No design project is inherently easy – but if you were to ask designers which audience would be the most difficult to design for, you’d probably get “other designers” as a response more often than not.

Rule29 set out create a unique promotion for O’Neil Printing at this year’s AIGA Pivot conference that would help the in-kind sponsor stand out to the 1600+ designers (and other designerly-types) that passed through the marketplace to snatch up all the freebies.

The idea came about (like most good ideas do) over drinks one evening this past summer. Just For Kicks, a personal project that featured illustrations of my shoe collection (and branching out into my friends’ kicks), had fallen a little flat – losing motivation, I needed to defibrillate the project if it had any hope of surviving. Teaming up with Rule29 and O’Neil was just the thing that Just For Kicks needed. After some brainstorming – the idea was set: create a campaign featuring the concept of creating the perfect pairing of print and design for a successful project.

The deck of cards was the designed to be the centerpiece of the campaign. Featuring all 52 cards, the deck was designed from the beginning to be as usable as possible. The one-eyed jacks are present, as is the one-eyed king. And did you know that all of the spade face cards face to the right while the others face to the left (minus the Jack of Clubs)? Each face card was given a name after a type of person that loves their shoes: “The Athlete,” “The Congressman,” “The Writer,” “The Fashionista,” etc. The remaining 36 cards each featured a different shoe. The entire deck and box were printed using O’Neil’s fantastic HP Indigo digital press. The outer sleeve was printed 4/4 with white printed on top of the Neenah CLASSIC Linen Red Pepper stock. The tray was printed white then 4/0 on Neenah’s Environment “Desert Storm” stock. And finally, the cards were printed 4/4 with a satin aqueous coating on CLASSIC Linen White Pearl to add that final sheen to the set.

To compliment the deck of cards, a full campaign was designed to surround it – including a booth, table-top graphics, coasters, a poster, and even oversized cut-out cards that allowed people to take their own photos as their favorite king or queen.

While quantifying success on these types of projects can be difficult, O’Neil Printing said that they had a great turnout and response to their presence at the conference and they attributed it to the work we did together. It really is true, without a great printer, a good design is just a set of files and without great design, a great printer has nothing to print. It takes the Perfect Pair to make a project really turn out well (See what I did there?).

A few months ago, I had an idea for a new personal project. Over the years I had amassed quite a few pairs of shoes. Nothing crazy, but a nice, modest collection that I was really into. Just for Kicks started as an idea to illustrate each pair of my shoes and put them together in a blog (and a book). Every shoe will be illustrated and documented. After those are done, I’m moving onto friends’ and colleagues’ shoes. Shoes are one thing we all have in common. We likely all have a favorite pair – and I want to document that.

The idea behind it was quite simple, really: I wanted to illustrate more. And I needed to create something new to keep myself inspired. A fellow designer  (and close friend), Mig Reyes, spoke to the importance of this idea of “passion projects” recently at HOW (PDF). The presentation was great – and I can’t really replicate it  – but essentially:

We need to find something that we’re really passionate about.

This keeps all of our work at a high level. Inspiration is contagious, and one project will flow into another, and into another. Before you know it, you’re treating the most mundane project to come across your desk with that same passion that started with the little personal project you decided to do.

It’s also a fantastic catalyst to learn something new.

I wouldn’t know how to create a Tumblr theme for my site if it weren’t for personal projects. Nor would I have any knowledge of motion graphics. These self-taught skills translated into real applications in projects here at Rule29. The point is: if there is something you want to learn – go out and create a project for yourself to get it done. Challenge yourself. Dream big, and reel it in as you need to. The payoff is two-fold: a great project for yourself, and a new skill/perspective to bring to your paid work.

Do you have a favorite project that keeps you inspired? Any ideas boiling deep down in your soul, just waiting for you to let them out? How about sharing them in the comments? Because once you share the idea with the world, you’re out of excuses! Time to get started!