what matters

Upgrade suggestions for Microsoft Outlook for Mac 2011 Review

2010-12-26T19:57:00.003-05:00

Polished in many areas, rough on some edges, Microsoft Outlook for Mac would benefit from the following enhancements:

User Interface:

Move the Junk Mail folder up higher in the navigation list, and allow me to change the position and order in the navigation list
Move the icons for Mail, Calendar, Contacts etc to the top, or allow me to choose where they are positioned.

Functionality (which used to be part of Entourage 2008):

Need ASAP!: Sync integration with iCal.
Allow me to add a domain to the safe domains list without having to copy and paste it from the email, opening a dialog box, and changing tabs. This used to be a right click action in Entourage and it's missing.*
Allow me to selectively print text from an email message*
Duplicating contacts
Master contact record: when there are multiple contacts at one client, I should be able to have a master record and link to it...
Calendar: Ability to auto-assign default category
Exporting email addresses: after all these years, a user can only export ALL addresses, not selected addresses or by category. Feels so 1999. Claris Emailer, where are you? Needs the ability to selectively export email addresses
Conversation management: Oulook's navigation pane gets confused and multiple conversations take on new titles when deleting (bug). The navigation pane is not doing an effective job of keeping track of conversations.
Ability to duplicate contacts (so I don't have to reenter all the same info (2/17/11)

*Missing feature: not ported to Outlook from Entourage

Features you may like that are new or improved:

The ability to save all attachments with one click
Faster, more effective search. Did I mention it was faster?

Micrososoft Office for Mac 2011 Outlook review and first impressions

2010-12-05T21:24:00.003-05:00

Microsoft Outlook for Mac 2011 disappoints; not ready for prime time

So far, aside from the unfamiliarity of the interface, I'm not impressed at all with the new Outlook for Mac 2011 (apart from the fact that it doesn't crash every time I try to read an HTML email). Email is a necessary and essential part of my business, and a solid software tool is mandatory.

After an unsuccessful first attempt to import my Entourage 2008 data (corrupt database, needed repaired. Microsoft could improve the user experience by doing a database integrity check prior to importing from Entourage 2008), the second import was successful, or so it seemed.

With this first install, the day separators in the mail list column did not appear. Only after uninstalling and reinstalling did they appear.

Still, the My Day application did not work at all after importing the data. I spent another hour uninstalling every Microsoft file from my computer, including the apps, and reinstalled the complete Office for Mac 2011 suite. This is a common Outlook for Mac 2011 My Day bug, and a fix should be a priority.*

After the Microsoft updater installed a 110MB update, I checked the empty install of Outlook and My Day appears. So if you're content with starting from scratch with a blank install of Outlook, you're all set. The rest of us are probably upgrading, and since you can't Can't sync Outlook 2011 and iCal without dragging and dropping from Outlook to iCal, then it's not an option.

Outlook interface improvement suggestions:

Move the icons links for mail/calendar/contacts to the top of the interface; at least make them an option for customizing the toolbar
Junk mail folder buried at bottom of interface and not easy to access if you have a long list of folders. Defaults to hidden preview pane.

Other features (Microsoft Outlook for Mac BUGS) that should be addressed:

Not compatible with the upgraded me.com. C'mon, why can't sync services work with any of the Mac OS and Mac software seamlessly?
Calendar sync does not work with Mac OSX, iCal or Mobile Me. After HOW many years? There is no calendar sync as of December 2011 for Outlook for Mac

Bugs:

Sometimes the conversation groups get confused and display the wrong email in the conversation
If you quit the app, it marks all emails read.
Unread emails aren't readily distinguishable from the read ones. Heard of bold? Why can't I change the list font to my preference of typeface, and size? As with Microsoft's browsers, the developers seem to think that "Small, medium and large" are options that should apply to CSS, type size and interface design. Small, medium and large are clothing and beverage sizes, not for interface design.
Preview panes disappear even after being set to display in the Junk Mail and other folders.

Ordering Microsoft Office for Mac is confusing at best due to the licensing. There are several versions:

Confused? So was I, until I investigated further. My recommendation is to buy the 1 Pack, which allows installation on a single computer. The difference: 1 Pack: 1 User, 1 Mac. 2 Pack: 1 User, 2 Macs.(so if you want to install the copy on your laptop and desktop, you need the 2 Pack. This marks a change in Microsoft licensing. The price difference is generally $100, so consider carefully what license you buy.

Overall user experience: 5/10. Keep trying Microsoft, someday you'll get it right.

*I solved my problem with the My Day bug: no window showing in this manner:

Open the Microsoft Database Utility
Create a new identity; give it a new name to distinguish it from your main identity
Export your contacts in case this process does not import or update them successfully.
Copy the Contacts, Events, Folders, Mail Accounts, Message Attachments, Message Sources, Messages, Note and Signatures folders into the new identity's Data Records folder.
Rebuild the new identity database.
Open Outlook; you should see your email, folders, events and contacts
Check to see if My Day window appears. Mine did.

Note: I had to manually import my contacts, from VCF files.

I resigned myself to having to recreate my rules and signatures... often they get corrupted, and after a couple of hours of trying to figure out which folders may be causing this problem, narrowed it down to Rules and the UID folder, although another may be the culprit. At any rate, highly annoying. How many productivity hours are lost worldwide due to Microsoft software bugs?

12/6/10: the saga continues. While My Day appeared with the rebuilt database, Send/Receive no longer worked. I have reverted to my original imported data files for the time being.

12/8/10: one more try: First I deleted and recreated all of my Mail Accounts, then followed the procedure above. Success! My Day is visible and Send/Receive email works.

Contacting Tech Support is an option (1 year of tech support!) according to the box. Until you actually try to contact them, and are lead down a rabbit hole of screens until you reach the end, where the final screen says it's going to cost $295.00. Why can't Microsoft make the user's experience pleasant, and not hide behind screens and obfuscation for tech support for software that they know contains bugs when they release it?

Sooy+Co at 15 years

2010-11-25T09:38:00.000-05:00

I'm not one for nostalgia, but reflection is healthy and valuable so that we can evaluate where we've been and where we're going. It's no different with Sooy+Co – celebrating and observing in 2010 – 15 years of business, all of which we are extremely grateful for.

Business ownership and entrepreneurship weren't a consideration when I graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1984 (the year that the Macintosh was announced to the world). I suppose it was inevitable – my father is one of the most entrepreneurial individuals that I know – and the DNA of entrepreneurship was part of our family from the start. I often say that entrepreneurship can't be taught, it's a way of thinking, but it is possible to teach people how to think differently. When we think differently, it's transformational – and transformation is at the heart of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Needless to say, 15 years goes by fast when raising two children and running a business.

In 1995, expecting our second child and laid off from my position as a creative director at a Cleveland, Ohio design firm, my wife (and business partner) and I decided to form "Brian Sooy & Co." We worked out of a 154 sq ft basement home office, affectionately known as the Design Cave. In 2007, we renamed the firm Sooy+Co, and moved into a 2,500 sq ft space in the Entrepreneurship Innovation Center at Lorain County Community College.

Considering that 50% of new firms survive past five years, I'm happy to be in the half that survived. Most remarkably, we're not the same type of firm that we were when we started, and that's been a key factor in our growth and longevity. We started as a design firm – offering tactical services to our clients – but now lead our clients with consulting on differentiation, positioning, branding and strategic planning (thinking) before we talk about things like logos, brochures and web sites (doing).

Sooy+Co, like any campaign or client engagement, has its own objectives and goals and culture. A successful design firm needs to focus on its own culture and business structure as closely as it focuses on the client projects it is working on. In essence, Sooy+Co has been a 15-year project, with perhaps 20 years to go.

We've won awards for projects we've designed and for business growth, but at 15, that just doesn't matter any more. We're considered a mature business, and we don't have to prove anything to anybody. What matters now are meaningful relationships and big picture thinking: the impact we have on our client's business objectives, our roles as thought leaders and community business leaders, developing the leadership qualities of our staff, leading our clients well.

We're grateful for the clients who have shared our journey with us – for those who have followed other paths, those with whom we still consult with after 15 years, and for those who chose to work with us now. We're grateful to our strategic partners who help us help our clients to succeed. Thank you for your continued confidence in Sooy+Co!· We value our relationships with you, and are fully committed to your success.

A new year requires new thinking

2009-01-02T07:26:00.004-05:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Entrepreneurship is a way of thinking, not a way of doing. Are we as designers learning to change the way we think?

Are we applying the same principles and processes (not formulas) that we advise our clients with to ourselves?

Does the way we think lead to greater economic gain for our clients, and by extension to ourselves?

Are we becoming more adept at what we do, by applying experience and thinking learned from previous opportunity to new opportunity?

Are we thinking beyond the current state: beyond branding, beyond marketing, beyond doing?

It's never too late to change the way we think.

New Pepsi logo and font: What went wrong

2008-12-23T09:08:00.017-05:00

If you confuse the the new Pepsi logo and packaging with a store brand, it's understandable.

It is an ambitious effort to re-brand a line of products such as this, but perhaps PepsiCo over-thought the effort. Nike has brilliantly made its symbol synonymous with its corporate name, but I don't foresee this happening with Pepsi. The company should revisit the brand and start with the typography, and hope that the consumer smiles when they say "Pepsi," instead of trying to own the smile and hoping that the consumer thinks of Pepsi when they smile.

The new Pepsi brand has the look of and creates the perception of a store brand, and here's why:

The visual symbol: The familiar red and blue circle has been replaced by a mark that seems inspired by animé or aerospace. Under Consideration compares them side-by-side, with quotes from Ad Age and BVNet:

"The brand's blue and red globe trademark will become a series of "smiles," with the central white band arcing at different angles depending on the product."

While the intent may have been sincere, it's poorly executed (what consumer is going to notice that each brand has a different angle?) Perhaps each bottle will soon include a legend to let the consumer know what the smile means. Perhaps the last three years of election cycle rubbed off on the brand as well, with its similarity to the Obama campaign logo.

The typography: The Pepsi logo, set in lower case, alludes to vintage typography (disco anyone?) while trying to be modern. Stem and stroke weights differ, and joins bloat. This lettering was possible accomplished with a Rapid-o-graph pen, straight edge and circle template. It reflects years of amateur-looking type design in the packaging and advertising industry, and reminds me of type downloaded from a free font site.

The color palette: Eeeeew. It's not friendly, it makes me wonder if I'd actually enjoying drinking what's in the bottle. It's depressing. The entire dark palette of colors on the packaging seems to infer that PepsiCo is taking itself much too seriously.

The packaging: some of the comments at Under Consideration suggest that the new small bottles have similarities to, well, other objects. While the design of two-liter bottles (show here) don't change much, the wrapper combines all of the shortcomings of symbol, color and typography into a tired-looking design.

Who's thirsty? ;-)

Lessons to learn, or how to think about our economy

2008-12-14T08:00:00.005-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen, please take note: It is not The End of The World as We Know It, nor is the sky falling. At least not yet.

Talk to many business owners or officers, and they are tired of the constant barrage of dour predictions and glum faces telling them that economically, there is no hope for our future. Especially those whose businesses are thriving.

Positiveeconomicnews.com carries a poll, showing that 44% of its readers are "concerned but optimistic" about the economic future (including this writer). And it notes that consumer confidence is up for the second month in a row (U of Michigan/Reuters) (lesson to learn: don't use only one poll to base your opinions on). If you're obsessive about consumer confidence, you can monitor it at the Conference Board.

"Consumers' short-term outlook was less pessimistic. Those anticipating business conditions to worsen over the next six months declined to 28.1 percent from 36.5 percent, while those expecting conditions to improve rose to 11.4 percent from 9.6 percent.
The outlook for the labor market was also less negative. The percent of consumers anticipating fewer jobs in the months ahead declined to 33.3 percent from 41.5 percent, while those expecting more jobs increased to 9.2 percent from 7.3 percent. The proportion of consumers anticipating an increase in their incomes increased to 13.3 percent from 11.1 percent."

Lesson to learn: get your news from the source, and not the media. I know, you'll have to work harder for it, but it's worth it. Trust me.

Small and mid-sized businesses are really the engine of the economy, as noted by strategic thinker Deborah Mills-Scofield:

"Small/mid-sized companies are growth engines of local economics – SBA study issued in June 2008: High-Impact Firms: Gazelles Revisited – updated version of a study they did in the 80’s focused on firms with significant revenue growth and expanding employment."

What is the national economy, but a collection of sub-economies? Lesson to learn: Right now is a time of opportunity and possibility for your business.

So turn off the news, stop reading the dire news, and get back to work. America is depending on you.

My favorite Christmas CD

2008-12-13T15:02:00.009-05:00

Almost 10 years ago, Al Di Meola released Winter Nights, his first, and (AFAIK) only holiday recording. One of my favorites, I've added a few, including Phil Keaggy, Vince Guaraldi, George Winston and Jars of Clay to the Altered Ego store on Amazon.

TANSTAAFL (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch)

2008-10-07T13:25:00.007-04:00

My high school economics teacher, Mr. Ernie Watts, taught me this valuable lesson: TANSTAAFL, or (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch).

There's no such thing as free health care, free government programs, free anything. Who's paying for them? The 80% of small businesses that drive the US economy.

The credit crunch and government bailout certainly affects small business, which will continue to plow ahead and keep the economy running and create the economic recovery.

At this point in time, the wealthy (and those trying to create wealth) pay the majority of taxes. More than one researcher confirms that the rich really do pay higher taxes. Small businesses, you're the next target... assuming you're trying to create wealth, and after the election, of course.

Place branding: information as a government service

2008-09-28T15:01:00.017-04:00

A municipality that does not have a relevant and content-rich web site that allows the administration to supply information is at a perceptual and economic disadvantage.

It's mystifying that the perspective is that a web site is inherently a technology platform only, and therefore in the realm of the IT department, still exists. In this context, a web site is a marketing and communications platform, and should be considered as part of the responsibility of a chief information officer. It doesn't take an IT department to create a web site.

What better way for a municipality to communicate with, disseminate information to, or manage information for citizens and the media?

A place especially needs differentiation and positioning to start to create a positive perception.

From the mundane (when is my garbage collected after a holiday?) to the functional (can I pay my water bill online?) to the strategic (why do we need to support a tax levy again?), a site should set vision, and generate good will for the municipality.

The perceptual disadvantage allows the local media, citizen pundits on local web-based forums, and the uniformed to create their own perceptions of what's really going on with the local government. Where there is no information, the people will make up their own opinions, informed or not.

The economic disadvantage allows other communities, who have relevant and compelling content about their municipalities, to inform prospective residents and businesses, current residents and business owners, and other interested parties, why the community is thriving and attractive. It's basic economic development: attraction, retention and expansion.

People will find information about a municipality online, good or bad. Of course this is the root of branding: It's not what an administration thinks about their municipality (or organization), but it's what they (constituents) think, that is important. And if a municipality has nothing relevant or meaningful upon which they can create informed perceptions, citizens will create their own perceptions, right or wrong.

I'm a PC. Of course, I sell fish.

2008-09-21T20:32:00.010-04:00

Jerry and Dean were funny. Jerry and Bill? Sort of. The Shoe store schtick wasn't funny at all. The house guest schtick would have been funnier if it had been edited to say, one minute 30 seconds.

Why does Microsoft void mentioning Windows? "I'm a PC?" Why not just say, "I'm generic."

Steve Ballmer rightly said in an internal email, echoing our opinion (thanks to Apple Insider:)

"In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving," Ballmer wrote in the email. "Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience."

Gee, ya think? Let's see: computer, Mac OSX, iPod, iTunes. I'm good. What you got? Operating system, MP3 player (what was that called again...oh yeah, Zune), Xbox. What do you run that OS on again?

Today's lesson: the power of a word or name to evoke an experience is powerful. It connects the customer to the company. Perhaps it's time for a name change for Microsoft?

Has anybody seen my nail clippers?

9/25/08: Fast Company renders a summary of reactions and response to the ads. Successful? You decide!

I'm a Mac. How about you?

2008-09-18T08:56:00.007-04:00

AppleInsider reports that Microsoft is going to spoof the Mac ads.

This is LOL funny, and a bit disturbing:

"Also beginning Thursday night, the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant will invite visitors to the website to upload videos and photos that will demonstrate "how they, too, are PCs." Microsoft will reportedly select some of the photos to appear on electronic billboards in Times Square beginning the following day, while others will be used in advertisement banners."

Did I miss something? Do PCs really evoke the same sense of affinity with their users as do Macs? Microsoft is a software company (ok, not counting XBox and Zune, but that adds weight to my theory). What does it take for an individual to consider themselves part of the tribe of PC users? Where are the telltale earbuds, Windows XP/Vista stickers on cars, lines of people waiting when a store opens?

As a hardware & software company, Apple has engaged most of my senses and sensibilities. Sight, touch, hearing, usability. Even the name evokes taste. Not isolated, but at any time a combination of a minimum of two senses creates an experience.

Maybe Microsoft needs to start making computers?

Everybody's a critic

2008-09-14T07:36:00.012-04:00

Recently, Sooy + Co. received an email with a blistering criticism about a branding project we completed for a public school system:

Message : How dare you call Lorain City Schools new clip art a logo. What did you do a Google search and find some stupid hand clip and then make up the color story. How dare you make Lorain the laughing stock of our County. We are smart enough to know good design, this isn't an example of it. Shame on you for not having the professional integrity to actually design something.

Did it offend us? No, we had a good laugh over it, and our staff discussed how to respond. With proper grammar, of course.

Perhaps some people would prefer the old logo that resembles paper dolls, sandwiched between an image of a light house and what appeared to be two-color toothpaste squeezed from a tube. Seriously. We think our solution is a new take on an old cliché.

Some possible responses we considered:

"Why yes, we were in a hurry and all we had time for was a quick Google search for stupid hand clip . Is that bad?"

"You're right. Our branding process is designed with the possible outcome of creating laughing stocks, but only when the creative brief calls for it. We must have missed the mark. Or do you mean la vache qui ri?"

"We all missed the professional integrity classes in college due to a quarter-to semester-change. Thank you for pointing out the flaw in our education, we are looking into a distance learning class in order to make it up."

With the democratization of design comes the democratization of drive-by design criticism.

Drive-by design criticism is defined as:

"Drive-by criticism is a reaction to an observation or experience, whereby the uninformed renders an opinion about something they know nothing about."

It can be rephrased as "I don't know what I like until I see it, and I know I don't like that."

On the other hand, design critique (or professional design criticism) is an exercise by students or design professionals to review and evaluate a design solution based on any number of criteria, such as form to function, the three core elements of visual design: contrast, balance and unity, appropriateness of solution to problem, and usability. Among other criteria, of course.

The individual sharing their criticism with us had no idea what the design brief called for, the client's objectives, or why we chose red, green and white to represent diversity instead of brown, beige and red.

Drive-by design criticism is a corollary to the General Theory of Design: "Design consists of creating things for clients who may not know what they want, until they see what you've done, then they know exactly what they want, but it's not what you did."

No, we don't use Google to search for clip art. We're professionals, with design degrees. We don't skeet shoot in the dark, nor do we allow our clients do so. We accept, as should any professional design firm, valid and well-informed design critique. But we really can't figure out what inspires a rant like we received.

To our drive-by critic: Thanks for writing. We're sorry that you were having a bad day, and hope that things are looking up for you.

Rowing in the opposite direction

2008-08-22T09:40:00.008-04:00

Does it seem to you that many well-meaning business interests and special interest groups are rowing in the wrong direction?

In Ohio: The Governor's efforts to forge a compromise on the so-called "Healthy Families Act" have failed. That means that the issue, which will be Issue 4 on the November ballot, will go to the voters.

According to a study by the National Federation of Independent Business/Ohio, is what those who vote in favor of the issue will be voting:

The loss of 75,000 jobs
A $1.17 billion burden on Ohio employers
The loss of $9.4 billion in sales from 2008 to 2012

The ballot issue seeks to mandate 7 paid days of sick leave for employees of companies employing 25 or more people. And to be able to take that one hour at a time.

When other groups are trying to 1) Create opportunities for economic development in the state, and 2) create jobs in the state, what are these groups thinking? What small business would want to move or set up operations in Ohio, with that kind of mandate to follow, especially, if passed, Ohio was the only state with that kind of law?

The state should not be able to take away an employer's rights to negotiate with employees.

Postscript 9/4/08: Today’s big business news is that labor leaders have dropped a state ballot initiative...

Postscript 9/5/08: Look for this initiative to be considered on a federal level...

I'm sure this blog post had something to do with it...

Goodbye Treo, Hello iPhone 3G

2008-08-09T08:03:00.008-04:00

Goodbye Treo 700. I will miss you. After years of spending time with you and your family (since when they were called Palm Pilots), I have left you.

It's not that we don't have anything in common, after all, I feel that we've grown closer since we've worked through the syncing issues between you and Microsoft Entourage. With the Missing Sync as a mediator, we made it through. But... you still are quirky, and I just need something more.

I won't miss the random resets, random freezing, and that annoying stubby antenna. Hey! Remember that time when I dropped you and it broke off? Sorry, I didn't mean to make it personal. But then again, after so many years and new models, you still didn't manage to slim down, you were always like a brick in my pocket.

I've been waiting to do this for a long time, hoping that I would change my mind. I even considered upgrading you to a Palm Centro... but it just wouldn't have been the same. Besides, you arrived at the Verizon party too late.

So after a year, it's true. I was seen in line at the Apple store at 7:30 am after driving for 45 minutes, cup of coffee in hand. Yes, I was enjoying the experience, the anticipation. And shortly after 8 am, she was mine.

Even with a Contour Design Hardskin, she's still only half as thick as you are. And she syncs with Entourage just by plugging her in. I even have hope for a new syncing experience through e2Sync. So maybe instead of needing more, I needed less. Sorry if that hurts you.

It will cost me more per month for her service, the Apple iPhone 3G... but she's worth it. You see, to me she's more than a phone, she plays my music, reminds me where to be, and who my contacts are. She's everything!

Maybe we'll see each other sometime. I know I'll think of you when I see someone else making a call on a phone like you. Take care. But please, just don't call me. It's time to move on.

Receding hairlines and typographic mistakes

2008-04-28T21:11:00.004-04:00

So, I am not the only one. Christopher Phin joins the typographic soirée just a few weeks ago with this short but sweet top-ten list of common typographic errors.

You may not agree that the decimal point in prices is incorrect — (interpunct anyone?) this may be an UK convention that we threw into the bay with the tea — but his list is worth a quick read and should be committed to memory.

Note: in case you didn't notice, Phin is from the UK. They have other typographic practices that many in the US find unusual (such as omitting periods from abbreviations such as Dr and Mr), but that's OK. It's not wrong, just different.

Ned wears a square halo at the world's end

2008-04-11T21:13:00.006-04:00

A shout out to Ned Bustard, art director for Square Halo Books, and principal of World's End Images, for kindly counting Brian Sooy as an influence in his work in design and publishing.

Ned's comments appeared in the April 2008 CIVA Seen, the newsletter from Christians in the Visual Arts, about his influences and inspiration.

Ned is very entrepreneurial, and designs the most beautiful books, and has a wonderful sense of political humor. You can see how he makes wonderful use of Altered Ego's American Spirit font.

Thanks Ned! You're a saint.

Summer break for design

2007-06-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

With a recent Sooy + Co. move to new office space, it's time for this site to take a rest. Perhaps for the summer, perhaps longer, but with boxes to unpack, projects to finish and little time for writing, it's time for a break.

Thanks for reading. The best of this site will most likely be re-published under another name at some point (since there are many more and more insightful Design Matters blogs, especially Debbie Millman's.

Thank you for reading, for commenting, and for continuing to practice in the best profession in the world, graphic design.

I still can't believe we get paid for doing what we love so much.

Coffee Table computing

2007-06-05T09:58:00.000-04:00

This could change the way designers work... when Apple comes out with one. Perhaps it will be named iTable?

At this time, it's from Microsoft...

Why doesn't Microsoft get it?

2007-05-27T22:24:00.000-04:00

OK, I can't take it any more. Doesn't Microsoft get it, what is up with their software?

What I mean is, why can't I export the email addresses from a category or group from Macintosh Entourage? It exports every email address ever used.

Why don't the filters work properly?

Why can't I add an intro to an email that I'm redirecting?

Why has it taken so long to create an Intel version of Entourage?

Are my expectations too high?

Designer vs. Entrepreneur

2007-05-26T08:41:00.000-04:00

A recent photo in a magazine had the titles of the individuals listed as "engineer" and "entrepreneur." But is that how they view themselves?

Being labeled as an entrepreneur is how someone else thinks of an individual (similar to branding: it's not what you think of your company, it's what others think of you.)

As a designer, has it occurred to you that you're en entrepreneur? There's so much buzz around the concept that it's easy to lose perspective on it.

"In the future, everyone will enjoy 15 minutes of entrepreneurship." Entrepreneurship will become a commodity, and we'll have to invent a new word for what it is we do.

A key similarity between designers and entrepreneurship is in how we think. Essentially, an entrepreneur identifies a problem and solves it, as do designers. Both are willing to challenge the status quo, affect change, take huge risks... we want to change the world.

If the future, I'll think of myself as a designer. But I'll continue to think like an entrepreneur.

How about you? Ready to change the world?

corporate identity: separated at birth

2007-05-16T20:17:00.000-04:00

BSCO Design Matters can't be the first to have noticed the similarities between the at&t logo, and the New Citizens Bank logo:

Comments? It's not very imaginative, is it? Perhaps it's time to introduce a bell...

Saul Bass, are you watching?

The Long View: Strategic planning for designers

2007-05-06T20:31:00.000-04:00

When was the last time you thought 5 years out? 10 years?

If you haven't ever, or it's been a while, it's time to do so. Having nearly completed several major goals I set 6 months ago for Sooy + Co., it's been a challenge – but it's significant what was accomplished.

But what has me thinking this past couple of weeks is a quote from financial advisor Dave Ramsey:

"Buy things in that hurt in the short term, in order to win in the long term."

We are buying some things, (but more on that later, for now it's a secret). But making decisions that may be painful or challenging now (in your long-term planning and goal setting) will pay off in ways you may only understand later, when the benefits of your goal setting bear fruit. Base your short- and long-term decisions in the short term on your long-term planning, and you'll arrive at them sooner than you think. Simple wisdom, but easy to forget.

Don't get caught up in the short term. Think of the long view!

the myth of online portfolios

2007-04-28T16:04:00.000-04:00

How many design professionals, in a moment of weakness, give in to subscribing to an online portfolio web site?

I'll confess – I have myself, and the grand total of referrals and inquiry, let alone business developed from them, is... $0.

The sites (portfolios.com and DirectoryM) aren't necessarily the most appropriate for a design firm to advertise on. Then again, neither are the yellow pages.

If you're a generalist firm, then perhaps they are a good option for your firm ( and then again, maybe not). But if you consider how many new clients you develop as a result of your web site, versus the relationships you nurture, then the answer should be fairly obvious.

A firm that specializes won't need a listing like that in a directory. Clients will seek you out as your expertise and reputation grows.

So... resist the siren song, so you don't get lost in the crowd of a directory. Invite your potential clients to come to your web site on your terms, not somebody else's.

Six degrees of separation?

2007-04-24T21:55:00.000-04:00

Relationships are key in the design field (well, anywhere, really... but let's not get too philosophical here).

So I was wondering... perhaps one of the BSCO designMatters readers knows somebody who knows somebody who knows the person at Revlon who chose to use Altered Ego Fonts Verve on the new packaging for the Revlon Limited Edition Collection makeup line.

If so, I would appreciate knowing who that individual is, and how I might be able to contact them for an interview for here and for the Altered Ego web site.

Whoever can help me make the connection... there's an Altered Ego Font of your choice in your future! Contact me through the Altered Ego Fonts web site.

Duct Tape Marketing

2007-04-22T07:06:00.000-04:00

Guy Kawasaki summarizes Duct Tape Marketing: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide.

Think modular: "...effective small business marketing is a system—not an event—composed of simple, effective, and affordable techniques."

Read the top-ten list that the author distilled from the book. Then apply it to your design business, and recommend it to your clients!