Check out my new favourite blog (besides ours of course). If you’re a blogger… particularly of graphic design blogs… I was surfing again and came across a blog called Creative Opera. It has a plethera of information and inspiration for graphic designers young and old. I’ve been feeling a bit stagnate lately and Creative Opera was a caffeine injection to my creativity. So, if your looking for some eye candy, bookmark it!
Harold Taylor, president of Harold Taylor Time Consultants Inc.
www.taylorintime.com
as printed in Graphic Arts Magazine, July/August 2009
Time seems to be in such short supply that many people don’t even have an extra few hours to attend a seminar or read a book on time management. For those people looking for some quick suggestions on making the most of their time, here are [some] effective time management rules.
Organize your desk. A neat desk helps a mind stay organized. People do better on exams when neatly dressed, excel in sales when well-prepared and are more productive at work when their materials are arranged in an orderly way. Keep your in-basket off your desk to minimize interruptions and distractions. If possible, have you desk face the wall.
Plan your day. If you have no objectives for the day, you will likely have a matching set of results. Plans are the handrails that guide you though the day’s distrations and keep you on course. Plan what you do at the start, evaluate progress during the day and measure results at the finish.
Schedule your tasks. Listing jobs on a “to do” list shows your intention to work on them, but scheduling important tasks in your planner reveals a commitment to get them done. Make appointments with yourself at specific times to work on your priority tasks – and try to keep those appointments.
Don’t be a perfectionist. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. But “well” does not mean perfectly; it means it is sufficient to fulfill the purpose intended. Don’t spend inappropriate amount of time on tasks that don’t require that degree of accuracy or completeness.
Handle paper only once. When possible don’t even look at your mail until you 30-60 minutes to review it. As you pick up each piece of paper, either scrap it, delgte it, do it, file it or schedule a time to do it later. The same thing applies to email.
Stay tuned for more time-saving tips in an upcoming blog or get a hold of a copy of the July/August 2009 Graphic Arts Magazine.
I was surfing the internet the other day, which is something I actually rarely do, but since I wanted to update this blog with something interesting and I was drawing a complete blank I turned to surfing.
A lot of people ask me “what is graphic design? what do you do exactly?” I, of course, answer with the simplest explanation I can, “Well, I create business cards and letterhead, posters, flyers, websites… blah, blah, blah.” But graphic design is actually a bit more involved than that and I found this neat video on YouTube that describes graphic design in a little more detailed and interesting way.
by: James White
I came across this article and thought what a great article to share! Hope you find it informative. Notes in italics are my two sense 
As more and more people become familiar with the Internet, it is becoming increasingly important to have a web presence for your business or company. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, a web presence will allow customers or potential clients to view your products, services, and underlying values. Failure to have such things listed on your website - will surely result in the potential customer looking elsewhere. These days, it is not just about having a website. Gone are the days where websites are optional extra to boost your company’s performance and bottom line. Times have developed such that if you do not have an online presence, you will simply be written off as an amateur establishment in your field. A web site designer can help your business build its brand and get noticed on the internet.
Instead, the difference between a quality company and one which has a poor public image - is solely dependent upon web design. Ask any web page designer, and they will tell you just how vital it is that you get the design process right. Failure to make an appropriate investment in such an endeavor, will no doubt come back to haunt you in the future. With a professional web designer you can take your online business to the next level.
Here are a few things which web designers recommend to any new clients that they pick up. You should of course watch out when paying someone to build a website for you. Not only do web designers have to offer you suitable and appropriate design abilities, but they also need to be able to recommend, critique, and evaluate your own ideas on your company’s image. This is what sets web designers apart.
1. Take your time
That worst thing you can do is rush in and choose a design based on a template, previous site, or website which has been replicated thousands of times across the Internet. Take your time and invest a little bit of money to ensure that the finished product is unique, effective, and a true reflection of your company or business. All sites designed by Austin Graphics are custom sites, they take more time and cost a little more money, but the end result is a website that is truly your own.
2. Get professional advice
There is nothing worse for a web designer - then a pushy client. Remember, web designers are trained in finding the best layouts for websites, color schemes, link structures, and so on. If you turn up to their office with your own list of requirements which surpasses any reasonable level of client input, the only effect which this has is to restrict the web designer from achieving something which could be much higher quality - if only you hadn’t decided so much before they started working. Although we do like to have some guidelines, we want you to be a happy client in the end so do some research; what sites do you like? what aspects of those sites do you/don’t you like? and then we can discuss what can be done to meet your expectations.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask for changes
Just because you shouldn’t rock up with a bunch of requirements, does not mean that you can not ask for changes once an initial site design has been made. If there is something you don’t like, let the websites designer know. They should be able to find a reasonable alternative - which is in keeping with the site, and pleasing to you at the same time. It’s true! We want you to be 100% satisfied with your website ~ so if there is something you don’t like tell us
Well, Cooper was in for a visit at the office today.
He is very well behaved (takes after the old man) and spoiled!
But sooo cute!
