Ask anyone that works from home and they’ll probably tell you that rearranging, or just changing workspaces can not only make you feel more creative, but give you a productivity boost as well. I even get excited talking about someone else’s rearranged space.

So what is it about moving desks and shelves that makes us feel more productive?

Human’s are creatures of habit that fall into routines easily. The longer we work in a certain space the more accustomed we become to a routine. Maybe you start your day by walking in, flicking a light switch, setting your coffee down in a certain spot, pressing the power button on your computer, etc. – all on auto-pilot. We don’t have to think about any of it because its all very static. The problem is our brains can sometimes stay on auto-pilot throughout the day, looking for easy solutions, the path of least resistance.

Rearranging your office, or switching to a new workspace forces you to break your routine. It forces your brain to cope with new information. You now have to reassess the decisions behind small actions, and take in more information in general. Your brain goes into problem solving mode instead of auto-pilot mode, and suddenly you feel more creative, ready to take on the big problems – or at least ready to knock-out your task list.

This effect can be illustrated with artwork too. Have you noticed that when you hang a piece of art, you look at it frequently, but after a while you start to ignore it, even forget it’s there? If you move that piece to a new room, you suddenly start to notice it again. Your brain tends to ignore information that doesn’t change. It doesn’t need to process it because it already has. It gives priority to new visual or spacial information because this new data might be needed to make a decision.

Now my challenge to you: how else can you trick your brain into turning off auto-pilot? See what you can do to throw a wrench in your routine and see what happens.

One of the most notable (and most exciting) projects that we were able to work on in 2011 is our very first iOS game, Stodgy Gents. Developed in partnership with local game design team, Happy Badger Studio, Stodgy Gents exceeded any expectations we had, and received not only thousands of downloads, and great ratings, but it was also nominated by the RFT for Best Local iPhone App. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to check out this game, please download it for iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, and discover for yourself what a fun memory game it is! It’s available now for free from the App Store.

Another project that we’re excited to share is EventfeedSTL, an at-a-glance website where users can easily find events that are happening in St. Louis. Events included on the website apply to a broad demographic, and can include anything from large concerts, daytime family events, wine tastings, free movies, and many more fun and exciting things happening all over the greater St. Louis area. Be sure to check it out if ever you have a free day, and are interested in exploring all of the things this great city has to offer!

We’re also very pleased to share that Patch recently released an article about Rampant Creative Group, in a look at how small businesses are succeeding in our current economy. It was a great opportunity to share what we have been up to and give people a glimpse of what life is like for our team. If you haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet, the article is available to view now on Patch.com.

Photo By Becky Slatin

So what does 2012 look like for Rampant Creative Group? Ben Triola, our Director of Operations, has been invited to join the Board of Directors for the Maplewood Chamber of Commerce. He is really excited for this opportunity to become even more involved in something we all really believe in. Additionally, he will continue to serve as an adjunct professor at Webster University, teaching the History of Video Games. Dana Huth, our Production Coordinator, has been asked to be on the Board of Directors for the Maplewood Community Betterment Foundation. She is very excited to get to work and help in making Maplewood an even better place.

Rampant Creative Group will be celebrating our 2nd anniversary next month, and we never could have dreamed of our little company becoming so successful and such a great experience. We couldn’t continue to do what we love without the fantastic support we receive from our wonderful friends, family, and colleagues. Most of all, we want to thank the great clients who have allowed us to continue creating things that we’re proud of. Thank you all. Our hope is that 2012 will be yet another successful year!

The change in logo has resulted in a cleaner and more modern feeling cereal box. It is still recognizable as a cereal we all love, it just looks a little nicer now.

As a business owner, you have the unique opportunity to create a Google Places page to make it easy for potential clients, customers, and visitors to find information about your business. All you need is a Google User ID, and a bit of understanding of how Google Places pages work.

When you search for your business in Google Maps, a link to your company’s Google Places page should appear, as well as a marker pointing out the business location on the map. This is what people who search for your business will see. Your responsibility is to make sure that this contains all the information that person may want.

When you search for your business and click on the name of your company’s listing to view the Google Places page, you should see an option in the upper-right corner to “Edit this Place – Business Owner?” Select the “Business Owner” link, then sign in or create a new Google ID. From here, you can verify your ownership of the business, as well as add or edit information to your listing. Make sure that your listing is as complete as possible, so that people get as much information as they can when they search for you.

Once you’ve added all the information you can, encourage past and present clients and customers to rate and review your business on your Google Places page. This will make it easier for other potential clients and customers to determine the quality of your business, based on real user ratings and comments.

For more information about how you can take advantage of your company’s online web presence, make sure you check out our other article, “7 Ways to Improve Your Online Branding.”

AirPlay was created by family-owned company Superior Products, located outside of St. Louis in Roxana, IL. Superior Products had already found success in creating automotive supplies and oil based fragrances that have become popular with auto dealers, auto repair shops, and other retailers nationwide. It was the perfect next step to create a product that was more marketable to the public. Superior Products partnered with Nelly and The St. Lunatics to bring AirPlay to life.

When we were contacted about this project, Airplay was already in production with the website URL printed on the boxes and bottle labels. There was an urgency to get this site completed by the time the product launched. We started out by creating a temporary landing page, which soon (and with a lot of hard work and long days) evolved into a robust and fully-functioning e-commerce website.

The website design needed to appeal to a young crowd. This allowed us to be really creative with colors and effects. We wanted the design to be slick and keep the focus on the product, while reflecting the style of the product sponsors. Basing our website design and color scheme on the product packaging, we were able to really highlight the product without distracting from it.

In the event that customers would choose to find a location to purchase AirPlay in person, there is both an event list and a store locator, so that customers can find retailers in their area quickly and easily. The event list allows users to connect with AirPlay representatives in person to sample and learn more about the products.

Working with the folks at Superior Products was really great, and this project has quickly turned into one of our favorite website designs.

Check out the AirPlay site now at www.airplayfresh.com

If you liked reading about the AirPlay website development, be sure to check out our full website design portfolio.

Wanting to keep with the themes and feel of the brand new restaurant, the St Louis Sippery website design had to be warm, inviting, and timeless.

The primary goal of the website was to introduce new and existing customers to the new location. A prominent call-to-action, asking customers to visit the new restaurant, is immediately visible.

There are a number of menus to feature, so we organized a multi-column webpage display that resembles a printed menu.

A recent news feed for press releases and menu updates is also readily available, and easy to update.

To visit the live site, visit www.sippery.com.

If you like the St Louis Sippery’s website, check out more of our web work in our website design portfolio!

This is where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes in. SEO is the practice of optimizing your site to rank higher in search results. By doing extensive keyword research we can determine what people are searching for when they are trying to find the products or services you offer. We can often adjust those keywords for a local focus, if say, you only want visitors in the St Louis area.

Optimizations can be done both internally in your website, and externally in the form of backlinks. Backlinks are links to your website from other websites. With the right keyword research, we can optimize the content of your site, and the structure of your backlinks in such a way that google will recognize your site and your search ranking will increase.

If you’d like more information on SEO, contact us below to set up a free consultation.

The Chamber Director really needed to be able to make updates easily, so we built the whole website as a custom-built WordPress theme, giving her the ability to update everything in a snap. We wanted to emphasize the community of the Chamber, so we made the website design very unique and natural.

The website features the ability for the Chamber Director to add featured members, custom events, photo galleries, new members, as well as member exchange information. All of the contact forms are custom-built to provide all the information she needs to answer questions, renew memberships, and promote members online.

To view the live website, visit maplewood-chamber.com

If you liked the Maplewood Chamber of Commerce website, check out more of our web design work at our Website Design Portfolio!

Modern marketing strategists are understanding more and more about how they can help draw in tech-savvy crowds using QR codes. With the ability to provide a lot of information in just a small space, these codes encourage users to go beyond the advertisement and find information on their own.

A QR code can contain a wide variety of data, including but not limited to a link to a website, a brief amount of text, or even a full contact card to add to a user’s phone. Utilizing these codes can help you to provide easy-to-access information to interested parties with a click of a button. Businesses of all kinds are finding ways to incorporate these barcodes into their marketing, from realtors providing links to a listings website, to freelancers providing contact information to encourage easy future contact.

Be creative with QR codes. With services like bit.ly and invx.com that make it incredibly easy to generate your own codes, there’s no reason not to play with this trendy technology in your future marketing campaigns.

For more information on how you can incorporate QR codes into your advertising and marketing campaigns, contact the design professionals at Rampant Creative Group.

We’ve decided to give back to the people who keep work coming our way. For every new project we sign from a referral you send us in the month of June, we’ll give you $50. It’s just our way of saying “thank you for keeping food on our table.”

It’s really that simple. Just let us know when you send someone our way, and if they sign off on a project (including, but not limited to website design, logo design, print design, mobile app development), we’ll give you $50 cash when we receive their contract and down payment. Seems simple, doesn’t it? It is.

This offer is effective through July 31, 2011. Contact us with questions, or for a quote on your next design project.