Why I wanted to be a designer.

This Flywheel post was a bit more challenging but it came together well with Chris Wolfgang's editorial eye. Enjoy.

When I was in school over ten years ago, the main pathway from student debt to adult salary seemed to be working at an agency that had lots of clients. Success was defined by the size of the budgets, the reach of the brands, and how many awards you landed. It was something I was interested in at first but eventually tired of. Don’t get me wrong. There are exciting careers that follow this path, generating amazing work along the way. But it’s not for everybody.

If it isn’t for you, how do you find your thing? 

Read on the Flywheel blog »

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. 

Together We Rise

The 4th annual poster show for Nebraska Appleseed is shaping up to be the best yet. The Good Apple Awards on October 2nd, where the posters will be unveiled, is approaching fast. The theme this year is “Together We Rise.” An idea at the core of the work Appleseed does every single day. Each poster is designed around a specific area of focus. Whether it’s defending the rights of children, ensuring access to quality health care, securing voting rights or advocating for a living wage for all hard-working families, each design illuminates and inspires. And they speak to the idea that we look out for each other and we’re all in this together. 

Urgency

In general, in work settings, I don’t like urgency. It’s misleading, the source of unneeded stress and can lead to subpar results. There are two types of urgency and I’m talking about the first kind. The false kind. There is the honest-to-goodness kind that can lead to some amazing work when your back is against the wall and everything is humming along at a good clip. For any number of reasons, some urgency is real. But the kind that isn’t, that’s something I’d like to eradicate from my process. The kind that comes with deadlines on a Friday afternoon, frantic micro check-ins at every turn or the due date that ends up not being such a big deal after all. I’ve always loved the idea of a steady state economy. So I’m going to try to be a little more intentional about crafting a consistent, steady state design process. Should be an interesting challenge.

Power to the Poster + The Creative Action Network

To bring people together around a ready supply of well-designed, wild postings that comment on the issues of our time. The central question: “As a global citizen, what moves you?”

This graphic design democracy project has officially entered its next phase. Now part of the Creative Action Network, we’re asking for new posters designed to move people to action. 

We start by featuring some old favorites to act as artifacts of the original site. This also allows some compensation to go to the artist as a small token of thanks for contributing a great poster. The designs we’ll bring into the Creative Action Network from Power to the Poster {dot} org are both aesthetically well-crafted and address an important issue in an interesting way. They capture the spirit of the project since it launched in 2008. 

For new contributions, we’re looking for compelling content beautifully executed. More details can be found in the creative brief. Thank for your interest. We look forward to your participation.

Visit the Power to the Poster Campaign »