February 2012
5 posts
1 tag
Nobody is Asking
Nobody at the office is asking for you to do something original. Even if your job responsibilities have the word “creative” in it, you can probably get away with work that is not original. In fact, in most work places, they do not want you to do something original, because if you did someone, somewhere would be upset.
Original work will get you promoted, envied, harassed and even fired.
Original...
1 tag
Clicks
If it takes a user more than three clicks on your website to get a product then you have an issue. People won’t dig for something that deep unless it’s something they really want and trust me, that’s not very often.
I know you you can use the search bar on the site (What site doesn’t have a search bar?). But your navigation represents how you see yourself and how you see your customer.
Here’s...
1 tag
Could You Just ...
Do you think you could just…?
That statement is usually completed by something makes most creatives cringe. It can be anything from “whip up a logo”, “put a few clips together” or “make this look cool”.
The issue here is the word “just”. Here it’s being used as adverb to let the creative know that what the person with the request wants is something small and insignificant. The problem of course...
1 tag
Popularity and the Team
There are a lot companies that don’t like it when the individual becomes more popular than the whole. Creative teams can be the same way.
When you have one team member that builds his or her own following, it is our natural inclination to pull that person back. To make that creative person fall in line, to remind them that they are part of team.
But let’s be honest, when we do that it’s really...
3 tags
Get Out While You Can
Sometimes there are creative jobs that your team will be handed that are just plain horrible. They are tasks that have no vision, no strong brand or just require you to work with people that will drain you and your team.
What do you do?
First figure out on the return on your team’s time is. Is it really worth it? Will this open doors to other creative tasks within your company? If the answer...
January 2012
3 posts
1 tag
What My Parents are Teaching Me About the iPad
My parents bought an iPad this Christmas. I took the time to help them get it set up and was amazed to see how they reacted to it. Here are some things that I learned from parents while observing them with an iPad.
1. It’s computer not a tablet. (My dad calls it a computer, tablet is completely foreign concept).
2. Cloud storage is really confusing if the only thing you have known as...
1 tag
Simplicity Wins
The Amazon Kindle is flying off the shelf. More than likely the $199 price point and Amazon’s brand recognition are driving sales. However, I don’t think that is what will sustain grow their sales. It’s the simplicity of the whole thing.
It will be the simplicity of UI design, the integration of the Amazon store and the simplicity of setting up the device.
This will...
1 tag
Details
I love design that has detail, but there comes a point when you are adding details for the sake of the details themselves. Unless those details add to the functionality of the design, then they need to go. I see too many designers these days add details, because they have either lost a vision for how the design should function or they don’t know when to quit and move on. If you find yourself...
December 2011
1 post
1 tag
The When/Then Trap
I have to have an iPad.
What I find amusing is people who are dying to get an iPad, but simply can’t answer the question “What are you going to use it for that your current computer can’t do?”.
The underlying point I am trying make is that promise of new technology and what it will do always fall short. The problem is when we put our faith in a new plugin, software, device that will...
November 2011
0 posts
1 tag
Fine Tuning vs. Tinkering
Apple fine tunes products. Just take a look at the new iPhone. They spent days figuring out which glass to encase the phone in. The user interface icons were painstakingly chosen and refined. Everything is fine tuned and you can feel it. This fine tuning is possible due the fact that Apple just focuses it efforts on a few projects and sets it’s own internal deadline for releasing a product...
October 2011
8 posts
1 tag
No One Cares
“Well, right now we have a lot going on…”
Clients here this a lot from creatives. It’s a defense mechanism. However, here is the problem.
No one cares.
No one cares that your pipeline is full and you can’t handle much else. No one cares if three other clients have the same needs. No one cares how many hours you have to work. Guess what?
They shouldn’t.
It’s not their job to...
1 tag
Yes, My Office is Empty
The number one comment I get when people come into my office is “Wow this is place is empty.”. Some people appreciate the minimalistic aesthetic, others see at as a cold place that is not very inviting.
It’s not that I don’t like want clutter or think of less of people with clutter. In fact, I think the complete opposite. Often a place that looks decluttered does not...
1 tag
What You Can Learn from Storage Wars
I have taken a recent fascination with a show called Storage Wars. It’s a show about people who bid on abandoned storage units with the hope the that unit actually contains something of worth. Despite the appearance that the show is about luck, there is actually a great amount of skill to buying the right storage unit.
What makes buyers so good at what they do, is their ability to see the...
1 tag
How to Never Miss an Email from Your Boss
I walked in my office the other day to flurry of activity. Apparently, our new VP sent out an email that stated that the first five people to respond to him could have lunch with him that afternoon. I however, do not usually check my email until I arrive in my office, so I was out of the running.
This led to me to think, what if the VP emails me personally? Will I be quick enough to respond?...
1 tag
Manager or Maker
You are usually on one of two teams, the manager or the maker. I have been on both teams. The maker longs to control their future and sees the manager as the one who controls it. The manager sees the maker as the one with freedom and less responsibility.
This is all true if the maker works for the manager. However, if the maker works for themselves then he or she controls the future and has...
2 tags
Still True Today
I wrote this on my old blog last year.
Steve Jobs announced this week that he is taking a leave of absence due to health reasons. Of course pundits, bloggers and newspapers are going crazy asking the question: “What will Apple do?”.
Who wouldn’t want to be a leader that would be missed if they had to leave their work? It’s easy to think egocentrically about this. However, if you think that is...
1 tag
One Thing You Need to Do the Week of 10.03.11
Short Version: 1. Read this.
Long Version: 1. Read this book from Al Pittampalli entitled Read This Before Our Next Meeting. Al does a fantastic job re-imagining what the modern meeting should look like. He pinpoints how a culture of bad meetings can ruin your work environment and lead to a culture of indecision. I might require everyone I work with to read this one.
September 2011
15 posts
2 tags
The Beauty of Index Cards
My work has ebbs and flows. There are days when I can work for hours and be undisturbed (those days are starting to become far fewer). Then there are those days when I question why I even have door. For those days, I appreciate the invention of the index card.
At the right side of my computer is a stack of unlined blank index cards. When I’m interrupted by the latest...
1 tag
Three Easy Steps to Avoiding Interruptions
Here is how you can avoid interruptions at your office in three easy steps.
1. Imagine everyone is your office has been turned into flesh eating zombies.
2. Ask yourself ”Where is the last place that zombies would look for people to eat?”.
3. Go there and set up your office.
Done. Now get back to work.
1 tag
Periodic Switcher
I have a confession. I have a problem and it is none as periodic switching. You see, whenever I see a new site design or blogging platform my mind begins to wander. I begin to think of all the new possibilities that the design offers or some new feature that the platform offers like social media integration or a slick companion iPhone app.
What I am really doing? I’m stalling. I...
1 tag
What to Do When You Your Baby is Ugly
About four babies are born every second. Not all of those babys are going to be cute, but that’s not what I want talk about it.
When you birth a new idea or design that you are passionate about, it becomes your baby. You want to nurture it, feed it, make sure that it has room to grow and full mature. You begin to start to protect it from anyone trying to change it or destroy it....
1 tag
Two Things You Need to Do the Week of 9.26.11
Short Version: 1. Read this. 2. Watch this.
Long Version: 1. Read the latest book from Seth Godin entitled We Are All Weird. It is a quick read, however it explores of the idea of niche markets versus mass markets and how niche markets are winning out. 2. Watch the Conan O’Brien documentary Can’t Stop. It is a great behind the scenes look at Conan’s tour and how it all...
2 tags
The Master Checklist for My Weekly Review
If you prescribe to the Getting Things Done methodology you are probably familiar with the Weekly Review. Here is my checklist that I use as I am doing my weekly review.
Email inbox to zero (All my email is filed or answered.)
Omnifocus inbox to zero
Physical folder inbox to zero
Dropbox inbox folder to zero (All of my internet downloads go here, i.e. zip files.)
Clean out Google Docs to...
1 tag
How to Kill Unexpected Meetings
Nothing can kill a productive day like an unexpected meeting. You are are in groove and then all of sudden someone pop’s and says “Can you meet today for quick meeting?”. Just like that your rhythm is thrown off.
If your company lives off a networked calendar (where you can see everyone’s availability) like mine does, then you know if your calendar says you are open (no...
1 tag
The Decline of Creativity
I read yesterday the Hollywood will be remaking another movie from the 80’s. Seems like a real solid idea (you can feel the sarcasm).
Moves like this makes me believe that creativity is on the decline. It seems that soon everything that will come across our screens will just be rehashes of old ideas. However I don’t think that it it’s that simple.
For the most part...
1 tag
If You Think You Have It Bad...
There are days when you will want to pull our hair out when dealing with clients. If you haven’t figured this out yet, it’s completely normal to feel this way. In fact there are times when you need to be reminded that you aren’t the only one dealing with clients.
Enter Clients from Hell. This website will make you realize that you have not seen anything when it comes to the...
1 tag
Two Things You Need to Do the Week of 9.17.11
Short Version:
1. Read this.
2. Use this.
Long Version:
1. Read the latest book from Stephen Pressfield entitled Do the Work . Think of it like a good kick in the rear if you stalling on something you know you need to do.
2. Ever see something on the internet and wish you could read it later? With website Instapaper you could do just that. Instapaper saves the text from your favorite...
1 tag
The Art of Stalling
Spent the last two week scompletely rebuilding this blog. I went through Wordpress, Squarespace and every other blogging tool I could think of. My line of logic was, “I want to build something that is unique, custom, something that is my own”. Was that logic sound? Sure on the surface it seemed like a good idea. However, the underlying truth was that I was putting off actually...
1 tag
Five Reasons to Convince Your Boss to Let You Try...
Managing a creative team can be a very difficult task on multiple levels. You need the best project management system to handle the requests and the amount of awesome work that your team is creating. Basecamp is one of the best ways to keep track of all of that. Here are five reasons to convince your Boss to let you try Baseamp.
1. It’s all on the Web: That’s right. There is no...
1 tag
Two Small Bugs I Found in Omnifocus
Being an avid Omnifocus user, I try to push the software to its limits. The software runs exceptionally well and I vary rarely have any issues with it. However, here are two small bugs I have found.
1. If you are in the quick entry screen, you cannot create a new project or context if you the have the caps key locked. This doesn’t seem big to most people, however I title all of contexts...
2 tags
Five Reasons Why I Use Omnifocus
There are a few apps that I immediately download whenever I buy a new Mac. Omnifocus is one of them. Here are five reasons I love this app:
1. Cloud Syncing: All my data on all my iOS devices is in sync no matter if I am on wifi or 3G. To me, this is has become the standard for any application that exists on both my mac and any of my iOS devices.
2. Custom Theming: Don’t like the way...
1 tag
Two Types of Creativity
I spent yesterday watch the documentary Helvetica. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it even if you don’t care about fonts.
What struck me the most about the movie was how there were two different camps in the movie. One camp is adamant about the beauty and structure of Helvetica, while one camp reviles it’s usage and rebels against the stoic nature of the font.
I think...
August 2011
1 post
1 tag
Rules for Your First New Job
Congrats to all you college kids who have graduated this last spring and are now settling into your first job. Here is a quick rundown of rules that didn’t cover in school. 1. Administrative Assistants rule the office. If you want to get something done, more than likely you will have to enlist the help of an AA. Get know the AA’s in your department/floor real well. They secretly (and...
July 2011
1 post
1 tag
Hacking
This is a screenshot of my current iPhone.
It probably looks slightly different than yours. That’s because I spent a little time last night hacking it (which by the way was really easy, almost scary easy). Now you might be thinking, “Darrel, do you realize that you just made Steve Jobs cry?” or “What if screws up your phone and no one can get a hold of you?”. Well, those are risks that I am...
March 2011
2 posts
1 tag
Cleaning Out Gmail with Simplenote, Hazel, and...
One of my biggest frustrations with trying to get my inbox to zero is my iPhone. When I read my email on my iPhone, I immediately feel the need to clean it out. If I can respond to the email in under two minutes, I write back. However, if the email response is going to take some time form, then the I have to leave it sitting in the inbox until I get back to my Mac (I know I could create a label in...
1 tag
Sprinters, Marathoners and Making an iPhone App in...
Last Wednesday I gave myself a challenge, make an iPhone app in twenty-four hours. In less than five hours, I had working copy of an app on my iPhone.
A few things to note. First, I know a little bit about CSS and HTML, I have played around with Applescript and PHP, but my coding knowledge is fairly limited. Secondly, I was very clear about my goal, make an iPhone app in twenty-four hours. I knew...
December 2010
1 post
1 tag
Thrash Early and Often
If your team grows, you will inevitably have a new set of problems that arise with growth. With the growth comes more voices and more ideas. There is nothing wrong with new ideas, however with all the new ideas it can become increasingly hard to vet the ideas before they get to far down the track.
This is where thrashing comes in. Thrashing is the process of exploring whether or not the idea...
August 2009
2 posts
1 tag
Why the Word "Service" Should Not be in Your Team...
Today, I am going to try to convince you not be to in the service business. What I mean is that a lot of In-House Creative Teams have been saddled with the word services at the end of their title. Whenever, I see the word “Services” attached to the end of a departments name I feel for them. I really do. Nothing says “We are your servants, do with us as please” as the word Service. I know that...
1 tag
Five Ways to Kill Your Creative Team
Creative teams can be fragile. If they aren’t nurtured and taken care of, things can quickly go south. Here are some the ways that can happen. 1. Accept every job that comes your way In a down economy everyone is trying to justify why their team exists in the corporation they work for. One way to make this happen is to take every job that your team is offered. At first it seems like the logical...
July 2009
1 post
1 tag
What is Said vs. What Creatives Hear
There are a lot of statements Creatives hear over and over again when working working in a corporate place. Here are few along with what the perception is of those statements. Creatives are told: “Could you get someone to pretty this up?” Creatives hear: “I really don’t know what you all do and as far as I concerned you could slap Comic Sans on here and I would be happy” Creatives are told: “Can...