June 2012
2 posts
6 tags
4 tags
“Design everything on the assumption that people are not heartless or stupid but...”
– John Chris Jones, The Internet and Everyone (via fieldstudy)
May 2012
17 posts
4 tags
“If all we do is reward fast first aid in what people do at work, is it any...”
– Seth Godin, ‘Emergency Room Doctors’
5 tags
3 tags
I'd like to be a Designer
“I am not asking for your opinion because we know what we want and what the site needs.”
If/When you’re told that the opionions you have don’t matter then you should be very wary . There is a good chance that they don’t want you to be their designer. They want you to be their producer.
If you can figure out which one you want to be, a designer or a producer, you...
4 tags
8 tags
6 tags
“Either designers will design for their end-users, or third-party apps will...”
– Jeffrey Zeldman, zeldman.com
4 tags
Learn By Doing
You can’t master the art of conversation by reading about it. You speak to people. Nobody can become a musical genius by only listening to classic records. They play instruments.
It’s hard to become good at anything by just reading, listening or observing. You have to DO it. The aforementioned will only get you so far…
6 tags
7 tags
4 tags
“Don’t ask for critique if you only want validation. If you want a hug, just ask.”
– Adam Conner, iA Summit Talk
3 tags
Share What You Know
“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes (because that’s how we all improve). It’s absolutely okay for you to not be a complete expert or authority on a topic. Share what you do know because it has the potential to help many other developers and designers out there.”
I’ve had a blog for a long time. Over the years, it’s content has been changing and evolving. Up until recently, I...
4 tags
“A designer who wants to achieve good design must not regard himself as an artist...”
– Dieter Rams, ‘10 Commandments of Good Design’
6 tags
4 tags
5 tags
4 tags
“Spending creative energy wondering about the [already established] plan merely...”
– Seth Godin, Seth Godin’s Blog
6 tags
April 2012
11 posts
6 tags
5 tags
8 tags
4 tags
Who's bad?
I have no doubts that there are ‘bad clients’ out there. In fact, if you are reading this, you have probably dealt with those ‘bad clients’. But next time you are considering labelling your next client as ‘bad’, first think about whether you are playing your part as a GOOD designer.
Are you solving the problem(s)?
As a designer, a client has hired you to solve...
4 tags
“Design makes the stuff easy to find, and a pleasure to use; but it’s not the...”
– Mike Monteiro, ‘Design is a Job’
5 tags
6 tags
4 tags
The key to getting clients
Be pleasant to work with.
Do good work
- Mike Montiero, ‘Design Is a Job’
6 tags
3 tags
Feel Free To Crush My Spirit
Some of my greatest lessons as a designer have not come from reading a blog, a book or insightful tweet by a leading design professional. They’ve come from someone telling me where I’ve gone wrong…
Simple, constructive criticism can go a long way. More often than not, it’s the “I can’t find this-or-that” rather than the “great job buddy” that is...
4 tags
A Helpful Guide to Tumblr Fame
Surely you’ve heard of Tumblr. Maybe you haven’t heard of the name, but when you visit your favourite blog and a little ‘follow’ button pops up in the top right corner of your screen, that’s Tumblr.
Last month, the blogging platform reach 20 billion posts, spanning across over 49 million blogs. That’s a whole stack of content! Since June 2011, when Tumblr...
March 2012
3 posts
5 tags
What We Can Learn From Aziz Ansari
Personality. Everyone has a personality and what I love about Aziz Ansari is that in everything he does, his personality shines through. Recently, I bought his new stand-up tour, ‘Dangerously Delicious’ directly from his site and was very pleased with the whole experience.
What I loved most about buying this video, and call me a nerd if you want, was the email I received once I had...
6 tags
“Creatives. We are the least important most important people”
– Donald Draper, Mad Men
5 tags
The Baron Small Bar & Coffee Shop
The boys at the best coffee shop this side of the Harbour Bridge hit me up to design their new website.
After a couple of quick sit-downs and rapid-fire discussions, it became clear that we really weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel for this site. We just wanted to communicate the most important details when viewing their site… This is, as far as The Baron & I are concerned,...
February 2012
2 posts
4 tags
Sign Your Life Away
Imagine if one day you took your car to the mechanic. You asked for a service, he quoted you a price and then when you went to collect your car, you actually paid the same amount he quoted.
Sounds brilliant, right?
No phone calls in the middle of the day with your mechanic on the other end of the line telling you about ‘another problem’ that has just popped up. No more hidden costs...
3 tags
A Work in Progress
I’ve just launched a new website & a new blog, but there’s a kicker!
The kicker is, they aren’t 100% complete (It won’t take a long, hard look at the blog to realise this…). While for client work it definitely isn’t best practice to do this, for myself, it’s pretty much perfect. And here are some reasons why:
I change my mind about designs for these...