Archive: Business

November 16, 2007

Avatar Icebreaker

Avatars certainly aren’t a new thing. They’ve long been a staple of pride and showmanship in forums all across the internet. I’ve never really paid much attention the avatars I use, generally just opting for a boring cropped photo or some version of my logo, and being pleased just to be done with it. With dozens of accounts across dozens… more »

October 16, 2007

ALA Web Design Survey Findings

Months of work analyzing, crunching, writing, and designing the answers from nearly 33,000 people, and we finally have the Findings from the Web Design Survey. Some of the findings are very enlightening, but I won’t spoil anything here, you’ll have to read for yourself. We’ve learned so much during this process, not only about what questions to ask, but how… more »

August 20, 2007

Tell Ya What I Want

I wouldn’t consider myself a pushover. I’m actually quite opinionated, and at times, I can be very critical, demanding, skeptical, and tenacious. These are qualities that are becoming more pronounced as I get older, tempering the bits of restraint and patience instilled in me from a injury-laden childhood. Because of these qualities, I have no problem asking tough questions in… more »

May 18, 2007

Freedom, Terrible Freedom

Last week I was lending an ear to an anonymous Californian designer friend who needed to vent about an uppity client. This client didn’t approve of what my friend was trying to achieve with a design, and for that, the client was lambasted for not “getting it”. It may just be my science-fiction addled brain, but this got me thinking… more »

April 24, 2007

Survey Says…

In addition to two great articles, Andy Rutledge’s Contrast and Meaning and Jonathan Follett’s The Long Hallway, the latest issue of A List Apart features the inaugural Web Design Survey. The survey seeks to answer questions about our industry to help us better understand what we’re made of: Designers, developers, project managers. Writers and editors. Information architects and usability… more »

July 27, 2006

Thursday Ephemera

Letterpress Printing: Expanded Version The follow-up class to the Letterpress class I took this summer at UArts. It’s 10 weeks of typesetting by hand! Don’t worry if it’s your first time, the class promises to cover the basics and build up to more advanced techniques. If you are in the Philadelphia area, and have a love for type, I highly… more »

July 24, 2006

Casualties

I would love to know the ratio of successes to failures for products and services touting themselves as an ”[insert industry leader] killer”. To me, it reeks of insecurity and fears of lost investments. The tech media craves conflict and the companies play right into it, completing the cycle. What’s left after the buzz? Has anything been killed in recent… more »

March 27, 2006

Short Run

After I returned from SXSW, I had a bunch of requests asking how I created my business cards. I am but a mouthpiece, so I will tell you; also because it is no great mystery anyway. Since I only needed a small print run to dole out to friends and potential bill-payers, I decided to get away from the… more »

December 13, 2005

Markmaking

Ok, so I finally decided I want to start using a bookmarking tool. I have a wealth of bookmarks from the past 8 or so years that I’ve painstakingly kept organized and categorized in a variety of browsers (Safari being the latest). This works out great, except for when I need to find something which I can’t recall the name… more »

September 27, 2005

A Beady Eye to the Future

The industry is now being overrun with work. I have received more requests for freelance and contract positions in the last three weeks than I have all year. I asked around to some other friends and the same seems to be the case. I can really only speak for the US on this, and more specifically the northeast coast since… more »

July 14, 2005

Blinksale

I been fortunate enough to be a beta tester for the soon-to-be-released Blinksale; a subscription-based web application from the nice chaps at Firewheel Design for creating and tracking client invoices. But not just any boring old invoices, beautifully designed CSS invoice pages and emails, customizable and collected under a master page for clients to view all their invoices. You can… more »

June 22, 2005

The Blind Eye Ideal

After getting myself in the mindset to get some work done, I am faced with the next conundrum; ensuring the quality of the design I produce. Some days I feel like all the good ideas are eluding me. Most times it’s not that the good ideas aren’t there, it’s just that I’m not creating a good environment to help them… more »

May 23, 2005

Maintaining Motivation

When I went solo, one of the first of many things that hit me like a kick in the teeth was consistently being able to get into a work mindset when I sat down at my desk. The workplace was now my apartment, where all my fun diversions live, and the staff was now me. When I would go to… more »

March 7, 2005

Independent Contractor

For some reason I get lots of email from people asking me about going out on their own and independent contracting. Well folks, I don’t mean to disappoint you, but I am just a few months into this now and I don’t have all the answers. I’ve been at agencies my entire career thus far and have picked up some… more »

February 28, 2005

Independent Workflow

When I started out on my own a few months ago I quickly became aware of the need for better organization; not only for myself, but for the sake of the people I work with. I have always considered myself an organized person, but this was a bigger jump from being employed. It’s always easier when you can just focus… more »

February 19, 2005

Out of Commission

I don’t know how he did it, but I can say with utmost certainty that Inman got me sick. It’s the exact type of thing he would do. Now that I am the only one running this business, there really aren’t any sick days. When I am out, production grinds to a halt. What’s worse, I no longer have the… more »

February 9, 2005

Design Matters

Yesterday’s post sparked some interesting discussions about the value of design and the seeming “worthiness” of clients who don’t “get it”. Well, I’ll go out on a limb here and bet that many of you are in the same boat as I am. I don’t have solely ideal clients beating my door down; almost all have genuine merit, but even… more »

February 8, 2005

Automation Will Kill Us All

It’s your company. You started it as a small idea and turned it into something people can’t live without. You know what’s best for your company and the best direction to take it. As such, you don’t really welcome outside influence or suggestions on the direction your company is taking. Your company has had the same logo for 10 years,… more »

January 18, 2005

Accounting 101

Hello Philadelphians, this post is for you. Not that the rest of the world can’t read it, but I request the help of my fellow Philadelphians in particular. Now that I am self-employed I am in need of an accountant; someone who knows numbers and can help me out with filing taxes quarterly, any sort of Philadelphia or Pennsylvania-related business… more »

November 16, 2004

Over the Wall

Tomorrow marks the second time in just over a year I have resigned from employment. This time however, I do not have another job lined up. “You’re mad!”, you say. I may be obliged to agree with you. I am making a stab at self-employment. TMX has been good to me, I just don’t see myself heading in the same… more »