reflections

One of my greatest pleasures as a web designer is getting the chance to refine my craft but, in contrast to that, one of my greatest burdens is the the number of ridiculous questions that clients have presented me with in the past! Given how long the Internet has been around, and considering the sheer number of sites on the web, you would think that everybody would have at least a basic knowledge of how it all works - but you’d be wrong!

Clients can’t always be expected to understand the complex stuff though - that’s why they pay a designer. But sometimes it would be so much easier if they’d just get a grip!

You’ll need a large spoonful of patience if you’re not going to start alienating your own clients though, because you’re the one with the knowledge. Treat them gently, especially if it’s the first time that they’ve had a web site built! If you know what to expect though, then it should help you deal with the questions when they come!

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Every designer is influenced by their surroundings, the people they meet, and design trends - but does that mean that we’re all affected in the same way, or does each of us retain a sense of uniqueness in our designs - regardless of influence?

Tara at the Graphic Design Blog decided to run an experiment to find out. The experiment (open to anyone who wants to take part) requires you to scribble down a logo idea (or several if you wish) for two fictitious companies.

Well, I couldn’t resist finding out if my patterns of thought when designing are my own - so without further ado, I present my submission to the experiment!

Caffeine Rush - Espresso Machine & Accessory Supplies

The first scan shows my initial brainstorming sheet. I wrote down the two words from the company name, then strung off various keywords and sub-words that were related to them. Finally I put asterisks by the words that had visual cues for me.

The main idea I played with on the second sheet was the different ways of portraying coffee cups and mugs (1-5, 13, 15). I also looked at coffee beans (6-9) and their shape, latte art swirls (10-12), coffee leaves (14) and a remembered idea for a lettering style (16).

The third sheet shows me playing around with various ways of indicating speed (17-20) and movement (21), and drawing out an idea about a rocket (!) that popped into my head (22). There’s also a stamp motif idea (23 - like they have burned into the sides of coffee sacks), and some messin around with letter spacing, word division and text placement (24-30).

Cheap ‘n’ Cheerful - Budget Fancy Dress Shop

Same as before, but I wrote down three main keywords this time, strung off the related keywords and sub-words, and put in the asterisks by the most visual words.

I played around with various clown, jester and harlequin concepts on this sheet (1-5) and then a couple of interesting ways to use them (6 - glove puppet, 7 - toy on a stick).

This sheet’s got a couple of jack-in-the-box ideas (8 and 9), and then I’m playing around with letter styling, word positioning and placement of the graphic (10-14).

The Final Designs

I realise that this wasn’t a part of the experiment - the sketches alone should be enough alone to indicate my thought processes - but I couldn’t stand the idea of not taking my favourite concepts through to completion! So, here they are…

Thanks again to Tara for coming up with the idea - I can’t wait to see the results of the experiment… Remember to check out the other submissions too: Tara’s sketches are here, Tess (from Thoughts and Such) has some up here, and Siong’s are here.

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What do you feel you need to accomplish to be a success? Perhaps it’s all about the money, or enjoying yourself? Maybe you want to win awards, or go freelance? Maybe you’ll only feel successful once you own your own company?

I’ve been tagged for this ‘accidental meme’ by Tara at the Graphic Design Blog, who was asked the questions originally by Lauren Marie Krause (a fresh new designer from California). Ironically though, the questions she’s asked me to answer are ones that I’ve been recently been asking myself!

I’ve been in the business of web and graphic design for about 15 years now, and my client list features both start-ups and blue-chip organisations, from all over the world. Feel free to have a look at my portfolio if you like!

1. How did you get started in the business?

I originally discovered the Internet way back in 1991. I used to spend whole days - and ridiculous amounts of money - sitting in Cyberia (just off Tottenham Court Road in London), and it was then that I decided to make my first website. After a couple of months of fielding emails from people asking who had made my site, I realised that I could make some serious money if I taught myself how to do web design properly. Six months later I launched my first ‘virtual’ web design studio, and I haven’t looked back since.

2. What kept you going in those early years?

Self-conviction. If you don’t believe in yourself, then who else is going to believe in you? I guess it helped that I got a constant stream of clients right from day one - including the likes of Virgin and Easynet. It was rewarding to see something I had made being visited by thousands of people every day!

3a. Did you ever feel like you weren’t good enough or you would never make it in this industry?

Of course. As my freelance web design business got bigger it seriously interfered with my school work, and I used to get it in the neck from teachers on a regular basis because I hadn’t done an assignment on time. On more than one occasion I really felt like chucking the towel in and focusing on my studies.

3b. How did you work through that?

With the exception of one guy, my teachers and tutors just didn’t understand (or want to understand) computers - and the one that did forced his way into the school to manage the new IT suite, and only because nobody else wanted to! It was with his reassurance that I began to feel that I could really make a career for myself in design.

4. Do you look at others today and think “Wow, I wish I were that good”?

All the time. Designers like Jon Hicks, Dan Cederholm and Bryan Veloso have all had an influence on stuff I’m working on at the moment, but I’m constantly looking at the work of other designers and wishing I were as good as them. Having said that, without aspiration there is rarely growth.

5. How do you measure success?

I don’t really have a single way of gauging how successful I am. Things that people say to me, passing comments, overheard discussion - they can all make me feel like something I’ve done has made a difference.

6. By your standard, do you think you are successful?

I think I’m getting there. I’m now working full-time freelance, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. Of course, it was always my aim to retire at 35 - but I’ve got some things in the pipeline that might end up making that a reality, which would be really cool!
In the true vein of tag memes, my usual suspects willing volunteers are:

One of the team from Freelance Switch
webee from the bee design
Lisa from Design, Life, Culture, Whatever…
Jon Hicks from Hicks Design (hopeful, but you never know…)
Zep from The In-Sect

[Thanks to Mike, Charity, Tara, Lisa, David Zemen, Paul Johns and Paul B for some fantastic comments on my last post]

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