A Haiku, A Crow & 10 Thoughts To Go

Ashi Akira and I have been following each other since I started blogging back in 2010. He’s my favorite haiku poet. (More on Ashi at the end of this post.)

Sometimes I’ll read one of his haikus, and a funny image will jump into my head– like Mr. Crow here.

And as any creative will tell you, one idea always leads to another.

Looking at the above image, I had the following thoughts:

1. Dreamy people are not necessarily thinking deep thoughts. 😊

2. What we think about defines us.

3. An illustrator takes words and conjures up pictures. The words don’t have to be poetry or anything fancy.

4. Details are important for getting buy-in. (The brown swirling leaves above convey a wintry wind.)

5. We’re more apt to stop and read text when we see an interesting image.

6. You never know what people will respond to. An over reliance on data by marketers limits creativity.

7. Haikus make a great case for brevity.

8. Haikus come from observation. To conjure new content ideas, try to see your product or service with fresh eyes.

9. Fresh food is better than canned; custom images are also better than canned (i.e., stock).

10. It pays to keep things simple. The above image wouldn’t work as well if the crow were dreaming of some fancy or complicated meal.

Ashi Akira is a unique talent. I encourage you to visit his blog and check out his work. His blog dedication (on his About Page) is unique, as is his backstory. You won’t soon forget either.

I created this short video for one of my favorite Ashi Akira haikus, and you can see an illustration for a third Ashi haiku in this blog post.

Ashi’s published two collections of his haikus. They’re available at both Amazon and Lulu.com.

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About Mark: I’m an illustrator specializing in humor, editorial, branding, social media, and content marketing. My images are different, like your brand needs to be.

You can view my portfolio, and connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Questions? Send me an email.

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