Tracy van der Schyff

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while” – Steve Jobs

I’m a SharePoint trainer and I always take the time to make sure my students get to know their computers better. This includes showing them all the wonderful things they can do with the Microsoft products they already have access to. For example: SharePoint, PowerPoint, Excel, Paint, Microsoft Office Picture Manager and some other tools. I don’t have Photoshop or Corel and since I’ve figured out what is possible in Microsoft – I actually don’t care anymore.

I’d like to show you today how to get the Hex code for a colour (RGB / HSL is the ones we know), how to pick good colours to use together and how to get the name of a font you like.

So – you think you’re not creative. Can’t put two colours together? Don’t reinvent the wheel. Use the expertise of others and make it work for you. Personally I look to nature for inspiration, because those colours already work well together don’t they? I use my snipping tool (standard on all Windows OS from Vista and up), make screenshots of different images to get my creative juices going – and then compile a storyboard. Very similar to the one below. Visualization simply is one of the most powerful abilities we have – and once you get the storyboard going – you’ll be well on your way!!

Once you’ve seen colours in nature or on other websites that you like – take a snapshot of it (snipping tool) and paste this in Paint. If your machine has Windows as the operating system – you will have this nifty little program by default.

Go to Design Seeds for some inspiration.

In Paint – use the colour dropper tool and click on the colour you would like to use / match. Once you’ve clicked on this colour – it will show in the Colours pane and be visible under “Edit Colours”. When you click on “Edit Colours”, it will open the properties box which displays the RGB / HSL Values. Now as most you know – in SharePoint 2010 you need the hex code to change any colours on the theme. To convert the RGB to the Hex code – use this easy converter tool.

See images below to explain the steps:
(Note: In Office 2013 this colour dropper is now built into the Format Shape Options in PowerPoint – YEAH!!)

Should you see a font you like – and have no idea the name of it? Take a screenshot of it (just the words), save the image and then go to the What the Font Website. On this site – click on the browse button for ‘upload an image file’ and select the file from your own computer. Click on the green Continue button. What the Font will now try to “guess” the font in question and ask you to confirm some of the letters – to refine the search. Click on continue when done. What the Font will then supply as many possible options for you to choose from. See below images to explain.

Here are some great books to read on creativity:
How to be Creative – Hugh MacLeod
20 Creative Blocks and how to break through them – LaterAction.com
Time Management – Wishful Thinking
Introduction to Good Usability – Peter Conradie
Who’s There – Incomplete guide to Blogs & Web – Seth Godin

PoetPainter – Stephen P. Anderson
Creativity as you think!
What the Font!
Convert RGB to Hex
Other Websites / Tools

Hope this blog gave you the courage to go try some new things and not be limited by your own mind.
Take Care
Trace

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