at the possibilities. What could I do with this? What could this be used for? And he’s not afraid to try out his ideas and see if they work.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, each of us gets scolded for using a spoon the “wrong” way, and little by little we lose the capacity to turn any object into a brainstorm of fun, new ideas.

But since we were all toddlers once, we’ve all got the potential to see all those possibilities again. So at imPress, to keep ideas plentiful in our imaginations, we try to look at things from the perspective of little guys and girls sometimes. When it’s time to put together a project, we try not to think about what everyone else does or what we’ve done before. We think, What could be done? What would this look like from a different angle? What does this brochure taste like?

And before we know it, creative ideas are abundant in our imaginations, and all because our inner toddlers reminded us about the world of possibilities.