Recently I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring design students at my office. Teaching something really shows you how little you’ve thought about things. It reveals all the design habits you rely on by forcing you to explain them… and sometimes they’re just that: a habit rather than a logical practice. The hardest thing to explain [...]
NPR’s Planet Money team posted a series of Minimalist Econ posters and asked for user submissions. Here’s mine: It’s a reflection of my goal of becoming free of debt as an insulator from what goes on around me in the world of economics. Naturally I don’t cheer when markets are troubled, but I don’t wish [...]
You can’t sit and look at the screen waiting for your design theory to tell you what to do. An effective solution is derived from working and working and working over and over again. Experiment, fail, win, experiment, start over. Work work work. Your design education gives you a framework for working, but doesn’t give [...]
I need to make an iPhone app, so I signed up for an iOS design crash course. This is pretty hard stuff (for me) but I’m making it easier on myself by making an infographic about iOS programming as I go. I find that it forces me to learn it by designing an explanation that [...]
Every web design client I work with says the same thing: I want to look professional; we do quality work. And they mean it. In various ways, their product or service is the best. Perhaps they are offering the best value for the dollar. Perhaps they’re offering the highest quality service. Perhaps they’re offering a [...]
If you follow me on Twitter, you see this phrase almost every Sunday: I am my own economic recovery act. What does that mean exactly? I subscribe to two philosophies about money. One is the Robert Kiyosaki’s concept that you should master your own home finances before you begin entrepreneurial enterprises. The other is Dave [...]
There is a process for design. Here is a short description of the steps I take to arrive at a successful web site. Client Interview All designs start with questions for the client and what it is that they are trying to do. That doesn’t mean that I ask “What’s your favorite color?” it means [...]
I’m amazed by how sick I was one week this year; I rarely get ill — but when I do it is probably gonna wipe me out. I spent much of my time reading, which I really miss doing. I left all my entrepreneur books at my office: Crush It, The 4 Hour Work Week, [...]
Generic Sale Shirt for Show-Me State Games 2011 in Columbia, Missouri
The face of Lafferre Hall looks out on the quad
I was thinking about Elmers School Glue. You know the stuff — white eliptical bottle, orange rocket shaped cap.
What if I told you I have a secret that adds 28 hours to my week; would you be interested in how I do it?
“Only a fool learns from his mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” – Otto von Bismarck
It’s like this: you can spend your career doing only as you’re told, or you can do what you really think is right and what works
A vitally important concept to understand about the design business…
Some clients email asking for a quote, but what they really want is a proposal. Those are two very different things for the designer and it’s important to know the difference. A quote is given on a job with well defined specifications. For example: The website will contain 5 pages of content, feature a blog, [...]
Don’t ask questions about time, ask questions about logistics.
Crisp. Standardized. Bland. Stop being the rice cakes of your profession.
I started a search engine optimization and web marketing meetup group here in Columbia, Missouri about 4 months ago. It was my first attempt at organizing a community and it has been a great side project for me.My vision of this was just practicing SEO and professionals meeting every once in a while to talk [...]
A night spent in Rome brought before me a marketing genius.
If you gain their trust, you can gain their business.
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