I met with a client last night who is actually more of a friend that I just want to help out. But I learned something I think is important from this meeting. This post explains a new take I have on getting your client’s perspective in order to prevent wasted time on good concepts that no matter how good they are, won’t work. I wasted a concept I had put a decent chunk of time into, all because I did not get the real information out of him from the start.

No matter what you do, you’re pretty much aiming in the dark if you don’t get into your client’s head. You have no solid idea of what they are imagining. Sometimes your client keeps things secret from you, and as a designer it’s your job to draw out as much information as you can to make the process easy and enjoyable.

When you meet to discuss what they want for let’s say, a logo. Hand the client a pad and pen and tell them something like “Okay, tell me every thought you have about what you think you want for a logo, don’t hold anything back. Draw any little thing that comes to mind.”. Ask them questions as they go through this. Challenge what they want. It’s your job to guide them in the right direction. Challenging their idea will get them talking. They will defend the idea and as a result tell you even more. They begin to speak from the heart. Find the root of what they want. Maybe even push some other buttons. But be careful, don’t be rude or disrespectful. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you, but let theirs run wild.

A lot of being a successful designer is having some psychology skill sets. Getting into the clients head so you can see from their eyes. Don’t let their vision be a secret. Draw out their idea.

Revisions aren’t fun, especially if there are a lot of them, even if you are getting paid for it. Neither are completely wasted concepts that are way off the mark. If you can figure out from the start what the client wants, you have set a solid foundation to work from. A good foundation is everything. In both life, and design.

I’m graduating in a couple months and before I do that I want to put the finishing touches on my portfolio.

What I mean is I want to get more “real-world” pieces in my portfolio and get rid of the school projects that remain. There is no question that school projects are not able to portray what you are capable of in the professional realm. There is a slight indication of your style in them, but there is so much more value in “real-world” designs.

In an effort to accomplish this I am lowering the prices of all my work way down until I graduate. For example, I typically design & develop a website for $1,500; it would now cost $500. If you could use some design services but don’t have a lot of money to throw at it right now this is a great time to get in touch with me. Quality work for a really low price. Feel free to peruse my portfolio.

Also, you can visit my contact page to get the ball rolling.

This post was inspired from an article by my friend Colin Wright at Exile Lifestyle.

I have recently discovered and fallen in love with the idea of minimalism. It frees my mind and allows me to uproot at any moment quickly. Soon I want to have a mobile lifestyle so this is a very important step for me. I feel so lightweight and great!

My things

Why am I doing this?

Over the past several months I have been slowly widdeling my wordly possessions down one by one. I didn’t own as much as most people I knew originally so it was not as drastic of a change in comparison.

I realized that owning a lot of stuff was pointless. Most of it just lead to stress. For example, you go buy a nice Tv right? Awesome! Now you have this thing sitting there that you know you are spending too much time on and you feel guilty. Then you see this cool new gadget like Tivo or or a Blue Ray player in the store. You start a conversation with a sales guy there and before you know it you have a Tivo sitting next to your TV. Are you happy about it? Maybe for the moment. Is it really a positive addition to your life? Probably not. Did it cost you money you could have added to your savings account and felt good about your life? Yep.

This is just the way I think. As I reduced my stuff to such an extreme level I am forced to focus on what is important to me. The distractions don’t occur as much when I’m at home. I can easily focus and get more done, leading to more time to do other things that are fulfilling, not exciting. My bedroom is my office, so I should set certain standards. It’s just at this stage in my life, I feel in my heart that this is really a positive exercise.

Relating design to my minimalist lifestyle

As I refine my design style I start to apply it to other aspects of my life I find. My designs have gotten cleaner and more crisp over the years and that favor of that type of style has transferred into the physical spaces I reside where I have control of the interior design. I realize now that I can apply the design styles I like that I create on the computer, right before my eyes in my bedroom. Surrounding myself in an interior design that speaks to me. It’s an interesting thought. Obvious, but I never thought of it much before. Almost all of the time spent in my bedroom I am working. So designing my room for work is the clear winner. I don’t hold parties here, I don’t have a lot of people stay over, I don’t go here for entertainment. I’m here for productivity. Which mostly means sleeping, eating, household chores, and freelance.

Things I don’t count in the list

Technically I do have a bed right now but I am currently on the hunt for a furnished apartment. So the second I leave this place I’m throwing the thing out. Also, I didn’t count things that are grouped together like the things in my wallet. I don’t have any dishes on the list besides my bottle because all of them came with the apartment I’m in now. Consumables like food, tissues, shampoo, etc. are also not counted.

My trip to chicago was like one incredibly long, realistic dream. Everything was perfect. The warm, bright sun kissing my skin. The hustle and bustle of a beautifully crafted city. The vibe of a significantly large amount of beautiful people. The warmth of meeting new, interesting friends. The feeling of incredible satisfaction having an adventure provides. Having a natural urge to just smile almost every minute of the day and absorb everything around me, aware of all my senses.

I had to get away for the weekend. Not to just any old place, somewhere inspiring. Somewhere to rejuvenate me. I packed up my things and went by myself to a personally unknown place. No plans, no worries, no work, just simple exploration.

It was the marking of a new step in my life. A new and improved state of mind. I am cured of a lot of confusion and uncertainty. I truly know what I want and what I am doing. I am not saying that I know everything there is to know. What i’m saying is that I am now more confident in my decisions and I know in my heart that I am heading on the tracks to personal success and fullfillment. These thoughts came to me for a couple main reasons. I had a lot of time to think in a new place. This brings a lot of unique thoughts and feelings. I also met with one of my greatest inspirations in person for the first time, Colin Wright. An amazing experience for me to say the least. Having a one on one conversation with someone who directly influences your life is very powerful.

I have never felt a level of determination that I now have. I am free to do whatever I want.

How is this related to design you may ask?

Well, it relates directly to design. In a discipline that constantly requires a high amount of creativity, your life must be personally satisfactory. You cannot be a good designer without being happy. You cannot be a good designer without loving what you are doing. And you most certainly cannot be a good designer if you aren’t having adventures.

One of my main driving thoughts that has been floating around in my noggin has been, “if it feels uncomfortable or scary, you should do it.” So far, so good.

Playing around with a new font I found called Chocolate Box.

It was created by artist Paul Lloyd. You can find more free fonts by him on his website.

So i’m in my final design class called ‘Resume & Portfolio’ right now for school. We just got this new assignment where we have to define creativity in our own words. Cool right? I know! Personally I feel like we should have gotten this assignment early on in the program just because it helps you understand creativity better which is one of the basic, essential ingredients to being a good designer. Here is my definition of creativity:

Creativity is the act of being fresh, or being original, or being innovative. The idea of creativity is that that you are essentially making what is not known, known. That is the challenge of it.

The problem

After writing this and thinking about it I realized something. If you’re a designer and your job is to convey information, or to convince people of something, or to tell people what’s going on; why would you want to be creative?

You see, the problem is that what is creative is what has not already been experienced. So by definition it wouldn’t be understood. So the idea of being creative and the idea of being a person involved with visual communication is a lot of times contradictory to one another.

Final thoughts

There are ways to be creative and yet still keep familiar aspects in your work. This allows the viewer to understand what you are trying to communicate and at the same time have a look of being fresh, original, or innovative.

There are times where you want to be completely creative because the people who are viewing your work know the purpose of the design before it is even created. Things such as resumes for example. You can go totally off the wall creative with a resume because the people you give it to are of course going to know it’s a resume since you are a designer trying to get work and the more creativity the better in this situation.

Also realize, there are other times where you don’t want to be very creative. Sometimes your job should simply be making something easily understood, familiar, and functional for the user/viewer. Creativity is not always necessary.

Creativity probably does not even exist in most designs depending on who you are. It’s an abused word. Most designs have styles that have been experienced before. The bottom line I guess is that it’s all in the eyes of the beholder. What is creative to one person may not be creative to another. It all depends on what the viewer has previously experienced.

What’s your definition of creativity?

Recently I got a new part-time gig at this place called 50 Below. They are a growing company located in Duluth that helps other businesses put their products and services online. Basically they provide thousands of websites for people.

At first I was hesitant to work there because they use various templates for all their websites. I wanted to work somewhere where I could learn how to be more ‘creative’. I figured it would be good to just go in for the interview, ask some questions, and get a feel for the place.

The interview went well and I liked the vibe. They offered me the job the next day as a Junior Graphic designer. I accepted the offer and a new chapter began. Here are some of my experiences so far that have been very beneficial to me and that might help you when choosing your next job.

1. Learning from others

My first day I was told to shadow some of the designers there so I could get a feel of what I was going to be doing. I gotta say this was a surprisingly nice learning experience. Watching other designers work can teach you a lot in a short period of time. As you probably know there are tons of little ‘tricks’ in Photoshop that help you streamline your workflow. It is very difficult to learn and utilize them all. Watching some of the other designers, I was able to see different workflow styles and they taught me some things I never knew before. I encourage anyone who has the oppurtunity to watch other people work. Whether it’s screencasts online, video tutorials, or in person, it will be of great help in a short period of time.

2. Friendly people

Everyone there has been really friendly. It’s always very beneficial to meet friendly people that are experienced in your field who are willing to help you. These kinds of people could potentially be a great resource to you as you grow and learn. It’s also nice when you work in an environment that is a positive aspect of your life.

One of my jobs unrelated to design has a lot of staff who are constantly negative. All they ever seem to talk about is complaining about other co workers. They appear to eat, sleep, and breathe negativity and they love to place it onto other people. My new job is a great refreshment from that.

3. Fast paced

One of my favorite things about this job is that you have time limits on everything you do. The faster you work, the better it is for both the company and you. If you produce good work and are doing it very fast, you will be rewarded.

As a freelancer I can’t learn enough about working under pressure and being able to change gears on the fly. This job forces me to do everything fast and keep quality high.

4. You just never know

I went into the job expecting to not really like what I was doing. After my first week of going on my own and actually producing some designs that totally changed. I love it! Right now I’m just doing banners that are about 500×300 or so that go on various sites that sell products. As it turns out there is plenty of room for creativity here and I’m benefitting a lot by working here. Not only has my income gone up, but it’s giving me valuable experience as I am still a student. The downside of course is I lost some free time that I normally used finding work for Zorba but it’s okay. This is worth it for now and when I graduate in September more time will open up.

Final words

Don’t be picky when finding a new job. Try things out first before you judge so fast. Ask if you can shadow for a while before accepting the position. Often times there are aspects of the job that will benefit you for the rest of your life. If it turns out to be a nightmare, you have every right to pack up your things and see what else you can find. Don’t buy this crap about the economy and how there are no jobs. There are tons of jobs.

Your opinion?

So now that you’ve heard my experiences at my new job, care to share any of your new personal work experiences?

You don’t really need a designer. I mean a logo? Comon really? That is pretty easy to do. Just a couple simple lines and shapes here and there, throw in a nice font like Helvetica. You could really just do it in Microsoft Word or even MS Paint.

Why in God’s name would you ever hire a designer and pay him/her outrages amounts of money when you can do the same or better job yourself. I mean who knows what you want more than yourself? These designers running around with their fancy MacBooks charging people money for things they can do themselves are crazy.

Well, lets look at some “do it yourselfers” compared to some professionally designed logos:

Do it yourselfers

Professional

There is a clear difference between these two categories. The “do it yourselfers” usually start off with a good idea, but good ideas are a dime a dozen. Tons of people have good ideas. What matters is the execution. How does it actually come alive? How does it actually present itself in the ‘real world’? How is it going to be a benefit to the construction of your brand?

Things to think about

Designers go through an education program for a reason. There is a lot behind logo design and every other form of brand identity design. It’s not as simple as you think. Your logo or brand identity designs are the face of your company. It’s one of the first things people see. Do you really want the first thing people see be made by someone who has no background in design at all?

Let’s take a restaurant for example. A restaurant absolutely has to have an appropriate interior design. There are certain colors and furniture and other things that will improve the atmosphere of the restaurant and reach certain goals according to the target market. It is very important for a restaurant owner to hire an interior designer so that they can make the space you have to work with most effective. The interior designer knows how to use colors, shapes, variety, and other basic principles of design that will benefit your goals. It may be expensive at first, but you have to look long term. The same goes for logo design. Every aspect of your company or organization matters. Just because you can do it yourself and you believe that you can do a better job than a professional doesn’t mean you should.

Notice how people actually like to wear the professional logos shown above. A lot of people buy certain products based on the packaging or logo. Whether you think this is foolish or not, it is a fact and it wouldn’t hurt you to use it to your advantage.

The professional logos in this post are clearly made properly by someone in the graphic design field who knows what they are doing. They represent something good, a properly formed brand. One that portrays something to be respected. They are simple and can be applied to a variety of mediums such as T shirts, mugs, cups, shoes, the web, variety of kinds of paper, hats…anything really. These are designed by skilled professionals, for skilled professionals. I won’t go into analyzing each one as this would be a long read.

These companies are successful because they did not cut corners. They understood there is no shortcut to success. They hired the appropriate people to do things that they did not have enough proper education background to know they are doing it right.

Don’t let your pride get in the way of building a successful brand. Hire the right people, and pay accordingly.

Choosing a font is one of the biggest struggles for a lot of designers. It can be a huge roadblock that can discourage you and interrupt your workflow. With this post I’d like to share some things I have learned, and apps I use that have greatly improved the way I choose fonts for a design.

I use FontExplorer X to help me manage all of my fonts. If you have never tried this app I highly recommend it. They offer a generous 30 day free trial. After my trial ended I had to buy it, couldn’t imagine living without it now. It has saved me a lot of time and made life as a designer easier.

Font management programs

If you don’t have some kind of font management program you are at a huge disadvantage. Most designers have a large library of fonts at their disposal, if you don’t—why not? There are all kinds of different programs out there you can use. Some are free, some are not.

Benefits

Free up space on your computer. A lot of font management programs allow you to activate or deactivate fonts. This is good because every font that is activated uses your computers resources which can lead to a slower running computer. Why have every font activated when you probably don’t use a lot of them much?

Makes previewing fonts easier. This is one of the main reasons to have font management software. You can easily organize different categories of your fonts (sans serif, serif, script, slab serif, display, etc.). Looking for fonts in Photoshop for instance where everything is all just thrown in one big list alphabetically can be a nightmare. There is just too much to look through. You will become stressed and it will reflect in your design when you work this way. Categorize them, and look through much smaller, specified lists.

Breakdown of font management programs out there

Mac
FontExplorer X
MasterJuggler
Font Safari
Font Pilot
FontAgent Pro
Fontcase
Windows
Typograf
FontExpert 2010
Font Frenzy
Font Xplorer
MainType
AMP Font Viewer 3.82
Cfontpro
Both
Suitcase Fusion 2
Opcion

There are of course more than the ones I have included in this list, but these are some of the most prevalent. Most of these have free trials and some of them are completely free, but lack a lot of features. For Mac I think the best apps are FontExplorer X and Suitcase Fusion 2. For Windows I would choose Suitcase Fusion 2 since it is available for both operating systems.

Do you use a font management program? If no, why not? If yes, which one?

I thought it would be cool to introduce myself in a video since so many people think reading is boring(can’t imagine that!). I look a little tired because I didn’t get much sleep the night before, but nonetheless, enjoy!