© 2008 Independent Studios
Jun
17
Your clients expect you to be available - and you should be. You should answer the phone. You should answer emails. You should pick up on the occasional instant messenger buzz.
But how available should you really be? What does availability do to your productivity? What does that availability do to your life in general? Your [...]
Jun
9
(hint, hint)
I colleague of mine (check her out here) clued me in to this the other day - custom engraved moleskin sketchbooks at engraveyourbook.com.
I’ve mentioned before that I use sketchbooks and paper and pencil and pens extensively, and I think it’s a good idea for everyone out there. Wether it’s just for notes or for [...]
Jun
4
There is so much noise these days.
It’s everywhere. Visual and audio noise is pervasive, invasive and omnipresent. It’s hard to get a moment of real quiet. Ears and eyes are constantly bombarded.
Having a quiet space to work is important for a few reasons.
It makes it easier to concentrate: That ALWAYS makes it easier to work.
It [...]
May
29
As I think I’ve mentioned, I’m an old-school guy in a lot of ways. I like to draw, I like paper, I keep notes on pads and sketches in sketchbooks.
I also keep a clipboard with a quad-ruled pad on it, with all my projects and sub-projects listed in no particular order. I have a couple [...]
Mar
31
One of the worst parts of the job could really be one of the best tools you can have.
Client criticism and comments.
In the world of design, it’s really easy to become sort of insular and only see what YOU think is good design. Just because it’s something you dig, and something that other designers will [...]
Mar
7
Well - we’re moving the whole office, and I’ve come to realize a couple of things:
1. I have a lot of stuff.
2. I wish I had less stuff.
So, to that end, I’ve gotten rid of a lot of things I don’t need in the office. Old papers, useless books and instruction manuals. Old documentation from [...]
Nov
13
There seems to be a lot of musical symbolism out there, so I thought I’d take a well-known album, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and apply bits of it to the freelance designer’s life…
Today, we’ll deal with some aspects of “Time.”
I’ve been scattered for a few weeks, and it’s been good and bad. [...]
Oct
16
When I first started freelancing so many moons ago, I got a piece of advice that is really pretty good. It has nothing to do with finances or design. Nothing to do with software or time management or finding work.
The advice? Get up, shower and get dressed like you’ve got meetings that day - whether [...]
Oct
6
Time management is crucial to the success of a freelance business.
I’ll be posting some links and software solutions, but in the meantime - let’s talk nuts n’ bolts of time management.
I sit in front of the computer far too much, and being sort of old-school, the analog time management system (read: pieces of paper) work [...]
Oct
2
Building an effective, hard-selling portfolio is a must for all designers, and there’s a science to building a portfolio.
In many ways, your “book” needs to be very much that - a book of your experience and style. You want to build it in a way that makes sense, is attractive and is easy to “read.”
You [...]