As I watched the Olympic winter games in Vancouver this year, I kept seeing flashes of green and blue graphics everywhere. Up and down ski courses, around ice rinks and all over Olympic promotional items. Being in the advertising, I of course wanted to know more these outdoor graphics and the design team behind the branding work for the Olympics.

Through my research I discovered that VANOC, the Canadian design firm who created these graphics has a creative process very similar to ours and it reminded me that there are certain steps anyone should follow when trying to come up with a truly creative or noteworthy piece.  Here are just a few of the steps we (and VANOC) follow when creating any new piece of creative:

1. Brainstorm.

Get as many people involved as you can and make a huge white board of ideas. Even if an idea sounds silly, write it down. Sometimes it’s the silly ideas that wind-up inspiring your overall concept.

2. Create a photographic tag cloud.

Find a free wall where you can put your visual inspiration and go crazy. Invite everyone to put up images that inspire them.

3. Get out of the office.

Staying in the office is not a productive way to get to know your client. Go on a field trip, take pictures, conduct interviews—whatever helps you understand your “product” better.

4. Decide on a concept.

Go back to your idea wall and evolve it. Pick the ideas that have gravitas and make them work. For VANOC they decided to create graphics that combined images of the Canadian countryside and Canadian city life—like this image of a stop light combined with a tree and a hydro plane combined with a dragonfly.

5. Live and breathe your idea.

To make their concept come to life, VANOC incorporated their concept into every part of their design. Even the colors they chose came from the colors of Canada itself.

What do you think about the design for the Olympics this year?