“My nephew is good at the Photoshop… why don’t you call him? I’m sure he can help… he’s ten.”

“My wife really likes blue. Can you make the red more blue?”

“I really need this to “pop”. Really jump off the page at the reader. Can you bold and underline this whole paragraph?”

Designers, by nature, are problem solvers. We go to school, we attend seminars, and we work tirelessly to perfect our craft, so why do outside departments feel the need to over-supervise us? Here’s my advice. Whether your client is internal or external, ask questions that go beyond the creative brief. Ask questions until you’re blue in the face. You’re working with this person; make yourself an asset to them.

What are the client’s motives?

Why is this project important to them?

What message is most important to them?

What does the client hope to accomplish with this project?

Can you or the client define a measurement of success? Is it a sales goal, a customer action, etc.?

Even if you’re not familiar with the client’s industry (or business), you can use that to your advantage:

“I’m sorry, I’m not really familiar with your field… can you explain it to me?”

“I’d like to get a better understanding of how you see this project fitting in to your overall sales process…”

Show your client that you (and your team) are a valuable resource to the company by communicating, taking the “high road”, and meeting the client (more than) halfway. Most times, the client will see that you’re truly expressing an interest in their project and they’ll let you be the expert when it comes to design.

Speider Schneider from Smashing Magazine explains,

“The sensible answer is to listen, absorb, discuss, be able to defend any design decision with clarity and reason, know when to pick your battles and know when to let go.”

As Speider mentioned, I suspect that with the proper amount of communication (I’m a trained professional), a little push-back (this is why bold-ing the whole paragraph won’t work), and a lot of patience we might just have a shot at changing things.*

Read the inspiration for this article by Speider Schneider here at Smashing Magazine.

*Of course, there are those “clients from hell” that are probably beyond help…

Produced by the College of Computer and Information Science at Northeastern University (my alma mater), and Harvard Medical School at Harvard University, the above infograph was built using over 300 million tweets and shows density-preserving cartograms for each hour of the day (EST), by U.S. state. According to this data, us New Englanders are indeed a cranky bunch, only tweeting happy things in the early morning and late at night! (It also kind of makes me want to drop everything and move to California.)

Download a high-resolution PDF here.

Via Northeastern University.

My Role(s):

• Art Direction (100%)
• Design (100%)
• Copywriting (100%)

Project Description:

A fun PowerPoint Best Practices guide was developed in conjunction with a PPT template file that was made available to all employees. The guide was meant to give employees with little or no creative background the basics of designing an informative, concise, and visually appealing PowerPoint presentation.

Project Date: June 2010

Programs Used:

Via the DieLine.

Designed by Eric Fischer, these graphics log where tourists (red dots) and locals (blue dots) take photographs in a city.

Click to enlarge.

A nice set of alternative movie posters for the Back to the Future series. Click to enlarge.

Project Description:

Business cards designed for personal promotion and freelance efforts.

Project Date: Ongoing

Programs Used:

With the press of the page down button, you’ll be able to confirm that it’s been over two months since I last posted on this blog. Well, I’m happy to officially report (on this blog) that I’ve just recently started a new job back in Boston, and everything is going well. I feel like I’ve adjusted very quickly to my new surroundings, and I’m already looking forward to a productive tenure with the new company.

The six months leading up to this job offer were difficult. The unemployment rate hovered in the 9-10% range for months, and it seemed as though there would be no reprieve. Slowly but surely, the economy improved, bringing with it a less-grim job market.

Before all that, though, the year at work leading up to my September 2009 lay-off was very difficult. Each morning, I pep-talked myself out of bed: today will be different… you’ve done great things for this company… you’ve brought them to the next level… you’re doing the work of three people… you continue to provide value here! When your entire industry is in economic shambles, and layoffs are looming, there’s often little you can do.

My time with that company turned out to be a really great learning experience; working there opened my eyes to a lot of things. Here are some of the lessons I learned along the way, both from personal experiences, and watching those around me.

• Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.
• You really do reap what you sew.
• Ask for help when you need it.
• Always keep an open eye on the big picture.
• Always have data to back up your decision or recommendation. “Gut feelings” rarely get recognized.
• Be able to hear and give the bad news when needed.
• Research pays dividends. Look before you leap.
• Take care of your employees—they’re the best advocates for your company, and their loyalty pays off.
• A house in order will stand over a house divided.

I set off to Florida in 2005 to get work experience: I gave myself one year, and that quickly turned into four. Having closed this chapter in my life, I look forward to the learning experiences yet to come as I start over.

“Often the identity of an organization that has many subsets can best be brought to life by the use of its supportive materials within the systems (promotion pieces, packaging, websites, signs, merchandising materials). This is an especially effective methodology because it can allow for a logo or identity system to gain resonance and recognition over time in connection to materials that are capable of being far more expressive than logos. For example the Nike logo, which has evolved over time into its current form, became a powerful symbol to the masses because of its effective use in advertising campaigns. The “cool” of the logo happened in connection to some brilliant campaigns by Wieden & Kennedy, and the effective positioning of the mark on merchandising materials. As pure form, if the “swoosh” appeared alone in a design school critique (or on a design blog) it would most likely have been dismissed as too thin, weak, and pointy, looking like a checkmark and not really conveying motion.”

Via Paula Scher’s article What they don’t teach you in design school, on IdentityWorks.com.

I can hardly believe how fast time goes by when you’re unemployed. Personally, the worst part about it is the amount of downtime I have; there are only so many episodes of ‘Law and Order’ out there, and I’m getting to the point where I can probably pen an entire season. Dick Wolf, if you’re reading this, please call me: I can guarantee you another Emmy.

I’m the kind of person that needs to have something (a job or hobby) occupying his mind at all times. For most of my life, a job was there to keep me engaged in something (with hobbies filling in the gaps), and when I lost my job due to layoffs, my calendar suddenly cleared right up. Again, Mr. Wolf, if you’re reading this, call me.

In any event, as the job growth numbers still don’t look promising, I thought that I might try to sum up my current strategy and share it with my fellow job-seekers. Here’s how I’ve been going about my search for the past few months; I hope that you can find at least one useful idea from my experiences.

Still employed? Have a plan.

At my previous place of employment, I saw the writing on the wall for quite some time and I was already forming a contingency plan for a layoff situation.

If you’re currently employed and it looks as though layoffs are eminent, take this time to get your résumé in shape. While your current responsibilities are still fresh in your mind, start jotting them down and rephrasing them to fit into your résumé. Comb over your previous job descriptions, and at this point it wouldn’t hurt to reconnect with some of your former co-workers or supervisors (if you’re planning on using them as references).

Otherwise, just try to be aware of what’s going on in your industry, your company’s competitors, and your company. Read industry blogs, magazines, and set up news alerts to keep abreast of what’s happening. Arm yourself with as much information as possible, and start preparing your résumé now so you won’t be caught off guard. This goes without saying, but if you suspect that your company is in layoff-mode, start preparing yourself financially, as well!

I just got the axe. Now what? Networking!

Your first action should be to notify those in your personal and professional networks that you’re seeking a new opportunity. These are people that have known you for years, know what you’re capable of, and know your reputation. In other words, they are the people that will go to bat for you. Reach out in person, or even online through sites like twitter and LinkedIn. Nothing can take the place of having a strong network!

Where do I want to work?

If you didn’t make the cut, at least you’ve prepared yourself for it… but now isn’t the time to rest on your laurels.

In my case, I moved back to the Boston area. I made up a list of companies that I wanted to work for- companies whose brands or product I respect- and started bookmarking their websites’ hiring pages in my web browser. When I started, I had about seven companies on my list; now there’s about sixty, and I make sure to visit their hiring pages every week to search for new job postings.

Another tool that I found useful was to visit sites like Boston.com or the Boston Business Journal to read about their annual “Best Places to Work” surveys. This is a great way to find companies in your area who are healthy, and more importantly, hiring.

Personal Branding

The next step, and if you’re looking for a marketing or creative role like I am, is an absolute must.

Design an online portfolio, participate in social networking sites like Facebook and twitter, and make it easy for potential employers to find you. Go ahead, toot you own horn, but be careful not to over-expose your brand. Make sure that if you do have a Facebook page, you have customized the privacy settings appropriately… after all, you don’t want a potential employer looking at all the pictures from your last party, do you?

Sites like Brand Yourself.com and Personal Branding Blog will give you a better idea on how to get started, but the main takeaway here is:

1. Be consistent
2. Be yourself
3. Stay engaged
4. Give it time

Inbound Marketing: Getting Others to Notice You

As for inbound marketing, it starts with creating relevant content. Write new things, post things that interest you, or respond to other people’s ideas! Make yourself an expert, and write about what you know.

A good friend of mine, among her other duties, writes press releases and articles for an architecture firm. Often when she writes these pieces, the name of one of the partners of her firm gets attached to the article (as the author) and sent in to various industry trade magazines and blogs. My advice to her was to start her own blog to showcase her writing talents, previous work, and more importantly her extensive knowledge on her industry. By creating her own content and showing her expertise, she could expose her talents to other industry experts, which would lead to the expansion of her personal network, and possibly lead to a job offer.

I’ve read about several people “blogging their way to a job” by having potential employers find them through their personal branding initiatives. Check out blogs like HubSpot’s Internet Marketing Blog (@HubSpot) for great ideas on how you can adapt their principles of inbound marketing (to gain leads and customers) to your personal branding initiatives (to gain the interest of potential employers).

If you have a website or blog, it would be in your best interest to deploy some sort of hit tracking software as well… after all, how are you going to know who is visiting your site, and who is sending traffic to it? There are many ways to do this, but few easier than Google Analytics (it’s free, too).

In my case, if I send out a résumé to “Company X”, and I know that “Company X” is located in Waltham, MA, I can monitor my site traffic to see if anyone from Waltham, MA, or from “Company X’s” network has visited. In sales terms, I found the lead (the job posting), reached out to my customer (the hiring manager), and now the customer has responded to my call to action (“visit my site at joerib.com to view some of my past work…”). This gives me a good indication as to if I should expect a phone call from “Company X”, or at the very least, that my résumé was compelling enough for them to visit my website.

Online Job Posting Sites

Once you’ve established your personal brand, and you’ve got a solid résumé designed, it’s time to post it online. Monster.com (who has recently acquired Yahoo! HotJobs), and Career Builder are still the job-search mainstays, but dig deeper than that. Every industry has specialized job search sites… for creative/marketing folks like myself, take a look at sites like:

• Please Feed the Animals (from the creator of the film ‘Lemonade’)
• Coroflot
• Creative Hotlist
• Authentic Jobs
• Krop
• AIGA
• the Ad Club Job Board
• MITX Career Exchange (New England)
• Koda

Job Delivery

Have an RSS feed reader like iGoogle or Netvibes? Good… time to put it to work for you.

The job posting pages of some companies actually have RSS feeds that you can subscribe to, and most job-search sites do the same. Gather these RSS feeds and make yourself a job-search dashboard on your favorite feed reader. As new opportunities are published, you’ll be alerted to them with no searching involved.

Remember how I mentioned personal branding and creating a network through twitter? This is another area where you can make technology work for you. What I’ve done is to create several search agents through popular twitter dashboard, TweetDeck. Each search term (#boston, #jobs; #boston, #design; #boston, #hiring; etc.) gets it’s own column.

Furthermore, I’ve started following my companies of interest (when applicable) and several twitter accounts that post jobs (or advice) like @Coroflot, @MITX, @AuthenticJobs, @BrandYourself, @JobsBoston, @CreativeBoston, @MonsterCareers, @BrazenCareerist, @JulieSimsTCG, @TalentZoo, @CBforJobSeekers, and @TMJ_BOS_ADV (Tweet my Jobs) to name a few. As content gets published, I’ll get them in my dashboard- live.

If you’re new to twitter, TweetDeck actually has a pretty comprehensive directory to get you started.

Résumés and Cover Letters

By now, you should have found a few places to apply to. Remember that résumé that you started working on back when you still had a job? It’s not finished. It’s always good to have a “generic” version of your résumé, but this should not be the version you send out to a hiring manager. Tailor your generic copy to fit each job you apply for.

Moreover, never use a generic cover letter. Do your homework to find the physical address to the company you’re applying to, and see if the job description mentions a “this position reports to Manager X”. Hop on over to LinkedIn to see if you can find “Manager X” at said company, and you now have an “in”. I’ve found it beneficial to not only apply through the company’s website, but to send a résumé and cover letter directly to the hiring manager and recruiter. LinkedIn has proven itself to be a valuable research tool.

In your cover letter, don’t re-write your résumé:

• Reference the job posting and where you found it
• Introduce yourself to the hiring manager
• After you’ve studied the job posting, write about your past experience and how it fits the need of the hiring manager/company (this is the bulk of your letter, and this should be specifically written for each opportunity)
• Close your letter with a follow-up date and method (and actually do it)
• Don’t forget to spell-check!

Remember to research this company as much as you can. The better you understand their product/service, industry, and challenges, the better you can tailor your résumé and cover letter to the specific needs of that hiring manager and company. Don’t forget- they’re looking to hire someone to fill a need. Explain in your letter that you know what that need is, and how you can fulfill it!

Keep Yourself Busy

Treat your job search like a full time job; if you put effort into your search it will show, and it will yield results. Don’t get complacent, either. If you send out a résumé to one company, don’t sit by your phone. Be proactive, take the initiative, and start looking for new opportunities to apply to!

In your downtime, why not work on your personal brand, do some “just-for-fun projects” (easier to do if you’re a creative), or do some consulting/freelancing to keep your skills sharp?

Successes and Failures

So what’s working for you; what hasn’t worked? Did you employ an unorthodox strategy to gain employment? Share your story in the comments below.

Joseph Jaffe (of JaffeJuice.com) explains how through things like customer service, customer experience, dialogue, a proper listening/response strategy, brands can show that they care about their customers. Furthermore, Mr. Jaffe goes on to tell us that customer retention is the new customer acquisition… the process he describes will create a loyal, credible, authentic customer base who will advocate for your brand.

Purchase Mr. Jaffe’s book “Flip the Funnel” here. Video via HubSpot.

On second thought, it’s not.

But it comes close; and at under an ounce, you’ll be able to carry these onto an airplane (if that’s your thing).

New ketchup packet design via Heinz. (One of these equals three of those little crappy pouches, by the way.)

Being a bit of an aviation buff, and an even bigger fan of clever design, this Kulula Airlines Boeing 737 is right up my alley. The design, while very unique and eye-catching, cleverly explains how this particular jet works (and what’s inside of it). I mean, how many of us knew that the famed black box is actually orange?

Via Shanairpic’s Flickr gallery

Project Description:

A “just for fun” project inspired by the movie “Lemonade” (These posters are not in any officially affiliated with the aforementioned movie.)

Project Date: February 2009

Programs Used:

A lot of other sites have reviewed this movie far more eloquently than I could, and I’m sure I wouldn’t be adding much to the praise already given to this short film. Publisher of Adrants and film participant Steve Hall summarizes:

“Lemonade is a 40 minute documentary about how people changed their lives for the better after having been laid off. In the film 16 people, including yours truly, tell their individual stories. There’s the guy who got laid off and posed nude Burt Reynolds-style to find a new job. There’s the woman who lost her job and launched a yoga business. There’s the guy who went to an interview and ended up in a truth campaign commercial. There’s the guy who lost his job and decided to change his gender. And there’s the guy who lost his job, got colon cancer and started a little blog called Adrants.

Each story is unique. Each story is heart warming. Each story illustrates the fact there is life after the pink slip.”

Before we get to the movie links: if you’re a creative-type like me currently looking for work, be sure to check out Please Feed the Animals. You can create a profile, search job listings, and read a blog chock-full of useful information. Film (and PFTA) creator Eric Prolux points out some ways that you can support Lemonade.

Watch the trailer here:

Catch the full version on Hulu here (not sure how long it will be available).

The story is inspiring to anyone watching- if you’re currently employed, or recently-separated from your job, you’ll find something valuable to take away from the film.

Me? I made some posters based on some of the quotes in the film (after the jump):

Make lemonade out of those lemons.

Link: www.carillo.com

My Role(s):

• Art Direction (100%)
• User interface/experience design (100%)
• (X)HTML, CSS, and WordPress CMS customization (100%)
• Analysis of site traffic metrics (100%)
• SEO/Inbound marketing (100%)
• Copy writing and editing (50%)
• Regular maintenance (100%)
• Social media integration

Project Description:

Website designed for a small-town insurance agency, built on a WordPress content management system with heavy customization.

Programs Used:

(Click to enlarge.) Designed by Stephen Taubman.

Via AIGA.org.

As I mentioned last June, I was fortunate enough to attend my first HOW Conference in Austin, TX, and I can’t say enough good things about my trip. I met some great people, attended several informative (and relevant) seminars, and returned back with a wealth of new information and skills!

If you’re a designer (or marketing professional) on the fence about whether or not you should go, spend the money and go- it’s worth it!

“Thank you!” to the folks at the HOW Blog who were nice enough to publish my submission.

Before we get into the how-to portion, here’s how the code will look on your stylesheet:

@font-face {
  font-family: "Your typeface";
  src: url("type/filename.eot");
  src: local("Alternate name"), local("Alternatename"),
    url("type/filename.woff") format("woff"),
    url("type/filename.otf") format("opentype"),
    url("type/filename.svg#filename") format("svg");
  }

Simple enough- it’s basically assigning a name to your custom typeface, and telling your stylesheet where it’s located. You can duplicate this code and use as many typefaces as you wish, as long as you specify new names ("Your typeface") for each one.

Anyway, pick out the typeface you wish to use, then head on over to Font Squirrel’s @font-face generator. Upload your typefaces, download the kit that Font Squirrel generates, install the CSS code, and you’re all set!

A very helpful tutorial can also be found at Nice Web Type.

The Concrete Goals Tracker, developed by David Seah, is a helpful form that helps you track the work you’ve done over the course of a week. Available in multiple sizes for printing or as an Excel spreadsheet, this form will help you get your productivity back on track. David writes:

“As you accomplish various goal-related items throughout the day, fill in the appropriate bubble to log the points. At the end of the day, you will see how well you did (or didn’t). Each CGT form tracks an entire week, so you will see how you did every day, and week-by-week… and most importantly, what you did to move yourself along your path. Since the items on the task list award points only for tangible results, you will have made actual progress.”

Via Lifehacker and David Seah.

Let’s take a look at the list:

1. Labyrinthine Job Application Systems:

As a web designer, this might be my biggest pet peeve. Finding a job that I’m genuinely interested in is hard enough, so after I’ve taken the time to research the company, tailor my resume, and write a beautiful cover letter, I head over to the company’s online job application system (with much trepidation).

After I’ve spent about an hour performing data entry, 4-out-of-5 times it ends the same: their system crashes!

I’ve learned how to deal with this, though, as I now have a ritual of rubbing a rabbit’s foot on my keyboard as I say a few magic words, sprinkle some fairy dust, pray to various deities, clap three times, and and do a rain dance before pressing the “send” button.

So far, so good.

According to Steve Rubel, it’s become easier than ever to implement data-driven tools into your daily life.

“Self-tracking goes beyond just capture, though. You need to use the data to glean insights. Google Spreadsheets has a great way to do this with their gadgets. You can even set up forms for to make capturing the data even easier. For more on this topic, read Chris Brogan’s “three words,” Flowing Data and The Quantified Self. Other tools to look at include 23andMe, Nike Plus, Evernote and a host of others.”

Via SteveRubel.com. Check out Flowing Data for some of 2009’s best data visualization projects, too.

See/download the rest after the jump.

Here are some directions on how to install these on your iPhone.

*Of course, all logos are trademarks of their respective owners.