Notes from Notchcode

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All solitary dreamers know that they hear differently when they close their eyes.

-Gaston Bachelard

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Notes from Notchcode

8.03.2009

Bad UX, bad pose.

I like guys who can pull off a bow tie. My grandfather is one of them. But not this dude, an internet marketer from the UK:

The worst thing about his site on "Internet Marketing" is the horrible form he makes someone fill out in order to simply generate leads:

TEN form fields, just to get an e-mail address? I can't imagine the attrition rate this guy has. Make it a simple e-mail address and a Submit button, and he'd probably increase his lead generation by about 50 percent. And this is a form created by a guy who is SELLING HIS EXPERTISE ON MARKETING USING THE INTERNET. Gah.
Labels: advice, marketing

posted at 7:16 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

7.24.2009

Want more proof that logo "contests" are spec work? And that spec doesn't pay?

...then I would suggest you follow Spec Watch, on Twitter. They seem to be aggregating some of the nasty stories about so-called contests in the design world.

I'd also recommend NoSpec. And my posts about bartow's survey of $99 logo sites and the AIGA's position on spec work.
Labels: advice, graphic design, spec work

posted at 10:52 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

7.23.2009

Radio Shack rolling out new brand identity in August

Following the Tour de France today, I came across Lance Armstrong's message that he will be partnering with Radio Shack next year to form an American pro cycling team. That was enough news for one day, it seemed. Until I noticed in Radio Shack's related presser that the company will be rolling out a new brand identity in a few weeks. As Their Chief Marketing Officer, Lee Applebaum said in the release:
"We are re-launching our brand with a new creative platform in early August, and now having Lance on our team - an American icon who embodies the spirit of mobility, connectivity and philanthropy - really allows us to accelerate our brand's evolution."

"re-launching our brand" I guess could mean they're keeping the same identity, but I don't think so. "new creative platform"....that's nice and vague. Skywriting? Perhaps some sort of chalk-bot-inspired piece of MAKE-kraft? THAT would be truly DYI-inspired, and be a hit with the MAKE-rs of the world.

I'll be interested to see how they position themselves. For years, Radio Shack was the go-to place for hobbyists and do-it-yourselfers interested more in making things work than the brand name on the package. Lately Radio Shack has positioned itself as not only a place you can go for capacitors and AC adapters, but also to buy cell phones, sattellite radio receivers, televisions, and more "finished" consumer electronics goods.

With the recession making everyone look towards fixing what they have rather than throwing it out and replacing it with something new, Radio Shack's fortunes have actually improved, as people once again turn to it for replacement power cords, battery chargers, and resistors.

So which way will Radio Shack go with the new brand? More towards consumer goods? Or back to its roots as the neighborhood electronics parts supplier? I kinda hope it's the latter--we already have too many consumer goods stores, and look where CompUSA and Circuit City have gone. I'm not the only one who thinks this is a good idea, either.

Radio Shack Armatron (I had one of these!) from unlovablesteve on Flickr.
Labels: advice, branding, cycling, DIY

posted at 1:46 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

XHTML 2 dumped, HTML 5 ascendant. Does it matter?

Here's the short version: XHTML was based on XML, back in the '90s when people thought XML was the future.

As mentioned in Techworld.com a while back:

XHTML 2 will not become a W3C standard, [W3C spokesperson Ian] Jacobs said. "We're investing in HTML 5 for the future," he said. Work stops on the XHTML language, but W3C still plans an XML formulation of HTML 5, to be done by the HTML working group.

A prominent AJAX and web development proponent applauded the W3C decision.

Firefox and Safari also include HTML 5 support, as well as Google's Chrome and Android.

So, what's the practical difference for us web designers and developers; people who need to know the code underneath the user experience, but aren't necessarily considered "coders"?

XHTML info from Mike:
XHTML 2.0 is based solely on XML, forgoing the SGML heritage and syntax peculiarities present in current web markup. XHTML 2.0 is supposed to be a “general-purpose language,” with a minimal default feature set that is easy to extend using CSS and other technologies (XForms, XML Events, etc). It’s a modular approach that allows the XHTML2 group to focus on generic document markup, while others develop mechanisms for presentation, interactivity, document construction, etc.

...and HTML 5:
While XHTML 2.0 aims to be revolutionary, the HTML working group has taken a more pragmatic approach and designed HTML 5 as an evolutionary technology. That is to say, HTML 5 is an incremental step forward that remains mostly compatible with the current HTML 4/XHTML 1 standards. However, HTML 5 offers a host of changes and extensions to HTML 4/XHTML 1 that address many of the faults in these earlier specifications.

Read his post for more.

Another post explaining the difference had a nice example of the structural, easy-to-understand nature of XML:

<farm>

<barn>

<horses>10</horses>

<tools>

<hammers>1</hammer>

<shovel>2</shovel>

</tools>

</barn>

<field>

<cows>8</cows>

<pigs>30</cows>

</field>

</farm>

The structure shows the hierarchy of elements, and makes no effort to style of make them act a certain way. XHTML is simply a version of HTML that is valid XML code.

HTML 5 will contain more support for web applications, APIs, and other stuff that wasn't as built-into earlier versions of HTML. And as mentioned above, it will be (mostly) backward-compatible with BOTH HTML and XHTML.

So why, or should, we care? Probably not a lot, at the moment. But be prepared to make adjustments in the nearish future, and bone up on the new specification with the Definitive Guide of your choice. O'Reilly, here I come, once again!
Labels: advice, coding, W3C, web design, XHTML

posted at 9:51 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

7.09.2009

Compensation: Graphic Designers

Planet Money asked people how they are compensated, and I added my two cents today, regarding graphic designers. I've posted about this before, but it's a nice (relatively brief) summary:

Compensation for graphic designers is all over the map, depending on how long you've been in the industry, how your shop is set up, and what you have been trained (by either clients or your boss) to expect.

Most designers who work for someone else--in a studio or in an in-house design department--make a salary, like many white-collar workers. Benefits, etc. all depend on the size, wealth, and philosophy of the employing firm. So that's fairly "normal".

Where it gets interesting is when you're working for yourself, or looking at how the client/studio relationship works in regards to compensation.

Crowdsourcing, and Logo "Competitions"
Of late there has been a lot of "crowdsourcing" of logos: logo "competitions", where freelancers submit a design (based on very little info about the "client" company), in hopes of being the "winner" and having their design chosen. The payout for this is usually very small--a few hundred dollars for something that (when a firm does a lot of research, takes time to get to know the client's organization, and so on) potentially is worth several thousand dollars, at minimum. A lot of designers, design advocacy organizations, and professional groups have come out against this model, saying it's bad for both the designer (not getting paid fairly) and for the client (not getting a logo or brand identity that's really all that effective).

Value-based Fees
Typically, a graphic designer will charge a fee based on the value their finished product has for their client. The logo for a small local business with a lower annual revenue has less value assigned to it than a brand identity for a national, multi-million dollar corporation. A lot of time is spent by designers and firm owners figuring out what these values are, and how the value _they_ assign to them fits into the competitive marketplace. A firm may charge more for a given product for a given client than another firm, but perhaps they offer value-added services (additional consultation, an approach that fits the personality of the client better, and so on).

These fees take into account not only the value that the client places on the product, but (internally) takes into account the actual amount of research, concept, design, production, and implementation time for the designer. They know that they can't make less than $X per hour if they want to pay rent on their studio, cover health insurance, buy design software upgrades, and so on. And since on average a designer only does about an hour of design work for every two or three hours spent looking for work (or planning projects, or doing their accounting) the actual hourly rate is lower than the figured rate.

The client usually doesn't see any of this. It's part of the larger calculation that figures in the value of the piece to the client, as well as hard costs of production.

Hourly Rates
Other designers will charge their clients an hourly rate, but in my experience this hurts the client, the designer, and --ultimately-- the project. If you're paid hourly, what's the incentive to work efficiently? If the client runs out of money, does the project stop where it is, or proceed with the designer getting paid less, effectively, per hour? Or does the client cough up more dough?

Setting Expectations
Whether a designer is charging based on value or based on time, a set fee for a project with a defined scope of work is better for everyone, setting boundaries and expectations on all sides, and resulting in happier designers and clients in the end. The AIGA has excellent resources for designers (both those just starting out and those of us who have been at it for a while) regarding contracts, fees, and terms of use; as well as resources for people who need to hire a designer.
Labels: advice, b2b, graphic design, logo

posted at 10:55 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

6.24.2009

Nearly one in 5 of you Denverites are on Facebook

...scary numbers, but I suppose not unreasonable.

There are 2,357,404 people in the Denver Metro Area, according to the all-knowing oracle at Wikipedia. And there are 468,902 people in the Denver, CO network on Facebook. Granted that some in the network aren't living in Denver, it's still a big number (19.8906 percent).

As a marketing person, however, I want to stress that this means there are at least four out of every five people in the Denver area that don't use Facebook. And don't see social media campaigns being played out there.

So stick to traditional media, in addition to social. It's still sorta important.

Labels: advice, marketing, social networking

posted at 10:40 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

6.19.2009

Why it's Awesome to be a freelancer

While I agree with many of the points Andy makes in 10 Reasons It Sucks to Be a Freelancer, I think (if you are a good fit for the job) it's a great thing to be. With Notchcode going into its tenth (!) year, and with me going at it full-time since 2002, here's my perspective on why being a freelancer rocks:

1. You are your own boss.

This is the excellent part everyone who strikes out on their own sees when they pull the trigger and start working for themselves. Now, by "boss", I mean "someone who sets the agenda, schedule, and priorities in your life". Your REAL boss is your clientele, but that's true whether you're working for yourself or for someone else, so we'll set that part of things aside. What I'm talking about here is the day-to-day aspects of having a job. Don't like working in the morning? Fine: No eight AM meetings, ever again. Like to go for a bike ride before work (as I do)? Go for it. Need to pick up the kids and mind them from three PM till dinnertime? No prob. You set the schedule.
(CAVEAT): This also means you need to be responsible enough to work time into your schedule to actually get the work done, meet with your clients, do your bookkeeping, and so on, at other times during the day. Being your own boss doesn't mean being a slacker--it just means being the master of your schedule.

2. You get more work in a recession.

A cartographer I know is insanely busy this summer. I am busier now than this time last year. Why? A lot of in-house creative staff has been let go. And while I definitely shed a tear for my peeps (I was once one of them, too), it's also an opportunity to get more work. Just because there's a recession doesn't mean businesses and organizations need less creative work. Often, they need more: ad rates are cheaper in a recession, and you can build your brand on less budget--but only if you have the creative content and marketing work in place to take advantage of it. While small shops and freelancers have to pay more FICA, deal with their own health insurance, etc., our overhead in the short term is probably lower than an in-house asset (although losing the in-house body of experience and knowledge is a mighty hurdle to overcome with outside talent). I won't say that a lot of my larger clients are giving me huge projects (because they aren't), I will say that small entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the marketing vacuum right now to launch new projects (which need marketing and development) and larger organizations are doing a lot of smaller, strategic projects with the budgets they have on-hand. And small shops/freelancers are perfect for that.

3. Pick your clients.

Granted: When you're starting out, it's really hard to pick and choose whom you're working for. Nevertheless, one thing I've learned is it pays to be picky. If you sense a prospective client is going to be too high-maintenance, isn't a good fit for your capabilities or style, or doesn't have the budget for what you think the project needs, sack them before you get going (nicely. No need to be impolite). You'll find that as you build your clientele with groups you enjoy working with, they refer other good groups your way (mostly). It's a positive feedback loop that makes both you and your clients happy. If you like to do work for hot air balloonists, you'll probably find a lot of other hot air balloonists calling you after you do a great job for your first one.

4. You can work from anywhere, with anyone, in any location.

I work out of my home, my favorite independent coffee shop, my car, a park--anywhere I want. It allows me to put myself in the best place to get work done and to be creative. If I find things too distracting in one location, I pick up the laptop and the client folder and head somewhere else. Some companies enable this with a more open attitude, but not many. You can also find yourself working with a wide variety of organizations in lots of different locations. From my home base in Denver, I've done work for clients in Oregon, California, Washington, D.C., Iowa, and across Colorado. I've worked with vendors from all over the place, as well, which is another cool thing, if you like to see how people in other places do the same thing your usual vendors do. There is the time zone difference to consider, but it's never been a deal-breaker for me.

5. Set your price, your standards, and your scope.

We all know that the market has a say in how much you get paid (on average, anyhow); but there's a lot of latitude. If you are an expert with years of experience in a specific area of graphic design, or web development, for example, you can command a higher rate. You can also be more flexible than a larger firm can (less overhead for you to consider) when it comes to striking a deal with a client you really want to work with. And you have the satisfaction of being the person who sets a monetary value on your worth. You also don't have to do something you don't want to do. You don't have to settle for less, which your boss may want you to do if you're running over on time, for example. And you can define your practice to fit the specific scope of work you enjoy doing--and are awesome at. If you only like doing user experience work, just do user experience work. Refer your clients to someone else for the rest of the project (or better yet, bid on the job together and get a package deal).

Those are just five reasons why it's great to be a freelancer. There's lots more. I started being my own boss, exclusively, in the last recession, and haven't looked back, and am loving it. If you find yourself spending your coffee breaks, day after day, considering going solo: do the research, make a plan, and go for it!
Labels: advice, b2b, freedom, process, work

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6.09.2009

The need for social relevance on your front page

How necessary is it to show off your Twitter feed, Last.fm music updates, or other social media on your front page? I imagine it's helpful to garner more followers who are finding you via your site, as opposed to visitors to your site who find you through Twitter... but I don't have the analytics for this. If anyone does, tell me your story; I'd be very interested in what the prevailing opinion is (and more importantly, what the hard numbers recommend).
Labels: advice, social networking, twitter

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5.21.2009

How to make your children make your Art Direction Better

Of course someone in the advertising industry would leverage their children to benefit their performance. As for myself, I will henceforth be training my sub-six-year-olds to play the role of the Client as well.

Bonus: TIny Art Director has a book deal!

Labels: advertising, advice, children, creativity, graphic design, humor

posted at 10:16 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

5.16.2009

Tell me why you use the RSS feeder that you use, and win a pony.

Well, Okay, you won't really win a pony. But my analytics show a quarter of you using Netvibes, another quarter using Google News Reader, some using NetNewsWire (my favorite), a few Bloglines peeps, Firefox Live Bookmarks, and a ton of "OTHER".

So: why do you use the newsfeed reader you use? What makes it easy to use? What are the limitations? Post in the comments so we can all hear ya!
Labels: advice, RSS

posted at 10:27 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

5.11.2009

The new MacBooks are here! The New MacBooks are here!

I feel just like Navin R. Johnson in the Jerk, when the new phone books arrived with his name in them. Except for me my excitement comes in the form of a new 15-inch MacBook Pro. I just finished migrating all my files, etcetera, over from my 12-inch PowerBook G4, and am going through the applications and making sure everything works well.

If anyone has any tips on migrating from a Power-PC-based Mac to an Intel-based Mac, send me an e-mail or drop me a line over at Twitter with your thoughts. In the meantime, I'm going to play with my new Thermos, with vinyl and stripes and a cup built right in, until my eyeballs fall out.
Labels: advice, mac

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4.28.2009

Initial design sketches of our future studio, and musings about "home-working"

Alex over at the Shedworking blog has posted a link to some initial sketches I did when we started thinking about building a separate studio space for Notchcode. He's tracking the progress of our work, which I'll admit motivates us even more to keep things rolling forward.

I wanted to mention that for graphic designers working from your home (or in our case, from just behind it) makes a lot of sense; any creative professional needs to craft a space for working that suits their creative process and methodology. Every creative is different, and is motivated differently; it's hard to get that same vibe in any kind of a structured office, no matter how creative-friendly the organization is (although I've seen it done well at some agencies and in-house divisions). That being said, Alex's blog is a great resource for people looking to relocate their work (creative or otherwise) closer to home. I'd also recommend the Unclutterer blog as a nice companion read to Shedworking, too.
Labels: advice, architecture, creativity, process, productivity, small business

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4.21.2009

Sarah Wu: Hire Her Before Your Competition Does

Ach! I thought my friends would all escape the recession unscathed. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Sarah Wu, recently married, is also now recently laid-off. Don't let her talents go to waste!

From Sarah:

The dot com and post-911 bubble bursts didn't get me, but I couldn't outrun the recession of '09! As the most productive product strategist you'll meet with success at the fastest-growing technology companies in Colorado, I'm ready for a new Product Management or Product Marketing challenge. But are you ready for me? On Twitter, DM @sarney or find me on LinkedIn.

You better hire her before your competition does.
Labels: advice, marketing, productivity, social networking, software, work

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4.15.2009

Baking bread and branding are the same thing

It's a process. You can't do it without a formula and a set of steps that can be repeated--unless, of course, you want a result that leaves a poor taste in your mouth.

Too many cooks can result in a loaf that's either bland, over-thought (see below), or tries to do too much. As Peter Reinhart says, sometimes only white bread will do. Other times, you need Struan. Just decide what you're making before you start, and stick to it.

There are elements that are common to every recipe. Bread always requires some sort of flour. Branding always requires some sort of distilled ("milled") essence in order to digest easily and pleasantly.

It's repeatable. You know what to expect at each step, and what variables you can modify, tweak, and change in order to make it a unique loaf.

Both bread and branding require some time of rest. Dough needs to rise. Research and analysis needs to be assimilated into the big picture. Concepts need time to ferment if you want them to fit better into your project.

You can overbake them. Knead the dough too much. Overanalyze. Over focus-group. At some point, you have to have the wisdom to know it's ready to come out of the oven.

Labels: advice, branding, bread

posted at 1:24 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

4.06.2009

What's in a good design proposal

I've been writing a heck of a lot of proposals this month, and probably have written hundreds over the last ten years. Regardless of the scope of work, the type of project, or the size of the client or client's budget, there are some key things that you should look for in any design proposal, and they're all based on setting expectations--on both sides of the table.

What are you doing?

Spell out broadly, then specifically, then in excruciating detail, exactly what you're doing for the client.

How are you going to do it?

Discuss the process; how are you going to get from step one to step three?

When will it get done?

List a specific schedule for each step, including things the client is responsible for. Make sure they know they are an important part of the process by including them in the planning process for a schedule.

How much will it cost?

I'm of the opinion that the client likes to see the project fees broken down in some way, whether it's by job function (design/production/copywriting/etc.) or by project phase (research/conceptualization/layout/revisions/etc.). This helps them--and those above them who have to approve budgets, perhaps--to get a handle on where all the money (read:effort and time) is going.

Of course, this method is value-based vs. hourly-rate agnostic; you can place the full value of your concept work in the "Concept" row, or you can simply list a number based on your hourly rate multiplied by the number of hours you plan on spending on that task. I won't go nto detail here, as I've posted about it before, but design is a value-adding process, and I would advocate charging based on the value the client will get out of a certain function of your work, as opposed to merely the hourly rate you value your time at.

What will the client get?

List explicitly what the client will receive at the end of the project. In my case, it's the right to use a certain design for a certain application for a certain amount of time, for example. That, and the physical or electronic deliverables they receive comprise the total deliverable package they pay for.

Terms

Make sure you use a good, vetted set of terms. The AIGA and the Graphic Artists' Guild are good places to start; your lawyer is a good place to end.

Sign on the dotted line

Make sure you and your client sign the agreement. It is a contract, after all.

Photo via flickr by A National Acrobat

Labels: advice, b2b, graphic design, process, small business, work

posted at 5:21 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

4.03.2009

If you aren't creating to communicate, what's the point?

...oh, yeah, THAT'S WHY.

Just proving that once again, artists and designers, etc. need to read Cat and Girl every time they have the chance. After all, this is the woman who brought you Future Corpses of America.

Labels: advice, art, comics, creativity, graphic design

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3.30.2009

Breaking News: Underpants Gnomes on twitter

I just proved that you can gain followers either by repeatedly mentioning "real estate SEO" on Twitter, or....um, "underpants gnomes".

That being said, I'm a little disappointed that there is no twitterer out there with the handle "underpantsgnomes". Shame on you, internet. Shame on you.

If you're reading this, well, then, I suppose I would encourage you to follow me on twitter as well.
Labels: advice, social networking, underpants gnomes

posted at 3:45 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

3.22.2009

Twitter is a brand-builder, not an advertising medium

Twitter's great at getting people inside your brand's brain. But really puts people off if all you do is tweet on about your latest software release or product. Every. Time. You. Post.

Case in point for brand-building: John Cleese. is he harping on about his latest project? Nooooo. He's bringing us more into the world of Cleese. Which is scary, funny, and sometimes seemingly pointless. But any way you look at it, it definitely builds his personal brand. Here's a screenshot of his stream that shows he's got Twitter's number, and knows how to use it for teh funnay. Remember that tweets are arranged from freshest to oldest, with the older posts at the bottom. Read from the bottom up on this:

Not an international man of comedic genius? Doesn't matter. You could be a spring manufacturer. Or lawyer. Twitter gives you a chance to relate to your audience from something other than the head-on, standard direction. It's not for hitting people over the head with your marketing message hammer. It's more for elbowing them in the ribs as you talk about something not-quite-but-possibly-a-little related to what you spend most of your time on. Give it a try.
Labels: advice, social networking, twitter

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3.10.2009

Three marketing in a recession posts from the recent past

This caught my eye, courtesy of Sandra Sims, and it made me want to package up three of my most recent posts on marketing in a recession for those of you who doubt it's a great time to pay close attention to how you market yourself, and what you can do to get ahead of the curve right now:

Keeping your clients in a recession with the amuse-bouche

Remembering the basics, like excellent customer service

and finally, Six marketing ideas for use in a recession

Also, as promised, more from my image-bank, as well, while I grind down my stack of work for the week:

Labels: advice, marketing, nonprofits, ROI

posted at 12:53 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

3.04.2009

How designers charge

I've been asked by a number of new clients and friends how graphic designers charge for their services. Here's how I do it:

I prefer to charge on a per-project basis, estimating a fee that accurately reflects the value that the client will get out of both the intellectual property I create, and the physical/virtual expressions of that property. For example, if asked to create a direct mail brochure for a nonprofit client's annual giving campaign, the intellectual property includes:

the research and investigation into their audience, marketplace (competition), and goals,

the concept of the piece, including marketing direction and consultation,

copywriting and visual hooks or elements unique to the piece, which integrate their branding and overall marketing strategy,

There's more, but those are the basics.

The expressions, of course, would be:
the graphic design based on the approved concept,

revisions to the design based on feedback from the client, focus groups, stakeholders, etc (although most of this feedback should be handled in the conceptual phase, it sometimes leaks over into the design phase),

production of the approved design layout for printing, coding for e-mail or web, etc.

overseeing fulfillment with vendors (printers, web hosts, programmers, etc.)

Partially, there is an hourly rate component embedded in here. As any small business owner knows, you have a certain hourly wage your workers (including yourself) must generate in order to make the business profitable. $x per hour for y man-hours a year minus expenses (including salaries, taxes, etc.) roughly equals your profitability. So you can't not have an hourly rate as some portion of the equation, at least from a pragmatic standpoint. Hourly rates are also an important part of out-of-scope work elements (say, you decide to add a micro-website on top of the previously-negotiated brochure project). Those rates can serve the practical function of covering your firm's time, while also acting as a bit of a warning to clients to try and get all the work covered in the original project, so as to avoid extra charges.

The hourly rate isn't the only factor in a project's cost, of course, because we are talking about the value that the finished work has to the client. If a client is only using this piece for a one-year campaign, it's not as valuable as something they will use over and over (like, say, a brand identity). Therefore, it will cost less than a more long-lived product, even if the work takes the same amount of time and effort to produce. Many of the books on the subject show a percentage calculation for this sort of value (or other values, such as turning over all the source files, or re-using a design that was only licensed for one-time use). The value is really the important thing to stress, both for designers and their clients, because it frames the product of a designer's work in the right way. Like architects, lawyers, scientists, and other professionals who generate intellectual property which is then applied in the "real world" around us, the value in a designer's output isn't in the mechanics of creation; it lies instead in the application of creative and analytical thinking to a particular problem, which results in a practical solution.

So with this overarching concept of charging based on value, it's important to note exactly what the client gets, in-hand, at the end of the process. Contrary to what most people assume, it's not the actual product of all that work; rather, it's the right to use that intellectual property in a certain way. It's a license.

That license may be limited by time or quantity, or geography (one year, 5,000 brochures, only in North America); or it may be completely unlimited. In the design world, it's usually an exclusive license, as a designer is making something that's "purpose-built"--made for a very specific application such as a capital campaign, or fundraiser, or season ticket brochure. A programmer may specify the license is non-exclusive, since more than one person may be using, say, their video game.

By specifying the scope of a license, the value can accurately be assessed, and the client doesn't pay more than the worth of the designer's work for the use the client needs. Why buy the bridge, when you just want to walk over it once?

This aspect--licensing--can flummox even business professionals who otherwise comprehend much more complex concepts. Many people assume that design work is more like carpentry: they ask you to build it, and take possession of it. This is a concept known as "work for hire", and many others (illustrators, photographers, graphic designers) have detailed why it's a bad idea, so I won't go into it here. Suffice to say that work for hire practices ultimately stifle creativity and can generate unwelcome issues for both the creator and the party commissioning the work. Both leading professional graphic arts organizations, the Graphic Artists' Guild explicitly opposes work for hire, and the AIGA also seems to concur (albeit without the vitriol or explicitness of the GAG).

So who sets prices? Ultimately, the market does. There's a reason multinational corporations pay millions of dollars for a brand identity: it's worth it. Likewise, there's a reason local businesses pay a certain amount for a new website: it's worth it. The great thing for businesses is they aren't forced to pay a certain amount for a service. Someone shopping the design market for, say, a website, will find a range of fees offered from different firms for the same thing. They would also see a range of capabilities, creative outlooks, and strategies for production and implementation from these firms. But there will be a range, and that range is determined by what those firms have independently determined a given project, with certain specifications, is worth to that type of client at that time. While there are guidelines (based on surveys made nationwide), they don't determine a given firm's rate for a project any more than market pressures in their area do.

It's also important to note that as I alluded to above, price is just one variable to consider when shopping a project around for a designer. Businesses and designers need to have compatible viewpoints on strategy, approach, attitude, working methods, and other things, to really have a successful outcome. I've found that if an organization is shopping exclusively on price, they will get what they pay for, and not get what they really want, or really need.

I should also note that the basic principles I mention here are used by most of the reputable professionals in the field. People just starting out, students looking for a little extra money for tuition--they may charge differently. I'm certainly not saying everyone should apply these principles, but I am saying lots of us do, which is why I've outlined them here.

Hopefully this has been informative. I'd love to answer your specific questions about the pricing process, (and bid on a project, if you have one in mind!). Just e-mail me or leave your questions in the comments.
Labels: advice, b2b, b2c, graphic design, licensing, process, work, work for hire

posted at 11:39 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

2.16.2009

Off-topic: Cycling in west Denver

I ride the same route out in west metro denver every morning: 32nd Ave from about Sheridan, west to Crown Hill, then cross over to 26th, down the hill to Youngfield, then North to 38th. Then back South on Youngfield to 20th, and East, back to Crown hill, then back up 32nd.

Assuming I don't have time to go out to Golden, what other rides out this way would you recommend?
Labels: advice, cycling

posted at 7:03 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

2.15.2009

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes."

...from Scott Adams.

Also, as posted earlier, advice via Merlin Mann on Creativity and Courageous Sucking.

image via veen.
Labels: advice, creativity, photography

posted at 10:58 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

2.03.2009

Followup post on the Zoo from Malenke | Barnhart's Dan Barnhart

Dan posted this comment over at the Denver Egotist, and asked me to cross-post here. It brought up the level of civility and constructive criticism and thoughtfulness on the thread by about a bijillion percent. Thanks, Dan, for the comment. Here it is:

Quite a few levels of bummer here. I wanted to put in a few cents if I may in all humility, and call out for some help for Denver Zoo and all non-profits in this town.

level 1: its a bummer Alan Bucknam had a bad experience trying to reg for Summer Safari. It just is. We've all wanted to put our fists through our computer screens right? Alan, I will see if I can talk to the folks at Denver Zoo and help you get your kids in if I can. No promises, OK?

level 2: its a bummer Denver Zoo is a non-profit and simply does not have enough money to afford a really good purchasing tool because they spend the funds they actually do have on animal conservation in Denver and around the world, keeping endangered species on our planet. I personally appreciate that more. They had such a high number of requests yesterday that their entire POS system (which is the online purchasing function as well) was crippled. They told me they were getting about 5 credit card requests a second. Leaps and bounds more than their meager system can handle.

level 3: its a bummer that Malenke|Barnhart didn’t get to completely rebuild Denver Zoo's purchase tool but there was only so much we could do pro bono and not many agencies do full-scale POS systems. As mentioned before, the site was named one of the top 5 in the world in the non-profit category by the Webby’s in ’07. Denver Zoo was very gracious and extremely thankful for what MB did and continues to do for them. The aforementioned is not meant to be a plug just something to factor in.

level 4: its a bummer we all are flaming one another these days. I mean, it happens every day of the week, publicly online, offline, over coffee, over lunch, over our 4th cocktail. Denver should feel proud that we have such a high level of talent in the interactive field here. Look around, there are some world class digital agencies in this town. We gotta respect that more.

Level 5: Isn't it a bummer we agencies can't do more for non-profits in our town?
A call to all agencies: How can we help our non-profits do more? I know we probably all feel like we do a lot already but CLEARLY, its not enough. Any ideas??? and by that I mean positive ones :)

Hey Alan, can you put this post on your blog page? The more people seeing this the better.

Thanks man!

Dan

So, designers and nonprofiteers: what would YOU suggest to help organizations like the Zoo do great marketing, even after their pro bono benefactors have to turn over the keys to you and head off for other things? Post a comment here and we'll cross-post at the Egotist as well.

Dan, as for item #1: Thanks, but I eventually did get my order processed and have my confirmation number right here in front of me. Very thoughtful of you, and there you go again building goodwill with the Zoo brand (and yours, too. Good double-play! Plus, it was just a nice thing to do. )
Labels: advice, agencies, branding, denver egotist, nonprofits

posted at 11:27 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

2.02.2009

Photography, and the Tolerance for Courageous Sucking

Another great post about why it's okay to fail:

Photography, and the Tolerance for Courageous Sucking: "
"As I’ve started shooting photos more often, I’ve picked up on some interesting patterns: habits, if you like. And, as I struggle to absorb the insane physics of capturing light with some glass and a black box, I accept upfront that the improvements to my actual photos will be slow, incremental, and, largely undetectable to anybody but me — a fact that’s never more painfully clear than when I swoon over the work of the more talented friends who inspire me (Heather, Ryan and Chris each come to mind here).

"But, being instantly great at this couldn’t be further from the point. Although I started taking photos to become a better photographer, I keep taking them because I’ve learned to love the process. And, luckily, at least as far as I can tell, dedication to the process can’t help but make you a better photographer — or a better whatever, for that matter. "

Read the rest here.

(Via 43 Folders.)
Labels: advice, photography

posted at 10:21 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

Hey trolls: check it out: I apologize. Do you get a free sad clown drawing from me?

I wanted to point out that the original virtiol of my blog post from Groundhog Day was directed at the vendors who provided online ticket support for the Denver Zoo, not Melinke Barnhart. That would be Vantix Systems . They could only handle about one transaction every 2-3 seconds, which is fine for normal operations at the Zoo, but overwhelmed them during the registration opening on 2/2.

Patrick, the Marketing Director at the Denver Zoo called me personally to apologize for the trouble for the registration, which I thought was nice, considering as a marketing director he probably had a heck of a lot of other flack to deal with besides some fourth grader's blog post to deal with (see, asdf, you get a mention in my blog! you must feel so special right now). I know this is a growing pain for them, being the first year they've dealt with online registration sales taking place, so I appreciated the call (I'd also note that I corrected some justified misonceptions which I had posted, due to the entire site being branded by Melinke Barnhart, and Melinke Barnhart's site proclaiming that they helped to redesign not only the front-end design, but the back end, as well).

So, to Malenke Barnhart, I apologize for assuming (even though your marketing and the Zoo's marketing intimates) that you had anything to do with the FUBAR moment that took 2 hours of our life that we'll never get back. And to the Zoo, as a current member (and--eventually--a successful registrant of the zoo summer camps) I am glad you're looking into ways to make the registration process smoother. Because the one antidote to bad consumer feelings is prompt acknowledgment of the problem, and movement toward a solution.

And for the clowns who ranted and raved at the quality of the notchcode website: yes, I know: a fourth grader could have done better. But I know (seeing as I coded it in 2002 and haven't really given a crap about it since then). I really don't care. Just let it go and go do some work that makes the world a better place.
Labels: advice, denver egotist

posted at 9:53 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

Apparently, the Online Ticket Sales provider for the Denver Zoo Site Sucks

Shame on you, whomever built and tested and approved the registration component of the Zoo site for wasting my morning. Even more of a shame that you've subjected one of your clients to bad service. Especially one that has such high visibility. Here's the story:

We decided to take a few minutes this morning to register our kids for a summer camp at the Denver Zoo. Well, this process, which should take no more than 15 minutes or so, took TWO HOURS. TWO HOURS.

Let me say that again: it took two hours to sign up two kids for summer camp. Using the time-saving miracle of internet technology, which was so wonderfully leveraged for effective customer experiences by Whomever built and tested and approved the registration component of the Zoo site (hey, not Malenke Barnhart, as noted by the Zoo's Marketing Director, and others at the zoo. Thanks for the correction. For the record, they did build the rest of the site).

The summer camp, by all accounts, is lovely. What isn't lovely is the fact that:
you can only sign up online. No phone calls or walk-up registrations.

Each time we tried to register, you only have 15 minutes to complete the process. This wouldn't be an issue, unless

the online ticket sales vendor takes so long to process the credit card information that the order times out, and

you have to start all over again. and again and again. Because the system doesn't save ANY of your information.

Other notes on how craptacular this user experience was:

Not very Safari-friendly. We did have better luck with Firefox, but you'd think that a whomever built and tested and approved the registration component of the Zoo site would oh, say, PLATFORM TEST THEIR SITES FOR USABILITY. Especially when the only way you're allowed to experience a client's program or service is via the web (like, say, when you HAVE to order online to get into a class/program/event). I would note to whomever built and tested and approved the registration component of the Zoo site's programming and QA staff that Safari browser share is above 8%. It's not exactly Internet Explorer in terms of numbers, but if you told your client you were going to give the finger to over eight percent of their audience (and I'm guessing Zoo visitors are even a little more in the Safari category than others), that client would either fire you or tell you to rethink that decision.

There is no distinction between a billing and a shipping address on the website.This might be an issue if you are signing up your grandkids for a class, so the parent contact info might be different than the billing info you need to pay for it. More than half the Family Zoo Memberships my extended family and friends have are gifted from others.

The error page presented by the site (when your purchase inevitably fails) doesn't tell you what went wrong. If, for example, we ham-fistedly mis-entered the credit card info, or failed to enter in a required field, we'd have no idea, because the site doesn't notify us. Bad feedback, site! Bad!

Now, I know that sometimes glitches can happen. I understand that. But as an interface guy who has also integrated merchant account transaction processing into client websites, I know that it's possible to build a site that works, provides feedback to the user if something goes wrong, and allows for testing beforehand to ensure smooth operation. None of that was done here. Well, the testing happened, but it was the users doing the testing, when the site was live, and we weren't being allowed to give the zoo money.

If I were the Zoo, that's the thing that would have me worried: this user experience was so bad, that it was preventing us from actually giving hundreds of dollars to them. What sort of customer service experience is that?

I'd love to submit an invoice to the Zoo, or whomever built and tested and approved the registration component of the Zoo site or to Vantix Systems (the online ticket sales vendor selected for the backend processing). The invoice would cover the two hours we spent trying to do this, including lost revenue, etc.

But I'm sure, that if the experience we had with the Denver Zoo's order process was any indication, all we'd get would be another error page. And no real explanation.

Note: Revised to account for the fact that Malenke Barnhart, acording to the Marketing Director at the Zoo, DIDN'T build the backend of the Zoo site. Read the comments for why we thought they did, and why this post is still relevant to the discussion of providing a good user experience to build brands and effectively promote organizations.
Labels: advice, agencies, customer service, marketing, nonprofits, usability, web design

posted at 11:40 AM Leave your comments here: 1 comments

1.26.2009

Why You Should Celebrate Your Mistakes

I've been literally snowed under here in Denver today, with 6+ inches of snow keeping me in the office while I work on a web site design for a great client, and help others plan their content management strategies. So, in lieu of any original thoughts today, I wanted to share the best post I saw so far this week., from Zen Habits:

Here's a little reminder about why humility and humanity are so important in business, in design, in art in life: Zen Habits' most recent post, excerpted in part, here.

Why You Should Celebrate Your Mistakes:

...mistakes should be cherished and celebrated for being one of the most amazing things in the world: they make learning possible, they make growth and improvement possible.

By trial and error — trying things, making mistakes, and learning from those mistakes — we have figured out how to make electric light, to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, to fly.

........

Think about how we learn: we don’t just consume information about something and instantly know it or know how to do it. You don’t just read about painting, or writing, or computer programming, or baking, or playing the piano, and know how to do them right away.

Instead, you get information about something, from reading or from another person or from observing usually … then you construct a model in your mind … then you test it out by trying it in the real world … then you make mistakes … then you revise the model based on the results of your real-world experimentation … and repeat, making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, until you’ve pretty much learned how to do something.

......

So if you value learning, if you value growing and improving, then you should value mistakes. They are amazing things that make a world of brilliance possible.

Celebrate your mistakes. Cherish them. Smile.

—

(Via Zen Habits.)
Labels: advice, performance, web design

posted at 8:41 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

1.19.2009

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent."
Labels: advice

posted at 8:00 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

1.14.2009

Thoughts on Hirschfeld declaring bankruptcy, and the future of newspapers

102 years old and Bankrupt

I heard yesterday what was made official today: National Hirschfeld was closing their doors, citing a lack of financing. Over 250 people were laid off immediately. Hirschfeld had been in business in Denver for 102 years.

I have also heard from industry insiders that national Hirschfeld owed nearly $2 million to at least two paper vendors, along with debts to other smaller vendors.

Hirschfeld had a number of reputations in town. For a while they were the go-to printer for large offset work, and even some web, depending on who they were competing against. They wanted the big-name, glamor pieces, and would price aggressively to get them. Because they had so much printing capacity on the floor they often underbid the competition by a substantial amount in order to keep the presses running.

Unfortunately, I never had much luck with the projects I sent to Hirschfeld. I would say well over half of them developed issues related to poor prepress preparation of the job, inadequate proofing internally, and a lack of attention to detail. This caused myself--and many of my design colleagues--to avoid printing at Hirschfeld whenever possible. I hadn't sent a job there in over eight years. But Hirschfeld kept rumbling along, powered by Barry Hirschfeld's good humor, charisma, and an eventual merger with two of the other largest printing concerns in town.

But in the end, even Barry's smiles, bow tie, and glowing white halo of hair couldn't keep things moving. National Hirschfeld is declaring chapter 7 bankruptcy; the presses and other assets will be liquidated in order for outstanding debts to be (at least partially) repaid.

What does this mean for designers?

As a designer with over 15 years' experience in print, it's disheartening to see any established printer go. Even though Hirschfeld wasn't one of my preferred vendors, the reduction in competition will hurt, a little. And I feel the pain of the prepress folks, the pressmen, and the sales reps that all worked hard to get our projects turned into a tangible product.

Mostly, however, it's a sign that, as a designer, if you're not diversified into online, experience, or other forms of interactive design, you'd better get started. Print will never completely go away--it's an important part of almost any integrated marketing campaign--but that's just what it is: a part.

The future of the printed newspaper

On a related note, I listened to two good podcasts this morning regarding the future of the printed newspaper. The local angle was handled by Colorado Matters, produced by Colorado Public Radio. They interviewed Mike Littwin, columnist for the beleaguered Rocky Mountain News, and Andrew Hudson, former press secretary for Wellington Webb (among other things) and man-about-town. The upshot was that the Rocky is probably going out of business, despite its history as a founding father of the city of Denver. Hudson would like to save it as a cultural institution, using a sales tax to support its operation.

On June 12th's broadcast of Fresh Air, Terry Gross interviewed the former managing editor of the Washington Post and the publisher of the Christian Science Montitor. She discussed the future of the printed news with both of them. Both interviewees said that while the daily paper may be in decline, journalism has never been stronger. Delivery of a newspaper's product online has a broader reach, and in the end, may provide the successful way out for newspaper companies. The Christian Science Monitor, for example, will cease publishing a daily paper, and go all-online with its daily content. A weekly edition will remain in print.

The CSM's strategy seems like a good one. Reading ink-on-paper newspapers is more of a luxury, and something that you like to take your time doing. I get the Sunday New York Times delivered to my door, and I take two days to get through it (longer than that for the Crossword). I read the Times' website during the rest of the week because it's more convenient, and more in step with my workweek pace. Don't doubt that the Times, with around $1 billion in debt, won't be watching the Monitor's strategy unfold. I wouldn't be surprised if, by 2011, even the Gray Lady will be cutting her newsprint diet back to one helping a week.
Labels: advertising, advice, b2b, b2c, customer service, denver, graphic design, paper, press check, print, printing, web design

posted at 4:13 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

1.11.2009

Punchlist options for the graphic designer: opinions?

I am looking at a number of project management tools, and have been very happy with Basecamp for the last 2 years. I will be sticking with them, but am looking for a more "local" to-do list management tool...something that can track not just odd bits of project pieces, but administrative and office tasks as well. I was using Kinkless GTD integrating with OmniOutliner, but that sort of went away when the developer got sort of swallowed up in the development of OmniFocus--a product that's a bit too robust for my taste. Anyone have some suggestions? Let me know!
Labels: advice, productivity

posted at 10:35 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

1.09.2009

Where do you go to complain?

As we all know, it's no fun having to spend extra time tracking down someone to complain to when you've already spent time using a broken product or process and have been trying to make it work.

My wife, Robyn, used to do a lot of high-end hand-holding for clients of a software company. She acted as the liason between the client and the software engineer assigned to them. She was there to basically translate engineer-ese and make sure the client's concerns were being heard by the engineer. It was also a really good P.R. tool to have someone there just for them. It made the client feel special.

We all want to feel special (at least a little), and especially when we have an issue that we feel needs to be addressed. We want to be heard, and have our feedback acknowledged.

Different organizations have different ways of dealing with feedback like this. Some have a phone number and an e-mail address that you contact when you have a question or concern. What happens once that call is taken or message is received varies widely, ranging from indifference to a complete commitment on the part of the organization to make sure you're listened to and taken care of. Just depends on the culture and community that the organization wants to build around its stakeholders.

I was talking with an old friend this week about strategies for getting good feedback from your audience. "Your audience", of course, can mean many things:

people you are marketing your product to,

website visitors,

software users,

restaurant patrons,

internal stakeholders in your business,

and so on.

The company he works for has a hand-built trouble ticket system for handling user complaints. But it's getting to be more trouble than it's worth to maintain. And I suspect they aren't into paying for a big-name system like Siebel's etc. So, they are shopping around for another feedback tool that will allow them to take care of their stakeholders (users of their product). He mentioned a number of ways to get users engaged with their customer support team, including social media (twitter, Facebook) and services like Get Satisfaction.

This last service has been intriguing me lately, as it isn't industry-specific: it's not, for example, just a place for software companies to host support networks. You could set up a Get Satisfaction page for, well, yourself. Imagine a page where people could complain about (or praise you for) the tip you left them at their restaurant the other night. Or offer suggestions on how to better shake hands?

Say you're a non profit organization looking to get feedback on your outreach, or engage in outreach via creating a dialogue with your stakeholders. Set up a Get Satisfaction page and drive people to it via mentions in your other outreach materials: e-mail blasts, direct mail, postcards, webpage plugs, and plain old conversations with people. Once there, the stakeholder can leave feedback, ask questions, and even rant. You as an organization provide one or two voices there to answer concerns, offer suggestions, and just LISTEN.

Here, however, is the problem that my friend posited with the Get Satisfaction (or similar) route: You have to create a new username and password to use the service. If an organization has an existing feedback loop on-site, or on another system, having their stakeholders create another account on another system to leave --what is in their minds-- the same feedback they used to leave somewhere else is a little aggravating for the stakeholder.

Hence the image at the top of the post. I ran across this in the Men's room of a coffee shop the other day. Notice the soap dispensers; there are two. One installed to the right of the faucet in the sink, and another installed on the wall. The user of the sink, wanting soap, has a choice to make: which soap dispenser to use? Either one should provide a similar soap experience, but which one should be used? The one conveniently embedded in the sink? Or was the one in the wall installed because there was some problem with the in-sink dispenser?

This is a perfect metaphor for the CRM solution dilemma my friend finds himself in. If you have two places for people to go to for customer support, which one is the RIGHT one for their needs? And how will they know?

And even more importantly, will they both be staffed and managed effectively? Both the soap dispensers in the Men's room were out of soap.

Here's the bottom line: you should use whatever customer relationship tool works best for both your company and your stakeholders. And make sure that once you decide on a solution, you commit enough resources to it to make it effective for both your customers, and for you.
Labels: advice, customer service, marketing, social networking

posted at 4:36 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

1.06.2009

Why working on spec and logo design contests and "tournaments" are bad...for designers AND clients

Saw this little ad on Facebook today:

"Excellent Results for only $250", the ad states. Hmmm. Let's explore the reasons why the client who engages in a logo design competition or tournament will not get excellent results. According to the AIGA, there are several reasons why such contests are bad business for companies looking for a brand. In its letter to a foundation that was soliciting design submissions for a logo competition, the Cleveland chapter of the AIGA asserted that:
AIGA strongly discourages the practice of requesting that design work be produced and submitted on a speculative basis in order to be considered for acceptance on a project.

AIGA cites many reasons for this position:
To assure the client receives the most appropriate and responsive work...

...Capable and professional designers do not work for free.

...Requesting work for free demonstrates a lack of understanding and respect.

The letter goes on:
There are few professions where all possible candidates are asked to do the work first, allowing the buyer to choose which one to pay. Just consider the response if you were to ask a dozen lawyers to write a brief for you, and you would then choose which one to use and which to pay. We realize that there are some creative professions with a different set of standards, such as advertising and architecture, where billings are substantial and continuous after you select a firm of record. In these cases, you are not receiving the final outcome (the advertising campaign or the building) for free up front as you would be in receiving a communication design solution.

There is an appropriate way to explore the work of various designers.
A more effective and ethical approach to requesting work is to ask designers to submit examples of their work from previous assignments as well as a statement of how they would approach your project. You can then judge the quality of the designer's previous work and way of crafting solutions. When you select a designer, they can begin to work on your project by designing strategic solutions to your criteria while under contract.

The authors of the article have a good point: where else would you expect a professional to do the work first, then decide whether or not they would be paid?

But this is just the ecomonic issue. The more important issue for the business asking for the logo is this: Asking people to submit logos that you select a "winner" from won't allow you to get the most effective result. Here's what you will most likely get:

a logo that uses a color or typeface the boss likes

a logo that looks a lot like the other logos in your industry

a logo that doesn't take into account the unique attributes of your organization

a logo that is, in short, "safe"

It's not just small companies or nonprofits that can get burned by taking what they think is the easier, better way out: the Goverment of Spain had the exact same problem. Their logo contest winner's entry was amazingly similar to the German government's logo. I wish I was making this up. Check it out:

The German government's identity:

And the Spanish government's "winner":

The AIGA's position of spec work can be found here. As they say:
AIGA believes that doing speculative work seriously compromises the quality of work that clients are entitled to and also violates a tacit, long-standing ethical standard in the communication design profession worldwide. AIGA strongly discourages the practice of requesting that design work be produced and submitted on a speculative basis in order to be considered for acceptance on a project.
Labels: advice, aiga, branding, design, logo, marketing, nonprofits, work for hire

posted at 8:00 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

12.30.2008

Sometimes the best thing for you is that which is the most tasty.

Thanks, Meghan, for this nugget:

Labels: advertising, advice

posted at 10:02 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

12.29.2008

My favorite apps of 2008

Well, for those of us in the office on this last week of 2008, we may as well get more productive as we work away, oblivious to the tweets and Facebook postings of our friends and officemates as they remark upon the quality of the snow in Alta, or the lovely front-porch weather they are enjoying.

Right?

With that in mind, here is a quick rundown of a few applications that have made me, as a creative professional, more productive. I encourage you to give them a try, too!

Groundwork , by enormego, gets your Basecamp-managed projects onto your iPhone and iPod Touch. The interface is the best of the three Basecamp-porting iPhone apps I tried, and so far I'm very impressed. It's only $3.99, too, so you're not out a lot of cash to try it.

Side note: Basecamp, you say? Since I've been using it for a couple of years, I don't want to go into it too much here, but it is a productivity booster for anyone who has lots of people touching a project.

Having a good backup strategy is crucial. Earlier this year my hard drive kicked the bucket (luckily it was still under warranty). While it was being replaced, I utilized my nightly backup to keep client projects moving. iBackup is something I just started using, but it is already paying off. When my previous backup solution, DejaVu, started hogging hard disk space while processing the day's backup (rendering the Mac unusable more often than not), I started looking for another backup option.

Long ago I used Retrospect, but wanted something that added offsite storage into the mix. Offsite backups ensure that my clients' projects aren't lost even if something really bad happens to the office. The way iBackup boosts productivity over other solutions is its deference to the user (allows you to control how much bandwidth it uses when you're working on the computer, allows you to force it to pause a backup after a specified time of day, etc.). This allows me to work without worrying about the backup, while having the backup do its thing behind the scenes.

DYMOStamps are great: get yourself a DYMO Labeler and some stamp labels, and print your own postage. You still have to pay for it, but at least you don't have to run to the P.O.

1Password, from Agile Web Solutions, lets you keep all your internet and banking (and any other sensitive data) secure--and you can access it with just one password. They also released a great iPhone version, which you can, of course, sync with your Mac.

Some apps that didn't quite make the cut for me? OmniFocus (you mean I have to buy ANOTHER app to be productive? AND learn how to use it? Maybe in 2009). Jott Express (wasn't prepared to pay for the service that seemed to duplicate Evernote, another service I wasn't using enough to justify having around).

What were your favorite productivity apps for the year? I'd love to hear about them!

Labels: advice, productivity

posted at 3:46 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

12.17.2008

No place is boring

"No place is boring, if you've had a good night's sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film."

- Robert Adams

Note: The New West
was just re-released by Aperture this year. It's an excellent reprint of a seminal book dealing with modern american landscape photography. Go buy it for yourself, or for your favorite photographer.
Labels: advice, photography

posted at 9:41 AM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

12.15.2008

Take the edge off

...by laughing at others' pain. I bring you 30 Ways to Electrocute Yourself, a flickr photoset from bre pettis. This collection of well-drawn illustrations hails from pre-war Germany.
Labels: accident, advice, flickr, illustration

posted at 2:27 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

12.10.2008

Six marketing ideas for a recession

Now that the recession is "official", why not use it as an excuse to tighten things up?

Not tighten your belt, necessarily, but tighten up the way you use your marketing? What serves you well in a recession will serve you well when times are good, too. So, to that end, I bring you:

Six marketing ideas for use in a recession (and when things bounce back):

The amuse-bouche.

Give your clients a little something extra, that you enjoy doing and also benefits them.

Nontraditional uses of traditional marketing pathways

Forget about the coupon in direct mail. What about a "secret word" that brings your customers a discount or access to special services...that only "select" people receive via your permission-based email blasts...or getting your clients involved in an online dialog that benefits all of them (on your site, of course)...none of these suggestions are groundbreaking, but think about how much they cost, compared to traditional direct mail, etc....

Redefine what "essential" is, in relation to marketing and brand expressions

What's more important: meeting someone face-to-face, or sending ten people a direct mail piece talking about your services? Getting new clients, or strengthening ties with existing ones? Or both? Having that nice rounded die-cut corner on your letterhead, or spending that extra $250 on overhead for an informational seminar for your clients?

Now is the time to think hard about what you really need, and why you are using the marketing strategy you currently employ.

Less is more, and now's your chance to prove it

Do you really need a fax machine? Need a fax number on your business card? When was the last time you actually sent a fax versus an e-mail? Use cost-trimming as an excuse to streamline your communication pathways, clearing out the chaff of old technology and ways of thinking and replacing them with methods and channels that are relevant to your audience.

An opportunity to enter new markets or new marketing channels

How about an iPhone app that pushes relevant info to your target market? Outdoor advertising to get someone's attention focused on your issue? Permission-based e-mail campaigns to build brand impressions? If you haven't thought about these options, now is a good time to do so. Why? Because approaching people from another angle allows you to catch them off guard, and hopefully even give them information or motivation that they really need in order to get your company in their life.

Redefine your brand

Why not? If things are really going down the tubes, take a hard look at your existing brand. Is it reflective of your organization, your product, and your culture? Does it address the relationship between your organization and the public at this moment? What about in five years? Time and money spent refining your brand right now, when things are down, will get paid back in spades down the road, as other organizations play catch-up.

What are some ideas you have? Let's hear about them in the comments!

photo by jtloweryphotography
Labels: advertising, advice, b2b, b2c, branding, clients, creativity, design, graphic design, marketing, nonprofits, process, productivity, small business, web design

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12.09.2008

From the Archives: Design Versus Style

From January 2006, on this very blog:

For something to be well-designed, it must meet the functional needs and expectations of the user. For it to be styled well, it must live up to the aesthetic needs and expectations of the user. An important difference. Often, design and style influence each other, and good style often is just as important to a successful marketing effort, or branding effort, or architectural effort, as design. But a fun style doesn't always lead to a beneficial experience, at least in the funcitonal sense.

Check out the whole post on design versus style here.
Labels: advice, branding, design, marketing, visual information

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When are enough revisions enough?

The short answer is: when either your budget is exhausted, or your are satisfied that it's perfect, whichever comes first.

Why a set number of revisions in an agreement?

Some graphic design and web design clients may have trouble respecting your revision cycle. That's why designers have a set number of revision cycles for conceptual development and typographical edits built into their agreements. But it's up to the designer to keep the lines of communication open to make sure the client knows they are approaching the edge of the cliff that is The End Of The Revision Cycle.

What Happens if you don't tell them they have run out of time?

If you don't let a client know that they are nearing the end of the revision cycle, expect to pick up the tab of your client's extra revisions; it's unprofessional to let them keep revising and revising and then expect them to pick up the tab on a bunch of AAs without giving them fair warning. Additionally, it will help to keep the client's process tighter; if they know they only have a set number of shots at refining a concept down to razor-sharp accurate expression, then they WILL pay better attention. Trust me.

The end goal: a great design that does its job

In the end, the most important thing is making sure that the design clearly articulates the vision set forth by the objectives set forth by you and the client in the design brief. Keeping the lines of communication open, and having respect on both sides for each others' time and effort will go a long way to making this happen.
Labels: advertising, advice, branding, design, graphic design, performance, web design

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12.08.2008

Great Graphic Design makes everything better

One thing I remind people about all the time: everything anyone has ever made has been designed by someone. Great graphic design makes products, companies, and ideas more accessible by more people. Bad graphic design just makes products, companies, and ideas more opaque.

What differentiates the good from the bad? Lots of things. Focus. Brand integration. Accessibility. Grokability.

Paying someone $150, or $400, to design a logo will almost always result in bad design. Does that mean the designer who made it is not a good designer? Not necessarily. What it does mean is they aren't taking the time to find out what the essence of that brand should be. The same thing goes for paying a similar amount to design a website. Or a brochure. Even if you think about that money in terms of an hourly rate, rather than the value the design has for you (which is really how you should look at it), what does $150 translate to, in hours? I'll tell you: very, very little.

Would you trust a lawyer to draft the articles of incorporation for your business for $50? Would you let a $400 doctor operate on your heart?
Labels: advertising, advice, aiga, b2b, b2c, branding, graphic design, illustration, information graphics, interface, licensing, logo, marketing, nonprofits, packaging, process, ROI, seo, typography, visual information, web design, work

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12.04.2008

Want to keep your clients' business in a recession? I offer you the Amuse-bouche

An amuse-bouche is an unasked-for, bite-sized appetizer, typically served at finer establishments, which reflects the chef's mood for the day. They:

are served as an excitement of taste buds to both prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse into the chef's approach to cooking.

The term is French, literally translated to "mouth amuser" [for bouche = mouth; amuser = to amuse, to please].

Take this concept to heart, if you want to impress and retain your clients when everyone is cutting costs to the bone. Why not offer a little something from your heart that you not only enjoy doing, but also offers your "guests" some insight into your process, your personality, and your interest in them?

Some examples:
Offer to help them out, for free, when they call you and ask for help with a catchphrase for an e-mail blast.

Or, better yet, offer the advice before they ask for it. Send them a design for a holiday card in September, "just because".

Drop in and chat about how their brand is performing.

The important thing is that your service is something you really enjoy doing (which makes it enjoyable for you) and is valuable to your client (which makes it enjoyable for them). In the process, you turn something that feels good for everyone involved into good business as well. Give it a try!
Labels: advice, clients

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11.10.2008

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

After waiting months to hear back from a prospective client on a proposal I had submitted (and followed up on repeatedly) I finally got word from them that I wasn't being considered for the project.

That's fine; happens all the time, and it's part of the gig.

What is not part of the gig, however, was the fact that the client had proceeded with their project some time ago, and in fact had already completed it with someone else, without extending me the courtesy of a call/note/call telling us we weren't getting the project.

Want a way to ensure you won't get any respect? Don't give any.
Labels: advice, b2b

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9.17.2008

Taglines: A vital part of your brand

It doesn't matter if you run a $50 million company or a $200K nonprofit: taglines matter. And as this report from NTEN shows, a lot of nonprofits think their tagline sucks.

A lot of times the tagline is a dumping ground for mission statements (condensed into not nearly few enough words, or condensed into nonsense), or serve as an afterthought ("well, we poured all that money into the logo, after all.") I am here to tell you that a tagline should be developed in tandem with your visual identity, and should be considered just as important to your branding as your logo. In some cases, it's more important. Can a radio ad show people your logo? Can a text-based ad link show people your logo? Can your logo roll off people's tongues when talking about your organization?

Our brand strategy integrates taglines/slogans/words into each and every effort, because a) it makes sense, and b) you want to make sure they work well together. So the next time you think about rebranding, remember the words, and make them work as hard for you as the visual identity.
Labels: advice, branding, nonprofits

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8.29.2008

Corn Dogs and Ice

Corn Dogs and Ice
Originally uploaded by notchcode
It's Friday, so get yourselves out of town and enjoy life! The Colorado State Fair is happening down Pueblo-way, with all the cotton candy and corn dogs you can eat. C'mon, you know you want some!
Labels: advice, photography, typography, vacation

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8.19.2008

Simple things any design firm can do to help their client's search engine ranking

These are pretty obvious, for anyone who has spent even a minute around a good SEO professional. But here they are anyway, from the 37 leaders in the world of organic search engine optimization. So don't just take it from me, your great graphic and web designer, take it from them, too.

The best, best thing you can do? Put your relevant keyword in the title of your web page. Duh, I know, but sometimes people don't pay attention to the simple things....

Here's the link.
Labels: advice, seo

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8.11.2008

Making Time to Make: 43 Folders's series on creating

When he isn't a pottymouthed twitterer, Merlin Mann writes some other interesting things that we like over here in creative-land. He has a three-part series on making the time to create, which all us creatives, as we know, need more of.

Read it here:

part 1

part 2

part 3
Labels: advice, creativity, productivity

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8.07.2008

Sean Adams of AdamsMorioka: the AIGA/Colorado talk

I went down to the Denver Art Museum last night and attended Sean Adams's talk on fear. Adams is a great speaker, and had a lot of interesting things to say--both in his capacity as president of the AIGA, and as half of a very successful design firm.

I took a few notes, and for those that missed his talk, you can get the gist of it here. This was the first of AIGA/CO's scheduled talks from nationally-recognized designers for the 2008-09 season, and I encourage you all to attend the rest of the season's talks.

...

So: Fear. Fear comes out of wanting to protect something. Your job. Your income. Your reputation. The status quo. Some designers or clients fear change. This is a big one.

...

When the work starts to suffer, it's time to let the bad clients go.

Adams had a good example of a client that accounted for a large portion of their business, and they had fun in the past doing the work, year after year, for this client. But eventually the client started to implode, and the effects carried across to their relationship with the design firm. After a while, Adams was greenlighting any change the client suggested, because they wanted to protect their relationship with the client. It resulted in a horrible design.

They realized that this was antithetical to growing themselves as a firm: a bad piece reflects badly on your firm, hurts future business, and is demoralizing to boot. So, they gave the client the "you and I aren't in the same place, baby. I think it would be better if we saw other people" speech. And they parted ways.

...

So what's worse: Foolishness, or Fearlessness? It's pretty self-explanatory:

Foolishness results from any decisions based on ego, and pride.

Fearlessness is making smart decisions, with guts.

...

Importantly, you should execute your work with a sense of joy. It comes through in the work, and the client can tell. And, as Adams says, "it plays much better than uptight and constipated" does with clients. It should not only satisfy your clients' aims, but your own as well.

...

What happens when you run out of ideas? Trust yourself. Go with your instincts. Adams showed a case study on this with the work they did over the years for the Sundance Film Festival. After several years of working on it, Adams truly felt like he had nothing new to offer (one of his later concepts included a cross-section of a snowball. Yeah, I know.). Fortunately, his client ( a certain Robert Redford) trusted his designer. He said "forget about what we want. What would you do if you were doing this with no input from us?" And Adams came up with something that broke him out of his block. He trusted himself, went with his instincts, and created a successful design identity for that year's festival.

...

Afraid of criticism? Who isn't?

Just do what you do. It leads to good things.

...

some resources:

AdamsMorioka's website

AIGA/Colorado's website

An interview with Adams from the Denver Egotist

So, As I said at the top, this is just a loose summary. I am sure others have more to add (and please do, in the comments, if you want!).

Labels: advice, aiga, design

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8.04.2008

Guy Kawasaki on Innovations

From an interview by Guy Kawasaki with Dan Roam:

"Becoming comfortable with and confident in our visual abilities--improving our ability to look at complex information, see important patterns emerge, imagine new possibilities, and clearly show those discoveries to others--is going to become our most valuable asset. Looking just a short time into the future, visual thinking will significantly alter how business gets done in three ways:

Help us make better decisions faster. Within the next few years we will see most business analytics delivered in immersive graphic formats that allow for simultaneous manipulation of individual numbers and visualization of complex interactions and outcomes. There are many companies out there now like Tableau and Business Objects building these tools, and even plain-Jane Excel has enormous potential given the graphics processing capabilities of even the most basic business personal computers.

Help us communicate our decisions and visions more effectively. As more businesspeople become more aware of the power of pictures as a communications tool, more tools will become available to help create meaningful charts, diagrams, timelines, maps, and flowcharts--both alone and as teams. The great issue here is to first understand what we want to show and what our audience is willing to see and only then boot-up the machines.

Help our teams execute those decisions more efficiently. Project managers have always known the power of a visual timeline to ensure everybody knows what they're supposed to be doing when. The problem is that the product manager was the only one who knew how to understand the chart they created--to the rest it looked like a wall of hieroglyphics. Several companies are now working on interactive, team-created timeline tools of infinite scalability. Such tools will allow for globally distributed groups to be in instant visual contact with their project and each other and to monitor whatever needs to be happening at the level of detail that matters most at that moment."

(Via Cool Infographics.)
Labels: advice, visual information

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7.27.2008

The best quote for artists I've heard in a while

There's a slideshow profile at nytimes.com on a show of emerging artists at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. The reviewer has this to say in the last frame:

This show suggests that there is no point in spending time on "professional development" if the artistic kind is not well under way. And that kind starts with looking at lots of art, good and bad, from all periods and cultures. Don't go back to your studio until you have something you urgently need to say and a burning conviction that no one else can say it.

That is one of the most obvious statements made about working as an artist, yet it's one that's often overlooked. If you don't have something to say, don't bother. Instead, first work on finding out what it is you want to say, something that drives your art, something that compels you to go into the darkroom or the studio or the editing room and create. Because (like I've said a million times before) the thing you create is just an artifact, not art. The art is in the creation, in the doing; and if you don't have a compelling reason for the doing, then you aren't making art. You're just wasting time.
Labels: advice, art, creativity

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7.23.2008

The ten things not to forget about when branding your organization

Sometimes the excitement of creating a brand can blind you to why you are doing it. Maybe you are about to launch a new venture, or perhaps you are rebranding an old one; but either way, it is essential to remember a few things (in no particular order):

Uniqueness and Authenticity: what does your organization stand for?

your brand should be an authentic expression of your organization

Stand apart: if your brand is just like your competitors', then it's worthless

Plan ahead: your brand identity should look towards the future, not back into the past (or even the present)

Can we get it? Your brand should make sense

Get excited: champion your brand once you create it. If you don't, no one else will.

Distill: start by thinking big. end up with a few words that encompass the entirety of your organization's value.

First, form. Then, contrast. Then, color.

Don't design by committee: It always ends up watering down the power of the final result. Instead, pick one or a select few that makes the decisions, interfaces with the brand team, and moves things forward.

Consistency in application makes for a stronger brand. A key element in branding is creating a set of guidelines on brand application and usage, and making sure everyone in your organization follows them. This may involve training. Even if it takes time away from your staff's other duties, such training is essential--from the VP of marketing to the Executive Assistant. If everyone knows how to apply the brand properly, your organization will come out looking great no matter who prepares that sales presentation/brochure/press release/print ad/web banner/flyer.

Labels: advice, branding

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5.02.2008

Making a case for good marketing...even when the economy stinks

Oh, Closet Entrepreneur, you've just made my morning. Their post from yesterday warns businesses not to skimp on

advertising,

Website development and design, and

Freelance services.

It's like they built the yellow brick road right up to my office door.

If you're in the market for any or all of these items, it just so happens that notchcode offers high-quality branding, marketing, advertising, and website development and design. And since I'm not part of your staff, I guess I qualify as a "freelance service" as well.
Labels: advice, branding, graphic design, web design

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4.26.2008

TO Andy:

I know you're paring down your feeds. Keep us. Really. Anything you want us to write about, in particular? Shine your shoes for you? Make you an omelette?

have a good weekend,

notchcode.
Labels: advice

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4.25.2008

Happy Thought for the Weekend: Getting there is (at least) half the fun

I came across this photo of my dad and his older brother Bob from when they were kids, living in the dusty suburbs of 1950s Albuquerque (that's my dad in the back). It reminded me that the point of anything worth doing isn't the end of the process, but the process itself. I see plenty of photographs taken after the race is over, and the winners look happy. But I know from experience (racing and otherwise) that when you are in the act of Doing, and you are fully invested in it, you have the best, easiest opportunity to be happy.

This is very true in art, too. I could quote from a bunch of different sources that talk about the process being the real art, and the end "thing" being a mere artifact, or shadow, of the art itself, but I'll just digress briefly enough to ask you to read through Edward Weston's notebooks, and you'll get it soon enough.

This applies to the creative and business processes as well as the bigger picture. If I am creating a marketing strategy, or a branding strategy, or working on a web design project, and I really let myself go into the process—I do my best work. And if my client does the same thing, we have no choice but to not only create the best possible outcome for them, but have fun at the same time. I am fortunate to have clients who work this way, and hope all of you out there have success in enjoying the journey as much as I do.

Have a great weekend, everyone!
Labels: advice, art

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4.01.2008

What Makes a Great Designer?

Adrian Hanft over at Be a Design Group has a nice post on the Five Uncommon Attributes of Good Designers this morning. It rings true not just for the designer in me, but the brand communicator, the photographer, and the marketing consultant as well. Hanft concludes thusly:
At the end of the day, designing a logo is relatively easy. Being a good person is the real challenge. I believe that it isn't enough for a good designer to just do good work. A good designer must also be a good person. What are some virtues that you believe help make a better designer?

Read the whole post. It's worth the time.
Labels: advice, creativity, design, graphic design

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3.06.2008

Behind the Scenes at the NYT Graphics Department

The New York Times' Graphic Director, Steve Duenes, took reader questions last week. The interview is filled with insights into how the NYT's crack graphic staff creates the award-winning work that appears both online and in print.

And in case you still don't believe that graphic design can change lives, just check out this quote, from Nicholas Kristof, who was relating a story about the impact graphics that were designed to accompany his article on the state of public health in Africa had on one particular individual: Bill Gates. Gates was telling him how, initially, he and his wife were planning on essentially wiring the continent, thinking that this would do the most good in bringing Africa out of poverty. Then he read Kristof's article, and decided funding public health initiatives for clean drinking water, malaria prevention, and the like would have a far greater impact. He continues:

Great! I was really proud of this impact that my worldwide reporting and 3,500-word article had had. But then bill confessed that actually it wasn't the article itself that had grabbed him so much -- it was the graphic. It was just a two column, inside graphic, very simple, listing third world health problems and how many people they kill. but he remembered it after all those years and said that it was the single thing that got him redirected toward public health.

No graphic in human history has saved so many lives in africa and asia.

[emphasis added]

So, what moves the richest couple in the universe to make Africa a healthier place to live? Good graphic design. It doesn't need to be flashy, it doesn't need to be hip. It needs to work: deliver information effectively. This is what I tell my clients, and I swear by it. Effective information delivery--whether it's for marketing, advocacy, or journalism--isn't about clever, hip, new, etc.... It's about presenting everything you need to present, and nothing extra, in a succinct, direct way. It's that simple.
Labels: advice, africa, graphic design, information graphics, visual information

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11.21.2007

Color

If you ever need some color inspiration, check out ColourLovers.com, an online community devoted to sharing ideas about color, color palettes, and trends. It's a great place for getting some inspiration, and if nothing else, an idea of what other designers out there are using.

Here's a particularly nice, cool, bold palette from deus that caught my eye this morning as I was searching for some inspiration.
Labels: advice, color, creativity, design, web design

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11.20.2007

iterative

Have you taken your design at least one step past where you feel comfortable with it today?

Iteration: it works.
Labels: advice, creativity, design, productivity

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1.04.2007

Bright and Shiny

It's another spin around the sun, folks. Here are some things that will make it a more productive and enjoyable one:

OmniGraffle. This graphical diagramming tool is a real boon to anyone who needs to visualize a complex process, system, or flow of information. Say, a website, for example. And not only that, you can create wireframe prototypes (that actually work) with them, courtesy of Michael Angeles of urlgreyhot (which is one of the most inventive web development names I've come across in the last 12 months).

Lists. Yeah, baby. As sexy as ever, make some lists. Get it off your mind, onto paper, and then look at the damn things on a regular basis. The bonus: when you cross stuff off of a list, you feel good...sort of like laughing at a good joke. Or imbibing rare Tortolan rum. Or, whatever makes you feel good. If you really need help making a list, go get one of David Allen's books, or just buy a stack of index cards and a binder clip, and get going.

Personal Days. Use them or lose your soul, bit by bit. I would recommend a day spent with the phone and computer off, perhaps waiting until everyone else has left the house to get out of bed, followed by an hour or so at the coffeehouse, with another hour in a bookstore. Then lunch, a hike, and happy hour with some friends, who will undoubtedly pour your beer all over your head when you tell them what you were doing while they were working on their TPS reports.

Smile. Corny, I know. But it makes you feel good, and makes others around you feel good, too.

That's all the advice I am willing to give, in the context of starting a new year. Let me know how it works out. As for me, I am going to go take a nap. And then get back to work on those TPS reports.
Labels: 2007, advice, new year, omnigraffle, productivity, work

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