Today my projects required me to use both InDesign and QuarkXPress, and I began to feel a little bit bilingual. I can’t claim to be bilingual in any other sense, but I’ve noticed that those who are truly bilingual will sometimes have moments of forgetting that they’re speaking one language and use a word from a different language: forgetting to translate into the intended language.

Which of course is what happened to me all day. I was focused on what I wanted to happen (or communicate), and forgot that the tool required me to choose a tiny menu off the side of a palette, instead of a submenu off a menu in the menu bar. I can almost feel my mind expanding.

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Designers who are interested in learning more about sustainable practice, can join the fight and take a pledge to work toward a greener future at a new online resource, Design Can Change, created by our friends at smashLAB.

To find out how you can make a difference, click here

One of the most frequent questions I hear from start-ups in the design, publishing or advertising business is “How do I get clients?” My usual response is “Who are your clients?”

Obviously if you know who your ideal client is — or if the next client just walks in your door, you can market effectively. But if you are not sure who your ideal client is, you need to find out.

The first place to start is: “Who are you?” Start by asking yourself what you like to do best, and what your skill strengths are. Make a short list of these items. That list becomes the “product” your ideal client is looking for. Now look at your marketplace and ask who is buying the “products” which you listed.

That’s who your client is.

Keep an index card around with your ideal client credentials. Once you’ve completed some projects, go back and revisit that list. Is it still valid? Once you start getting calls, ask yourself who is actually being attracted to your business. This will be a strong clue that your marketing approach is right or wrong.

1) Complete difficult tasks.
Don’t let scary projects stall you. You have to let go of the idea that you can ever do a job ‘perfectly’. In the end you are only competing against and improving your own skill. The lessons you learn while finishing an overwhelming task will help you get the next one done even better.

2) Make your work space give you positive feedback.
Put up projects that make you feel proud. It especially helps when you in the midst of projects to be reminded of what you have completed before. (more…)

1) Make your header image/ banner/ Blog Heading link back the home page. A lot of people get to your blog through a specific post.

2) Give your blog a simple ‘visual flavor’. Using a simple and arresting graphic for your header and matching favorites icon can do a lot. Color and coordinated text are also great ways to make a blog look super polished. Consider choosing two font faces (perhaps one serif, and one sans-serif) and apply one of the fonts to your headers and side bar links and the other to your side bar paragraphs and post text.

3) People often like to link to just a singular post that they are Interested in. Consider making it easier to get to the individual post by making your post title the ‘perma-link’ rather than a tiny timestamp. (more…)

This might seem like an obvious idea, but as someone who creates –it does take a steel will to do it. Creating is no small feat, and you have to battle against yourself. I do not know about you but I am pretty sensitive, and sometimes the creative wind can be knocked out of me. It comes back but it takes bravery and discipline, which is something hard to do if you are in a funk. It is important to seek out people who are supportive, and understand the challenges of being creative. There are even creative groups that meet just to vent, laugh and gain support. Seek them out! AND surround you self with positive people that ‘get what you are doing!’

A fabulous new HOW competition is currently accepting entries.

Recognizing & spotlighting work done exclusively by in-house designers, The InHOWse Design Awards will be featuring winning work in the February 2008 issue of HOW.

DETAILS (Download PDF)

Have you ever had one of those projects? One that starts out simple and easy, but quickly turns into a nightmare of numerous client changes? Could this have been avoided? The typical excuse in situations like this is to blame difficult clients, but could we the designers actually be the ones at fault?

In woodworking, the mantra is ³Think Twice, Cut Once,² so that an unnecessary waste of materials can be avoided. Designers should adopt a similar motto and think about the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How of any project. By answering these important questions first, we ensure that time and energy will not be wasted on needless rounds of changes.

It’s too easy for us to get caught up in the act of design without first putting together a strategy. Before the design stage occurs, we can sharpen our focus by answering key questions. Here are some examples that will help us create a solid plan: (more…)

When you think of Bill Gates, the words “financially challenged” probably don’t come to mind. I mean, let’s face it; things have pretty much been going his way. That is certainly true of Microsoft, but his lesser-known corporation, Corbis, is finding it hard to turn a profit. A photo-licensing business Gates started in 1989, Corbis has spent millions building an archive of the most beloved and iconic images in existence (think Marilyn Monroe over the subway grates) which it licenses for about $250 a pop. In addition, Corbis keeps a staff of professional photographers who generate stock images for clients in marketing, media, and advertising sects. This accounts for half of Corbis’s $250 million a year in sales—an impressive number, but not a profitable one.

The trouble is, Corbis is meeting with unexpected competition from the “little guys,” micro-stock photo agency sites that rely on the crowdsourcing approach, empowering their member communities of amateur or semi-pro photographers to post and sell their work for populist prices…MORE

When something goes wrong there are probably a thousand reasons why it ended up the way it did. However it is important in business that you don’t use excuses to justify a fumble. Using an excuse only makes you seem untrustworthy instead of making your actions seem justifiable.

A simple ‘I am sorry, I will see that the problem is fixed’ is always better than a litany of excuses or multiple apologies. It is a natural impulse to want to be forgiven or pardoned when you make a mistake. Remember that whoever is dealing with the said problem does not have the time to also make you feel better as well.

Sometimes it is hard to realize when an excuse is leaving your lips. How can you tell if a reason is really just an excuse? A good rule is that if you had ample opportunity to change the result and you didn’t then it’s an excuse.

All is not lost however; people are most impressive when they are able to calmly fix a difficult situation. So think of each mistake as a moment to inspire confidence.