September 28, 2012
Life tends to get in the way of our plans. We think we are in control of our lives(and our plans), but really, we are only in control of how we respond to our lives. Life doesn’t care. It throws up roadblocks. Stress at work. Strained relationships. Weakened immune systems. It gets in the way of what we think we should be doing. So we roll with it.
Continue readingSeptember 3, 2012
Once upon a time a graphic designer got hired to do some work for a client. He did the work. He didn’t get paid. The end.
Sound depressingly familiar? I bet it does.
If you work long enough in the design business and you will come across a client who won’t pay. You may be halfway through the work. You may be completely done with the work. You may even have given them a discounted rate. Doesn’t matter. It will happen. Possibly more than once. What matters most is how you deal with it. And how you learn from it.
Continue readingApril 21, 2012
January 14, 2012
There is a growing challenge to being a professional designer these days. I don’t know exactly when it started. You could say it started with the advent of the macintosh computer, where software skills became more important than hand skills and three jobs got combined into one. You could say it started with the internet, where the technology and tools changed yearly (if not monthly). You could say it started with the rise of social media where the power of product advocacy was placed in the hands of the consumer. What challenge am I referring to? I call it the marketing skills arms race. And it’s a race I’ve been running in from the day I got my first job.
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