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Q&A with Laura Busche

Author of Lean Branding and cofounder of Ozone Group

My name is Laura Busche. I’m the author of Lean Branding and cofounder of a full-service digital agency called Ozone Group. I’m passionate about consumer research, digital marketing, design thinking, lean branding, and their exciting crosspoints. I help businesses of all sizes break out of the clutter with meaningful brand stories.

Hardware

I do most of my writing on a 13” Macbook Air and use my Kindle Paperwhite to read eBooks. I brainstorm and sketch on my Moleskine, but sometimes use larger sketchpads for complex projects. While I write and move around with the 13” Macbook, I use a 21” iMac at the office whenever project files are too large to handle/visualize well.

Software

I don’t know what would be of me without Evernote! I share Google Docs with my team to write client proposals collaboratively, and use Google Calendar (synced on my phone & laptop) to handle appointments and calls. Every morning I spend at least an hour reading the latest news about my field using Feedly. For lengthier client reports we usually set up Adobe Indesign documents. Hootsuite has made it incredibly easier to manage my personal social profiles and oversee my team’s work on our clients’ projects. We also use Trello to coordinate our deliverables for each of these projects and Google Hangouts to arrange remote meetings.

Oh, and I can leave my Spotify radio running for hours. A great way to find new music and renew your inspiration.

Dream setup 

I think I actually have my dream setup :) In terms of technology, I’m actually trying a few offline methods in 2014 to see how they affect my productivity. We’ll see how it goes.

Inspiration 

I constantly create (physical) working walls with material related to the projects I am working on. I find these to be my greatest source of inspiration. I discussed some of the templates I use in this Smashing Magazine article.

There’s also something about sketching that gets my creativity flowing. I did some research to figure out why and here’s what I found.

My typical ideation session includes a scented candle, a smooth jazz playlist, doodling and tea or coffee (depending on the deadline). I’ve recently fallen for Aloe Vera drinks too.