I met up with an old college buddy that also started his own company with two other of his friends the other day. Check out Goodboy Clothing – very hip, very urban, very good. They started about the same time we did. Last weekend we went to their first ever fashion show. It was a great success with loads of home-grown artists entertaining the audience at the start and knock out Fall Line. I’m very excited about their new approach and I can’t wait to get my hands on all their women’s shirts. For those interested you can purchase them in Cartel, Queen Street, Toronto.

Goodboy Fashion Show venue

Goodboy Clothing entertainment

a Goodboy model showing off the Fall Line

It’s amazing to see how his brand has grown into a great urban movement that promotes good karma, good community projects and good ethically made clothing.

I don’t think enough designers or young people in general even consider starting a business. It’s hard work but very rewarding. I know graphic designers are not afraid of hard work! Is it the school system that promotes nothing but an “employee” attitude? I don’t know, and I don’t have an answer, but I will say to those who have a glimmer of a thought in starting their own business – do it. Do it. DO IT!

I was scared when we started our business. I was scared for months. But I loved it at the same time. Even three years later, every now and then I get scared, but when I see my work in magazines or one of my logo designs on their corporate head quaters I know it’s all worth it.

After backpacking through South East Asia las summer, I’m itching to do anything outdoors. Mountain biking, camping, trail hiking, white water rafting and rock climbing. I want to do it all!

The only problem is time. Running a company takes a lot of our time. Including our weekends. Sometimes we work on weekends for obvious reasons like upcoming deadlines and sometimes we work so that our work week is a little easier. Other times we just gravitate to our computers and end up on them for the entire day!

I think the key is to set a date and time slot for the outdoor activity – just like a normal appointment – and do it. No matter what. First thing on our list is a 35km mountain bike trail. Can’t wait!

Taman Negara, Malaysia

I remember when my school held a fund raiser to raise funds to save the Amazon Rain Forest. We raised enough money to purchase/save about 3 acres of forest. For a small school in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (shout out to Cambridge High School), that was something! That was a long time ago though.

That was when the enviro seed was proverbially planted. I’ve since then tried to be environmentally conscience. I recycle and participate in my city’s Green Bin Program (composting). I used both sides of a sheet of paper! I use recycled paper – even in my office. I buy toilet paper that has post-consumer content as well as eco-friendly cleaners.

Baby steps, I know. But I do what I can. Once thing I dislike about this movement is how expensive some eco-friendly things are. Why is organic cotton products almost twice the price of normal cotton clothes and bedding. Jewelry…why are earrings made of reclaimed bottle caps the same price as Aldo earrings?

If these everyday products are brought down to a lower price point, I think 90% of the people would not think twice about going GREEN. In the meantime, baby steps to a fully green way of life. Reduce, Reuse & Recycle. Happy Earth Day.

I have an eclectic range of hobbies. I love to paint, knit, sew new clothes, photograph things and even make papers. I’ve not done any of the former mentioned in a while though. Being self-employed I can’t seem to find spare time.

But lately…when I do get some spare time – I like to read. I prefer fiction or sci-fantasy novels. Terry Pratchett and his mythical Disc World is where I like to escape to sometimes. Lately I’ve found myself reading more design and typography books rather than novels.

design books

I love my job and I love reading about design. It may be work related, but it’s not work. The books remind me about graphic design basics and sometimes introduces me to new techniques and ideas. Even though these books are directly related to my career I still find relaxation in them. I know, I’m a nerd.

This philosophy is followed around the world in all forms of design. Web designers make the site navigation user friendly and intuitive. Product and furniture designers look and study the body for inspiration. Take the core message of this philosophy and apply it to general life – like you car. Does you car fit your lifestyle?

For me, a car was freedom. A was warmth in the Canadian winter. But perhaps most importantly, a car was a means of transportation. A way to get from point A to point B. I didn’t care about the colour of the car or the power of the engine. Fuel economy was definitely important and perhaps one of the only things I really considered.

So we bought a 1991 Toyota Corolla. It had rust spots, faded paint, no air bags, no air conditioner and you had to manually roll the window down. But it works…as well as it could with it’s age. Freedom. Transportation. Ahhh, the good life.

I was however mocked. To everyone else it was a super old car with rust spots. I was told to get a young car. A young car because I was young. A new car because I could get a loan, a lease or finance it. Get a car that states your personality seemed to be the general consensus.

But why? The Toyota Corolla’s form followed the function I needed out of it. It helped me get where I wanted to go. In fact it exceeded it’s function as a simple passenger car when we discovered that we could precariously fit our skis inside the car on the passenger side. Since we started brokering print jobs, we’ve also been able to literally fill the car with boxes of printed material and deliver it. What more could I ask for?

Unfortunately the 1991 Toyota Corolla grumbled and died. What should the next car be? Again, we kept in mind form must follow function. We needed a reliable, fuel economical car that could not only accommodate our skis (and mountain bikes), but it also needs to be able to carry our print deliveries and now our photograph equipment that includes 10 foot background stand.

After weeks of research we came across a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback. It was perfect. Reliable, safe and spacious. The back seats folded down flat revealing a large cargo area for all our equipment! The best part is the warranty. It still held it’s original warranty so it anything goes wrong we could bring it back to the dealer and and they would fix it – for FREE. Perfect. We found the perfect car for us all because we followed the philosophy of Form follows Function. The car is not an extension of my personality or age – it gets me from point A to point B.

I also love to watch Dance. No matter what form of Dance - R&B, disco, ballroom and especially contemporary interpretive dance is wonderful to watch. The emotions portrayed in movement and facial expression are mesmerizing. Couple that with amazing music and vocals of a stage show like We Will Rock You, it truly becomes an experience.

I’ve never however watched a live ballet or opera performance. It’s something I’ve been wanting to experience and on my birthday my husband offered to buy any ticket to any show that was listed in the National Ballet of Canada here in Toronto. I was ecstatic! Finally!! The list of performance in the Nation Ballet of Canada website were all sounding fantastic. I couldn’t make up my mind. I finally decided on Bizet’s Carmen. I’ve always loved the music of Carmen and the brochure sealed the deal by showing the elaborate costumes.

Image above was taken from National Ballet of Canada brochure

Dinner and show. Sounds like a good celebration. PLUS we get to ‘dress-up’ because it’s an Opera. Carmen however is only playing in June and tickets were still not on sale. So I waited some more.

In the meantime, I’ve been looking for boots that were not made of suede AND water-proof. I was tired of wet soaks when I wore my Primark suede brown flat boots from London. In my hunt I found myself in Town Shoes in Square One. And I found THEM. In fact there were two pairs with my name on it. A black leather Lacoste pair with the iconic crocodile graphically places on the sole, cute shoe-lace-like straps at the back of the calf section and they were flat which is great for casual occasions.

The other pair were leather Steve Madens in an caramel brown with a slight heel and the cutest buckles. This would be great for more fashionable occasions.

Here’s where the dilema occurs. I could have BOTH boots instead of a fancy dinner and culture (Opera). Infact, parking, dinner and two tickets that would seat us close to the stage totalled up to more than the boots which were $180 and $160 respectively.

Oh my! Boots vs. “Culture” ??

Shamefully I admit that the boots won. I would have to wait for my next birthday until I see Carmen. I’m fine with that. I can wait in my new boots…either one of them. Yes, I got them both. =)

Resting and sleeping is so underrated. On Monday I felt slow and sluggish. At first I thought it was just because it was a “Monday”. But towards to end of the day my throat was dry and itchy. Tuesday brought on more throat problems and the start of a runny nose. On Wednesday I took it easy and worked for half a day. I slept Thursday away. Literally!

I didn’t even take any cold medication. Just drank hot honey and lemon concoctions all week. A spoon full of honey and some drops of concentrated lemon juice (preferably fresh lemon juice) mixed in some hot water in your favourite cup does wonders for the sinus and throat. And yes, it has to be in your favourite cup.

It’s Friday today and I’m A-OK.

So if you’re feeling sluggish or you feel the cold or flu coming on…sleep. Sleep it away.

WTF!?!

Companies large and small are scaling back. Their letting employees go and usually the first department to go is the “Creative”. Advertising and Marketing departments all over are  being let go. Made redundant. Fired. Even the mighty Wallpaper magazine is feeling the pinch of the global recession and has made some of their creatives redundant (I know this through personal associations with some of them).

As an owner of a small graphic design business what does this mean for me? I don’t have an advertising or marketing department. I am both departments and my business partner is the sales, marketing, photographer and accountant. So my job is pretty secure. The business, may not be. For many of our clients we do however fit into those roles. And of course as they tighten their belts, we feel the punch of slashed budgets. Work still flows through, but not as frequent as a few months ago. We’ve never been picky with the project we accept, in fact we still accept small jobs like designing a yellow pages ad. But now, more than ever, I’ll be thankful for any design work that comes our way. We may not win awards for a 2” x 2” advert we designed that went into Toronto Life Magazine, but it pays the bills.

So “Boo!” to the world recession and those responsible for it.

On a lighter side, this means more time to write blog posts and finally finish my personal site. At least, this recession gives me a little more time to do personal projects. I still however, want it to end. Boo World Recession!

Till I find this client, I ask key questions like:

Where and how is the BRAND POSITIONED?
The brand’s position is key when setting the tone of the campaign/project

What is the PROJECT NAME?
By using the same name between the client and the designer helps when discussing it over the phone or via email.

What is the BUDGET?
Determining a budget will allow the designer to tell you what not and what IS realistically possible to achieve with said budget and possibly suggest various options that uses the budget in the best way.

What are the PROJECT REQUIREMENTS?
Is the client launching a new product and needing supporting paraphernalia? Are they  starting a company and require a corporate identity? It is important to determine the type and number of finished products not only to give the client an accurate estimate or quote, but it will also help an designer time and project manage. If the client is revising a campaign or corporate identity, ask to see what has been done in the past to see what has already been done will save time.

Who is the TARGET market / DEMOGRAPHIC?
This is very important to establish as it will set the tone for the project. A campaign that targets girls aged 5 to 8 will look different to a campaign targeting teenage males interested in electronic games.

What is the PROJECT DEADLINE?
Setting deadline helps both client and designer time manage the project. A series of deadline for various stages of the projects such as First draft of concepts, colour selections, etc. can also be set to keep the client abreast and involved. (Although client “design” involvement would ideally be kept to a minimum.)
*Note: Production Time has be considered. Production time refers to the time for the project to be printed / assembled / shipped etc. This time is separate from creating the artwork. The designer can help clients determine this date to ensure a successful project.

CONTENT & IMAGE COMPILATION TO BE HANDED TO DESIGNER.
This will help both parties effectively BEGIN the design process. Waiting for content and images can be a serious drain on time and can cause the project to miss deadlines. A meeting with the designer can help you list out what you may need compile or collect.
TEXT-BASED CONTENT PREPARATION - Acceptable Formats
• Word Document
• Excel Document (for content that contains a lot of statistics/figures)
• PDF {note that some with some PDFs the content cannot be ‘cut and pasted’ - have the designer check it}
• Power Point Presentation
• Company Website (text only - not images)
IMAGE PREPARATION - PRINT READY
Logos and images that end with the following extensions are considered Print Ready. Please note that images taken directly from the company website it NOT print ready.
• .eps - Encapsulated Post Script file
• .tif - Tagged Image File Format
• .ai - Adobe Illustrator file
• .psd - Adobe Photoshop file
• .pdf - Portable Document Format file (high resolution - have designer check it)
• .jpg - Joint Photographers Graphic file (high resolution - have designer check it)
IMAGE PREPARATION - WEB READY
Print ready documents can also be submitted to the designer to be converted into web ready images as well.
• .gif - Graphical Interchange Format file
• .bit - Bit Map Picture file
• .png - Portable Network Graphics file

So, if there are any potential clients out there reading this…make notes of the above too. This will give you a gold star with any designer.

I write and makes lists for everything. Absolutely everything. To-do, grocery, shopping, housework, work, what to pack for a vacation, what’s in the box I’m packing for storage. Writing lists is a wonderful organization tool, not only for keeping you on top of things, but it helps with your sanity.

As a graphic designer, it’s invaluable with project managing. Nearly each project has different client contact details, artwork deadlines, production deadlines, changes and almost endless tweaks that have to be done. I re-write the lists everyday to make sure that I’ve covered everything and this allows me to add new things that need to be done.

If my to-do list is long, I re-write it in order of importance of time-sensitive projects. Moments of anxiety and panic are cleared when I start to tackle the first project on the list. Oh, the relief!

Losing you mind with errands? Write a list and tackle it. Blog entry done, now next on my list, back-up hard-drive.