I found this quote from Jobs aligned with my ideas around design.As a graphic designer by trade, your job encompasses more than graphics. You should hone your writing skills, planning skills, business skills etc. And all the while, expand your understanding of design beyond graphics. It will make you more rounded and less bored....
I have been pondering on my career recently. I’m working through the concept of next steps and new challenges. What do I want to dedicate the next seven years to? The last 10 years have been a huge challenge. I spent the first seven discovering what it takes to build a strategic design agency and now that I’ve left it behind I can see, with hindsight, all the good and bad choices I made along the way....
A few minutes thought now can save you years of stress when it comes to your business website. Often small and medium businesses will be sold a site that is good for the developers recurring revenue rather than their own. Knowing the process before you start will help you avoid getting a website that's not quite what you were hoping for. This guide will hopefully help you make an informed choice about the different ways to launch a website....
I find myself fortunate that remote working is my normal. For nearly two years I’ve been working out of a home studio with the systems in place to work with a range of clients and suppliers. I’ve had many conversations this week about transitioning studios to remote working. I've done this a few times and can say the biggest hurdle for creative businesses is managing file transfer.There's also a real need to keep motivation up and loneliness down...
The evidence is clear that Facebook is the 'Big Tobacco' of our time. The question is can we still call ourselves ethical if we use it? It is arguably the most unethical business ever created and has reached a point where it is proven to be actually harming its users. But it's also a monopoly so do we have a choice?...
I've recently finished a major brand and website project for Sense of Security. The job involved a full stack brand refresh and website design and build. It was an exciting and eye-opening experience as I learnt so much about cyber security – the good and the scary....
You know what it takes for you to do your job well. You know the hours you put in that the client never sees – or pays for. You do it for the love of the craft. For the sheer joy you get creating something from nothing. You should take your skill and self worth more seriously and share that with your clients in a comprehensive credentials document. With a solid credentials document you can outline the value you bring to each project before the pushing of the first pixels. Maybe then you can feel confident charging what you’re worth....
I stole that headline. It’s fantastically abrasive and the idea behind it is equally as hard to face.Designers (and probably everyone else too) should be more brave and authentic to themselves. I read that headline at the same time I was self-censoring a post on Linkedin.Linkedin is all about business, I thought to myself. You gotta be serious and curate your “workplace brand.” You have to make yourslef more attractive to the next potential employer.Screw that....
Over the past few years I have seen a huge spike in the amount of website projects I’ve taken on. The question of “how much does it cost to build a website” is one of the most popular questions I get asked. And the answer you don’t want to read is…. It depends.But in the interest of quick wins, here’s the quick answer.Design and build it yourselfIf you want a normal website, you can build it yourself using some kind of online builder like Weebly, Wix or Squarespace.Using these services is as easy as building a Powerpoint presentation. But remember...
I've just finished David Epstein’s book “Range – How generalists triumph in a specialised world” and I’ve come to the conclusion that generalist designers have more fun. All designers should strive to be a bit more generalist at some point in their career. It’s the weird and wonderful lessons you learn doing a variety of things that allow you to have a wider perspective and generate novel ideas.Having lead design teams and trained many designers, I'm still shocked to discover that a great number don’t understand the processes behind the physical manifestation of their work – how it’s printed, displayed digitally...
A case could be made that some graffiti tagging should be considered an art form. First you need to understand the difference between tagging and graffiti in general.In this case let's assume 'good graffiti art' is the act of making a complex beautiful mural or word art in a public place. Something that adds to the environment in which it sits. Whether that be to add a splash of colour to a drab factory wall or tell a local story much like the Caves of Lascaux.Bad graffiti is tagging in general. Taggers motives are no more complex than a 2 year...
I had the chance to fly over the bushfires last week and it really was an eye opener. And then today I read that 80% of the Blue Mountains in Sydney has been scorched. The Guardian have some decent before and after photos too.If you're a creative you could do something about it rather than popping on a face mask and complaining of a day or two of poor air quality on Instagram.The Design Business Council is asking for for submissions for their poster exhibition to make climate change data more understandable.Put your communication skills to the test. Enter today....
Because clients today want awesome work for next to no money, you can shortcut your design projects by standing on the shoulders of giants. In other words, by learning from the superstars you can adapt their creative styles, ideas and innovation to your local clients and you’ll be able to achieve more with less hours.While this is not a substitute for originality and paving your own way, sometimes the budget you have defines the direction you need to take and rather than stretching yourself to breaking point, you should implement some emotional intelligence and learn to not be too precious....
The End of Financial Year has been and gone and it gives us an opportunity to set some goals in much the same way as New Years Day. (Such as sending my very sporadic newsletters).But as an alternative, maybe July 1 should be a day for specifically setting career and personal development goals and coincidently, last week I picked up a book on the moon landing. The book is all about the mindset of the people behind the moon landing. It’s a psychology book with a few strategies you can apply yourself.So today I’m sharing a small portion of chapter one,...
Being on the cusp of a new large scale project here's a few questions I thought worth considering...
Have you seen Free Solo? Its the new documentary in cinemas about Alex Honnold's epic desire to rock climb El Capitan… without a rope. Rock climbing is tough. I’ve been doing it for 20 years and watching him attempt a 3000ft (nearly 1km) of vertical granite without any safety gear was palm sweating insanity – and I was only watching him do it. It got me thinking about what excites me right now. Few people could compare to Honnold's desire to achieve the pinnacle of human endurance… but this in no way should lessen what it is that's exciting you right now....
Mini screens for surfing the web seem to be here to stay – at least for the next few years. During this time I'm campaigning for a hamburger revolution.In the last two months I have designed and built three new websites. All of which were hugely different in their design approach and business need.I don't adopt a mobile first approach to web design – and the reason for that is that I find it unexciting to do so. Very few mobile websites are exciting. They are functional but not exciting. And getting clients excited needs to be part of the...