Over a year ago, I submitted a web page of mine to http://www.i-am-bored.com/, A great site that I enjoy going to from time to time. The page was my fortuneteller Flash program, http://www.buzzpath.com/fortuneteller.html which I thought was pretty worthy of such time-killing that occurs at i-am-bored. I was amazed at how many people enjoyed it and at how many were annoyed by it. It was great to witness a large bump in traffic as scores of webzians reviewed my web page.
I had some ads by Google on the page. Out of the thousands that traveled to my site because of the link, only a couple clicked through the ads. In fact almost all of the visitors returned right back to i-a-bored to rank, write and review. It was a learning experience for me on how to get quality traffic. It was also a lesson on how to handle both positive and negative opinions.
In January, I created a new picture sudoku, Sudoku Smiles 2: http://www.buzzpath.com/sudoku/smiles/puzzle34.html. On a whim, I sent it to Newgrounds, (http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/526480) another great site for time killing. Hundreds reviewed the site, and again my work was rated, ranked and reviewed. At first it was nerve-wracking, but I am glad I did it. The responses I received were so constructive. I was grateful that people would spend some of their time to actually tell me what they would want me to improve. Again, another learning experience.
I have found that no matter how clever or creative my projects are, people love anything holiday related. When I first experimented with Pictue Sudoku puzzles, I pulled my themes from my creative mind. Afterall, my creativity is the only uinque thing I can bring to the interweb.
Of the first five or six puzzles I did, the greatest traffic came from holiday related puzzles, and that’s just fine. I can still be creative, and I won’t stop doing unique puzzles in addition to holiday related ones. Since I started making them back in February of 2009, I didn’t get a Valentine’s Day puzzle out quick enough. So here it is - Valentine Sudoku - and the cycle of holidays is done.
Enjoy.
We are often led to believe that the more freedom we have the more creative we will be. Full creative license? Sweet. Unlimited budget? Awesome! No timetable? Even better.
Yeah, right.
I say embrace your constraints and draw out of them the very solution that sets you apart from the crowd.
The imposition of constraints can lead to great design decisions. Limitations often force you to view things from a perspective you are not accustomed to and, in turn, can stimulate the clarity and purpose of the design, rather than debilitate and hinder your creative process.
One of the most obvious and currently talked about examples is the iPhone (and as of yesterday, the iPad). There are incredible limitations with such a device. So many that people initially speculated it would be a massive failure. However, the team at Apple truly embodies this ethos. Despite physical constraints, technological constraints, time constraints and, of course, the “Steve” constraint, the team was able to unlock innovative solutions that allowed them to create something truly unique.
Are there problems with the iPhone? Yes. Of course there are. The point is if you want to create a truly compelling experience, don’t complain about your constraints; embrace them. And in doing so, set your creativity on fire!
Hello All:
This is my first time/post on tumblr. So far I like this site.
Currently I am building a website called buzzpath. It’s a place where I put my Flash creations. I also put Flash games that I like there. I’m trying to figure out the right balance of investment and ad real estate. I’m having a good time with it. I have been building the site with old school html. I am beginning to learn more about other platforms.
One of the latest games I have added is Dune Bashing in Dubai. Check it out. I downloaded the game from FreeOnlineGames.com. You can link there through my site if you like, but I would rather you stay and enjoy some of the other games.
In my next post, I’ll tell you about my picture sudoku puzzles.
-Jay
