Your Brain on Design: A Graphic Design Blog | Leslie Tane Design » Open Mike

Location, location, location

Leslie Tane Design — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:29:31 +0000

It’s always helpful to actually work with clients, preferably at their own computer, and watch the way they use their websites and the internet in general.

What have I noticed? That a lot of my clients are confused between the location bar and Google search. Many people have Google set as their home page, and to get to a web page they type the URL (http://www.somelinkhere.com) into the Google search bar. Then they click “Search” and click on the link to the site they were looking for.

So what’s wrong with this? First of all, it has lots of unnecessary steps. But secondly, and most importantly, many times Google has not indexed the page the client is trying to get to (especially if, as in the case of my beta and building sites, they’re blocked from Google). That’s when I get the panicked calls: “I went to link you sent and there’s nothing there!”

Here’s what I send them:

Do you do this? Don’t feel embarrassed. You are in very smart, very successful company. But make your life easier and use Google for searching and the location bar for URLs.

Making the world the way I think it should be

Leslie Tane Design — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:36:32 +0000

It’s a snowy day here in Massachusetts and it’s given me a reason to reflect. When I decided to expand my business from a successful one person home based venture to an office based design firm with an employee I thought a lot about what was important to me. Good design, personal integrity and business ethics, of course. But as a mother with two children under 6 (at the time) it was equally as important to me that I be able to accommodate their schedules and spend as much time with them as I can.

All women who have children compromise in some way. They may stay home with their kids full-time and sacrifice income and, perhaps, a career. Or they might work outside the home and miss time with their kids. There are many variations, and I believe that every parent tries to find the balance that works. I would never judge someone for the choices she makes.

I couldn’t afford to stop working. Even if I could have, I had worked long and hard to establish my business and I didn’t want to give it up. Not to mention that I get a great deal of enjoyment and satisfaction from the work that I do. At the same time, though, I have an acute sense of time passing, of the fact that my children will only be young once, and that I don’t want to miss it. My daughter and son are the center of my life and the source of my greatest joy. How could I reconcile my need to continue to run my business with my desire to be with my kids?

In addition, the woman I hired as my production manager has three young kids. She is fabulous, the most wonderful employee I could ever ask for, and she was struggling with the same work/parenting issues that I was. It was essential to me that I make a workplace that was family friendly for both of us. There are so many smart, dedicated, and trained women who are not able to work, or not able to find the kind of work that they want, because there are so few jobs out there that are flexible enough to be both an employee and a dedicated parent.

We made it work. Here’s how:

We both use laptop computers. When we work from our respective homes, we have everything we need at our fingertips. When we come into the office we bring our computers in with us.
Sarah has a work printer at her house as a part of her full workstation there.
We cc and bcc each other on emails so that we can both track the progress of our projects.
We use Basecamp as our project management system. This keeps us on the same page, even when we’re not physically in the same space.
When we need to make conference calls, we use freeconference.com
Our office space has toys and art supplies for the times when the kids need to come into the office with us. It used to have a portable crib too, which the kids have now grown out of.
I trust Sarah completely. This would never work if I couldn’t.

Of course, nothing is perfect. Here are the pitfalls we work hard to avoid:

Sometimes out of sight is out of mind. I need to remember to delegate to Sarah, especially since I was on my own for so many years.
After 16+ years in the design business, I have a lot of knowledge. It’s important that we meet so that I can share it.
Occasionally a client will schedule a meeting with one of us and then want to meet the other person working on the project. We try to both be in the office if it seems like this might happen, but sometimes it doesn’t work out.

On this snow day, when school is closed and parents everywhere are scrambling for childcare or missing work, I feel very fortunate that I’ve been able to create and share this business.

Two Notes:

Sorry for the long absence. I’m back to blogging again, and I’ll have an exciting blog related announcement coming soon!

For short design related links, info and more, follow me on Twitter @LeslieTane

In which I ask for advice

Leslie Tane Design — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:41:39 +0000

Over the years I have had many client experiences and I have lots of advice about lots of things. Which I’m happy to share with you (just ask!). However, there is one situation that I’ve run into more than once and have yet to find the solution. Can you help me?

What do you do when you have a client who doesn’t know what he wants? He’s perfectly pleasant and professional, but when presented with some design options after filling out a design brief and meeting about his project says something to the effect of:

I want you to know that I appreciate all the work you are doing, but the first two logos are not working for me. The third is closer, but I’m not in love with it. I wish I could guide you more about what I am looking for, but I’m not sure what I want. I think that it’s important for me to really love a logo and connect with it, but I am not sure what I can do to help you make it happen. Please let me know what can I do to help the process. Should I do more research?

I have no problem with the client asking this. As a professional designer, one of the things people hire me to do is help guide them toward a solution that they may not have known they wanted. I don’t depend on a client to come to me with a fully realized vision (although some do) and I see it as a big part of my job to draw out the information I need to make the client happy. But in this case, the client is stuck, and I’m not sure what to do to free him.

Suggestions? Thoughts? Opinions? I’d love to hear them.

Happy Thanksgiving

Leslie Tane Design — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:38:55 +0000

Here come the 80’s, redeux

Leslie Tane Design — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:10:55 +0000

We’ve been having a 1970’s revival in graphic design for the past few years. Orange, brown and yellow? 70’s color revival. Graphic patterns, featuring colored circles and swirls? 70’s revival.

1970's era design, via http://www.berting.nl/seventies/

2008 image, via istockphoto (http://www.istockphoto.com)

As in all things design, things change. And, as much as I hoped this wouldn’t happen, the 70s are making way for the 80s (again). I was in high school in the 1980s and the fashions and styles of the times are burned into my memory in a horrific mishmash of leg warmers, thick shoe laces, Bon Jovi, big hair, belted oversize shirts, pegged pants, neon, and acid wash jeans. See below — and please note, this is NOT me. (If you’re a real glutton for punishment, check out the Flickr group 80s.)

http://flickr.com/photos/hepe/483361489/

Why do I think 80s are on their way back? Here’s just a taste of what you can find in stores today:

Target and Urban Outfitters

Urban Outfitters

So what does this mean for design? I’m forecasting jewel colors (sapphire blues, ruby reds, emerald greens), a return of thicker typefaces from the ultrathin ones we’ve seen recently, neon (I hope I’m wrong about this!), drop shadows and outlines. Here’s what graphic design looked like, circa the 1980s:

I’ll be very interested to see how this plays out in the next three or four years. Done right, the best of the 80s could translate into new, interesting design. After all, ten years ago few people were looking at 70s design (avocado green appliances! bell bottoms! orange!!) and longing for its return.

What do you think? Are there styles (design, fashion, home or otherwise) that you’re hoping will come back? Are there pinstriped jeans in your future? Are you too young to have fully experienced 1980s fashion and are looking forward to a nice pair of Ray Ban aviators? Or are the 80s a bad dream?

Why are models so much better looking than I am?

Leslie Tane Design — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:08:46 +0000

Check out Glenn Feron’s retouching skills. I truly couldn’t look away. No wonder you never see anyone in real life who looks like a magazine model. They don’t even look like themselves. Even Faith Hill is not as hot as… Faith Hill. As a designer who has done her share of retouching, I’m impressed at the technical prowess behind Glenn Feron’s work, but I think good retouching enhances what’s already there, it doesn’t completely revise it.

What do you think? Does this contribute to the low self-esteem of many girls and women (and men)? Or is it acceptable to make people look as good as they can?

Wake me up when the book is over

Leslie Tane Design — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:01:48 +0000

The award for most boring cover design on a fiction title goes to… America, America: A Novel by Ethan Canin. Snoozefest.

The cliche art, the clunky transparent white area behind the title, the uninspired choice of De Vinne for the type, the flat black and white text colors, the blah placement of the text. This looks like a completely uninteresting book.

Surprisingly, though, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The reviews I’ve seen about this book are all raves. There are no less than 29 enthusiastic blurbs on the Amazon page. And my local Barnes & Noble hung a giant version of the cover in its front windows (which is why I noticed it in the first place).

Usually a book by an acclaimed author that gets the full PR push from the publisher tries a little harder in the cover department. I wonder what went on here?

Where’s your line?

Leslie Tane Design — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:32:58 +0000

Most graphic designers hope to do work that means something, that resonates with them and also makes a positive difference in the world. The reality is that, yes, there are jobs, clients, and projects which make you feel great. Things that you can believe in, and design work that you’re proud of. There are also the “filler” jobs. It would be wonderful to live the ideal all the time, but bills need to be paid and food needs to be on the table. These jobs aren’t offesive in any way, but they’re not exactly inspiring. A catalog for a septic system installer, a web site for a property management company, a logo for a hardware store. Fine, needed work, but nothing noble.

Then there are the other jobs. Would you design an ad for cigarettes? How about for a political candidate you don’t endorse? A company who publicly supports a cause you don’t believe in? How about a trade magazine for the fur industry?

I did. I was the art director for Fur Age Magazine from 1996-1998.

Taking that job required a lot of soul searching. On the positive side, it was an amazing opportunity for someone with only a few years of experience in design. I not only did a complete magazine redesign, but I laid out every editorial page of the magazine and the cover, did the technical production, and the photography art direction for each issue. I worked directly with the photographer, editor and printer. I hired models, decided on photo shoot locales, and chose the makeup artists and hair stylists. And I had absolute free rein over the design. It was incredible.

On the negative side, I don’t wear fur. It’s not something that I could ever see myself buying. And, to be perfectly honest, I don’t really believe in it.

But…

I do eat meat. And wear leather. And I absolutely believe in each individual’s right to choose her own path and follow her own beliefs. And, when it came right down to it, it was too good of a job to pass up.

But did I do the right thing? I still don’t know. We all like to think that there are lines we wouldn’t cross, and I certainly believe that about myself. I do an enormous amount of non-profit work at a discount for organizations I believe in (none fur industry related). Given the same opportunity now, I wouldn’t take it. But I’m ten years further along in my career and I don’t need the experience or the money the way I did back then.

What do you think? Have you ever had a similar experience? What did you choose?

What do designers do all day?

Leslie Tane Design — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:27:14 +0000

Check out this fabulous video following the progress of a magazine layout. FYI, the designer is using InDesign. My favorite part is when he just gives up on the headline and inserts a row of Xs. I’d guess that he just got the sixty-seventh email from his editor saying, “Sorry, but we changed the head again.” Been there.

Via Quipsologies.

Upgrade downgrade

Leslie Tane Design — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:18:27 +0000

I just totally messed up my computer, and I’m putting the blame squarely on Apple.

I use a MacBook Pro with Leopard 10.5.1 as my operating system. I bought this system in October 2007 after my previous Mac crashed and was unrecoverable (Ack! I still hate writing that). After hearing some mixed reviews of Leopard, I was a little apprehensive, but I’ve been really happy with it in general, and haven’t regretted the upgrade.

Until this week.

My Software Updater alerted me to the 10.5.3 OS update. According to Apple:

The 10.5.3 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac.

I’m all for enhancing the stability, compatibility and security of my Mac, so I installed the update. Bad move. First my Quark 7.31 failed on launch. After an hour on the phone with a Quark tech (who was very nice, by the way), I still couldn’t get it to run. I read online that some people who had upgraded to 10.5.3 had conflicts with the printer description files, so I disabled my PPDs and was finally able to launch Quark. I couldn’t print from my computer, but I figured I’d straighten that out when I had a free hour or so. It was annoying and sucked up a good couple of hours of my time, but at least I could keep working.

Until two days later, when both my Photoshop CS3 and Illustrator CS3 also failed at launch. And I couldn’t open my Print/Fax preference pane. And I was on deadline.

Now I’m no technician, but I’ve been a Mac user for almost 20 years, and in my experience when you change your software and your computer starts acting funky, there’s something wrong with the software. The programs I use for my work are the standard professional grade graphic design programs. A large part of Mac’s user base is made up of graphics professionals. And no one else had this problem with the 10.5.3 upgrade? I find it hard to believe.

So with my computer effectively out of commission, what did I do (after the obvious: yell, stomp around, curse Apple and eat chocolate)?

First, I started up from the System Installer CD and ran Disk Doctor on my hard drive. The drive verified, and I repaired all of my permissions. Then I tested the programs again.

Still broken.

Next I backed up my system with Time Machine. I use a LaCie Little Disk drive for this (obsessively), and it’s the best $120-ish I’ve ever spent on my computer. Then I started up from the System Installer disk again, and restored the last full backup I had with 10.5.1 running. This was about two weeks old. Ordinarily I would be weeping at the loss of two full weeks of work, but wait! Since I had just backed up, Time Machine had all of my newest files archived. I was able to transfer all of my files, and didn’t lose a thing except for four hours of my time (which is very annoying, but considering the alternative, acceptable).

So in the end, Apple screwed me, but Apple also saved me. The morals of the story are 1) don’t upgrade your operating system until you do some research and make sure it won’t cause you any problems, and 2) back up, back up, back up. Time Machine is the easiest and best backup method I’ve ever used and it rescued me (and also my MacBook which would have been headed for the recycler if I couldn’t get the damn thing to work.)

I also washed my cell phone in my pants pocket and had my Internet connection go down for 24 hours last week. It wasn’t a banner week, technologically speaking.