Djs42s:There We Are!

Artists,Designers and all Creatives admit it:You’re A Business Man(Person)!

djs42s — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:57:30 +0000

I recently asked a question on LinkedIn of a design related group,”Do you think you would be more successful financially if you had taken business courses in art school?”I ask this question because of the many forums on design where I read about the age old problem of young designers being underpaid,asking about how to get clients,should you do free work,why use a contract? etc.The thing that gets me is most design schools still don’t teach a basic business course to the many designers who crowd the hundreds of schools dreaming of financial success while looking down their noses at the painters,sculptors and other denizens of art school,because they are learning a “practical creative skill”.Thousands of design books have been published over the years and there are woefully few that cover the basics of being a successful professional designer.There are a great many books that talk about portfolios, style,color,type,production and software.Many case studies on how a design was created to solve a clients visual design problem.Just not enough telling you how they keep the light bill paid,budgeting,marketing,taxes,sales, customer relations and managing yourself or employees. In todays world it is amazing designers still believe as artists they can learn the business end on the run.I took business courses after I left school.It saved me from assuming my design work was all I needed to succeed in the commercial world of American design.A good basic business design course would justify the high cost of tuition that goes with learning to be a designer! Ask yourself how many of the people you graduated with are still in design.I bet talent wasn’t the reason they left the field.

The Original PC of theTypesettingWorld!

djs42s — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 04:00:29 +0000

On a muggy late spring afternoon way back in 1976,I trooped along with the rest of the senior design co-op students on a trip to the St.Louis Post Dispatch newspapers compositing room to see “HOT” type being set manually with a Linotype machine.We laughed and joked about how messy and grimy the room was where at least a half dozen Lino machines sat, clanking and making a racket creating type slugs for the galleys of the next days paper.We were seeing the last of the dinosaurs up close, vibrating with heat and a jangling noise that made your teeth grind.

Each student had their name set by a grimy old man who looked liked he stepped out of a frame of the movie, The Front Page.He handed me the slug he typed of my name and it was still warm,the mix of lead and zinc hardened and I truly began my love of type at that moment.Kickstarter.com has a project to raise funds for the editing of a documentary about the first PC of the type world.Checkout the video and if you love type give’em at least a dollar!

“Linotype: The Film” Interview Excerpts from Linotype: The Film on Vimeo.

The Invisible Gorilla Woman

djs42s — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:54:31 +0000

Observation and creating visual patterns to attract attention to messages is the designers job.Developing the strategies to do this helps us make the gorilla visible to audiences.Take a look at the video to see how a stated goal will preclude people from seeing the whole picture.http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/08/19/now-you-see-it-cathy-davidson/

Beyond the Ancient & the Year 2000

djs42s — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 06:29:28 +0000

I find now I am more dependent on my computer.I’m freelancing and everything you need is on the web.Software,advice you name it,I sound like a newbie,but I can’t believe everything I learned in design school takes place on a computer.The whole design department in the brick and mortar school I attended would be a few megabytes of information on the web now.Ahh the wonders of technology.I have found a site for every aspect of design on the web.I have to laugh at how much time I used to spend running around
to do the projects I create now.Just the cost of the gas would be exorbitant.The client,the suppliers,the art store are all in my computer!

The one thing that isn’t there, is my mind.I still have to make the idea come to life.I still have to think a problem through and solve the visual puzzle.The thing I like about the web and it’s attendant software, is I can visualize a design almost as finished art.Finished art,sounds so antiquated as a term for completed designs.I miss the tactile sketching I use to do to develop my ideas.I still draw but not as many thumbnails as I used too.I miss doing that.I must go back to it because I have found better solutions when I sketch.

Designing on the software apps does bring out the visual cliches.I find I have to edit myself more when using software.The other thing I find I have to do is push beyond the early solutions to get to the answer to the visual problem.The software makes things look so good!

The other cool thing about the apps is you can get lost in FX.You can do things with images that would have blown the budget away back in the old school days.I have to allow myself that luxury of using FX and not thinking like I did in the old days that the production department won’t let me do this or that and I have to be conservative with color,type,screens and photos.

I sometimes wish I had been born later because the technology costs so much less and the end results are so much better than in ancient times.

Understanding People helps you understand Business!

djs42s — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 01:03:24 +0000

Simon Senek talks about the relationships we all share as people.

Every customer,employee and corporation is made up 100% of people.

To succeed in business be who you are.People who share common beliefs

and values will attract one another allowing positive personal and

business transactions.

Curious Finance

djs42s — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 01:31:24 +0000

On the CBS Evening News, the talking head said they predict the economy won’t rebound for another three years? I have lived long enough to see a number of dips and booms in the national economy.The 70’s were stagnant,the industrial belt was beginning to rust, yet jobs came back by the time I graduated from college in 1976.The dismantling of the industrial economy was slowly gathering speed.The Service economy was starting to sprout,digital innovationwas sending out seedlings on the air.The air was changing,getting better because manufacturers were being fined for polluting the skies.In 1980,I read the word innovation as headline copy for a full page ad and brochure I was designing.I had never seen the word used in that context. Innovation! It was a machine tool ad campaign, the innovation was a computer drove the lathe to create precision steel parts.Innovation, New Jobs,New Markets!

Is that the 4?

djs42s — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 04:44:13 +0000

The other day I left my lady friends apartment in time to catch my bus home.My car’s still in the shop,I get off the bus.I decided I’d stop at the grocery store before my transfer bus arrived.I had about 20 minutes before it came.

So I go into the grocery and shop,get everything I need and still I have about10 minutes before my bus comes.It’s the first great day we’ve had without rain since Noah sailed! I lug my bags to the bus stop.I figure I’m on time, a guy is sitting with his shirt off at the bus stop.Hot day.Another lady walks up with a few bags and stands under the kiosk with me, in the shade.A little old lady walks up and I spot a bus coming up the street.She asks,”Can you see what bus that is?”
I step out from under the shade and like a sailor scanning the sea,I say it’s the 4.She’s dressed in a pink house dress, like she was at home.In a cigarette gravelly voice she say,”Thanks!”

I gather my stuff ready to ride.I make sure I have my transfer in my pocket, the bus pulls to the stop, it’s the 50!House dress gets on the bus.The guy with no shirt stands up and walks up the street, the other lady walks across the street to catch a bus going in the opposite direction.What the hell?!

Then I remembered the 50 does stop there and the 4 should be right behind it.I worked in this area before and used to catch the bus from time to time.I go back into the shade and sure enough the 4 is rolling right on time! I pick up my bags and step out into the hot sun. I wave at the bus driver and she waves back. I step into the street expecting her to pull over.She keeps going! Rolls by with a smile and cool dark shades.What the…I look up at the bus stop sign, it only has the 50 listed! I can see her slowing down and I have to run a block with bags, sweating like I’m in a sauna and my baggy cargo shorts about to fall down to my ankles!
Luckily, she waited for me, bus air conditioning never felt so good.
“They moved the stop, just so you know.”, she laughed.
“I see, thanks so much.” I say and plop down in a seat
exhausted.

FollowMe!@djsartdesign

djs42s — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 04:58:53 +0000

Portfolio of my design work and a marketing ploy to increase followers on twitter,check it out!

Crowded House!

djs42s — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:16:48 +0000

Today’s design marketplace offers a tremendous number of sites for the novice or professional designer to make money from global crowdsourcing projects. The traditional design community is up in arms over designers being exploited by these crowdsourcers.

They are gnashing their teeth over the meager design fees awarded to those who participate in these design melees where many designs enter, one is chosen,and the one gets paid. Truthfully, the fees are beyond cheap!

I’ve browsed a number of these sites and what impressed me is the number

of professional designers who participate. I’ve read bios, interviews and newsletters on theses sites.Most are pros! It seems they like slumming on these sites.

Is it the competition, or is it the creative drive which I believe good designers have in abundance, which induces them to do “spec” work? One designer I read about has a regular design position in a design studio. In his interview he says when he can’t sleep he enters his ideas for posted projects on what shall remain a nameless “crowdsourcing” site. They asked him why he bids on so many projects? His answer: he can be most creative on these projects

because he has nothing to lose!

In a “real world” project scenario, there are many variables that have nothing to do with the visual solutions he creates for clients. I’m sure many “day job” designers will agree with that summation. He says it’s good practice which ads to his skills on the real job.

I recently read about Adobe crowdsourcing a logo project on a regional basis.

The vitrol from professional designers outraged by this infidelity, is justified.The mere cost of Adobe products demands quid pro quo from Adobe to be loyal to designers whose very livelihoods, depend

on their products.

I think Google gets it right.They allow their engineers to devote 20% of their time at work on projects of their own.Innovative ideas develop from this “creative” approach to management. It seems, for creative designers,

winning the project and the pay aren’t important, the creativity is!

Salsa: Social Exercise!

djs42s — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 16:58:55 +0000

I’m middle aged and like most Americans have some what of a sedentary life.Ahhh…. but I recently learned to
Salsa and I can say it is fun,sexy and builds up your stamina without weights,gym memberships or a step machine.

I happened to go to a Salsa event where I live with my brother on the off chance we might meet a few ladies.In order to do that
I joined in on learning how to Salsa and Meringue in a group lesson that was simple and easy to understand. Within minutes I
danced with a number of charming ladies who shared my wonder at our ability to dance and laugh together and we just met!

Thus was born my enthusiasm for Salsa. I was amazed I danced for hours and hardly noticed the time or
the amount of energy I expended twirling and stepping the night away.I knew I would be sore the next day
but it beat exercising by walking miles alone!

Try it! Try it as a new way to exercise and socialize and keep reading for more ideas and info on Salsa!

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