Thoughts & Deeds

It’s become a dirty world in the creative community. “Crowdsourcing” often means a business has chosen to ask all-comers to submit responses to the businesses request – be it a logo, web site design, or engineering design for NASA’s next space shuttle – with no guarantee of pay or selection of their submitted work. On one hand, it’s a great way to get the community involved in solving a problem rapidly. … more

I don’t know about you, but I often find responding to Request for Proposals unsatisfying. Either you’ve received it as a preferred vendor on a short-list, it’s a blind RFP, or it’s sent to you and 20 other agencies. The description of the needs and goals are either A) unbelievably vague or B) unbelievably specific, followed by a list of required features, tools, and canned objectives such as “improve search engine ranking” and “increase sales and traffic.” … more

Put aside ideas of “real Americans” and “pro-American” parts of the country and the divisive rhetoric from both political parties. Look around you. Take in what you see, and realize that we can’t become a better city, state, or nation without each other — in spite of our differences. … more

I sent this email to the Obama/Biden campaign earlier today after reading Obama’s stance on Proposition 8 in California, same-sex marriage, and his Faith & Family tour. … more

Portland is a small small town in some ways. Working in the interactive industry only seems to exaggerate the smallness, since everyone has worked with everyone somewhere along the line. If I had a nickel for every time I met a prospective client who turned out to be best friends with a friend, friends with a coworker, cousin of a teammate — or what have you — I’d certainly be rich by now. Life is like Alice’s relationship map on The L Word; we’re all woven together more tightly than we think. … more

I don’t watch very much TV. I just forget to do it, even if there’s a show I know I might like. Now, don’t think I’m some self-righteous anti-TV do-gooder, because I’m not. I love me some TV! Give me my stories! Make me laugh! Show me a gross autopsy! I want my Cylons! … more

I was just reading and article on the BTA Blog about updating your old, tired out helmet, which reminded me that I should change out my own helmet even though it’s barely more than a year old.

I bought a new helmet last winter because my previous one reached the three year mark, the age at which old helmets should be retired because they’re no longer structurally sound if you whack your noggin on the pavement. … more

In 1999, Emigre reprinted Ken Garland’s 1964 First Things First Manifesto in issue 49. It was a call to arms for designers to stop whoring ourselves and start waking up to the social, environmental, and financial responsibilities we face in our work. Then came First Things First 2000 in issue 51, with a simultaneous printing in Adbusters. This was back when I was just getting started in my design career, and to see such a bold statement from vaunted designers and design educators was pretty amazing. I frankly didn’t know what to do with what I was reading. … more

So, I got a little crazy and quit my job, with no new job to go to, then went on a month-long road trip. Ok, the truth is that I was planning the road trip anyway, so quitting was just the icing on the cake of what I like to call “early retirement,” aka a return to freelancing and new opportunities. … more

Paul Arden is totally right. I picked this book up at SFMOMA last month because it was entertaining and on sale, but it turned out to be an inspiring read. I brought it to work for my art director to read, and over the weekend both he and his wife finished the book. And then another coworker bought himself a copy. … more