As part of a larger interview, designer Rob Giampietro, a principal at Project Projects, offered 10 thoughtful pieces of advice for designers who are contemplating starting a business.
1. An untended garden quickly becomes a field: plant what you want to grow.
2. Have partners, but don’t do the same things: make sure you both do something you enjoy.
3. Hire people for what they can teach you, not for what you can teach them.
4. Everyone should be able to take criticism: creative trust is built on critical honesty.
5. Design is only one part of the puzzle: savor the discussion, development, debate, and dissemination of your work just as much as the making of it.
6. Goals may be arbitrary, but not having them will be maddening when there’s no one else to tell you if you’re doing a good job: set 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year goals at the outset.
7. When you take your favorite clients out to lunch, it’s a good time to propose what you’d like to do together next.
8. Knowing more designers doesn’t necessarily translate into having good clients: spend your development time wisely.
9. Be known for something: it helps.
10. You will never work harder than when you’re building something: find balance. Sometimes the best way to solve a creative problem is to take a vacation or read a book.
via Swiss Miss
Hard to believe, but today launches the 30-DAY COUNTDOWN to HOW Design Live — and if you’re like us, you have a paper chain at your desk and you’re eagerly removing one link at a time as we make final plans for Boston.
Excited? That hardly describes that atmosphere around HOW HQ. And I’m just as geeked to be attending the Creative Freelancer Conference.
If you’ve been to a HOW event before, you know it’s a bit like summer camp: You connect with a bunch of new friends, stay in touch over the year, and then meet up again in person. I’m especially looking forward to seeing my HOW Conference buddies from years past — and also to meeting new people.
For those who tend toward the introverted side (and I include myself in that group), it can be a little overwhelming to be among thousands of energetic and interesting creative people. But I’ve learned over the many years I’ve attended HOW events that if I put myself out there — introduce myself, accept invitations to go grab lunch or dinner, get out of my shell a little bit — then I’m rewarded with tons of great connections.
Want to get started on making those connections THIS WEEK? Then check out the list of who’s attending HOW Design Live. Find people from your area, or designers who work in the same industry or have other common touch points with you. Scroll through the guest list, and you’ll find creatives from universities, nonprofits, corporations, manufacturers. You’ll find designers who work solo, in house or for firms small and large. Make a list of people you want to meet.
Of course, you’ll miss out on all the fantastic opportunities at HOW Design Live for connecting with your creative peers if you haven’t registered. And you still have 30 days to do so. Actually, we recommend jumping on that soon, as some sessions and extras like the Studio Tours will fill up in advance.
Haven’t signed up yet? Register now for HOW Design Live, and start counting down the days!
Creative Director
Peter Mayer, New Orleans, LA
Looking for a creative director job? You can join this New Orleans-based agency if you have digital and consumer technology experience.
A rapidly growing, fiercely independent Deep South agency seeks additional creative leadership. We need a high-energy Creative Director who will help in leading the development of digital creative concepts + integrated marketing campaigns. The selected candidate will work closely with the Vice President/Group Creative Director in creating + executing big ideas for a fast-paced technology brand.
We want a CD who gets it. We are looking for a creative leader who can balance targeted, results-focused, big thinking + engage innovative uses of digital technology + trends.Someone who can elevate, captivate, generate + inspire. A smart thinker who’s risen through the ranks a little faster than most, because of his/her pure, innate talent + leadership skills.
We need a CD who has the human + management skills to help nurture a team of 25-plus hard-working, passionate, talented people: a team whose work ethic is blended with a true sense of camaraderie. Must have digital prowess, strong content reel + sense of confidence along with a presence that isn’t easily confused with ego.
You need:
- Recognized expertise in interaction design, e-commerce, email marketing and online advertising
- Comprehensive knowledge of platforms and technologies for the digital channel
- Ability to support the talent, efforts + vision of the Vice President/Group Creative Director
Be ready to:
- Collaborate with internal stakeholders on creative projects, provide strong communication, management + strategic value while delivering high-impact ideas
- Assist the Vice President/Group Creative Director in elevating the work + motivating the team to push the limits of smart work
- Live, work + play in a city known for inventing the very first cocktail
Qualifications:
- 4-plus years agency experience in a creative director or associate creative director role
- College degree in fine arts, design or related field
- Must have strong creative development + management talents
- Heavy creative ability in all mediums, especially heavy digital + broadcast
- Telecom or consumer technology experience a plus
Looking to hire a designer? Post your job listing on HOWdesign.com.
Reserving Workplace Lunches
Most working adults consume an inadequate breakfast or simply skip breakfast entirely. A nutritional lunch is often the most important meal of the day. A well-balanced lunch improves
health and significantly increases workplace productivity. Lunches should be consumed free of distractions and away from the primary workplace when practical. Although often restricted
by individual job requirements, at least 30 minutes a day should be reserved for lunch each workday.
A. In an effort to reduce stress, discussions with co-workers concerning the workplace are prohibited during lunch breaks.
B. Lunch items stored in a locker or on a personal desk shall always be considered reserved.
C. Lunch items stored in a workplace refrigerator or on a lunchroom table or in other common areas shall be considered shared unless clearly annotated with a name or initials.
D. Lunch items stored without a name or initials in any workplace commons area may be consumed by Melvin at any time throughout the workday.
- All workplaces have at least one “Melvin.” Melvin is the fictitious name assigned to the workplace food scrounger. Melvins can be easily identified as slightly overweight, politically vocal and with a very distinct, although not necessarily unpleasant, body odor.
BOR 12-16. Lunch items stored in common areas of the workplace shall be considered
shared unless clearly annotated with a name or initials.
From The Book of Rules: The Right Way to do Everything, a handbook on modern etiquette covering everything from proper toilet paper placement to acceptable pimple popping practices to authorized use of wind chimes.
Web Designer
Francis Ford Coppola Presents, Napa, CA
Looking for design jobs in California? You could find yourself doing web design for a famous Napa winery!
Francis Ford Coppola Presents is seeking a full-time Web Designer for its Napa-based wine company. This position is responsible for designing new websites and day-to-day visual design updates for all company websites.
Candidates should have a BA/BS in Web Design, Graphic Design, or equivalent experience and 3-5 years web design experience, XML, JavaScript, AJAX, W3C standards and cross-browser design, strong understanding of graphic design (type, color, layout, composition, motion graphics) and a proven history of designing interactive materials that are built using a CMS. Mobile and social media experience highly desirable. Demonstrated expertise in Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and ActionScript. Fluency in HTML, CSS.
We expect the successful candidate to demonstrate expertise in the following areas:Executes web designs based on business requirements, information architecture, and approved design concepts.
- Create mock-ups and rapid prototypes using Photoshop and/or Flash for website designs, ecommerce pages, etc. for reviews, presentations and storyboards to show stakeholders and developer how design concepts will function in final production.
- Develop design directions that reflect new, fresh and exciting approaches, a clear organization of information, and the willingness to take risks.
- Produce designs that demonstrate expertise in page layout, graphic design, and user interaction design.
Looking to hire a designer? Post your job listing on HOWdesign.com.
On May 23, hundreds of top creative directors will meet with thousands of aspiring young creatives in a fast-paced evening of advice, networking and recruitment called Portfolio Night 10. Getty Images is an event partner, and the company’s head of content, Andrew Delane,y offers these five tips for aspiring photographers, most of which can be applied to any type of creative portfolio:
Top 5 Tips for Having a Successful Photographic Portfolio
- Narrow down your subject matter to a topic you are passionate about. Don’t be a ‘jack of all trades’ but be a master of one or a few. Be decisive, as this is the first step in defining your voice as a photographer as you work toward creating a signature style.
- Think of yourself as a ‘composer’ of images that have a clear theme or concept and that work together to produce distinctly different variations on a framework. It is all about creating a visually cohesive, fully investigated body of work.
- Always ensure your work is technically sound and that your technical choices deliberately reinforce the message or purpose behind your content. The time and energy that you invest in mastering specific photographic approaches will pay off over time.
- Presentation counts. Big time. A good edit can help your work shine brighter and look more professional amongst the competition, especially in a world where images are ubiquitous. Ask a trusted colleague, friend or editor with visual acumen to assist you in editing your work down to the best images.
- Be polite, punctual and, most important, receptive to constructive criticism. In the end, you are in the driver’s seat for your work, so think hard about the advice you are given. Ultimately, It’s all about making your work better and more effectively communicating to your given target audience.
Portfolio Night, presented by The Art Directors Club, is happening in nearly 20 cities across the globe. Find one near you.
Most businesses would love to grow their brands by jumping into new product categories. But it’s a lot harder than putting the same logo on a different package—no matter how nice the design work. Some brand extensions rack up huge sales, but countless others fall flat or fail all together.
So how do you help your clients or bosses pick winning brand extensions? Know the 10 surefire ways to grow your brand. These proven strategies are based on a study we conducted of 500 successful brand extensions, so you’ll have no problem impressing the MBA types at your next client presentation.
1. Shift the Form
Think of brands as shape-shifters. A product can tap into these superhero powers by changing its method of delivery, preservation, store placement or ingredient profile. Just one example: Taco Bell Salsa at the corner grocery store.
2. Transfer a Component
Many brands are known for one key thing. A flavor, ingredient, scent or color. And this component can be desirable in other product categories. Crayola followed this strategy by bringing creative color from its crayons to soap paints, sidewalk chalk and more.
3. Transfer a Benefit
It’s the same concept as number two—except you’re transferring a benefit. Arm & Hammer baking soda removes odor, and the brand uses that same benefit to sell everything from cat litter to deodorant.
4. Transfer Special Expertise
People aren’t the only ones who can be experts. The Food Network is known for its culinary skills, and this expert reputation gives the network’s branded cookware a competitive advantage.
5. Sell Companion Products
There’s probably something people are already using with your client’s brand. So why not sell those companion products, too? Mr. Coffee offers customers both coffee makers and coffee.
6. Leverage Customer Base
You’ve built up a good relationship with customers. Why not take it to the next level? Moms see Fisher-Price as trustworthy, and this fact helped the toy brand expand into diapers.
7. Leverage Lifestyle
Lifestyle brands help consumers define themselves, and this identity often crosses product categories. Jeep means outdoor adventure, a concept that sells tents and bicycles just as well as off-road vehicles
8. Leverage Celebrity Expertise
Not every celebrity is known for looks. Some actually qualify as experts, and this special knowledge can help sell related products. Emeril Lagasse shows off his cooking prowess on TV, and those skills boost sales of Emeril Cookware.
9. Leverage Celebrity Lifestyle
Almost everyone wants to live like a celebrity—at least for a day. Paris Hilton’s socialite, party girl ways make her perfume line appealing to people who want to live like Paris.
10. Change the Game
You can turn your brand into a game changer in two words or less. Modifier words help you shift a weak or tired brand into a new category. Adding the phrase “intensive care” helped Vaseline sell lotion without shoppers being turned off by greasy memories of the original Vaseline product.
Want to learn more? Read our full report: Extendonomics: 10 Laws of Successful Brand Extensions.
John Parham is President and Director of Branding at Parham Santana, The Brand Extension Agency. He has spent the past 25 years developing big picture strategies for his client’s branding, licensing and seasonal programs. He also contributes to Parham Santana’s Extendonomics blog and AMEX OPEN Forum.
For more branding resources, visit My Design Shop. Identify by Sagi Haviv, Tom Geismar and Ivan ChermayeffAuthored by legendary designers Tom Geismar and Ivan Chermayeff, and their partner, rising star Sagi Haviv (called a “logo prodigy” by The New Yorker) Identify is the ultimate authoritative examination of the process, approach, and principles that result, time and time again, in brand identity design with the potential to become iconic, and thus succeed in representing a brand in the mind of the public for generations. |
Pre-event workshops at the HOW Design Conference give designers the opportunity for in-depth training on all kinds of different topics, from logo design to typography to brainstorming. Be sure to schedule your travel to HOW Design Live so you can take advantage of a morning or afternoon 3-hour workshop on Friday, June 22—see the full workshop agenda here.
Recently, one of the scheduled HOW Conference workshops got a new title, to better reflect its content. I spoke with presenter Peleg Top to get a handle on what he’s planning for the session. Peleg has long advocated bringing a creative approach to running your business (not just to your design work), and that’s the foundation for his message. Here’s how Peleg described his design business workshop, From Passion to Profit, on Friday, June 22 from 9:00 a.m. to noon:
It’s a marketing workshop, but a different kind of marketing workshop. I come from a different angle, one that’s much more organic and creative. Most of us don’t create our own vision for marketing—we write a plan or copy what others are doing, like sending an e-newsletter. But it’s hard to sustain your marketing efforts when you’re not loving it.
I’ll help attendees create a marketing plan they can get excited about, one that’s based on who they are and what’s unique about them. We’ll talk about building a business effortlessly, about connecting to your passion and applying that to the business part of your business. We’ll break out of what you should be doing and create a plan that you want to do.
In addition to the From Passion to Profit design business workshop, here’s a peek at the rest of the day’s workshop lineup:
Morning Workshops—9:00 a.m. to noon
Make a World: Solving Design Challenges Through Games
Presenter: Sunni Brown
Learn to use techniques from gaming (and basic office supplies!) to tap into new creative territory, to facilitate brainstorming and problem-solving and to maximize your team’s creative output. You don’t have to be a game enthusiast to participate—just come ready to explore and learn.
Anatomy of a Logo: Creating Effective Designs Under a Looming Deadline
Presenter: Von Glitschka
Ever-popular presenter Von Glitschka will serve as the client, as he walks you through the process of creating a brand identity—in just 3 hours. You’ll learn to improve your creative process and use limitations to inspire ideas.
Effective Brainstorming for Designers
Presenter: David Sherwin
David Sherwin wrote the book—literally: Creative Workshop—on boosting your creativity under trying circumstances. This high-energy creative workshop will give you new approaches and techniques for solving design problems alone and with colleagues.
Afternoon Workshops—2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Change the Way You Think About Type
Presented by Dr. Shelley Gruendler
Think you know about type? Think again. Dr. Shelley Gruendler will explore the rules of type (and when to break them), and lead you through a hands-on project so you can experiment with type in new ways.
Brand Development
Presented by David Holston
Branding is the No. 1 business topic designers need to understand, and this is the training you didn’t get in design school. Learn from a brand guru about how to discover a brand’s vision, understand audience perceptions and better represent the brand through design.
Making Strategy a Valuable Part of Your Process
Presented by Rochelle Seltzer
Design without strategy is ineffective—so how do you identify the strategy behind any creative project? Rochelle Seltzer will walk you through the steps of defining a design strategy, and you’ll work in small groups to create the strategy for a fictional client project.
Learn more about the in-depth design, creativity and business workshops at HOW Design Live, and register for a session today.
Herbie is a new display font created by Infamous Foundry, a Norwegian type foundry specializing in fonts for headlines, logos and everything above the body. This homage to Herb Lubalin (read more) is a geometric font constructed with circles and lines. It can be purchased for $39.
Herbie is a uppercase display font with alternates on every character (lowercase), based only on circles and geometric lines. Herbie is inspired by, as the name might indicate, Herb Lubalin’s work and the decorative style and kerning of his era.
via Grain Edit
Graphic Designer
Brandever, Vancouver, BC
Looking for graphic design jobs in Vancouver? Brandever is looking for a packaging designer.
Brandever, a brand strategy and design firm, is searching for a talented Graphic Designer to join our team in Vancouver, BC.
Candidature Requirements:
- +5 years of insightful, effective design work experience
- an infatuation with packaging design
- superb written and verbal communication abilities
- great collaboration skills
- solid interaction abilities
- a strong work ethic
- boundless multitasking abilities
- expert level Photoshop, Illustrator, and MAC skills
Looking to hire a designer? Post your job listing on HOWdesign.com.
HOW Brand
@HOWbrand
