Designer’s Survival Guide

Just a quick blurb about a book I recently checked out. The “Designer’s Survival Guide” is a really good read, what I liked most about this book was its collaberation between several creative professionals, so you get a good amount of content based on their experinces. I would highly recommend this ebook and am sure my site readers would enjoy it as well.

The book contains lots of useful content such as:

- Writing Press Releases
- SEO TIps
- Web Design and Development Tips
- Color Calibration
- Package Design
- Logo Design Process
- Transitioning Into Your Own Business
- and so much more.

Learn more by visiting: http://www.designerssurvivalguide.com

Encouraging Others

Think about this: How often do you encourage your design staff or those that report to you? What about someone who sends you a portfolio link, or kind phone message or writes you a thoughtful note or email.

What do you do? Blow it off? Give it to someone else to do?

I found this little blurb a while back by Richard Branson, Founder and Chairman of the Virgin Group, who addresses these various questions:

“I turn people down with extreme difficulty sometimes, because the people I’m saying no to are people I don’t want to discourage. And it should be difficult. Saying no shouldn’t be an easy thing to do, and you have to be good at it.

I often used to dodge doing it myself, and hide behind other people and delegate it, but if you’re the boss, that isn’t the right thing to do.

I remember I was a 15 year old asking Vanessa Redgrave or James Baldwin for an interview, and the fact that they took the time to respond meant an enormous amount to me. It inspired me. So it’s extremely important to respond to people, and to give them encouragement if you’re a leader.

And if you’re actually turning people down, if you must say no, whether it’s for a job or a promotion or an idea they’re proposing to you, take the time to do it yourself.

I met two big San Francisco entrepreneurs recently, and they said they get e-mail like this too, but they just dump it all in the dustbin. They don’t try to answer at all. I asked them why, and they said, “The time we spend responding could be used to create something of value for our business.”

That may well be pragmatically right, but I still think it’s morally wrong, and I suspect that anything that is morally wrong is ultimately bad for business”

I think it’s a good reminder for us all.

Have You Taken Inventory Lately?

Take the time to inventory your current skill set at least every 6 months. Then make a plan to upgrade and/or learn new skills. Here’s a few suggestions to help.

What skill set do you currently have a designer or design manager? Are your skills up-to-date with the latest Adobe Creative Suite? Do you have skills with Flash and other multimedia applications? What about presentation skills?

In my opinion, you really need to be *constantly* updating (and upgrading) your skill set.

Best way to do this is to make a written list of all the skills you currently possess. Then make a list of the skills you would like to learn/improve in the next 6 months.

It could be learning/improving in any number of areas including: presentations, public speaking, persuasion, video, advanced Photoshop, CSS, mobile design or others.

I believe it is important to give yourself a time frame to complete. It really helps to focus and increases your motivation.

Most importantly do something TODAY to start moving in that direction. Whether it is calling a local college for a course schedule, ordering a book from Amazon.com, taking some online training modules from Lynda.com or something else. Movement is key.

I always like to think that you get somewhere in 6 months anyway so why not improve/learn along the way.

You’ll look back 6 months from now and be pleasantly surprised at the progress you’ve made.