What I learned from Hillman Curtis

I carried around Hillman Curtis's classic new media manifesto MTIV Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media designer for quite a while. It was published in 2002. Six years in the new media space is like dog years. It still good, but it has understandably lost its now. Hillman is still CCO of his own company and is now heavily engaged in short films.

But six years later, I remembered without re-reading two key ideas. The first was his bull's eye method of listening. He would meet with a client and create a bull's eye (3 concentric circles) and listen visually to hear repeated words, excited words, bon mots -- anything that would give him a key to solving the client's problem or wish. He called it the emotional epicenter.
Here's a sample.


The second was that "creativity feeds or restraints." The handcuffs of a small budget and even smaller schedule is a beast, but one you have to tame. It often leads to amazing simplicity and focus. Thanks Hillman. Click here to see his latest short film "Bridge." http://www.hillmancurtis.com/index.php?/film/watch/bridge/