In closing out 2009 and the decade before, we talk about what has inspired us. Blake set things off with a nice list of "best practices". We are often inspired (and humbled) by great work produced by our fellow designers -- especially those with different backgrounds, skill-sets, and styles.

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This is my last post of the year. What a year it has been. A year of ups and downs. A year of scares and a year of innovation. In the six years of Matchstic, never has one been close to this. We've grown more and learned more in the past year than in any other before it.

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For my last blog of this decade I've chosen a topic near and dear to my heart, Inspiration. Last week we had the privilege of spending some time with design student, Drew Vaughn, from Creative Circus and he asked us several great questions, including, "How do you stay inspired to constantly create?".

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My pick for brand of the decade is Nintendo. I'm inspired by what Nintendo has been able to accomplish this decade. They went from undisputed category leader in the 80s to bringing up the rear by early this decade behind XBox and PlayStation. I figured Nintendo would be nothing but a great memory from my childhood. But Nintendo responded with the best of branding principles.

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My pick for Brand of the decade is... Whole Foods. I didn't choose them just because within the last decade I've developed food allergies, rather I felt they've excelled at three of my seven branding principles.

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I'm going with Pixar Animation Studios. I love Disney movies. Always have since I was little growing up in Orlando, FL. Movies like Robin Hood, Dumbo, Aladdin. Each one takes me back to being a kid. For the most part these movies have always been made the same way. From Snow White in 1937 to the Lion King in 1994 its basically been sheets of flippin' paper. That was until Pixar arrived.

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This was a tough assignment (thanks Al). Brand of the decade...my mind immediately raced to brands that have had a huge stamp on the aughts. Brands that delighted (Apple) or made something simpler (Google). Brands that are fun (Mini) or coined a new term (Blackberry). But in the end, I landed on Star Wars. Why would I do that?

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'Tis the season for year-end lists, but it's also the season of decade-end lists, so I figured I should join in on this once-every-ten-year opportunity. In narrowing down my choices, I felt like this brand needed to have a solid product, appreciate and employ beautiful design, stand for something beyond simply making money, and shifted the way our culture thinks in a major way.

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Accenture has announced that they will no longer use Tiger as a spokesperson. With the recent revelations concerning Tiger's behavior, they apparently feel their tag line; "Go ahead, be a Tiger" may not quite send the right message. Accenture was the consulting arm of Arthur Anderson, who was involved in the Enron scandal, so it's understandable that they would want to distance themselves from further controversy.

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Have you ever met anyone who wasn't "busy"? Seems like everyone is these days. So the question is, Are we busy & reacting or are we busy & strategic? It's easy to just react to circumstances thrown our way, but its difficult to be intentional about each action we take.

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