Los Angeles Art Collab
The best neighborhood in all of Los Angeles is in Mid City—a cluster of communities along Pico Boulevard between Fairfax and La Brea. Others may disagree, but I just want to lay that card on the table right now.
Online advertising trends: all kinds of collaborative
Businesses looking to either buy or sell online advertising should check out this NetNewsCheck article about a talk given by BuzzFeed’s executive director of social publishing, David Spiegel. BuzzFeed is currently the envy of online journalism…
Custom Window Seat Cushion: Carrie’s Kitchen
This was a fun custom fabric project, tweaking the colors of my Pointillist Stripes pattern for a kitchen window seat cushion.
Elements of a Smart Co-branding Campaign
Co-branding happens when two (or more) businesses join forces to present a coordinated “face”.
There’s tremendous potential in combining resources to expand your reach. I’ve seen (and you, too, right?) exciting things happen for businesses that do this, such as broadening each other’s customer base and building loyalty with new services. We’ve […]
Working with Creatives: Stating Your Preferences
We’re taught that art and artistic taste are so personal, so indefinable and ultimately—so special—that they are impossible to express in words.
Granted, there is a lot that’s mystical about artistic sensibilities, but also plenty that is firmly and squarely down to earth.
Working with creatives can feel like a huge […]
Cooperative Projects: Wake a Sleeping Dragon
Bringing ideas to life is now my #2 high.
Helping others feel that feeling has become #1.
With my most recent volunteer creative project, I’d say a close third is learning that the project giftee has reaped profound meaning and sustenance from the gift (which happened, and it was heart-melting). However, keeping in mind […]
What is the Most Essential Design Tool?
Design is all about the tools—the technology. And design has got absolutely nothing to do with the tools.
Just like ink pens and sign brushes, the mastery-required-or-we-won’t-hire-you tools you’re working with today will be replaced.
What is much more important is developing your design character
How important is function to you? What is […]
im·ag·i·na·tion
[ih-maj-uh-ney-shuhn]
–noun
1. the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.
2. the action or process of forming such images or concepts.
Dictionary.com. […]
My Take on Wikileaks
Social Media and the Freedom Continuum
I recently listened to Clay Shirky give a TED Talk championing my favorite view of social media: The idea that it’s a world-changing revolution and a profoundly good thing. Shirky, author and adjunct professor in New York University’s graduate Interactive Telecommunications Program, titled the talk, How social media can make history, and begins […]
Community Collaboration: School Mural Project
This summer, I designed and directed a mural project for Saturn Elementary, a Los Angeles city school.
Making Projects Work: Harnessing Feedback
Feedback is central to collaboration. This is true for any size project, but truer and truer the bigger it gets.
No doubt, it’s a two-edged sword that can cut a project to pieces, fracturing its focus and gutting its spark.
Designers have been complaining for years about decision-makers who request outrageous changes at the worst […]
Working with Committees: Un-bottlenecking
The plus side of committees is that everyone brings a different perspective, and different strengths, to the table. One of their infamous minuses—the bottleneck (sometimes known as pea soup or the black hole)—becomes exponentially aggravating for each person you add to the group (not to mention those that show up near the end of the […]
A Quick Communications Checklist
This past week, I have been at both the giving and receiving ends of some very poor communication.
Dishing it out: I asked for backup support with a project, but neglected to mention a specific time the support would be needed. To make matters worse, no one had the mental bandwidth to reply with a […]
… but I love all my ideas equally
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