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100 Perks of the Freelance Life #61-70

By • February 16, 2012 • advice, freelance, inspiration • Leave a comment

fga Lately, I’ve seen an awful lot of these “What My Mom Thinks I Do, What Society Thinks I do, What I Really Do.” The majority of them are a bunch of unfunny, horribly obvious puns. Some make me giggle, most just make me roll my eyes. The truth is that everyone thinks they’re a rock star – but the concept of what these different jobs are is usually miles away from reality. They’re getting to be all over the place. I haven’t seen one for a sewerage worker, but I’m pretty sure everyone knows, understands and accepts the reality of that job.

In the interest of following trends, sheeplike – I made my own. It’s unfunny and horribly obvious. But – this is my blog, so I do precisely whatever I want.

I might joke about it and piss and moan about it – but this really IS a fabulous job. A lot of the myths about freelancing are based in truth – because when it works, it’s a beautiful thing and a marvelous career and everyone should be jealous. When it doesn’t work – it sucks, but that goes for anything. When it’s good, it’s good – when it’s bad, it’s bad. Weird how that works, huh?

And without further prevaricating about the bush, I present to you the truths based on the myths…

The Top 100 Perks of Freelancing 61-70:

#70 – You Can Work Any Time You Want. Sounds great – and it’s TRUE! As a friend of mine once said “You get to pick any 80 hours of the week.” That’s the truth, folks – but you really are flexible. You can’t just slack 24/7, but you have the luxury of picking your hours.

#69 – You Don’t Have Anyone to Answer To. Yeah, right. Ever had 30 clients all at once demanding that something be done on Friday, and it’s 4:30 Thursday afternoon?

#68 – You Get Paid Tons Per Hour. Yes – I get paid a lot per hour to do what I actually do. Unfortunately, for every hour I can bill, I normally have about 2 hours that I can’t bill – administrative stuff, sales, promotions, etc. So, divide my hourly into thirds and you’ll start to get the picture. If I could BILL 40 hours a week, I’d be a very happy man. Well – even happier than I am now.

#67 – You Get to Pick What You Work On. To an extent, that’s true. But when you’re first starting or when things get lean, you lose a lot of that ability to choose. Needing to pay an electric bill will surely make you think long and hard about taking that crappy menu redesign. Know what I’m saying?

#66 – You Get Paid to Be Creative All the Time. See #68. I don’t consider billing and sales as being creative. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not a huge fan of paperwork.

#65 – You Get Lots of Respect, Professionally. Yeah, sure. I get just enough respect from 10% of people who understand and value my skill to keep my psyche stoked enough that I don’t become suicidal when the other 90% of the people I come in contact with in the professional realm disrespect or belittle what I do. “Oh, you’re a graphic designer? Yeah – my nephew is, too. He’s got a fast computer and a copy of CS5!” I’ve actually had people say that to me. Tres Respectful!

#64 – You Can Work from Anywhere. Yes. This is true. But this can also be a drag. Ever tried to discuss sensitive business information or schmooze a client over the phone from a coffee shop? It’s louder than you think and the chairs aren’t always comfortable. Also – have you any idea how many graphic designers there are sitting in a coffee shop at any given time? I don’t want to give away my business secrets to “competition.” Working mobile is cool – but it’s really got a lot of downsides, too. And it can get expensive. But, I’m rolling in the dough, right?

#63 – You Don’t Have to Dress Up to Go to Work. No, I don’t. And it’s great. I can wear Black Flag tees and Chuck Taylors all day, every day. Chili stain on my shirt? BIG DEAL! Oh – until you run into a client who you’re trying to appear professional to. You might not have to wear a suit and a tie – but you can’t look like a complete bum. I know this from personal experience.

#62 – You Don’t Have to Deal with Co-Workers. You’re right. I don’t have to deal with the 10 other people in the office – I just have to deal with the hundreds of people that I’ve met and who have employed me. You might have to put up with some schmucks in your office, but at least you have a relatively finite number of people (and the problems attached to them) to deal with. I have hundreds of personalities to maneuver around. There’s something to be said about the regularity and predictability of the insanity you have to put up with, too.

#61 – No Boss. Wrong again. I’ve got a hundred bosses, plus I’m my own boss. And as a boss, I’m a complete jackass, too. Worse than your boss.

100 Perks of the Freelance Life #71-80

By • February 15, 2012 • advice, freelance, inspiration • Leave a comment

101 perks of freelance designDay three – and if you’re still with me, I applaud you. I’m not real sure I’m with me these days. I’ve been absolutely covered in work (yippee!!) and blogging has been a bit of an afterthought. I really do enjoy it, and the written word fascinates me to no end. There’s a power to words that can’t be understated. It’s one of the reasons that typography can be so powerful. But, I digress. (You expected me NOT to digress?)

Since I’m so slammed, I’ll try to focus these “perks” on ways to procrastinate. There’s really a lot of ways, and – let’s face it – we all procrastinate. I’ve found, though, that the ways in which you procrastinate determine the sustainability of the period of procrastination. See – if you’re doing something that actually benefits you, it’s not really procrastination, and you can keep it up longer and folks will leave you alone. This does not include playing the Xbox. Sorry.

When you’re a Freelancer, you can use your time to procrastinate in ways that ultimately can benefit your business/career. Thus, that procrastination is a perk. If you’re stuck behind a desk doing “The Man’s” work, your procrastination might benefit you, but you’re robbing time from “The Man.” And, well – theft isn’t cool.

So, here are a few procrastinational* perks for freelancers. (Complete and utter time wasting tomorrow. *Yes, I make up words.)

The Top 100 Perks of Freelancing 71-80:

#80 – Pinterest. This is actually pretty damned cool. If you subscribe to some like-minded folks, you can sit back and watch inspiration and reference material scroll by at the speed of broadband. Check mine, see some of my repins, and you’ll find some really cool folks. This can be a HUGE time suck – but it can also be a great place to find reference.

#79 – Sketchbooks. Ok, I know I keep on harping on this one. But – get yourself a sketchbook and start doodling. You don’t have to be an illustrator to have a sketchbook. But, I can get lost for hours on this. I can open up my sketchbook and start drawing the strange monsters in my imagination and the stranger monsters in the coffee shop around me and be lost for the better part of a day. The plus in this is that it clears out my brain and I’ve come up with the best ideas while doodling. Try it. It’s refreshing.

#78 – Twitter. Yeah – this is a perk available to everyone, but it’s a great outlet for Freelancers. You don’t have to do a bunch of selling or SEO/Search crap here. Just be yourself, connect to the like-minded and let it rip. You’ll attract folks by osmosis, and it’ll help you grow your business and brand. Plus, you stay up-to-date on what everyone’s up to, in to and what’s hot on the streets. Win!

#77 – FreelanceSwitch.com. In some ways, a competitor, but – credit where credit is due. A lot of great info and resources. Check ‘em out.

#76 – Daydreaming. Face it. This is a 100% must. If you’re not daydreaming, you’re in the wrong business. Just do it.

#75 – Blogging. This one is hard for a lot of folks – but if you do some sketchbooking and daydreaming, you’ll come up with ideas. You don’t have to be super eloquent – you just have to be consistent. This will benefit you in a bunch of ways: it’s a mind dump, it’s great search engine fodder, it gives clients a better view of who and what you are and it allows you to better articulate what makes you the right choice for the work you’re pursuing. Again, I know this is kind of “work” for a lot of folks – but it offers a huge return on your procrastination investment.

#74 – Facebook. No, I don’t mean chatting up old girlfriends or trying to find new ones. I’m talking about the business side of Facebook. You can approach prospective new clients in a more personal and less threatening way. Chat ‘em up and “consumer” their Facebook product. If you keep showing up, you’ll eventually be implanted in their psyche, and they’ll be that much more likely to hire you when the time comes for the services you offer. Name recognition, easier “cold calls,” and a lot more. Beneficial!

#73 – Googling Competition. See what they’re up to, see what you can “borrow” from them, and see where your strengths lie in comparison to theirs. You don’t want to rip them off, and I think there’s plenty of work to go ’round – but you can certainly learn from what they are – and what they’re not – doing well.

#72 – BoingBoing.net. This one can be a time-waster, too – but it has some wonderful info in a variety of areas. Good for a brain cleansing session, or for ideas and inspiration. My personal home page.

#71 – Taking a Shower Any Time of Day. This is one of the best perks. Lately, I mostly shower after hitting the gym, as I work largely mobile and I wind up a the gym at odd hours. This is exceedingly cathartic for me at any time of the day. Even if you’re already clean – there’s something about stepping away from all of the electronics and sketch books and phones and other nonsense that helps the ideas really flow. In the words of Perry Farrell “Water hits my neck, and I’m pissing on myself. Standing in the shower, thinking.” I don’t really recommend pissing on yourself – that’s just kind of gross. But, the rest of the sentiment is spot on. Get clean, get warm and get to thinking.

100 Perks of the Freelance Life #81-90

By • February 14, 2012 • freelance, funny, inspiration • Leave a comment

100 perks of freelancingAnother day, another post chock full of…

Well, it’s full of something. Because I’m full of something.

Today is Valentine’s day, so I’m going to focus on stuff that is Valentines’ related, heart-shaped, about love or things that are sexy. I’m nothing if not sentimental. And by sentimental, I mean black-hearted and spiteful. But, that’s a personal issue that we really shouldn’t get into here.

The Top 100 Perks of Freelancing 81-90

#90 – Harney & Son’s Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea. I don’t know for sure, but I’ve got my suspicions that this stuff has crack in it. It’s like drinking a hot cup of those little red candy hearts. I absolutely adore this stuff, and I’m a very, very staunch coffee guy. My son agrees that we could drink this stuff all day, every day. You can try it at Sbux inside Barnes & Nobles. You can also order it. HELL YES.

#89 – Craphound. I love these books. I’ve gotten all of the reprints, and I use them regularly. They’re great reference for all my conspiracy theory posters and doodles, plus they’re very punk rock. Break out a copy of Craphound and you’ll be the target of suspicion and strange glances. Sweet.

#88 – Loving my job. Yeah – I love this job. What’s not to love? Freedom, poverty and real control over the end product. Sure beats the pants off of bagging groceries.

#87 – Naps during business hours. I’ve got this quilt that my Aunt Elaine made for my wife and I. It’s this grand affair with squares and a million colors and hearts. It’s tattered and worn, but it’s warm and it’s my favorite. Give me that thing, around 3:00 in a sunny, quiet house and I’m a happy, sleepy boy. Sometimes, a 15 minute power nap can make the difference in having a good, productive afternoon and sitting around in a haze. Napping is a business investment. You have to be rested to be creative. Really – try it.

#86 – Cardio during business hours. Get your heart pumping, take a break from the electronics and get moving. I’m a big advocate of the gym (especially now that I’m getting older) and I know from personal experience that a healthy freelancer is a happy, productive and energized freelancer. Walking back and forth to the coffee pot is NOT the proper amount of exercise – unless your coffee pot is a couple of miles away and you run.

#85 – The love and support of my family. If you’re a freelancer with a family (oh – and I’m going to start posting more in that vein,) you know how good it feels to have your family behind you. If you’ve got that support and you work hard, you’ll succeed. If your wife isn’t happy with your career choice, you’re going to have a hard time. My wife and kids are awesome, and they put up with a lot for my “job.” Hope you have the same.

#84 – Love songs. This goes back to music and headphones and the ability to listen to music as much as you want without a manager looking at you angrily. Music feeds me all day, every day.

#83 – Quotes About Love. I post a lot of quotes on Twitter. One of my latest favorites: “Do what you love and tomorrow will pay the rent.” ~ Felix Sockwell

#82 – Twitter Love. Speaking of Twitter, I get a warm feeling when my Tweets get reTweeted. Viral communication is really very, very cool – and it can be a huge boon to freelancers. Tweet regularly – how else can you reach thousands (potentially millions) of people of like mind – FOR FREE? That’s worth loving, right?

#81 – Getting to see my babies grow up. With my first son, I was in the belly of the corporate beast. I loved my job, and I had a good time doing it – but I missed a lot of my son’s “firsts.” With my other 3, I’ve been able to be there for the big stuff. A lot of the time, I worked out of the house, so I could stop and interact and see what they were up to. Now, I work mobile, but I can generally show up when something cool is going on – so I get to see my kids’ stuff. That’s important, and it’s one of the biggest things I love about this “job.” My kids and my wife and our family is my heart…

100 Perks of the Freelance Life #91-100

By • February 14, 2012 • freelance, funny, inspiration • Leave a comment

freelance graphic designerI’m starting a list of reasons that Freelancing kicks ass. This is just as much a reminder to me as it is a list for general consumption. You see, I’m like everyone else (in a creepy Herman Munster-esque sorta way) in that I constantly fail to see how good I really have it. I cry and whine and mope about my job – but really, how freaking awesome is this? And still, I get my panties in a wad…

So, I’m making a list of the Top 100 – But really, there’s about a million.

Anyway, without further adieu:

The Top 100 Perks of Freelancing 100-90

#100 – The coffee is infinitely better.You get to pick what you drink, and I’ll bet you don’t pick anything close to office coffee. That stuff is essentially paint stripper and caramel color.

#99 – Pajamas are viable business dress. That’s right – I’m the Hugh Heffner of freelance graphic design.

#98 – Headphones. If I have to explain this, you’re not worthy of being a freelance designer.

#97 – Spending 3 Hours Reading About Milton Glaser is Kosher. It’s research – not slacking. This is a concept that I’ll be returning to very, very frequently. There is a big difference between screwing around online and actually looking for inspiration and resources. One is very important – the other is crucial to your business.

#96 – Your boss rarely looks over your shoulder. Actually, if you can look over your own shoulder, I’d love to meet both of you.

#95 – You can pick the people you work with. I’ve done the corporate thing enough to know that not everyone in the business world is a lovable eccentric like the folks on The Office. Some of them are downright evil. When you’re a freelancer, you can avoid the evil. If you’re stuck in an office with someone, avoiding them can be problematic, uncomfortable and dangerous.

#94 – Melt Banana  at ear-splitting level at 4:00 on a Monday. See #98, above.

#93 – The smell of fresh Moleskines. Man, I love my notebooks, and the scent of these babies is like nothing else. It’s freelance crack.

#92 – Dafont.com. If you’re a fontophile like me, it’s like wandering into a candy store on free day.

#91 – People watching. If you work mobile (I do, mostly,) you get to see some pretty great stuff. Weirdos, geeks, freaks and some genuinely funny stuff. When’s the last time you got to see someone break up with their boyfriend in a coffee shop? Me – last Thursday. It’s entertaining, and in a lot of ways – good research. You get to see what kind of crap the general public is up to. Oddly, I’ve found that most of the world isn’t a 40-something doofus who thinks The Young Ones is the funniest show. EVER.

Did I miss something? Contact me and tell me your goodies. If I use ‘em, I’ll give you credit. Backlinks YO!

Why Do You Do What You Do?

By • January 4, 2012 • advice, family • Leave a comment

the family freelancer“Bye, bye daddy,” followed by blowing a kiss.

Painting toes on 6 year old ballerinas.

Listening to bad jokes and reading comics by a 9 year old professional detective.

Fistfuls of Sour Patch kids and political discussions while playing Gears of War 3 with the most brilliant teen I’ve met.

Hot coffee with a hotter redhead – every morning.

I am a family man. 4 kids, married for almost 20 years. That’s what I work for – my family. I can go into my desire to do excellent design, but the bottom line is that I work the way I do to provide a good life for my children, my wife and our family. Granted, what I do isn’t physically demanding (other than having a flat spot on my ass) and I LOVE what I do. I’m incredibly blessed to be able to say that – but I would do whatever it takes to give the ones I love the best life I can. I don’t make a boatload of money, and I probably never will. I’m a bit too much of a daydreamer – but I put my nose to the grindstone when it’s time to provide.

I work hard, and I work a lot of hours doing stuff that I don’t necessarily want to do, but when I’m on my way out the door and my youngest notices and says “bye bye, daddy” and blows me a kiss, it reminds me what a beautiful, brilliant life I have – and makes me all the more resolute to do what I do to the best of my abilities.

What do you work for? Is it the money? That’s o.k. Do you work for the prestige? Great. Do you work to stay out of trouble? Do you work because you want to deliver excellence in your field? Define why you work..

If you define why you work, it makes it a lot easier on those days when nothing seems to go right. Those days when it’s 1 step forward and 2 steps back. You’re always going to have those days, but if you can keep in mind why you’re doing what you’re doing, it makes it all that much easier to digest the bad stuff and get through your day. When a client calls and hates the 3rd group of 40 logo roughs and wants something different but very much the same as what she saw on the back of a corn flakes packet, all I have to do is remember my baby’s words and my heart swells and I can trooper on.

Defining why you do what you do is sometimes more important than defining what you do. Define what you’re working for and keep a reminder with you – keep it on your desk, on your Facebook profile, on your desktop, in your pocket, on your dashboard – somewhere where you run across it frequently. When you see it, think about why you’re in the gig you’re in. It’ll make the dark days a little brighter. It’s an inspiration. It’s your muse.

We can all use a gentle nudge now and then – even if it comes from the mouths of babes. Find your muse.

(End proud daddy rant. Back to my normal cynicism and vitriol tomorrow.)

Hide Your Email from the Spamming Bastards…

By • January 2, 2012 • advice, blogging, free stuff, resources • Leave a comment

too much spam email? encode!If you’re like me, you get about 8 quadrillion spam emails a day. Unfortunately, when you design and develop websites for a living, you have to put your email address out there for those scraping, thieving robots that are out there, looking for your email address to add to databases that are sold to companies that help you enlarge stuff, see stuff you shouldn’t see or find cheap car insurance.

You want to make your email address accessible to the general public so that it’s easy to contact you (and send work and money,) but the minute you do that, you’re opening your box to a lot of spam – and I don’t mean the most awesome lunch product in the world.

One of the ways to avoid this is to encrypt your email address so that normal, real people can use your email, but the bastard will leave you alone. But – how?

Here’s how – Enkoder by Hivelogic. Just fill out the form, hit submit and you’ll get a code snippet that you can easily copy and paste into your HTML, Blog, what have you.

Now, your email address is protected and you can sleep a little easier. Real people with real browsers can contact you – but the robots can shove it.

You’re welcome.

Click Here to Get It (non-affilate link, no spam. really.)

Facebook Page Design & The Freelance Designer – Worth It?

By • December 27, 2011 • design, facebook, finding work, freelance, promotion, resources, social media • 2 Comments

facebook business page design asheville

Such a Cute Doggy. He Loves Facebook Pages!

I’ve been a freelancer for 14 years (or thereabouts) and there have been a lot of changes in that time. One of the biggest (obviously) is the whole social media thing. It’s been a game changer in a lot of ways. It’s a great way to connect with other freelancers, it’s good for promotion, it’s good for branding – and it’s good for wasting time.

But, at the same time, it can be another great revenue stream. It’s something that’s pretty easy to design around, and with some easy-to-use tools, you can do some really cool stuff.

While there are tons of social media platforms, one of the most configurable and usable is Facebook. It’s nice that it’s also become one of the most ubiquitous – and it’s opened up a good, viable new stream of work.

I started a new company (I love doing that) in AVLFB.com. It’s focused on my local area, Asheville, North Carolina – but if you wanted to go nationwide (and I have with this, to an extent) it’s a rich field, and really seems to be growing.

Now – this really isn’t a promo piece for my businesses. It’s just demonstrating that diversifying is a good thing, and that branching out into Facebook Page Design is an easy way to add a new stream of revenue.

The design is pretty straightforward (Photoshop, anyone?) and the build-out is pretty easy, too. I use a couple of tools – Lujure and North Social to do the actual uploading and build-out. Lujure is my tool of choice, as it’s simple and has a great feature set. You can add like buttons, contact forms, images, fans-only images and areas, etc. Just about anything you see the big boys do on Facebook can be done using Lujure. I use the big (read: expensive) package – but you can do it all for the $30 a month package. You pay more for non-branded pages with some other bells and whistles – but, plan and price accordingly.

I’ve built TONS of pages with (admittedly) very little marketing – and I’d bet you can hop on the bandwagon now, too. It’s a growing field, and with some good marketing – or upselling – it can be a real boon to the old pocketbook.

Check out AVLFB.com for some examples. You can also see some examples on my main site, or the Facebook pages for either: DesignAVL on Facebook and AVLFB on Facebook.

New All About Freelance Site Coming

By • July 15, 2011 • site announcements • 1 Comment

Yeah – I’ve been slack. But – cut me some slack. I’ve been trying to restructure my freelance business, become more profitable, and build a better base for my life and my family. Mission accomplished, mostly…

But – I’ve been remiss in getting this site back to where it should be. I’ll start posting a lot more – and not just the same kind of stuff. I’m going to take it to a more personal place. A little less of the same old same old, more weird stuff, more fun stuff, more STUFF. A new design, too. Better functions, easier navigation, yadda yadda yadda.

Maybe some recipes. Money saving ideas for all us cheap, broke freelancers. Who knows. You might dig it – you might not.

My name is James. I’m a father of four, a husband to one, and a freelance freak. Pleased to meet you – I hope you’ll enjoy a little slice o’ my life…

Bye bye, Elance…

By • August 30, 2010 • advice, finding work, freelance, resources • 1 Comment

Well – I’ve finally cut ties with Elance. I got kind of tired of paying monthly for something that was an afterthought and really not bringing in any sincere income. It’s not that it isn’t a good service, and there is certainly a place for it – but at this point in my career, I feel like my energies are best spent elsewhere.

Elance is a good place to find work, if you’re willing to work über-cheap. Being an American with 4 children and a wife to support, I can’t afford to give away logo design for $25 a pop. I’m a huge believer in ‘you get what you pay for’, and I think that Elance kind of bore that out. I would bid, get rejected, and have to move on to the next thing. And usually, the folks would go with the guy that has 45,000 “gigs” landed, and he’s made just slightly over $30,000 for those finished gigs. His stuff would be clipart, bad fonts, and strange effects.

That’s just not what I’m about, and I would wager that’s really just not what most freelance designers are about. Or, at least, not what they WANT to do.

So – I’m going to take that $20 a month, buy extra coffee, and work on polishing my illustration skills late into the night. I’m going to take that few hours a week I’d spend perusing the “want ads” on Elance and use it to further my business, cultivate leads and take care of the paying clients I already have.

I think it’s a better investment.

Now – for you, intrepid reader: Are you spending money and time trying to land semi-paying gigs? Would that time and money be better spent doing something – anything – better? Examine your workflow and billables and compare those to what your dream freelance business is.

Does it match? Are you just spinning wheels, wasting time? Are you generating a legitimate return on investment from Elance, iFreelance, Guru, Odesk, etc? Or – are you just wasting time – hoping that you’ll land a great gig?

Sure, those great gigs might be out there, hidden in the weeds, on job bid sites, but from my (and other designers’) experience, 95%+ of the gigs that are out there on those sites are there for one reason: PEOPLE WANT CHEAP. They don’t necessarily want great design, and they sure as hell don’t want to pay for a real professional. They just want cheap.

I don’t want to work cheap. I want to work, mind you – and if you NEED one of these job sites to keep afloat, I certainly understand. But – unless used judiciously, such sites and projects accomplish only cheapening your work, making your time less than valuable, and makes your work and your career less than it should be.

Ask yourself if the return is worth the investment, and if that return is really a “return.” It might not be.

The other issue is that you can become associated with the cheap guy. They clipart guy. Is that what you want to be known for? Cheap work? I’d doubt it. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’d say that most freelance designers, illustrators and creative types didn’t step out of the 40-hour-a-week world to pursue sub-par, cheap stuff.

I wanted to produce better design for EVERYONE. I didn’t want cheap. I don’t want cheap – and my clients don’t either.

So – examine where you’re at, whether these job sites are worth it – and possibly most importantly – is it the type of work you want?

I want bigger and better. I’d wager you do too.

So long, Elance, it’s been real…

Sort of.

lemonade…

By • February 3, 2010 • inspiration • Leave a comment

sent to me by a good friend.

please watch it. if you’re a freelancer, you’ve been given a blank page.

make it a masterpiece…

i am sorry…

By • February 3, 2010 • site announcements • Leave a comment

i’ve been remiss in writing. i’m sorry. i’ll do better.

really.

Great Graphic Photostream…

By • August 31, 2009 • inspiration • 1 Comment


Wim Crouwel

Originally uploaded by Alki1

Stumbled upon this gal’s photostream. From what I can gather, she’s a retired graphics and photography teacher somewhere in the Northwest US. Very cool stuff to see – a lot of “antique” design stuff. Amazing how good design stands up over time.

Check it out!

This Week, I’m Not Going to Do Anything that Sucks

By • August 10, 2009 • advice • 1 Comment

suckI’m a freelance graphic artist, and so many times, I find myself falling back into being freelance graphic production, or something else I don’t wanna be…

Now – that certainly beats the pants off being a freelance ditch digger or a full-time burger flipper. But damn it – that’s not why I started this gig. I wanted to spend my days doing things that don’t suck.

I’ve taken hiatuses before – from work, from t.v., from personal grooming – but this week, I’m taking a hiatus from doing work that sucks and that goes against what I want to do with my time. I’m worth more than that, and you are too.

I’m not saying that I’m the second coming of the design messiah – what I’m saying is that my time is better spent actually advancing my art and my career. I’ve done enough boring design work, enough production-level stuff in my life  and I’m purposing myself to find more interesting, more fulfilling, more important work to fill my week.

If we all had our druthers, we’d be working on high design every moment of every business day. No more “Yeah, I can do that” type stuff that we know will pay the electric bill. No more stuff that we can bang out quick, make a buck or two.

So – I’m declaring a “No Suck” week.

I’ve got lots of projects and clients that need my attention – and I’m sure you do, too. Inevitably, we all wind up taking some projects that are beneath us or that just plain suck.

There are a few ways of looking at sucky projects:

  1. The work doesn’t really suck, our attitude towards it or our concepts suck. I’ve found that a lot of projects that I think suck don’t really suck – it’s just the way I’m looking at it. I want to be more of an illustrator and artiste – and the projects that to me suck the worst are the ones that don’t allow me to pick up paper and pencil. Truth is that I CAN pick up paper and pencil on damned near any project. So – I do. If you have a project that you’re certain blows – try looking at it from another perspective. Try to inject your perfect working scenario into it. Try to make that project into a dream project. You might take a little more time doing it than you originally expected, but heck – you might just have some fun, and you will probably end up with a killer end product. That never sucks.
  2. The project sucks. Just plain sucks. We’ve all had ‘em, and we’ve all actively pursued them. You can do some adjustment to suckitude with your approach and work ethic, but there are projects that just suck. Not much you can do about it other than avoid, turn down or return the project to the sender. That takes a lot of fortitude, especially if you’re in need of dough. But – how much is our integrity worth? How much is our sanity worth? Certainly a lot more that $15 an hour…
  3. “Thrill of the hunt” type projects. The “Hey – I landed 14 new projects today – and it’s not even noon!” type projects. Never mind that they’re designing lousy projects for lousy clients at a lousy rate of pay. WE LANDED ‘EM! Those usually really do suck, as you have a tendency to go outside what you’re comfortable with – either monetarily or scope-wise. RUN! RUN FAR AWAY! Quantity does not substitute for quality. Work-or-other-wise.
  4. Unethical projects. Don’t do them. Define your code and stick to it. If you’re ashamed of something you’re doing, you really shouldn’t be doing it. Thursday Bram wrote an excellent article on that here. I don’t need to say more…
  5. Projects that are beneath you. I’ve been doing the design thing for many, many years. I don’t need to take entry level junk projects. It only leads to frustration and distracts me (or you) from the ultimate goal, which is to grow a killer design career. Don’t do it. Times can be tough, but again – what’s your integrity and sanity worth?

So – how do you avoid these sucky projects? Test each project with this list before you take it:

  1. Does it have the room (in the budget or in the scope) for me to have some fun and inject my own work into it?
  2. Is it ethical?
  3. Is it something I can believe in?
  4. Does it pay enough? (Yes – this is a legitimate concern. You have to get paid properly for your time)
  5. Is the client a decent enough person?
  6. Will I want to put it in my portfolio once completed?
  7. Will it take too long to see completion?
  8. Does it help further my goals or my career?

If you can’t answer in the affirmative on each question, you’re running into the distinct possibility of suckitude. If you’ve already taken the project, you can still test it. If it doesn’t pass muster, give it back to the client if you haven’t wasted too much of their time.

If you can’t answer each question with a “Yes,” examine your motives for considering the project. If it’s still worth it, take the project. If, after all the questions and the examination, you still take the project – you have no reason to complain. It’ll either be a good project, or you just need to be quiet and do it…

Of course, there are projects that look sucky to begin with and turn out to be fun. Likewise, there are projects that sound great and wind up killing a good time. But – if you do your homework to begin with, you can usually expect a lot more and a have a better time.

Try it for a week. You might just have a great week. You might just turn out some great work. If nothing else, it’ll give you a little better understanding of what you do and why you do it.

Now, back to non-sucky work.

(Oh – and the image isn’t mine. It’s just one of the best record covers ever…)

LilyGiggle.com Shoes

By • August 7, 2009 • our work • 1 Comment




LilyGiggle.com Shoes

Originally uploaded by independentstudios

A little outdated on the logo, but the work is fresh, and my wonderful wifey has been busy sewing shoes for wee little ones…

Check out lilygiggle.com to see/buy/drool more.

(yes, I am shameless about promoting my lovely beady b’s shoes)

Wayne Gretzky, Pins2Win Logo

By • August 5, 2009 • our work • Leave a comment

One of my logos with “The Great One.” Not really an example of my best work, but heck – fame is fame. And if it happens to be associated with hockey – all the better!

Online File Conversion – Zamzar…

By • July 29, 2009 • free stuff • Leave a comment

zamzar-logoIf you’re like me, you get disks full of videos that folks want placed on websites – and they’re never in the right format.

Them: “You mean you can’t make those videos in RealVideo stream and look like a million bucks?”

Me: “Um, I, uh, well – no…”

Enter Zamzar. While it’s not perfect, it is free (again, my favorite price) and it’s easy to use, with pretty good results.

You simply browse to the files you want to convert (in my case, a lot of mp4′s that needed to be made into flv,) pull down a menu to what your end needs are, enter your email address, click convert and wait until they send you an email with the download links. Sweet.

They don’t accept every file type (although I have yet to find one they don’t) and the free version only allows 100mb per upload, but you can get a lot done with this little goodie. Plus, it’s free. Did I mention free? I like that!

There is a paid option, but I have yet to really need it.

It’s online and it does it’s thang in the background, which is good for multitasking.

Check it out at zamzar.com.

Free Document Friday – The Proof Sheet

By • July 25, 2009 • free stuff • 1 Comment

fdfIt’s back! FREE DOCUMENT FRIDAY! I know you’ve missed it…

Anyhoo – today’s installment, a lovely little PSD that gives you a little more muscle and protection against the dreaded “my cousin can knock that logo off for $3″ attack. It’s my standard proof sheet for logos, web designs, etc. It’s got plenty of disclaimers, and the “official” nature of the language should help discourage knock-offs. If you’ve never had it happen to you, you’re lucky. Keep working this job long enough, and I’m sure copyright infringement (or intellectual property theft) will rear it’s ugly head.

Simply place in your logo, the name of your business, and you’re ready to show off the roughs without getting roughed up.

Click HERE to download…

Enjoy! Have a great weekend!

I Hate Free Buttons, Circa 1987

By • July 24, 2009 • Rants & Raves • 1 Comment

The scene: Graphics class with Mr. Michaels, Clyde A. Erwin High School. “Career Day,” or something. We had the brilliant idea of making free buttons for people, while they waited. I guess this was to demonstrate the glory of a career in graphic design.

After the 8 millionth button, Mr. Steve and I decided it would be cool and punk to make a button that says what the button says.

Oddly enough, we weren’t terribly popular in high school…

BrandsOfTheWorld.com Gets a Makeover – Free Corporate Logos!!!

By • July 23, 2009 • free stuff, our work • Leave a comment

Brands of the World got a makeover – a much needed makeover.

What is it? Well – if you’re ever stuck laying out something as exciting as an ad sheet or t-shirt for a corporate event, a poster, or anything and you find that you need the latest logo for Coca-Cola, Brands of the World has it. And, it’s got it in vector format. Free. SWEEEEEEEEET…

(Plus, if you’re like me and you like to make fun of corporate logos and twist them into something horribly juvenile or punk rock, you’re covered!)

No need to register, no flaming hoops to jump through – just good quality, vector logos of the majority of the major brands and companies, plus a lot you’ve probably never heard of.

Check ‘em out – they’ve pulled my biscuits out of the fire many times. When a client say “Oh, yeah – we’ve got the Wachovia logo in high res!” and they send you a GIF from the website, turn to Brands of the World. They’ve got it.

You’re welcome!

Freelance Time Tracking – with iClockr (sorry, Windoze folks…)

By • July 22, 2009 • advice, computer stuff • Leave a comment

iclockrUsually, I try to keep things platform independent (even though Macs are obviously superior in every way,) and if I mention software, I attempt to keep it neutral.

But – I’ve found an app that is so handy and simple and FREE, I just had to share.

I’ve always been one of those guys that just sort of ballparks time when billing or quoting, and old habits die hard. But, after my 4-hour-a-day epiphany, I decided I’d go for a few weeks and really track the amount of time I spend on projects. Do logos REALLY take me 8 hours? Does a WordPress website take 5? I had guesstimates, but that’s not going to cut it when you try to track every minute of the day.

Enter iClockr from Kedisoft. (and no, I’m not getting any kickbacks!)

It’s a free piece of software, and it’s quickly become indispensable to me.

Using iClockr is über-simple. You set up categories of work (design, communications, blogging, wasting time, etc) and then go in and add individual jobs or clients under those categories. Once that’s done, you’re ready to really start tracking your time. When you start working on a client’s job, before you open the client folder (you DO keep things organized, right?) you click on that client’s name or job, click “start timer” and work away.

iClockr sits in the background, being totally unobtrusive, and times your work. It doesn’t stop automatically, but it’s as easy to stop as it it to start. Get a phone call? Stop the timer and hit the communications tab and start the call. Need to go to the john? Stop/start.

It’s amazing how many projects I have that I spend 5 minutes on every day – but I spend 5 minutes 30 times a day. That can really add up. My brain can’t keep it all in order, but iClockr will.

You’ll be amazed at how little time you spend working on some projects and how much time you spend on others. It can help you change your pricing structure, and it can help you stay productive, especially if you have a daily nut of hours to meet.

It doesn’t print out invoices (you can tie it to Invoice 3 and do that, but Invoice 3 isn’t free) and it’s Mac only, so I’m sorry for all you Windows people out there. It has weekly/monthly/yearly reports by client, so it’s a snap to go back through and bill clients for ACTUAL time. Kinda cool.

The other thing that it does is help you be more realistic about how much time it takes you to do something. That helps in a couple of ways – it lets you restructure your rates, and it also allows you to see what projects are truly the most profitable. If you know what’s more profitable, you can gear your business towards that type of thing. If it’s a time-sucking black hole (we all have them,) you can steer clear of those things in the future.

iClockr also helps you see which of your clients are eating holes in your day and keeping you from being profitable. It also will show you how much time you’re wasting watching The Big Lebowski or playing around on Kongregate.

Knowing where your time goes is crucial to freelancing – not just for billing, but for efficiency and business planning.

iClockr – it’s got some downsides, but the upsides are HUGE, and the price is right.

So now you know. And knowing is half the battle… (sorry, getting giddy over the G.I. Joe movie. Sue me.)