Archive for January, 2008

I know some folks that are starting their own businesses and will be need of design services—identity, Web site, marketing collateral, etc. Having worked in and around design for the last 7 or so years, I can see this process from both sides of the fence. Luckily, I’ve worked with some really talented folks and have also done my fair share of design myself, so when I look to start new projects I know that I have resources at hand.

But what if you don’t? What if you’re starting up your business, need a corporate identity designed, and don’t know how to go about doing it?

I subscribe to a billion different sites via RSS, one of them being LogoBlog.org. Recently they posted this article: 6 Things to look for in a Logo Designer » Logo Design Blog, which shares some good insight on how to sniff out potential designers.

One critical thing that I would add: once you find a good designer, don’t smother them with your direction. Everyone now knows that “micromanaging” someone is a surefire way to stifle their motivation and creativity. But I find that clients in design projects frequently don’t realize how their insistence on their vision is another form of micromanagement.

When I get my car worked on, I don’t stand under the chassis and nitpick everything the mechanic is doing. I’ve found a good mechanic, I trust him, so I let him do his work.

The same holds true of graphic design. You’ve evaluated candidates’ work, you’ve chosen the designer you believe can create something good for you, now let them work. Sure, your input is critical for them to understand your business, your market and what your looking to achieve. They rely on you to inform them and get them up to speed as quickly as possible. But once they have their information, let them go! Trust them!

The unfortunate thing about graphic design—as with music—is that everyone has an opinion. However uneducated or ill-informed they are, they have developed an opinion over time and feel entitled to it. Worse, when commissioning a graphic work, some people feel the need to step up their critical input, in order to feel like they are in charge of the design project. This can be disaster—especially when they have no design training and an uncritical eye.

I like food. I eat at restaurants all the time. I even cook for my family. But I am not a chef. When I go into restaurants, I realize that the person that developed the menu and oversees the kitchen is a trained professional—an expert—and I should let them prepare for me the meal as they envisioned it.

Let your designer design. Don’t knee-jerk them into compromising their vision. If they’re good, chances are they will have methods of dealing with your controlling efforts anyway. And if they’re good, they’ll come up with something that is beyond anything you could ever have imagined yourself.

Uh oh.

Closing Price: $14.00

Holdings Value: $14,000.00

down 5.21%

I’m still up $490.00, but I’m not buying lunch tomorrow—you’ll have to fend for yourself.

Look at that! I’m up!

Closing Price: $14.77

up 9.33%

Holdings Value: $14,770.00

I’m up $1260.00 from my original “investment”.

I’ll buy lunch.

A buddy recently started an email conversation about Apple—how they’re floating around the $200 mark, how they were $7 not so long ago, and how he’s kicking himself for not buying then.

Me, I don’t fret too much over couldabeens. There’s no way to know everything. Sometimes opportunities slip through your fingers, and sometimes you don’t even know there were opportunities without the benefit of hindsight.

I did find the question What’s the next magic $7 stock? interesting. If I knew the answer with certainty, I would be a very sought-after person, and would probably sitting on a huge portfolio already. But I don’t. And I’m not.

It is fun, however, to play with make-believe money for the sake of an exercise. So, think of this as Stock Market Club just like we did in junior high.

I’ve spent the last 3+ years working with student loan companies in one capacity or another. I have no inside information and am not an investment or finance person. All I’m working off of is limited knowledge, a little work experience, a little common sense and the freedom of imaginary money.

Today is Day 1 of Stock Market Fun.  We’ll pretend I bought 1,000 shares of First Marblehead (FMD)—a company I’ve heard of through working in the student loan industry, and have seen their marketing partners advertise heavily in mass media channels (the ubiquitous Astrive commercials come immediately to mind). I chose them because (in my insight or ignorance) I see how far stock for FMD and other companies like it have gone down. The subprime crisis has smacked down lenders, and while FMD is in the student loan industry, I surmise that they are feeling the effects. They’re lending to students (private loans—not goverment subsidized or sponsored), which is potentially less risky than lending for homes to people that can’t afford them. But I would imagine student lending has a whole other set of risks and problems. My hunch is that it’s at a low or near-low, and they will rebound over time.

Buy low, sell high, right?

The closing price today for First Marblehead was $13.51, so my imaginary holdings value is $13,510.00.

I’ll track this stock from time to time and see how my “purchase” is going. Come back to see!

I don’t care what the pundits think, last night’s Golden Globes Award show was awesome.

In 30 minutes I was able to see everything I cared about without the annoying falderal.

No announcer saying “This is the 4th time Gina Gershon has been nominated. Her last nomination was in 2001 when she played a duck in ‘Duck, Duck, Die!’…”
There was no 4 shot of the people up for the awards showing their fake tension.
No one was talking about “who they are wearing”, no stilted tries at humor between presenters prior to slowly announcing the nominees.
No pretending to have a hard time with the envelope.
I didn’t have to hear who the accountant was and then have them all come out on stage and look like deer about to be run over by a Hummer.
There were no speeches giving political points of view from vapid rich people who have little connection to the real world.
No dance number.
No shots of Jack Nicholson with his sunglasses on inside to hide the fact he just smoked a monsterous joint.
I did not have to listen to Whoopi or Ellen or whoever thought they’d be funny get up there for 15 minutes prior to doing any awarding.
No one had to introduce people who then introduced awards.
I didn’t have to watch people rush through their speeches to thank their lawyer and dermatologist at the end because the music was coming up to get them offstage.

All in all, I wish all award shows would follow this format.