Here’s a soundtrack example for creativity. Remember that film CRASH with Don Cheadle? It’s one of my favorites of the 2000s. Powerful, emotional, unresolved and so on. There’s a moment towards the end where a beautiful sounding song is played. In the Deep by Bird York. It’s a perfect metaphor to the central idea behind the film; people out there in the chaos, isolated, occasionally crashing into each other. As the song goes, “now you’re out there swimmin,’ in the deep.” On the other side of that, CSI: Miami. Which my wife was way into for awhile on NETFLIX. I suppose I can appreciate those David Caruso intros. But in one episode, they use the same song. Because they found a murder victim in a body of water. Towards the bottom. Deep. And sadly, the idea of using that song just sort of sat there flat, part of a weak see/say/hear. So in the Cage Match of Creativity, “H” loses. This time.
You just gotta put in the time.
Simple solutions, those are easy to get to, right? Clarity and focus magically present themselves after a quick brainstorm, yes? It doesn’t look complicated so it probably isn’t, yeah? The correct answer to these and similar questions is no, no and no. I’m on a big kick these days of reciting this: the act of making is difficult and should be treated as such. I wish the answer to the previous questions was yes. If a potential client needs it to be, I’m not the designer for the job. Making something beautiful, a solution perfectly appropriate for the problem, while inspiring people to take action, that is fucking hard to do. And to get to that point, you MUST put in the time. Concepting, exploring, doodling, browsing, daydreaming, mindmapping, walking, computering, more computering, refining, deleting, redoing, and on and on. Along the way, things happen. It’s remarkable when they do. Why do they happen? Because you put in the hard work of time dedication. And when you come up for air, you have something you can run with.
The Cost of an Accountant
On a call with my accountant the other day, we were sorting out how much a certain service he provides would cost. He gave me a pretty broad range. There was the base cost of paying for his expertise to fulfill the service. It was more than the insurance guy who does accountant work on the side and more than an online accountant service. I prefer the expert accountant in the matter. He’s very thoughtful and I appreciate his understanding of nuance, connectedness and problem solving. Why there was a range depended on me being organized. The more I was, the less of the accountant’s time would be needed to execute the service. If I was less organized, he’d need to spend more time, address lots of changes with more rounds of review and thus the cost would go up. That seems very fair and keeps me on my game.
Now, you be me. And substitute designer for accountant.
Teachable Moment: When Things End Badly
A general filing of future do’s and don’ts. Here goes: Do more of what you love. Never compromise principles. Do more truly collaborative projects. Never make decisions because of money. Do more community-focused projects. Never assume things will change for the better. Do more experimenting. Never assume because it is new that it will be better. Do more that risks failure and be okay with that. Never change course because of something you read on Medium or Wired or Fast Company, etc. Do more of what you can’t do very well. Never forget some people are really just jerks. Do more with people who are the wild ones. Yes, the wild ones. Because if you ask me, those are the only people who make things that really matter.
Feedback: The Worst & The Best
Every project has rounds of review and feedback built into the process. Designs are sent to the client with rationale and explanations, that’s part one. Part two is when the client sends back their thoughts, revisions or approval. The round-and-round that ensues varies from quick and painless to quite challenging in its length and uncertainty. And everything in between. I’m familiar with pretty much all degrees along this spectrum. When it comes to the worst feedback I’ve gotten, that boils down to one little phrase: “we want you to let your creative juices flow.” Nothing is more condescending. If you’re a client, try to avoid such statements. When it comes to the best feedback received, well that would be a hug. If you’re a client, more of those please. Even though my wife will be the first to say I’m not a hugger, when it comes to work getting approved, I’m all in for more hugs.
What stuck from Big Omaha 2014
Big Omaha is a wonderful conference. For inspiration, connecting and a swift kick in the ass. Billed as the nation’s most spirited conference on innovation and entrepreneurship, 2014 is the 6th annual and the second I’ve attended. Two packed days of speakers, breaks and parties. What I particularly liked this year was hearing from so many women leaders in tech. Diversity of perspective matters, especially in the male-dominated tech space. Hearing about tech’s great job opportunity for blacks and latinos from Laura Powers of Code 2040 and the urgency of taking on our global food system from Ellen Gustafson of FEED were two of my favorites. The importance of diversity, the need to prioritize creativity and why balance, including meditation and healthy eating, benefits the work. These are the ideas that stuck. Ideas I don’t associate with the startup world. The mark of a good conference is one that pushes out from the expected storyline. For that, bravo Big Omaha. Oh, and Ev Williams is a pretty humble guy.
When “fully integrated systems” should be used
When everything in the system does what it should do well. Not subpar, half-assed, kinda-sorta or good enough. No. The idea of fully integrating something that doesn’t do everything well is so odd to me. Take Squarespace for example. The blog feature, while not like Wordpress is still more than adequate. In no way am I left wanting. Portfolio, pages, blog all in one place and everything does the job. Here I'm in for fully integrated. But if the main benefit of something is “well, it’s all in one place but this and that do kinda suck,” then that's not a benefit. When this happens, you should instead, always use tools that properly do the job. Or build them.
