Okay, perhaps “superpower” is a bit of an exaggeration. But, it’s definitely underrated. For many years, I’ve read numerous articles on the importance of specialization when it comes to design. Focus on a particular industry or skillset and this will give you an advantage over your competition. And the logic is there for it. Clients…
I took another great course on Coursera. It was titled “Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content" and was offered by the University of Pennsylvania. When I first saw the title, I was imagining "cat videos" and considered ignoring it. I'm so glad I didn't. The professor, Jonah Berger, really dives in deep on…
Things are tough right now. Businesses and organizations throughout the world and in our community are struggling. Struggling to pay rent. Pay employees. Pay for healthcare. It’s overwhelming, especially when revenue is not coming in. And may not be for the foreseeable future. I’m right there with you. My business has plummeted since the outbreak.…
Imagine making an investment in your business that statistically shows a 32% higher revenue improvement compared to your competitors. That’s the basic premise of a McKinsey report from last year. And, yes, the investment is in design. This is for all aspects of design: physical products, services, and digital or physical interactions, among others. The…
I was reading an article today “What can designers do to help tackle the climate change crisis?” in designweek.co.uk. This is a topic that I hadn't fully considered before. As a designer, I didn't necessarily see myself as someone who could dramatically affect climate change. However, I think I can do more than I may…
I was reading an article this morning about what London’s Underground map can teach us about design. It tells the story of Henry Beck, an engineering draftsman, who transformed an accurate visual representation of the Underground’s map into a simple depiction that focused solely on users’ needs: ‘Where do I get on and off’. When…
I was flipping through our morning newspaper and came across a common advertiser that I’m sure many of you are familiar with: Ollie’s Bargain Outlet. It’s a cringe-worthy abomination in the eyes of most designers. Crass typography. Cheesy illustrations of Ollie sprinkled throughout the flyer. Each page packed with hyperbolic descriptions of all kinds of…
I just completed a course at UCDavis on Optimizing a Website for (Organic) Search. There was a ton of valuable information conveyed in the course, but an area that I found particularly helpful was the section on Local Search. This is valuable for many of my clients that are local businesses that target almost exclusively…
First, I’ll start with a definition: SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or web page in organic search results. The organic results are all the unpaid links that show up when you type in a request in a search engine like Google. Why is it important? If…
I was reading a very engaging story on infographics in the current issue of Smithsonian and thought it might be relevant to share my perspective on this subject. The story begins with a summary of how infographics and data visualization have influenced events throughout history. Incredibly, it’s a very old, dating back 8,000 years. However,…