Archive for May 2008

Five questions (and answers) on design and marketing

In General on 30 May 2008 tagged advertising, branding, college, communication, design, graphic, internet, marketing, media, print, promotion, public relations, strategy, university, Visual, web

I was recently asked to answer some questions about my work in design and marketing by a co-worker for use in a class project. In the interest of discussion, I’ve decided to post them here for your consideration:

links for 2008-05-28

In Links on 30 May 2008

Harvest – Simple online time tracking, time sheet and reporting software

The Tracey Fragments: She’s in Pieces- brilliant split screen film produced in Final Cut Studio
Scout Niblett – Cat Power meets PJ Harvey, or so they say
Yazoo (Yaz)- 80’s Synthpop Is Back With Five Disc Box Set
Plants, for Your Health- remediate your places with these [...]

2008 How Design Conference Notes: Design Catch-22

In General on 29 May 2008 tagged business, conference, design, differentiation, how, marketing, notes, practices, promotion

presented by David Schimmel, founder of And Partners (original description)
Find your passion

people work with you because of you
passion is magnetic
make sure your passion is transparent

2008 How Design Conference Notes: Developing Your Leadership and Strategic Capabilities

In General on 29 May 2008 tagged conference, creativity, design, how, leadership, notes, strategy

presented by Jeni Herberger, co-founder of Big Fish Creative Staffing

How do you solve your client’s business problem?
Can you articulate how your work helped a client meet key goals?
Can you present yourself as a strategic thinker?

2008 How Design Conference Notes: Design Matters

In General on 25 May 2008 tagged conference, design, interview, notes, practices, professional

Debbie Millman, host of Design Matters, interviewed Michael Bierut, partner at Pentagram. (original description)
[this was an engaging interview, so I didn't take many notes as I was busy listening]
Three things he’s learned

Most clients are scared you’ll embarrass them and not listen to them: diligently listening will take care of a lot of their concerns
Let them [...]

2008 How Design Conference Notes: Tips for Productivity

In General on 25 May 2008 tagged action method, community, design, leadership, methods, notes, organization, practices, productivity, professional

presented by Scott Belsky, founder and CEO of Behance (original description)
Behance Network is not about creativity but productivity

distinguish urgent vs. important: have 2 lists
generate ideas in moderation: they can be addicting
spend energy on staying organized: creativity * organization = impact
organize with a bias to action
the action method

action steps
back burner items: must review regularly or you [...]

2008 How Design Conference Notes: Designer's Guide to Research

In General on 22 May 2008 tagged conference, design, ethnography, how, market, notes, research, testing

presented by Jenn and Ken Visocky O’Grady, founders of Enspace Design and authors of A Designer’s Research Manual. (original description)
Design Research

Qualitative and quantitative
Primary and secondary sources
Formative: at the beginning of a project to help define the problem
Summative: at the end of a project to determine outcome strategies

2008 How Design Conference Notes: Financial planning for solo designers

In General on 22 May 2008 tagged boston, business, conference, design, finances, how, notes, practices, professional

presented by Shel Perkins, author of Talent is Not Enough: Business Secrets for Designers. (original description)

you need to have adequate startup capital to cover the first two years
most start with savings and personal loans
most only last about three years
essential to work with a CPA
because you’re self-employed, you need to make quarterly tax pre-payments

2008 How Design Conference Notes: A Designed Life

In General on 22 May 2008 tagged boston, branding, conference, design, how, identity, joe duffy, notes

presented by Joe Duffy, Duffy & Partners. (original description)

Design permeates our lives now. We’ve moved from:

Agrarian age = Grow It
Industrial age = Build It
Information age = Tell It
Design age = BE IT

Design is only interesting relative to how people live their lives.

Back from Boston

In General on 22 May 2008 tagged boston, conference, design, how, travel

I’m back from Boston, where I attended the 2008 How Design Conference. It was interesting to be among ~4000 other designers, and there were iPhones & Blackberries, MacBooks & messenger bags as far as the eye could see (I went unplugged for the most part, except for a few tweets and a visit to the [...]

links for 2008-05-16

In Links on 16 May 2008

Robert Rauschenberg on process, change, boredom, and more – great bits of wisdom from the late artist
Data Visualization panel at OFFF, Lisbon – great work on dynamic data visualization
AudioCodex – a Mac media player
Little 1 -  written by Ann Rand,  Illustrated by Paul Rand
The 5 Rules of Book Cover Design – a short video feature [...]