Focus on reader comments #4
You all know a lot more than I do, and it’s often shown in the quality of your comments. So from time-to-time I like to feature a few of your thoughts, both for the benefit of those who don’t follow the discussions, and as a small thank you.
Here’s the fourth in my ‘focus on reader comments’ series.
Blair of biz-R, on, “Affiliation in the design industry”
The DBA events are almost always available to non-members at a slightly higher cost. Unless you’re going to all of them then it’s far more cost effective to pay the premium and save yourself a few bob by avoiding the membership fee.
Julie Oakley of Julie Oakley, also on, “Affiliation in the design industry”
My 15 year membership of the Chartered Society of Designers was the most pointless waste of money ever. I left about 10 years ago and don’t regret it in the slightest. I think it’s partly to do with the fact that organisations like the CSD are attempting to ape the professional bodies of other professions. You might say that you want a Chartered Accountant or a lawyer that’s a member of the Law Society, but quite frankly which of your clients has ever given a damn about whether you’re a member of a professional body? If they all combined, their size might be able to make some impact in informing potential clients about the superior service they might receive from a ‘chartered’ designer. But let’s face it, anyone can claim to be a designer and many talented people without any formal training have done so, so really this kind of organisation for designers is probably rather silly.
Steve Yakoban of SPIA Media Group, on, “Spec work in the internet age”
It comes down to business advantage. When someone asks for a spec. job, they either have an incredible opportunity that allows them to manipulate the situation in their favour, or they’re testing the contractor’s will. Whoever has the most confidence in these situations tends to prevail… In a way, it’s an exercise in human nature.
Jonathan of jfleck, on, “Typography tips and advice for design students”
…having just completed my 3rd design project on the anatomy of type, I’ve found that none of my sources covered every anatomical element, and sources often conflicted… The sources I used were: Thinking with Type (Ellen Lupton), Type and Typography (Baines / Haslam), Graphic Design School (Dabner), I Love Typography, fonts.com (Monotype Imaging), about.com.
I see the anatomical diagram you have (view the type image) continues this trend, and again, is incomplete, and contradictory to other sources. What’s a ‘VisComm’ student to do? It was suggested that we rely more on printed books than websites, yet when the printed books contradict one another, then clearly there’s something wrong somewhere!
Have you had a similar experience to Jonathan?
Raja Sandhu of Raja Sandhu, on, “Designing through a recession”
At every down-turn there is always someone in an up-turn looking to capitalize.
…I have been getting a lot of logo design requests from new (rather fly-by-night) debt consolidators and loan assistance type businesses… For them, business is through the roof…
Sigurdur Armannson of font.is, on, “How designers charge their clients”
There are some very interesting articles to be found about charging for freelancers and small studios online. To name a few, look at:
- http://thegraphicmac.com/how-much-charge-design-work
- http://thegraphicmac.com/designers-how-much-charge-how-get-paid
From there you can jump to other good articles.
Rob Russo of Robert F Russo, on, “The 30 month evolution of my online graphic design portfolio”
I’ve enjoyed reading your journey here from “New Dawn” to “David Airey” and wonder what would be best for me.
I already have a personal site up, but I’m not doing as much with it as I thought I would and I’m not happy with it. I’m starting to get serious about branding myself and churning up business, so now is the time to re-focus or start fresh.
As funny as it may sound, I’m considering the “big company name” route because I’m not loving my name right now. Or at least people’s perception of it. My domain, robertfrusso.com, includes that little ‘F’ in there for my middle initial. I registered this because 1) other name variations weren’t available and 2) I was using ROBERT F RUSSO on resumes and other materials to match.
The problem? More often than not, people pair my middle initial with my last name and call me Robert Frusso. Well, Mr. Frusso has left the building. I have a sense of humor about it, but it has happened so much that I’m back to thinking I should start fresh with a different approach.
Further thoughts anyone?
I suggested that Rob play off his sense of humour — perhaps pointing out on his website that it’s Russo, not Frusso. Showing a light-hearted approach may help endear you to potential clients.
Zafir Slavov of ICDSoft, on, “GMail security failure leaves my business sabotaged”
In the comments it is mentioned that it is better to use a managed hosting solution than a shared host in terms of security problems, and that a shared host means lower security. I definitely disagree to that. The updates of the server software depend on the administrators / staff managing the server and not on the type of hosting. Our admins here monitor server software 24/7 and make updates ASAP when needed (especially when it comes to server security)…
…Moreover, 99% of the hacks against hosting servers occur through software, installed on the customer site. So if your blogging software or CMS, or some plugin has a security vulnerability, it would not matter what type of server you are on. For more than eight years history of ICDSoft, all hacking issues on our servers are connected with software, installed by a customer on his / her site.
Zafir goes on to discuss how ICDSoft (my web host) helped when my domain name was stolen. It’s an interesting read, and you can view the entire comment here.
Again, thanks very much to everyone who comments on my blog(s). You help keep me motivated.
Related posts on this site
13 appreciated comments to “Focus on reader comments #4”
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I think it is great that you award your visitors David who leave valuable comments by adding a feature on them. It’s always good to see a website or blog that appreciates it’s visitors.
Thanks David, it’s always good to see the effort you put forth to strengthen your community. It’s easy in today’s society to feel like your voice gets choked out in the sea of posts on blogs and forums, but here it’s different.
Keep up the good work,
Patrick
Thanks for your thoughts on this, David, and now this mention, too. I continue to learn from your blog and appreciate what you are doing here.
You clearly value your commentators David, like I do mine, we should always remember these people are our readership. Also we can learn from the experience of others, it’s one thing I enjoy about blogs.
Glad you appreciate these posts. They’re a very small gesture, and it’s the least I can do in return.
Patrick,
Good of you to say so. Thank you.
Rob,
Here’s hoping you’re a little closer to a decision, and that whatever route you take is a big success.
Mark,
Thanks very much for linking to my site in your blog sidebar. Great to have your ‘thumbs up’.
Great to see you showcasing your readers like this David, keep up the good work!
These readers comments collections are a great and original idea. I have not seen it imitated elsewhere –yet. This fourth focus list made me think what is so clever about it.
Blog readers for some reason like lists. All kinds of them. I like them too. Actually I think it was a list of design blogs that made me come here in the first place – and not leave.
Blog commenters are honored in this way too. At least I am. And I want to make it into the focus list again. I know… I am a bit vain. And once I read this collection I start clicking on the links. Some I have jumped from before, others are new and enlightening.
I could mention more but I don’t want to use up the internet.
I think these reader comments round ups are great. It really shows you care about what your blog community think and contribute. This kind of attention to your readers is what makes me keep coming back here to get your latest posts, it shows you care about the readership and not comment counting or subscriber counting.
Its an all round warm, fuzzy feeling :D
I’ve also not yet seen anyone publish reader comments like this. I’m sure people do, but it’d be nice to see more, as there’s no denying how valuable reader communities can be.
Don’t worry at all about using up the internet. You speak a lot of sense.
Mark,
I’m very glad you keep coming back, and it’s my pleasure to give readers a little extra mention. It is, after all, the season of goodwill. Happy holidays.
As Matthew said, it is nice of you to feature commenters on your blog. I’ve got reading material to last quite a while from this post!
If you don’t blog again before the festive period, enjoy Christmas.
In response to Robert F. Russo, I agree with David that perhaps you should play off of the Frusso name..who knows, depending on how you play it, Frusso (Frusso Creative, Frusso Design, Frusso by Russo, etc) could be a pretty catchy and memorable brand. I think it’s cool at least.
its nice to see that you are putting your valuable effort on the comment. this will help you to strengthen your community build up.