Looking forward to being in a room full of people who are there to show support for each other. Our little chapter of AIGA is having their annual awards show tomorrow. I’ve said it before, our awards show is just a big party. A celebration of hard work done for great clients with exceptional results. We get to hear from notable judges, see a bunch of great work and hang out with a fabulous community of folks. With Nebraska beer, tasty food and maybe a couple wins, it’ll be good times for sure. No fuss, no pretense, no silos, and no table seating. Nebraska style. If you’re heading down to KANEKO for the event, I’ll see you there.
Few Words
Using few words helps you say what you really mean. Using few words helps you focus your message. Using few words reduces the fluff and the repetitiveness. Using few words makes you work. There’s a comfort to the idea of the next paragraph. You think to yourself that if someone doesn’t quite get what you’re saying here, then he or she will for sure get it when the next group of words are read. Perhaps. But if this stuff is boring the next paragraph won’t get read anyway. And the work that would go into those extra words would go to waste. Best to spend the time that would’ve been spent on all those other words on these few instead.
(Your Thing) Speak
I like rubbing elbows with people who aren’t designers. I attended a TED Active conference a few years back and that’s what I enjoyed most. Writers, activists, advocates, technologists, entertainers, organizers, etc. All people who did creative, progressive things that had nothing to do with type, colors, brands, Adobe or Dribbble. I learned so much while at the same time sharing a lot about what a designer like myself does. But after a long week, last Friday I met a fellow designer for a drink to discuss a potential project. He’s also independent. Aside from the specific work possibility, we talked process, cost, collaboration, animation, 3-year plans, Adobe and Dribbble. A great conversation highly beneficial on both sides because we both “design speak.” Totally refreshing. A charge that shook out some of the cobwebs. Whatever it is you speak, make sure you have someone to speak it with.
Go. Vote. Please.
Decisions, decisions. It’s the midterm elections in 3 weeks. The sort of elections no one seems to give a shit about. Some people are too preoccupied with the Walking Dead (myself included) or college football season. There’s Halloween coming up, then Thanksgiving. Ebola, ISIS or new John Oliver episodes. America is a funny place. I love it and I don’t in the same sentence. Climate change? Climate change denial? At least can we agree that voting is really important and we should be falling all over ourselves to make sure as many people in this country can vote as possible? We say we want people to vote, right? Then why don’t we act like it? America, so full of contradictions. Let’s pretend we’re going to try and appeal to our better selves on this. Let’s get excited about democracy not Congress. Our country as a whole not the other side we don’t like. And the sacred right to vote, not the belittling of people who disagree with us. I’ll try really hard to do this as well. And let’s get out the vote!
There is no such thing as a perfect process.
I recently wrapped up a project where the process was really smooth. The work got done, the back and forth was painless, and both designer and client are happy. As a result, we’ll be working together more in the future. But as smooth as the process was, it wasn’t perfect. There were a few hang-ups and miscommunications along the way. And that’s okay. As much as I want the process to be perfect, it’s never going to be. Even on great projects things get overlooked, deadlines are creeped on, and tension exists. Creative projects have moving parts and involve people. At the end of it, if you can be proud of the work and you learned things along the way, that should be plenty to call it a job well done.
Spaciousness
I’m just going to come right out and say it. When it comes to the work, I love spaciousness. To be able to breathe deep, adjust, tinker and go slow. And sometimes fast, as needed. Pile up all the work and if every nook and every cranny is maxed out, that’s not a good place to be. When there’s no room to maneuver, the limit is being pushed to the utter edge and hoops of urgency must be jumped through in rapid succession, the joy of designing is often missing. Yes, of course, sometimes being maxed out is just how it is. But it must be recognized, out loud, that’s not the preferred setting of operations. During the day, it’s definitely about hard work. A crucial part of the hard work is spaciousness. Room to day dream, walk the dog, pencil in a blog post or start in on a side project just because. With enough space, what gets made during the day has a better chance of being quite good.
Post inspired by Daphne Eck.
Yes, yes, no, no, yes, no, yes, no, no, no, yes, and so on
Saying “NO” to a potential project is tough for me. Always has been. There’s the initial wonder at the beginning of any project. The driving excitement of possibility. It would be awesome if we did this, or maybe that. Or what if the outcome was this! So much potential. How can anyone have an easy time refusing such things? Alas, it’s a skill you must learn how to do. To estimate, make projections, weigh commitment levels needed. Everyone has those moments of taking on way more than they can handle. Late nights then follow. To keep quality high, workload reasonable and free time free, I’ve started to look at passing on potentials another way. Having to say no more means the “yes” is that much better. Which, for everyone involved, is a good way to go.
