Context matters. Symbolism matters. Tone matters. Delivery matters. And you know what else matters? Your audience. Seems like both major party conventions are keen on that this year. Image matters. The vibe matters.Vision matters. Substance matters. And yes, how we choose to treat each other matters greatly. Push forward, living and working, and be alert. Be fair, but be firm in our beliefs that where we’re going isn’t a given and that to get anywhere worthy of calling special takes determination and perseverance. Cowards take the easy way and jerks try to tear us down. America, beautiful and strange, here we are, making our way, to and fro, this way and that.
The most interesting design opportunities are with ...
... cities. I recently shared a collection of design work that emphasized the importance of engaged neighborhoods, the arts, education, small business, and mass transit. In the city of Omaha, where I live, I’m able to engage with organizations and institutions on a creative level with design and ideas. I feel very lucky that I’ve been able to do so and a few projects we have starting soon involve other important aspects of our fine city.
With many of my colleagues, it’s no secret that I’ve never liked the idea of designing for big corporations. I think it’s an unfortunate reality that so much professional design work is done for big brands with big budgets and no souls. For entities completely devoid of place and far apart from any meaningful connection to a person aside from a monetary transaction.
In our cities, where people of the world now predominately live, we all need to work hard to make sure they’re places that are thoughtful, engaging, and inclusive. Design can play a big part in making that a reality. Design can help a city thrive. It can help the people that live there feel like they belong, like their place is special, and like they’re moving into a brighter future. Whether with a campaign to showcase all our neighborhoods or a website to allow students to share what they’ve learned about the history of a city.
It’s a challenge to work within a bureaucracy and with limited financial resources. But the passion of people who care about where they live is inspiring and contagious. We’re all living here, side by side. If we’re tireless, smart, agile, and open-minded, there’s no limit to what can be done for a city to make it the best it possibly can be.
When it comes to the future of design, working with a city has so much potential to solve important problems and create opportunities for everyone while we all live and work with each other in this place we call home. It’s design as civic engagement, and it’s only going to become more important as we move forward together.
Oh what to make of all this social media business
You’ve got your Behance and your Dribbble. Your LinkedIn and your Working Not Working. Then Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. (Ello purposely omitted.) In the course of your work day, as a designer, where do all these fit in? How do they help you stay connected? How do they help you share? How do they lead to client work? How do they not suck up all your time? And why do they matter or not?
I recently discussed these questions with a PhD candidate at Cornell University. She was very interested in understanding career aspirations, attribution of creative work, and design collaborations in relation to social media. All topics I’ve given some thought to, so the conversation was quite engaging.
I do think all this social media business matters greatly. As important assets to my independent design business, they’ve allowed me to connect, to share, and to gain insight. And sometimes the things I’ve shared have directly led to client work. I enjoy sharing stuff online in general, so the sheer fun of getting my work out there is a rewarding part of my day, even if it is a small part. If I didn’t enjoy sharing stuff, I would’t do it. The “new business” method most beneficial is personal connections from current clients. To make sure that continues to happen, best to spend your work day focused on making sure your current work is the best it can be.
The JKDC portfolio site I see as my greatest asset. It’s definitely the most comprehensive, everything else exists in support of this. On it I can be thoughtful and descriptive when sharing work. I can discuss the inner workings of my design process. And it can be my own, individual corner of the Web, free of other distractions. No feeds, no likes, and no comments.
Feeds, likes, and comments aren’t bad. Sometimes there just isn’t a place for them. For me, there also isn’t a place for fake work. We discussed why I feel redoing Hillary’s logo in 5 minutes is not only insulting but a waste of time. If a designer has all this extra time, why not spend it constructively by making something original or helping a nonprofit on a small pro-bono project. We also touched on shameless self-promotion and why there is a fine line between acceptable and obnoxious when it comes to sharing.
In the end, social media is a big plus for me as a designer. It’s still fun, still helpful, and still relevant in who and what I get connected to. Hopefully it remains so for a long time to come. In the meantime, check out my work on Dribbble.
Upon Closer Inspection
On its face, it seems good. It’s got everything you’d expect. Maybe it’s the color or the type. Or the icons or the textures. Or it’s familiar in a comfortable way. So trendy, it’s friendly. And in our rapid fire world of instant shareability, when nothing exists for too long, just give it a quick “Like” and move on to the next.
But if you look closer, it just doesn’t hold up. Maybe it even falls apart. It seems trite, uninspired, derivative, or sloppy. Looking closely, you feel uneasy, incomplete, and wanting something else entirely, even though you may have initially thought this was it. Instead, now you just want it to stop doing whatever its doing.
This, in the world of design, with my own work, may be my biggest fear. I’ve certainly been on the viewing end, seeing some new piece of graphic/web design I initially thought was great. But then, I looked closer and realized it wasn’t all that good.
When you design for a living, there are moments of burnout. Of not being at your best. When you must create because that’s what you’re paid to do and there’s no time to wait for inspiration. It’s your job to make, so you better get to making.
With this fact, it stands to reason that not everything you do will be the most amazing piece of graphic/web design anyone has ever seen. Regardless, upon closer inspection, the design should always hold up. It should be pro. It should be inspired. And it should do the job.
Two Things
Coming up on 6 years of playing this independent game, I’m looking at what goals I’d like to set for year 7. Two things that go hand in hand, that I’ve thought about for a couple years now, the idea of working only 30 hours a week. Working hard, but stopping there. Additionally, only working on projects that pay what the work is worth. Have these two things as goals does seem to work well. As not coming down on budgets will most certainly cause some projects to not move forward. But this is probably a good thing. Then the money cloud doesn’t hover throughout the time the work is being done. And then fewer projects would free up more time. Win/win, no?
Big Project(s)
I’m still trying to settle on a consistent notion of what I consider to be an optimally sized project. Given how I work, who I enjoy working with, how the teams are built, what past processes have been like, and why timelines have unfolded the way they do.
I’ve always been into the idea of “small is beautiful,” especially with design projects. Small projects seem to come with more freedom, more focus, and better outcomes. Excitement can be pretty high and the work itself super solid. But the project itself is shorter lived. Big projects can afford you more time to explore, more moving pieces to put together, and typically involve more people which often means the work has a higher probability of having bigger impact.
But big projects do come with negatives, aside from the possibility of the work output being lacking. They can take up too much time in the schedule causing you to miss out on other small projects that may be right up your alley. They can lead to more conflict on teams and the timelines can be more challenging to keep on track. But they do provide some stability. Small projects, as they come and go, can be more uncertain when it comes to knowing what you’ll be working on 1 or 2 months down the line.
I suppose it’s optimal to have a 1–2 big projects happening with a bunch of small projects to complete the mix of your work week. Too many big projects make for big headaches. Too many small projects can mean too much uncertainty. Best to strike that balance. As with most things, probably.
If you aren’t able to get into the office, get a wild hair, and just make something new...
...then you aren’t free. Or at least, you’re maybe a little too beholden to the things you have to do rather than the things you’re driven to do. Those things that randomly compel you simply because all the energy in your being says to you “there’s magic here if you give it a try.” If you make this, write this, go do this, or whatever, you could possibly find something new and wonderful on the other side. I’m not necessarily talking about inspiration, more so it’s energy. The burst of vibrancy that moves you in a new way. And if what you do day-in, day-out doesn’t allow you to move in that new way, then I think you gotta find something that does, for the sake of the future and the energy you need to make that future bright and beautiful.
