Creative resources 01 November 2007
Mark, at Wishful Thinking, has recently written a great blog post titled, 6 tips for dealing with feedback on your creative work. It’s important not to take constructive criticism the wrong way. In fact, I believe you should be grateful for receiving it. Definitely worth a read.
Mark was one of the kind sponsors in my graphic design prize draw from last month, although unfortunately the previous winner (Steve of the Million Dollar Blog) was unable to take Mark up on his creative consultation. Therefore, Mark suggested I pass the award on to someone else, and the name I drew at random was Josh Mullineaux. Congratulations Josh, and thanks for taking the time to enter. Here’s what you’ve won:
Two 45 minute coaching consultations with Mark McGuinness of Wishful Thinking. Mark specialises in coaching creative professionals, and is a real expert in his field. The first session will involve goal setting, with the second session reporting on progress and making adjustments.
I see from Josh’s blog that he’s off to the Blog World Expo in a few days. I wanted to go too, but hopefully next year (if it’s on again).
Wolff Olins are on a roll with the new Wacom logo. Always wanting to out-do themselves, the London 2012 logo was just to whet the appetite. Oh boy, isn’t this a winner?
For me, a good logo needs an idea, must be memorable, and should also work in black and white.
Spec work is peeping out from under the bridge again. I was surprised to see CreativePro running a logo design contest. The reader comments tell what the consensus thinks about that.
This was soon followed with people at Notes on Design announcing a logo design competition, which is still actually running. Before the unaware head over to enter, it’s worth your while reading this: Logo design contests are bad for business.
Kevin Yank, of SitePoint, brought up the criticism that design contests are being given by NO!SPEC, claiming that SitePoint are breeding the next generation of professional designers. Personally, I think that’s rubbish. The last thing the industry needs is for a fresh crop of designers expecting to work for peanuts.
If you’re a designer who thinks that design contests are a good way to practice, think about this: you could head out into the local community instead, and approach non-profits who would be delighted with your help. The benefits are much greater than taking part in any contest; you’re guaranteed feedback, you improve your communication skills, your hard work is going towards a good cause, and you’re networking with local business owners too (vital if you plan on becoming self-employed).
If you’re a WordPress user, and if you care about the appearance of your blog post comments, then this post from Michael at Pro Blog Design will be of interest – How to style author comments differently.
Thanks for writing up on that, Michael. If I didn’t make use of the MyAvatars plugin (listed in my top 5 WordPress plugins), to show avatars of commenters, I’d have certainly used your tutorial already. I hope to get around to it one day soon, and keep up the great blogging.
Htaccess, Apache and Rewrites. Oh My! I’m pretty much clueless when it comes to my website’s htaccess file. So it’s with pleasure that I found this excellent tutorial (from Kyle at Crucial Web Hosting). Here’s the introductory paragraph:
As a web designer or developer, it is important to know how to use the htaccess file to your advantage. It is a very powerful tool, and can even work as a deterrent for bandwidth thieves, exploits, and hackers.
Finally, just last week I told you how my blog became Scotland’s first entry into the Adage Power 150. Today I’m proud to announce, following Google’s recent PR update, that I’ve leaped 14 places, from #46 to #32. I’m now top of the pile for UK-based blogs on the list, and second only to Adverblog in the whole of Europe! Granted, my score in the ranking system is the same as Adverbox, and Niche Marketing, but I guess I’m above Andy Beard (Niche Marketing) on goal difference? Or more likely because of my better Todd And score (which, as mentioned in my previous post, is subjective).
Still, thanks for helping me get to where I am!
If you have any creative resources or industry news that you’d like to share, please do send me an email with details.
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28 spot-on reader comments to “Creative resources 01 November 2007”
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I like the new Wacom logo. Colored cones, that’s clever. Wordpress just bought gravatar, so there is a new bit of code you can insert into your comments template to have avatars display. I use it on my site. I also have the highlighted author comments.
BTW, I was being sarcastic. Wacom is about touch sensitivity, not color or cones. I kind of like the font more than the old one, but overall, it’s pretty terrible. A visit to the wacom site makes this worse instead of better. They put the cones on nearly every page, and it is a visual mess.
Wow!!!
You told all that in one breath!!
:)
Now, the trend of “Logo Competitions” is very bad for the industry. Soon the designing work will also get outsourced for cheap labour, and people will not understand the difference of quality work.
While I’m not a fan of logo competitions as a cheap source of labour, I will consider entering a logo design competition if it’s for a charity or non-profit organisation. I haven’t done this yet but I have recently seen a couple of logo design competitions for the non-profit sector and I’ve bookmarked them (not that I have time at the moment to enter!)
I agree about the Wacom website, and also that the type alone isn’t so bad. The website placement of the actual mark is kind of random.
Niyaz,
There’ll always be those clients who value the expertise of a designer, although spec work competitions certainly don’t help the cause. Thanks for commenting.
Tracey,
Here’s the thing, if a charity was to select three or four designers that they like the work of, and approach them about their design project, the chances are that one of them would be willing to help out. This would save a lot of other designers giving up their time for no reward whatsoever.
I’m not saying that charity work isn’t rewarding, but when the work you create isn’t even used, that’s unrewarding. I doubt every entrant into a design competition receives feedback or constructive criticism on their work, and a reason why their design wasn’t chosen, so there’s no learning process.
Regardless, glad to read you’re keeping busy.
Hey, I was not aware of the contest - but I could not have taken benefit of the prize either. Yesterday I was thinking to direct one of my graphic designer friends to this blog - thinking it’s much much useful for her to go through everyday.
How about adding a widget “Invite your friends to subscribe”? :)
Thanks for the link David. It was nice to come across a screenshot of my own blog in my feed reader! :)
As for the SitePoint contests, I have a mixed view towards them. They’re definitely underpriced (Ridiculous really when a lot of the time, you aren’t going to win…), but they are easy to enter and they do get some experience with dealing with clients (Not often good clients though… xD )
But it is important for a designer to stop using SitePoint asap. It’s just not a good use of your time, and the quality of work does tend to go down (At SP, it’s about doing things in as little time as possible), which is only going to hurt you… :(
That’s great of you to think of promoting my blog to your designer friend. Thanks a lot for that. As for an extra widget, one of my aims is to keep this blog as free from clutter as possible, although a similar option to what you propose is already shown at the foot of each blog post. You can ‘email this’ to your friends by clicking the ‘email this’ button.
Michael,
Glad you appreciated seeing your own site appear.
You pick up on a very valid point about design contests – how often are contests being run by a good client? In my eyes, a good client respects the design profession, and wouldn’t consider having a group of talented designers pitch for their deserved earnings by working for free.
About the new logo of Wacom :
Can’t understand how it can be said a good one.
Can’t understand how then can reach to agreed it.
They bought the “designer”’s name like a brand in my opinion.
Also the typo looks wrong, good for telecom.
By the way, I think this kind of production deserve the profession even more than logo contest . Public never understand such a choice like this one or 2012…
(sorry for my english)
Exactly David, and also, they’re the ones setting the prices over at SP. Alot of those clients are there because it’s cheap, and dealing with clients with such tight wallets never does anything good for your designs. :(
When I myself designed my logo for hoozi, I thought it looked excellent. :)
But after reading the articles in your blog, I understood the features that a good logo should have. :( And realized that my logo is indeed bad.
But atleast my logo wil sell better than the “London 2012 logo” and the “new Wacom logo”
Don’t worry about your English. Thanks for commenting. It’d certainly be interesting to sit in on the meeting when the Wacom logo was chosen. I’d like to see what alternatives were pitched too (if any).
Niyaz,
That’s great that you’ve learned something from my blog. Where I think you could improve upon your Hoozi logo, is in the legibility of the strapline, and by removing some effects, such as the shadow behind the letters.
You make a good point about designing logos for non-profit companies. Not only would it be a real benefit for them to have something professional that they may not be able to afford otherwise, but often those sites have a lot of viewers and that in turn could result in more work for the designer.
Hi David, thought I’d better let you know that I’m one of your Edinburgh readers! No doubt there are more…
Jamie (from Terinea) pointed me in your direction a month or so ago and I’ve been following your stuff since then.
I’m also a fan of Robyn McMaster’s work and was interested to see you there too
Best wishes
Joanna
Thanks for the comment, and yep, it is a good point. ;)
Joanna,
Great of you to let me know! So that’s you and Jamie who are both in Edinburgh. I wonder if any of the other 2000 odd subscribers are local? That’d be a nice addition to RSS stats, the geographical location of readers.
Maybe if I’d actually attend one of the Edinburgh coffee mornings, or if I didn’t miss Jamie’s recent office party, I’d know a bit better.
Still, thanks for commenting, and I hope you have a great weekend.
Hi David,
Thanks for the link to Michael’s post for styling the authors comments.
Regards,
Ian
Thanks for the feedback on my logo. I will definitely try to improve it.
On the Sitepoint issue, David. It’s difficult to pin every client as not being ‘good’. I think it’s just ignorance of the field. Most may not be deliberately ignorant, but, they just don’t recognise, and appreciate a professional level of design.
David,
I believe that participating in design competitions are not that bad if you can get some eyeballs for your work. who knows when a client would get interested in working? Don’t you think so.
But of course spec work is a bit bad…
You’re very welcome. I hope you’ve been keeping well of late.
Niyaz,
You’re also very welcome for the feedback. ;)
Armen,
That’s a very good point. I’m sure there are some SitePoint clients who don’t know everything about the logo design contest scenario.
grafic7,
You mention how spec work is bad, but say that design competitions are good, which of course is a contradiction.
I like it! reminds me of the Trusted Advisor idea in professional services.
Good to see a Scottish blogger!!!
David,
Great update on goings on in our world. I particularly enjoyed the Wolff Olins news. I’d recently created a variation of that logo with a play on words that isn’t appropriate to mention here.
More importantly, I’m keeping a close eye on what ends up happening with the SXSW panel on design contests. Sounds pretty skewed having Kevin Yank as the presenter…
Someone really ought to “wack ‘em” silly, that Wolff Olins!
I like your alternative to spec work, David. That is a really great idea.
You’re in Cheshire, aren’t you? Nice Wilson avatar.
Hank (or is it Henry?),
I had a look through some of your past design articles, trying to find your variation. Couldn’t see it though. I’m not so familiar with SXSW, but hopefully there’s someone sitting on the other side of the fence from Kevin.
Lauren,
Glad you like the spec work alternative. If I was needing some experience and just starting out, that’s the route I’d prefer to take.
Thanks for including me David, I appreciate the traffic. One person that I see/read quite often online is Kate Andrews. One of her many blogs is Anamorphosis: http://anamorphosis-kate.blogspot.com/
You have a great design blog, so it was a pleasure adding you (I guess you mean to the top 50 list).
Thanks for the link to Kate’s blog. Looks like another good’un.
Hi David -
Thanks for the recent top 50 list - great to see everyone getting credited.
Thanks Michael for mentioning me, and Anamorphosis. Very kind of you.
I’ve added Anamorphosis to the ‘top 50′ list. A very well deserved addition.