Public Relations and Moral Lessons for Designers
September 27, 2008 by Duncan · Leave a Comment
In my last post “Graphics and Web Design in Durham Region” I mentioned some of the moral issues faced by freelance designers and I have also touched on a few of our obligations in “What a Client Wants vs. What a Client Needs”.
It is ethical practices like these that will dictate the longevity of your freelance career, by having principals alone (either right or wrong) creates a structured consistency that is needed in order to do business professionally no matter the industry.
World Wild Web
As the internet matures and more developers adopt web standards I don’t ever think that there will be away to police the World Wide Web, it is like the Wild West out here and almost anything goes so it is up to us web designers to govern ourselves and our clients.
Unfortunately because of the privacy that business is usually conducted in we never get a chance to really see any of the inner workings of how others ethics play a role in how they do business so it was very interesting for me to come across a little incident on the Photoshop tutorial website PSDTUTS.
Envato Network
I am not only a big fan of the site but also the company behind it Envato. They publish many other fantastic websites all carefully constructed with the same high standards they have set for themselves which is repeated throughout their body of work.
The PSDTUTS concept is simple, authors submit Photoshop tutorials and if chosen they are paid a fee. The tutorials have to be formatted to their specification, original and can’t be published anywhere else. From these guidelines they have produced better quality and more sought after tutorials than most of the other similar type sites out there.
Today PSDTUTS revealed that it was brought to their attention that the latest tutorial they had posted was more than likely plagiarized (it was not an original) so it was taken down and they withheld payment from its author immediately.
Class Dignity and Style
I say “good for you guys” for sticking to your guns. Because of the type of work Envato do they not only have an obligation to protect their author’s content but also the works of all creative’s no matter the medium. They are an outlet for information and they have a commitment to us readers that the material they publish was acquired lawfully and the author was compensated properly per there agreement. It is just good business.
I must admit that the way they handled the situation was admirable and should serve as a lesson to us all who publish content online. They immediately acknowledged the situation and dealt with it according to the rules they set on the requirements needed to submit a tutorial “Your tutorial must be your original work and not published elsewhere” plain and simple no excuses.
I was utterly shocked when I started reading some of the angry messages they were receiving in their comments section from people talking about everything from plagiarism, intellectual property and even Envato being afraid of their own shadow. There is no debate about the situation; the author broke the rules so the tutorial is out.
For Your Protection
Envato moderate all of the comments posted to their websites before it can be read by the public, this is yet again another commitment by them to protect us the readers from such things as that X-rated spam we so frequently run into. At the same time they also posted that abusive garbage that was sent to them that they could have just as easily delete showing that they truly value their transparency and have nothing to hide.
Which brings me back again to my last blog entry about graphic and web designers who just don’t get it. These are the very people who write the kinds of negative comments that are on the PSDTUTS page, they are also usually the ones who have no sense of structure when it comes to being a freelance creative and through inconsistencies and unethical practices make it very difficult at times for clients to trust us.
We all make mistakes but it is how you learn from blunders either yours or others that dictates how successful you can be in all your endeavors. Be upfront, honest and when you find you have made a mistake deal with it swiftly and making the necessary changes so it does not happen again.
You can read about the whole situation and watch as it unfolds here.
Graphics and Web Design in Durham Region
September 24, 2008 by Duncan · Leave a Comment
Digital Deceptions Logo
Well let me digress for a minute as I have to admit that this topic has been eating away at me for quite a few years now and I finally have to say something about it. As we all know most websites we surf worldwide, corporate and local are usually riddled with complications and issues which affect you, the end user.
These problems range in size from minor to major and the usual suspects are web standards and compliancy which pretty much means that websites function well in one browser but differently or maybe not even at all in others. Another huge issue is usability, if you don’t understand how the website works how are you ever going to navigate to the information you are looking for?
So let’s say a website passes all these hurdles, it adheres to web standards and functions properly in Firefox, Safari, Opera, the new Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 7 and even the dreaded IE6. It is so simple to use even your granny or your mouth breathing nephew can use it, but does it look good?
Not only do you have to work within a strict set of rules to impact the largest amount of users you have to present it graphically in away the is very pleasing to the eye and simultaneously compliments the content that is being examined.
Unfortunately Most Websites Just Plain Suck
You would expect when any of these vulnerabilities are overlooked it is either very small companies, nonprofits or just an amateur’s personal space but unfortunately that is not the case because these practices are rampant. When I’m surfing the web I come across the very same problems in all industry websites almost on a daily basis.
Now I know that my perception of the web is skewed because of my trained eye and it may sound like I am complaining about the state of the web but really I am not. I am fully aware that from a business stand point it is much better for me that most websites are subpar which finally brings me to the very point of this blog entry, bad graphic and web designers.
Specifically the graphic and web designers in the Regional Municipality of Durham where I live, my competition who rate from very poor to really good as in most places. Fortunately there is only a hand full of us good designers in the Durham Region (notice I said us? …lol) so you would think that most business owners and groups commissioning websites would stay away from all the riffraff but they haven’t.
Many Clients Distrust Designers Because of Past Experiences
What I have found is that clients have almost always had a bad experience from their first website and usually that is why they are looking to get a second one done. This is the proverbial double edged sword, on one hand you are talking shop and networking with potential clients and on the other hand they come with baggage and distrust from the bad experience they had with the last design studio or freelancer they worked with.
A couple of tell tale signs of bad design habits to look out for when you are in need of graphic or web design work are no website or portfolio, website doesn’t function properly or a date on the site is a year or two old. Of course there are many others but that is for a later blog entry you get the idea.
An indicator of a good designer or Design Company is how thorough they are and if they have some sort of process that they use to get the job done. Using a design process is key no matter what size or type of project is being commissioned and you will quickly find that there will most likely be issues in a project that were otherwise unforeseen by the client but by having a design process in place these issues are recognized and addressed before they become a problem.
Good Work Ethic
As much as I would like to out some of the major local culprits in the Ajax, Pickering, Whitby and Oshawa graphic and web design industry I feel that it would do more damage than good as I have set some strict business and moral standards for myself and Digital Deceptions and reframe from bad mouthing anyone specifically and let the work both theirs an mine speak for itself.
So if you are a business owner, have a unique product or idea and are in need of hiring a local graphic or web designer from the Durham Region area, have a look at my portfolio before you make your decision, Digital Deceptions creates all types of graphics from logos to print layouts and I specialize in web design and animation.
Logos Old and New
September 17, 2008 by Duncan · Leave a Comment
Here are the last four logos I have created, I thought it would be better to post them all together instead of separating them into their own individual posts.
Sandstone Facilities Maintenance Inc
The idea behind the Sandstone Facilities Maintenance Inc logo was simplicity. The client is a real oldschool type who I have known for a very long time and the whole concept of having a logo was quite new so the plan was not to get too fancy.
This next logo was for a band called Lower Back Tatti who now go by a different name. This logo was tough because I didn’t want it to come off either cheesy or cliché but lets face it the best idea anyone can relate to with a name like LBT is a tattoo on the top of some girls ass.
Lower Back Tatti
Well I went for the tribal look for obvious reasons (damn I am cliché) and if you really look at the graphic you can see two swans with cobra heads facing each other making the shape of a heart.
The third logo is for Coffee Blend, which I can’t really take the full credit for. The client had the idea and I just kind of sketched it out, cleaned it up and vectorized it.
Coffee Blend
After researching other coffee brands and logos we noticed that they were all so similar so we agreed to stay away from that type of style but in our research we just happen to see a cigar label and we instantly knew which new direction to go, you just never know where you will find inspiration do you?
The last logo here is for Big Ten Burgers. The client wanted a logo that did not need any explaining and it could not contain an image of a hamburger.
Now it makes my job much more difficult to create a design which doesn’t need any explaining when you are not allowed to use any imagery, so the next best thing is to use text only.
Big Ten
Instead of using an “i” in the word Big we used the number 1 and combined the “g” with the letter “o” to make it look almost like a zero. This logo contains three different font types serif, sans-serif and a hand written typeface.
Freelance Designer Reality
September 12, 2008 by Duncan · Leave a Comment
Reality Check
Nowadays it seems like anyone with a computer and a copy of “Photoshop” can be a designer and a lot of times that is the case, but just because I can cook up a grilled cheese doesn’t make me a chef, now does it? The design world is a wild unregulated place; the difference in the quality, craftsmanship and price from one designer to the next is proof positive of that.
So what has brought on the influx of designers? Is it the fact that almost every household is on their second or third home computer, or maybe it’s because the software is so much more powerful and easier to use today? These are both great arguments and although I think both do play huge factors I also very strongly believe that the state of the industry not being regulated in any way and how design schools just throw it’s grads to the sharks after graduation without any business skills to be the true culprits.
Freelancers Know your Worth
Very good even great designers fresh out of school hungry with that passion most of us eventually lose are inexperienced when it comes to their worth and usually lowball their prices for fear of losing the job.
Even worse contracts are typically nonexistent causing problems at some point in a project and that point is typically realized when the designer finds they are in a cycle of making never ending repetitive changes for an indecisive client.
Before Alpha and After Omega Protect Yourself
All projects no matter the size or scope need to be clearly defined with a beginning and an end, always! No matter how solid your contract is you will come across contract issues with clients, it is just part of doing business. When these things happen adjust your contract accordingly to prevent the same issue in the future, you have to evolve and adapt to survive in this business.
Always keep in mind that as a freelance designer you will most likely be dealing with business owners, executives and VP’s who all make financial decisions on a daily basis. Usually they aren’t handed their position, they’ve earned it by getting things done quick and under budget, and they can sniff a sucker out a mile away.
Don’t be a sucker :p
Getting Caught in the Web of Technologies
September 8, 2008 by Duncan · Leave a Comment
Well the redesigned site has been up for a week now and I have been looking through and comparing the old site statistics and have been pretty impressed with the amount of unique visitors and the length of time they have been staying on the Free Lance site.
The last five Digital Deceptions sites have either been full Flash sites or hybrids (using both Flash and HTML) which as with most technologies have their pros and cons.
Back in early 2000 when I was in college Flash was quite new and everyone wanted to use it. I’m sure you all remember those huge Flash intros; you could literally wait a couple of minutes just to see a company’s logo spin and they probably paid a fortune for it as well.
After finishing school and coming from a multimedia program I naturally used Flash to create most of my websites. I would be lying if I said that Flash wasn’t always my first choice because I definitely felt more comfortable with it as opposed to other web platforms, but if a clients website didn’t need to be animated, flashy (for lack of a better word), contain music, video or their target audience was much older I used Flash very sparingly if at all.
Most of the work I did was a reflection of my own website Digital Deceptions, clients would say “I loved what you did on this or that project” and usually to achieve what they wanted the only option was Flash, that’s why they came to me. So I guess what has made me stand out from the crowd has also kind of painted me into a corner in some respects.
To Flash or Not to Flash
I have never liked being pinned down or labeled a one trick pony and to me being the go to Flash guy was just that. Way back in college one of my teachers noticed I started all of my designs on a black background and he told me to get out of that kind of habit right away and use colours that I am not comfortable with or he would choose the colour palette for me which happened to be one of the final assignments that I already had plenty of practice at.
So once again I have come out of my comfort zone by making the latest Digital Deceptions website The Free Lance which is PHP and database driven. Just because it much more search engine friendly the traffic to my site has almost tripled and the average time visitors stay on the site has multiplied tenfold which is one of the major goals I wanted to accomplish with the latest build.
Don’t get me wrong I still love to use Flash and I’m very aware of its uses both good and bad believing it has a time and a place in certain projects, for instance I have used it for the search box in my website because I could customize the look of it much more closely to resemble the look and feel of the site’s design.
Is the Medium the Message?
In the end as with any project it is about the message and the information you are trying to get across to your audience, whatever technologies you use are just tools to support those ideas and shouldn’t in any way dictate anything different.
Being your own boss we as freelance designers sometimes get caught up in all these technologies and get lost forgetting the fundamentals, so as with any business model it is a good idea to evaluate your game plan. It is also a good idea to reevaluate your skills, equipment, what technologies you use and make any necessary adjustments before they become major changes.
