Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Colorblinded

I've always wondered what things looked like to a colorblind person. This fascinating website gives in-depth insight into that and also shows you what things might look like to different levels of color blindness.

Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Give clients the pink slip

An article by Kevin Airgid on When to fire a client (despite it's spelling errors) speaks the truth! If you've never had a client like this, you really haven't gotten much experience under your belt. Although reading the article will give you a better idea of what it's like to deal with hellish clients once in a while, you really won't know what it's actually like until you get a client from hell yourself.

I remember a particular client I dealt with that wound up flaking out, leaving me aching for payment in my most dire time of unemployment. His name is Arye Sachs ( I repeat his name with glee because changing names to protect people are for spineless designers!) and apparently I'm not the first person he gyp'd!

I was so scorned that I created a warning page and even e-mailed other freelancers I knew. I may not have been the first client he spurned, but I was determined to make sure I was the last!

Shortly after posting the case study to my website, I got e-mails from several other designers who claimed they were also bamboozeled out of money from Arye Sachs. The dirty rat couldn't even pay me the measly $100 bucks he owed.

From then on, I knew I had to always get contracts signed and deposits always needed to be made before any work on the project starts. Tangible tokens like those help to filter out the flippant clients from the serious ones.

Friday, July 02, 2004

Pragmatic Personality

I'm very inspired by the work and overall personality of 344 Design.

It's impressive that it's a one-man show (Stefan Bucher ladies and gentlemen - a round of applause!) I love his attitude and how he explains things in a sort of deadpan way. Perhaps it's his sense of humor that helps to soften the blow.

I've always been a fan of anecdotes, especially ones about design. Lots of people have commented on my client tales; It helps them get a better idea of what sort of processes my brain goes through. Stefan is one of the rare designers who share their thought process and any feelings attached to that process with viewers. Designers who can do that willingly are very brave and confident.

Stefan's use of color and his unpredictable use of typography are sights to witness. The most impressive thing about his work is it's practicality. It's a lost-art, but he does it so well -- with intuition and grace nonetheless!