HOW Design Live 2011

Hello everyone. Sorry I've not been keeping up my blogging as of late. I've been quite busy this summer with personal stuff and lots of projects. I was fortunate enough to attend yet another HOW Design Conference this year, HOW Design Live 2011 held in Chicago this past June.

In the past, I've written up a blog entry or three about my experiences at the HOW Conference; however this year I thought I would try something different. I decided to capture my experiences in a Blurb book. Nick's Notes: How Design Live 2011 features not only photos from Chicago/HOW, but also some inspired color palettes and highlights of my notes. I feel it's a better representation of how I experienced this year's conference.

I hope you enjoy it!


p.s. Look for more blog entries soon on some of the cool projects I've been working on this summer!

Sweet! nsquaredesign in print: Creative Workshop

I was pleased to learn that I was going to have one of my pieces featured in the new book, Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills by David Sherwin published by HOW Books. David put a call for willing designs to be sent one of his challenges. Each challenge had a time limit and you could pick a category. However, you didn't know your challenge until David sent it to you.

I worked on two challenges and both were fun and helped me think a bit differently than normal. David let me know that my challenge made it into the book, but I had to wait almost a year to see which one was chosen... :S

I'm very happy that my "Creature Feature" website concept was the one pick for the book since it was my favorite and I had a great time working on it.

Be sure to pick up a copy today to hear all about my process and see how the other designers handled their challenges!

Holiday Card 2010

Sorry about the lack of blog posts lately. I've been quite busy this past holiday season with personal and freelance projects. Some I can show ya now, some I can't... ;)

So I know this one is a bit late in coming, but I just had to show off my holiday card for 2010:

Usually I show sketches of the process I used to arrive at any given design solution. And I wish I could show you snapshots from my head, but this year's card was really simple and came about very organically. It was November and I was in the midst of several projects and realized I needed to prepare my holiday card. I looked at my previous year's cards and sketches to see what I had (and hadn't done).

I put everything aside and got caught up in the holiday buzz and rush and just kept the notion of "gotta get my card done" in the back of my head. Then I saw a great piece of type driven design and it struck me that was what I had yet to do for my holiday cards! I had be using the wish of peace, love, and hope in my cards from almost the very beginning, so I knew what it would say. And I knew the doves would play a role somehow, it wast a matter of tying them all together. I wish I could tell you exactly how I arrived at the bracket turned sideways as the solution, but I honestly don't remember, it just flowed from the few very simple sketches I did do.

I chose green as the color because it is calming and conveyed the sense of the holiday season without being too "Christmasy" Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but not everyone who's getting a card celebrates, so I wanted to be respectful. The final touch was a fantastic texture by my buddy Von, author of Crumble. Crackle. Burn. (Shameless plug: it's a fantastic texture resource for any designer. I might be biased since I know Von, but this book has been a boon to my design projects since I picked it up. End shameless plug...).

I even got brave this year and turned my card into a print, a greeting card, and an ornament over at my Zazzle shop so that others could send wishes of Peace, Hope, and Love too.

That's it for now, more to come soon, hope your 2011 is off to a great start!

CFC & HOW 2010: Part 2

I had the privilege of attending the 2010 Creative Freelancer Conference and a few sessions of the 2010 HOW Design Conference. In a stroke of brilliance, F&W Media decided to hold the CFC, HOW, and inHOWse conferences all at the same location and at the same time. As a result, my CFC package included access to the HOW resource center (samples and schwag! :), the HOW Opening Keynote and one "Wildcard" HOW Session. Here's part 2 of my experience…

Alas, the topics of Day Two were a bit dry: It's Your Money (Galia Gichon), Legal Basics (Jean Perwin), and The Art & Science of Pricing (Shel Perkins). Galia and Jean presented their rather dry info in a good and as interesting as possible way as they could. It was a necessary evil, but useful and informative. Shel's session, however was not for me. Way too dry to keep me interested. It looked like good info, however the slides were nearly illegible at the back of the room and instead of offering us a link to his extremely long presentation, he just mentioned that all the info was in his book. Major fail there dude, this conference is about sharing! A link his presentation would have been greatly appreciated here, especially since Shel talked way too fast and had too much info to capture in the session's allotted time.

The session on Internet Marking by Aliza Sherman was informative and great for those who are tiptoeing into social media and internet marketing. Not nearly as dry as the financial and legal presentations, Aliza really lit up her session with color and wit.

I skipped out on the remaining sessions to hang with my fellow HOWies (members of the HOW Design Forum) on the 40th floor of the Hyatt's Peak Lounge, which has a fantastic panoramic view of the Rockies and downtown Denver. And while I was skeptical of Von's order of the Crisps with Artichoke dip, it was really good. I think I became addicted to it in the first bite! The company and the view were fantastic and I wouldn't have traded that for any session.

After our pre-HOW meetup, we all trekked over to the Denver Convention Center for the HOW Opening Keynote by Andy Stefanovich. I'd seen Andy speak at a previous HOW conference (Vegas, I believe) and as I expected, he was fantastic. He talks a mile a minute, but this enthusiasm and passion are quite evident and it is is hard to not get caught up in it. Andy's session was a great way to kick of the 2010 HOW Conference (and the mayor's proclamation declaring it Design Week in Denver didn't hurt either... ;)

After that rousing session, it was time to hit the famous Resource Center. One of the best aspects of the HOW Design Conference is all the vendors that are located in the Resource Center. Plenty of schwag and samples to be had by all! But that doesn't stop 2,500 of your closest design friends from clamoring to get all the cool stuff on the first night. Nothing beats earning that Veer T or French Paper sample kit by standing in line and waiting with your fellow designers chatting about the day.

Day Three for me (Day 2 of HOW) was a short day for me since I just had the 2 Wildcard HOW sessions. (I was fortunate enough to score 3 Wildcards for HOW because of friends who either purchased both CFC and HOW Conferences or had a plane to catch...it pays to know people! :) I started out with Gail Anderson's session on You Are What You Keep. It took Gail awhile to get up to speed and I figured that she was like me and didn't do well with the whole getting up early thing... Gail had great info and I particularly liked how she showed specific examples of how items she collected were used or inspired future projects.

Next up was Von's session, 5 Alarm Concepts. Von always has a great presentation and his latest one was no different. Von spoke of collecting "matches" to fill up your virtual matchbox so you could ignite your brain to creative 5 Alarm Concepts. Funny and informative, this was my favorite of the two sessions I attended.

2010 was a great year for the CFC/HOW Conferences and I was pleased that I was able to reconnect with old friends and make new ones along the way. Alas, I was bummed that I missed out on the closing Party as well as the awesome Kevin Carroll giving the closing keynote, but I was able to squeeze in another day of Denver siteseeing along the way before heading home Tuesday evening. All in all, I think I did a good job of collecting a variety of matches from different sources to fuel my next creative endeavor.

CFC & HOW 2010: Part 1

I had the privilege of attending the 2010 Creative Freelancer Conference and a few sessions of the 2010 HOW Design Conference. In a stroke of brilliance, F&W Media decided to hold the CFC, HOW, and inHOWse conferences all at the same location and at the same time. As a result, my CFC package included access to the HOW resource center (samples and schwag! :), the HOW Opening Keynote and one "Wildcard" HOW Session.

I'm a CFC and HOW Conference veteran and while my main purpose was to attend both conferences, I brought along my friend who likes to travel, so I planned on working in a bit of a vacation too.

Despite what our pilots told us at the beginning of the flight, our ride into Denver was anything but smooth. Especially the last half hour, it felt as if we were on a roller coaster and not a plane. And alas, I did succumbed to altitude sickness that same night. Going into the first day of CFC, I was a bit unsteady and uncertain.

However, once I arrived and saw Bryn Mooth (HOW Editor and all-around awesome person) and chatted with her a bit, I started feeling much better. That carried me until I entered the room filled with CFCers and the energy of several hundred independent creatives lit my design fire up.

Ilise stared the day off right with the session You Are A Business.She talked about how we decide if and when we are a business. It was very empowering. Pitch Perfect by Dyana was good, however, it was the same basic presentation from 2008, so although it was not new to me, it was good to hear again and to do the exercises to help clarify how I define my business when asked the dreaded "What do you do?"

Luke's session Who's The Boss was by far the best presentation of the day for me. He explained how to set clear boundaries between work and personal for you and your client as well as strategies to keep your business and clients all working together smoothly.

Rather than attend the panel on freelance success and the networking reception, I decided to fill up my soul or as Von said in his HOW session ("add a match to my matchbox", more on that later). My friend's friends were going to visit their dog who had just given birth to the cutest little labrador puppies I've ever seen. Nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, I really got to see the beauty of Denver and surrounding areas.

Day Two of the CFC was shaping up to be a long day for me since I also had the HOW opening keynote and resource center on my agenda. I was starting to really feel better today! The design mojo and creative energy was definitely palpable as I walked through the Hyatt to the sessions.

Look for part 2 coming Monday!

HZ-14: Coffee

After a short hiatus, the HOWiezine is back and to the theme for issue 14 was Coffee. Personally, I'm not a coffee fan, but I couldn't miss a chance to participate, so I signed up without being inspired as to what I'd do.

I did something thinking and I figured I could use my aversion to coffee as a part of my concept. I've also seen more Star Trek than I'd like to admit. The Borg are a great enemy and they have an awesome line they use when they encounter civilizations who try to beat them as they go around conquering the universe: "Resistance is futile." Now we're talking...with that in mind, I began to sketch.

After getting the coffee beans down, I wanted to create an old-school "hypnotic" effect with a coffee at the very center. Sure, I could've used lines spiraling inward, but the idea of using a coffee "stain" as the rings seemed better.

Since I don't drink coffee, I substituted hot chocolate to make the rings. The original rings were a bit light, so I had to darken them a bit in Photoshop.

I then converted the "coffee" stain to black and white so I could better blend the rings into the background in Photoshop. Here's an early stage composite of the layout:

Next up, I took my coffee bean sketches and digitally inked the best one in Illustrator. I added color for the bean. I also added a red "eye" like a cyborg to give it a more menacing feel.

I layered in the coffee bean, added a background texture, duplicated and blended the coffee rings into the composite image. I decided to add in the type "Resistance is futile." It started out bold, but I gradually blended the type so it was a bit more "subliminal". Here's how it looked before I finished blending and adding the lighting effects:

Next I added blending and lighting to create the final image for page one:

Now my dilemma: I had a great page one, but no clue as to what to do for page two! As I was working on page one, I kept thinking of how I could tie in the second page. My previous 'zine entries had a poem as the second page, but it didn't seem appropriate for my chosen concept.

I had finished page one and still hadn't had a good idea for page two yet. I went on to work on another project and let the idea marinate in my subconscious for awhile. When the solution came, it was so simple I should've thought of it sooner: take the cyborg coffee bean and duplicate it to fill the entire back page. I had considered making several different coffee beans for variation,but in keeping with the cyborg theme I simply used the original bean. Here's the resulting image for page two:

Another fun HOWiezine project under my belt! Can't wait for HZ-15!

kNOwHOW

A few of the HOW Design Forum members who were unable to attend this year's HOW Design Conference in Austin decided to have a "kNOwHOW" conference. Nothing fancy, just a few designer friends getting together to share knowledge, friendship and food. Our host, Karma, along with her mom, and fellow HOWie Patti really went all out: we had food, a creative exercise (doodling monsters!), a photobooth, and schwag bags!

It was a great bit of creative inspiration and friendship, well worth the 9 hour drive from Ohio to attend. Enjoy the photos on my Flickr here.

Doodle Swap #2

The first Doodle Swap between members of the HOW Design Forum (aka HOWies) was so much fun that I couldn't pass on doing round 2! The trick was working about a few other projects that were all due at that same time.

Fortunately, one project gave me the inspiration for my doodles for round 2 and my interpretations of 4 classic monster movie creatues was born! I did 4 versions each of Frankenstein's Monster, Dracula, and the Mummy, and 2 versions of The Phantom of the Opera (doodle below) (1 for me and 1 for a lucky recipient! :)

Each doodle was done by hand (no retracing or other tricks here) with loving care, or at least by hand.... :P

I tried the smooth vellum artist cards this time and while the colored pencils did work better on them, I still feel as I've not gotten what I'd envisioned outta them. Next round I may try just black and white using my Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens (which ROCK, btw! :)

Doodle Swap Blog.

Doodle Swap Flickr.

Hey That's Me! n2 Quoted in Caffeine for the Creative Team

Late last year, members of the HOW Design forum were asked to contribute their thoughts about how the forum acted as a team for the book, Caffeine for the Creative Team. A couple of my quotes and photos that were submitted were used in the chapter on the HOW Forum.

Congrats to my fellow HOWies who also made an appearance in the book!

TinEye: Image Search Tool

Seen on the HOW Blog: TinEye, the visual search engine. This is not Google image search, TinEye actually uses your uploaded image and compares it to other images on the internet, even variants. Perfect for logo and infringement research, a must-have tool for any creative!

Creative Freelancer Conference 2008

I had the privilege of attending the first ever Creative Freelancer Conference, the creative brainchild of the folks at HOW and Marketing Mentor (Peleg & Ilise). How could I resist this write-up: “If you're a freelance designer, photographer, writer or anyone else in the creative arts trying to make a living at it—or wanting to make a better living at it, with more time to actually enjoy the rest of your life—the Creative Freelancer Conference is for you.”

I’m not a full-time independent designer. I’m an in-houser and I went to see if I could learn how to become an independent designer full time. Chicago is only a 5-6 hour drive for me and the price of the conference just fit in my budget, so I decided it was a worthwhile investment.

Having been to four of the “big” HOW Design Conferences (about 4,000 people), I was curious as to how a smaller conference would work. I had been to the Hyatt in Chicago for the HOW Design Conference in 2005, so as I walked the familiar halls, it was oddly quiet based on my memories of last being there. As I was standing in line, I struck up a conversation with 2 of the people ahead of me and we started talking.

And we kept talking as we entered the hall where the conference was being held. The first thing I noticed were the round tables. It looked so much cozier and comfortable than the big HOW conference and I immediately felt comfortable. My new friends and I sat down in the back of the room and continued to chat. With a few minutes to go until the opening session, a smiling Peleg came up to our table and said “Hello. I’m Peleg. I’ll be speaking in a few minutes and I wanted to be sure I could see you, there are plenty of seats up front.” How could we resist? So we ended up in the front row, and it was worth it!

Peleg and Ilise’s opening session about “Secrets of A Successful Solopreneur” had me hooked. Both were articulate, funny, and had great information to share. They had been where I wanted to go and were showing me the way. It was the perfect way to kick-start the first-ever conference of its kind.

Next up was Dyana Valentine (“Creative Collaboration Workshop”) who developed a brilliant worksheet to engage us and get us introverts talking and solving problems. It didn’t even feel like networking as we each shared with the other creatives at the table and helped each other to solve their challenges. In fact, the folks at our table almost completely missed the happy hour that followed because we stayed and continued to work on the challenge!



When we did finally make it to the happy hour, I found friends from my previous HOW Conferences there to chat with along with new friends I had met along the way that evening. We mingled and chatted about design and just life. We chatted so long that I almost missed my dinner plans with some friends I had met through the online HOW forums.

I did make the dinner, though, and got to meet two members of the HOW online forum at Athena’s in Greektown (Hi Lauren & Joe!) and chat more about design and life and the conference. When I finally got back to my hotel room about 11ish, I was beat.



The next day started about 7 a.m. for me. I showed up at the breakfast roundtables at 8 a.m. and thought I would be one of the first people there. Boy was I wrong! There was already a large gathering of people getting their breakfasts and scoping out which roundtables they wished to participate in. The roundtables were a great way to both network and start the day, even for non-morning people such as myself.

Joan Gladstone kicked off Day Two with “How to Get Your Clients to Fall in Love With You (And Be Loyal Forever)”. Most of it was common sense, but there were some great tips on how to do little things to go above and beyond without investing a lot of time or money to make your client happy.

Colleen Wainwright and Ilise followed with the next session, “Building A Well-Oiled Marketing Machine”. They focused on how to create a Marketing Machine with 5 elements that once you put into motion, should sustain itself. They broke each element down into tangible steps that should get you off to a good start. I would have liked to have seen more info for beginners here, but they were speaking to a diverse level of experiences, so I can see where those who are determined will probe deeper post-conference. What really got me thinking this session was the 10-Word Blurb to describe what I do to others.

I’d like to take a moment here and give a shoutout to Jeff, Steve, Scott, and the 2 guys from Emma that I forgot to get business cards from for a great Thursday lunch!



Peleg started the afternoon off with his session on “How to Talk to Your Clients About Fees.” And while I was skeptical of his “don’t tell the client the hourly rate” philosophy, I listened and learned. And did I learn. Peleg offered great advice on how to answer he most common questions about rates and how to breach the conversation about money in a non-threatening way.

Lloyd Dangle made what could have been a boring presentation on proposals and contracts interesting and informative. “A Quick and Dirty Look at Proposals and Contracts” was just that. He used his own contract and experiences to liven up the discussion and even though you do have to have some legalese in your life, Lloyd showed us how it was beneficial to all parties.

After a delightful dinner with Melanie, Carla, Jody, Dawn, and Roxy, we headed back to the room for a presentation by Idea Blob. It’s a new way for ideas to be born through online collaboration. It’s kinda like having your own peer think tank from around the world helping you work through your idea to make it better and take it out into the world. Each month, the members of Idea Blob vote on the best idea and the winner gets $10,00 to put their idea in motion. This interactive presentation from Ami Kassar was short, but fun!



Next up was the Business Review. Creative business experts go over your portfolio, marketing materials, what have you, from a business perspective to help you improve your materials so you can attract the types of project you are seeking. I admit, I chickened out from signing up. The old school critiques ringing too painfully loud in my head. But as I watched (hovering was encouraged), and I saw how much fun they were and how safe and supportive the experts were in giving their advice, I ran upstairs to my hotel room and picked up my portfolio. I asked politely if I could take any open spots, and luckily one did open up. I’m so glad I did it. I learned that with a few changes, my portfolio can rock!

After 12ish hours in the same room, we all went out to celebrate, but by about Midnight, I was tuckered out and ready for bed so I could be fresh for the last few sessions and a 6ish hour drive home the next day.



Friday already? Wow. How time flies when you are having fun! After another rousing roundtable with Peleg on “How to Find Clients”, Lee Silber gave some inspiring tips and an awesome display of humor with a bit of magic in his session, “How to Find the Time to Build Your Freelance Business”. Which might have been better named “How to Visualize Your Biz & Run It Your Way”. Regardless, Lee offered up great tips on how to organize and run your business that is in sync with your particular style of doing things so that you can have actual free time to enjoy the rewards of being a freelancer.

Last but certainly not least is my HOW friend, Jeff Fisher with his session “Reaping the Rewards of Creative Independence”. Jeff, who I believe is always on vacation, offered excellent examples of how to enjoy being independent, doing the work you love and not sacrificing anything in the process (including your sanity!)

After a nice lunch with a fellow Ohioan, it was off to my six hour drive home. Truly, this was a spectacular investment in myself and I’m very glad to have been a part of the first Creative Freelancer Conference “Class of 2008”.

Some closing notes about the conference as a whole. The small size was a great advantage for this conference. The round tables really helped with the networking. Everyone I met was fantastic, open, happy, and a pleasure to meet. Not once did I hear griping about bad clients and/or experiences. I head about the rewards of being independent: freedom, variety, and a sustainable career.

I noticed that nearly everyone, about 200 introverts, were connecting and networking and it was darned near impossible for us to stop. I have 3 pages of to-dos and so many business cards, my mind is spinning with what to do next. But most of all, I’m excited.

I was truly inspired and informed and my new goal is to change my “i” from “in-house” to “independent.” I gotta admit, I’m nervous about this change. I’ve given myself until next year’s CFC to achieve my goal. I’ve got a CFC “buddy” in my fellow Ohioan as well as the small “tribe” I’m building to keep me on track and to cheer me on to success. I have the determination and skill. Now I just need the clients…

HOW Design Conferernce 2008 Review

I was fortunate enough to attend my fourth HOW Design Conference May 18-21 in Boston and here are my thoughts about this year's offerings.

As always, it was fantastic to see my old friends from the HOW Magazine Forum as well as meet new friends in the sea of 4,000 designers that descended upon Boston for 4 days of design knowledge!

Opening keynote session was good, there was some great info there, but you had to work to find it. I think if the presentation of the info was just a bit dry/lacking.

Designed Life was not what I was thinking it was going to be about. My expectation from the description was how we as designers should be designing for the custom product/packaging that customers are beginning to get used to and expect in today's world. However, I did think that Joe Duffy did have some good info, I think the visual brief is a fantastic idea!

Decoding Design was very dry, however, I think that her book sounds interesting and I will pick it up and maybe it will give a bit more info to some of her concepts and that might tie the session together a bit better for me.

Arriving at Creativity was a dud. I think these guys were trying to be funny like the 3 Dogz presentation, but they just couldn't pull it off. I had no regrets skipping out on this one.

Visuals and Verbals was fantastic! Great info and presented in an engaging way. Way to go Andy Epstein!




Design Entrepreneur was okay. Sure it is wonderful to see and be inspired by the work of Charles S. Anderson, but I thought this session would explain more of the nitty gritty of how to become a design entrepreneur. I think this session would have been better if Charles had taken his ten points and elaborated on them. Instead of "find a manufacterer (duh!), tell me HOW to find one and HOW to negotiate a good deal for my licensing, etc.

Developing Leadership and Stratetic Awareness, Jeni Herberger gave a wonderful presentation with lots of great information! Excellent speaker, as always.

Lovin' Your Design Job was pretty good. Good information and the speakers were fun and entertaining. I wish that we would've spent more time on the worksheet working out HOW to achieve some of the goals that we started to explore. This session felt incomplete. Perhaps this should have been a two-part session for maximum effectiveness?

Planning, Packaging, and Promoting Yourself as the Product. What can I say? Accomplished logo designer Jeff Fisher gives a great presentation, funny and articulate while passing along good info. Although I still don't know how he keeps up on all those websites he's a part of...and despite being heckled by some rude people in about the 10th row on the right hand side, he remained calm and kept his good humor throughout.

Illustrative Design by Von was great. It was great to see his process and he presented the info in a fun and entertaining way (way to go Billy Mays!). From what I could see, people were coming to his session from other sessions.

Closing Keynote. The best session EVER. Bill Strickland is amazing. He was confident without being arrogant. He was engaging, I hung on his every word. The work he does is so valuable and he recognizes that we as designers can help change the world and he's asking for help. I don't know about anyone else, but I want to go to work for this man.



Suggestions & Closing Thoughts
Overall, I think this year's HOW was on par with Atlanta, some dud sessions, but more good ones than bad. Some general thoughts about the HOW conference:
I think that in addition to the tracks (creativity, business, etc), that each session should be labeled for where you are in your career: entry, mid-level, senior. That might help some people better chose which sessions to attend.

Please bring back the printing of the schedule on the back of the name badge! Yes, I know I am free to attend any session once there, but it'd be nice to at least be reminded of what I registered for.

Please make the badges slightly larger next year. They don't have to go back to their former size, but I like putting all the bcards of my new contacts in their and they simply all don't fit in that small of a badge holder.

I peronsally believe they can get rid of the handout binder and replace it with a notepad. Still have Corporate Image develop it so that F+W and CI remain friends. The current binder is expensive to produce and we're wasting a ton of paper on the copied handouts. Not to mention the 5 extra pounds the attendees have to carry around in addition to all their schwag. What I'd like to see is a small flash drive with a PDF or HTML version of EVERY session's slideshow on it. Put that, a cool HOW branded pen and a nice sketchbook quality pad of notepaper in a trendy HOW branded notebook holder that is portable (like the size of the VEER sketchbooks). And make the notepad/sketchbook a standard size so I can replace the paper and keep the outside binder part for reuse for many years. Bryn/Sarah, et al if you want to learn more about my concept on this, please feel free to contact me, you know where to find me!

I love the HOW Conference, it is the best in my opinion and I truly appreciate all the hard work that the entire HOW gang puts into making this event a success each and every year. Congrats to you all, I hope to see ya in Austin (assuming I can get work to send me again next year. let the crossing of fingers begin!)