I think most designers are self-indulgent, illiterate…a fashion-mongering bunch of people who cannot speak on any subject except their own. —Ivan Chermayeff
Whiskerino 2009
…is almost here. Are you ready?
Apparently Hulu will starting charging for certain broadcast content in 2010. I thought I was already being charged in time by having to sit through ads; are the ads not subsidizing the business? Networks still don’t understand the web, nor do they realize that while they can still profit, they might never make the same amount of profit that they once did.
A note from The Management: Geez, have you seen the lineup of folks in the Fusion Ad Network now? They recently added Hicks Design and Minimal Mac. I feel like the last guy picked on the winning kickball team.
Flickr just added the ability to tag people in photos. Yes, just like Facebook. I can’t help thinking my photo hosting site of choice is having a bit of an identity crisis. Is it for fine art photos of landscapes? Or bad auto mode family photos? Both? That seems like a recipe for killing your team trying to maintain a site that has to please everyone.
Overhead walks on two feet. —Casey Graham
On Forgetting Where You Came From and the Dangers of Success
When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.
—2 Chronicles 12:1
When the rule of Rehoboam was established and he was strong, he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.
—2 Chronicles 12:1
Most of us don’t get derailed until after we’re established and strong. And like any strong leader, when we lose our way we take our followers, employees, and circle(s) of influence with us. (Which is particularly disturbing in the case of Rehoboam, who quickly became a brutal, petty leader apart from the law. One word: scorpions.)
If you abandon the foundational things that you’ve built your successes on, you do so at the risk of everyone attached to you. Avoid becoming complacent in your success; define your standards and vigorously defend them.
Don’t forget where you came from. And don’t get comfortable where you are.
Microeconomics concerns things that economists are specifically wrong about, while macroeconomics concerns things that economists are wrong about generally. —P.J. O’Rourke, Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics
On Smoking What You’re Selling
If you don’t need the Gospel more than the people you’re sharing it with, you ought not be sharing it with them.
—Dan Allender
If you don’t need the Gospel more than the people you’re sharing it with, you ought not be sharing it with them.
—Dan Allender
This quote can just as easily apply to the vision of your organization or to the product you’re shipping. If you don’t love what you talk about, why do you expect anyone else to care? Your sales pitch isn’t good enough to market a lie.
[re-pi-pha-ny] — noun
1. an epiphany you have more than once
2. an epiphany that was forgotten, then remembered
[Origin: unknown]
Clever idea and execution for this video of the Justice remix of Kravitz’s Let Love Rule. (But annoying disabling the embed code, Lenny.)
On Stupidity & Trying
When learning something new, many students will think, ‘Damn, this is hard for me. I wonder if I am stupid.’ Because stupidity is such an unthinkably terrible thing in our culture, the students will then spend hours constructing arguments that explain why they are intelligent yet are having difficulties. The moment you start down this path, you have lost your focus.
—Aaron Hillegass
When learning something new, many students will think, ‘Damn, this is hard for me. I wonder if I am stupid.’ Because stupidity is such an unthinkably terrible thing in our culture, the students will then spend hours constructing arguments that explain why they are intelligent yet are having difficulties. The moment you start down this path, you have lost your focus.
—Aaron Hillegass
We’ve set the bar so low for learning in Western culture, it’s no wonder so few of us (myself included) ever do anything extraordinary. So go do something you don’t know how to do. And when you hit that wall of “this is hard for me” don’t cave, keep pounding and break through it.
You (me, we) are capable of far more than we’re currently doing.
You Work for Clients, Remember?
If you do freelance, contract or side work, you do not work for yourself. You are not working to build a portfolio. Your personal preferences are not the plumb line. Your job is to provide the client with the best possible solution to meet their needs (and yes, their wants). They pay you because it is mostly inconvenient for you to wake up and do what someone else wants you to do.
Sometimes clients want seemingly silly things that you disagree with. So ask questions. Press in. Find out why. A lot of clients are a lot less stupid than you think they are. Maybe those social media buttons in your comps look so killer all monochromed out, but the client actually has analytics proving the click-thru rate is higher if they’re in color. Again, your personal aesthetic preferences lose. If you just want to do work that you like and agree with, we have a word for that—artist. But design is about more than making pretty pictures (and pretty Photoshop comps), and client work is about more than you.
Pick good clients. Do work you’re proud of. Setup solid guardrails and expectations. Push back with informed professional opinions. Communicate exceptionally well and often. But make the client happy—that’s why they call it “client work.”
Someone with less passion and talent and poorer content can totally beat you if they’re willing to work longer and harder than you are. Hustle is it. —Gary Vaynerchuk, excerpted from Crush It!
Taking Rotoscoping to The Next level
Every once in awhile, you see something and go “huh, haven’t seen that before.” Amazing concept and execution! Neurosonics Audiomedical Labs Inc. from Chris Cairns.
An Accounting of Joy vs. Cost while Vacationing
You can view it bigger on Flickr.
Five Professions My Alternate Reality Self Would Likely Pursue
1. Lumberjack
2. Luthier
3. High School Wrestling Coach
4. River Guide
5. Sniper