In my independent design practice, working with a particular type of client has been an integral part of my success. Coming up on my four year anniversary since leaving the comfortable agency life, let me take a moment to reflect on that particular type of client relationship—the startup.
It’s a Poster. But for the Web.
The poster needs to be arresting. Within a split second of you passing it on the street, it needs to stop you in your tracks. And stick with you. That’s how it serves its purpose. While it tinkers with your brain, pulling strings and activating signals, it allows magic to happen in how you think about things. It changes, or reinforces, your worldview. It’s that powerful, when done correctly.
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.
Design Days: Western Washington University
A lecture at Design Days in the Pacific Northwest. Part of a week-long celebration of design, I was invited to speak to the students of Western Washington about my work with changemakers and do-gooders. On my principles for the type of design work I practice, the foundation of that work and a showcase of some of my favorite projects.
Monday, May 12, 2014 at 6:30pm
Bellingham, Washington
When It’s “Jump”
It started when I realized I had missed out on a great collaboration opportunity because I was too focused on a project I didn’t enjoy. In this particular case, it was whether or not to join a coworking space where two fellows I greatly admire were officing.
Focused, fast & beautiful.
A particular type of project we specialize in — beautiful websites, impeccably built and designed for action — is now a solidified brand. As design and development experts with hefty experience in the startup, political and changemaking worlds, we’ve dedicated time toward formalizing a simple idea we call “Action Backed.”
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.
