providing graphic design, branding, photography and marketing expertise to denver and the world
Quote
of the Week:
All solitary dreamers know that they hear differently when they close their eyes.-Gaston Bachelard
Break Free from the tyranny of the clock
Zen Habits has a little post on something I've been practicing ever since I left my last corporate job and started my own firm: Leave the clock behind.
Now, before I get started, let me state that there are times for clocks: Need to be on-time to a client meeting, or (even more importantly) keep a meeting focused and on-track by limiting its duration? Have a court date? Other professional obligation? In those cases, yes, yes, YES, clocks are your friend. They keep us in sync with the rest of the world, keeping the trains running on time, metaphorically.
But this isn't about those cases. It's about the other 90 percent of your life.
In the rest of your life, ideally you don't need a clock. Your body tells you when you are sleepy, when you are ready to awake, when you're hungry, and so on. And your finely-honed sense of professional duty and personal passion for what you do tells you when to get to work (right? right?). So what's the clock for?
Now, yes, yes, YES I know: I am not chained to a cubicle, with a nefarious middle manager lording their supposed superiority over me. I am fortunate to run my own spread, and work with people who are responsible enough not to need much in the way of a clock, either. I'll give you that. But I've got to tell you, there's a lot to be said for waking up when you are no longer sleepy; eating when you are hungry; working when you need money (which, in the face of $4 a gallon gas, is pretty much every minute I'm awake).
My point is that if you live without a clock telling you when to do things, you are letting something else tell you when to do them. Like your body, or your mind, for instance. And I think that's a good thing.
Creatively-speaking, what does this do for you? Or for your clients? Well, if you're not clockwatching, then your are more likely to be actively engaged in your work. You are more likely to be thinking, and not just doing (which is to say: you will be doing your doing better, since you'll be paying more attention to it).
And as your ruler-toting nun teacher (or in my case, sharp-tongued and eagle-eyed philosophy teacher) would say, "if you're paying attention, you're learning." And isn't half, or more than half, of what a designer, marketer, copywriter, or artist does simply listening?
I posted on this topic a couple of years ago, relating that back in the 1600s, the village blacksmith didn't sit at his forge for eight hours, then go home. He worked when there was work that needed doing, or when he was feeling particularly inspired--whether that was at noon or at ten at night. The rest of the time he was, you know, being human. which is to say: having a life.Labels: creativity, performance, work
posted at 8:41 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments
1.04.2008
Philip Pullman and working in a shed
Rodcorp has a nice little snippet about how the author Philip Pullman goes about his day, and the role working in a shed (we here in the states might call it a "detached home office") has in his daily routine. I post it here in the hopes that Alex over at Shedworking sees it and links to it (or at least reads it) over at Rodcorp and, if he finds it useful, posts it over there for his audience (and why not just message Alex? Well, blog reading is a nice passive leisure activity, and I don't want to bother him with some sort of seemingly purposeful info in case he's either already read the Pullman piece, or doesn't really find it relevant).
In any case, it is of interest to me because we are planning on moving the office out of the basement of the current location, and into a purpose-built structure out back. Lots of advantages, but Pullman raises the issue of it "...being down at the end of the garden, especially on rainy days." Well, no real issue for me, in Colorado, where a graphic designer looks forward to about 300 days of sunshine a year. But if I were about 1 percent lazier, I could see the point, even here.
How about you? Do you work (even part of the time) in a detached home office? What are the benefits? The issues?Labels: architecture, work, writing
posted at 10:25 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments
12.31.2007
Just as I get used to writing "2007" on everything, here comes another year.
Happy New Year, loyal reader. This has been a great year at Notchcode. Lots of creative projects, and clients who actually get the fact that good design gets good results. We did a lot of interesting and worthwhile work. Some notable bits:
- I learned more than I ever wanted to know about Yahoo! Media Group Flash advertising guidelines (thanks, ClickHere, for being so patient). For someone who really loves trying to avoid using Flash, I actually do a lot of it now, and have gotten to the point where I don't cringe when someone asks me to to 20 versions of the same ad, with different specs, programming, actions, and dimensions.
- I got a even deeper into branding methodologies. Finding a good process for building a brand identity from the ground up can be a challenge. I found a great model in Alina Wheeler's work, and have built on it. It really doesn't matter if you are a low-budget startup or a multimillion dollar corporation; if you need branding work, the process is the same regardless of who you are. The difference is the resources you can bring to bear on things like competitive audits, testing, brand expressions, marketing, and the rest. But the philosophy and process is the same for a non-profit with a $5,000 budget as it is for a multinational corporation with a million dollar budget. This year I helped build two really nice brands for very different organizations, with different budgets, and by having a good process in place I was able to achieve success with both projects.
- Print advertising was on the rise this year. I know that some folks keep talking recession, and downturn, but we had a record number of print ad accounts show up at our door this year. These are fun, because I got to work with very specific goals for each campaign, and we applied tracking practices to measure success whenever possible. And I know people keep talking about how print is dead, yaddah yaddah yaddah--it really isn't. If you can build a solid print campaign, it can work very well within a lot of markets.
- Time management and project management is possible in a small office, if you have the right tools. Basecamp from 37 signals has been a great tool in keeping projects focused, on-time, and on-budget. And David Allen's Getting Things Done
methodology, along with tweaks online fron Kinkless, the Omni Group, and 43folders keeps me from wanting to drive my car off a bridge because I have too much to do.
- Sometimes the best projects are the ones you don't get paid to do. I could tell you horror stories about the pro bono work that comes with clients who assume that since you're doing it for free, then you must have plenty of time on your hands to make twenty additional revisions, change the concept right before it goes to press, and otherwise alter the scope of work and make your life crazy. Yes, that is the stereotype, and I have had my share. But I worked on a couple of pro bono project this year that were lovely, notably a re-election website for my local city councilperson, and ongoing work for a photographer friend of mine who makes amazing photographs of people, places, and things. They were both committed to the process, the project, and in making sure things worked well between us. Pro bono doesn't have to make you run the other way; just find projects you really care about, and get the right person on the other end of the project to align scope, expectations, and the rest with you so it doesn't go off the rails.
I got to meet some interesting and passionate lighting engineers. Passionate business executives. Passionate water and land use advocates. In fact, pretty much all of the clients around here were passionate about what they do. Which, obviously, helps make them so good at what they do. So a little unasked-for advice for 2008: be passionate about what you do!
- Once again, I have the most amazing vendors and partners in the world. I am talking about the great folks like Dave at Wandel, Keith at D&K, Tamera at Sprint, Justin at MailMasters of Colorado, the good folks at the local Compass Bank, and so many more. Combined with help, advice, and services from copywriter Jon, cartographer Nick, designer Heather, and SEO-program-dude Knox, Notchcode delivers a large agency footprint in a small agency package. You make me look good, and (more importantly) make my clients look great. Thanks, guys!
Have a great new year's celebration out there, and we'll see you in 2008.Labels: 2007, clients, holiday, work
posted at 4:17 PM Leave your comments here: 1 comments
6.07.2007
Do you know the way to San Jose?
I do, and I am here, in northern California, to prove it. I am here to see some fun clients, and I'll catch my friend Nick's work at the Comedia Dell'Arte (sure I misspelled it right there, being the uneducated boob that I am) over the weekend.
Initial impression: everyone here has a laptop, and they all hang out at the Borders store to work.Labels: california, clients, laptop, vacation, work
posted at 11:15 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments
4.30.2007
Love those 18-hour workdays!
I am currently getting over my annual spring cold, and therefore it should come as no surprise that I was awake early this morning. 3:30, to be exact. After an hour of flailing around, trying to get back to sleep despite clogged sinuses and a raving headache, I decided to head down to work.
This is one of the many advantages of working from a home office; I was downstairs, drinking coffee and booting up my Mac before most of my east coast clients had even had breakfast. This is a first for me--I pride myself on not using an alarm clock to get up, so being up this early was remarkable.
To my amazement, I accomplished quite a bit. Some stock photo research (using Adobe's Bridge CS3, which isn't all bad), some invoicing and bill paying, some vendor RFQs, and even a little bit of creative work. All before I saw clients' IM avatars showing up as "active". For a while, I thought about the possibilities of working this early every day. But I am not a morning person, unless forced into a sunrise photo shoot or a night shift press check; my body would rebel after a week or so of 5am wakeups (my condolences and awe are due to all of you who actually are up and moving that early as a matter of course, of course). After about six weeks of stumbling around at all hours tending to newborn twins, my body simply stopped responding--I just slept through it all, to the chagrin of my wife.
But today was a nice exception. I got a lot done, and was on my bike for a morning ride by 7:30. The downside came with some catch-up work this evening, which I've just wrapped up (at 10:45pm), and I am only now realizing I sort of, uh, forgot to eat dinner (do you think the two cups of coffee, three cups of espresso, two mochas, and three cups of green tea make up for it?)
And now, it is time to surrender to the bliss of slumber, only to be interrupted by the sound of the newborn hatchlings outside the window, saying good morning to the sun.
Unless, of course, I can't sleep again.Labels: adobe, early morning, illness, work
posted at 10:34 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments
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
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
posted at 9:29 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments
12.29.2006
anyone else working today?
I routinely feel like Ebenezer Scrooge. Not that I'm tighter than a high-strung violin, or stingier than a pack rat, but because I find myself working on these days before holiday weekends...the days my clients and most of the rest of the country seems to be taking off.
I've stopped trying to actually go to client offices on days like these (unless I call ahead), or to schedule meetings, which is a good thing; I suffer from the small businessperson's curse of being drawn into working. all. the. time.
Having a home office as well doesn't help matters. I do have the self-discipline--most weeks--to stay away from it when the notchcode offices are "closed".
And that's what we are today, for the most part (blogging activities excluded, of course): closed.
Have a wonderful last couple of 2006 days, and we'll see you on the other side.
posted at 12:29 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments
Archived Posts:
09.02
10.02
11.02
12.02
01.03
02.03
03.03
04.03
05.03
06.03
11.04
11.05
12.05
01.06
02.06
03.06
04.06
05.06
06.06
07.06
08.06
09.06
10.06
11.06
12.06
01.07
02.07
03.07
04.07
05.07
06.07
07.07
08.07
09.07
10.07
11.07
12.07
01.08
02.08
03.08
04.08
05.08
