The new year is fast approaching, and Triggers & Sparks will be meeting it fresh-faced and bright-eyed.
A complete redesign of the old website was long overdue and now it’s time to lay my beloved, but clunky, Ruby on Rails site to rest and move on to a faster, cleaner, more user friendly website. It’s been three years since I designed my old website, and I’ve learned a great deal in that time, so it’s about time I had a website to represent as much!
In keeping with the whole, “out with the old, in with the new” theme going on, and to celebrate the launch of triggersandsparks.com, I am offering 15% off any of my services purchased between today and January 1st.
The times, they are a-changin’ here at Triggers & Sparks, and some fabulous top secret projects are in the works for the coming year. Get your orders in now and have yours be one of them!
Keep up with promotions and news by signing up for the Triggers & Sparks mailing list, or following me on Twitter, or joining my Facebook fan page, or subscribing to my (new!) RSS feed.
]]>I received an absolutely phenomenal response, and was able to meet with a number of really fantastic people. (I wish I could have hired everyone!) That said, it was interesting being on the other side of the hiring process, and I think if I’m ever in the position of applying for a job again, I’d do things a little differently as a result.
In about a week’s time, I heard from around 60 different applicants. This was a LOT for me to process, but from what I can tell of the industry, this is actually quite a small number. So while I would have loved to pay very detailed attention to each applicant, most people didn’t even get their resume read. This, I suspect, is probably not at all uncommon. If someone’s busy enough that they need to hire, they’re too busy to spend forever finding that perfect someone to hire.
A few tips & hints for job-seekers:
- Never, never, never use “to whom it may concern”. Seriously, it’s there in the hiring notice, and it’s all over my website. I can already tell when you’re copying-and-pasting a generic cover letter into your email, but it’s just plain offensive if you spell my name wrong or omit it entirely. (As a side note, I know that my long-lost cat is presently listed as CEO and chairman of the board on my website…. but please stop addressing emails to her. I can’t tell if you’re trying to be cute, or if you’re just deranged, which I’m guessing nobody can tell about ME, either.)
- If you’re applying for a design position, your resume should probably be nicely designed. You should also have an online portfolio of some sort. If you can’t figure out how to upload some images to a website or create a pdf, you’re unlikely to find work in the graphic design industry.
- “LOL” is not an appropriate term for use in a cover letter. Also, please use capital letters. And form your sentences properly. And spell things correctly. Seriously, what are they teaching in schools these days? Damn kids.
- Follow instructions! I cannot stress how important this is. If you’re a lacklustre candidate, I’m skimming your email looking for a good excuse to toss you into the “no” pile and move on to the next applicant. Neglecting to send me any of the items I’d explicitly requested in the hiring notice (in bold, no less) gives me that excuse.
- Your resume is probably too long. I didn’t read any of these fully, so the more scannable it is, the better. There were a lot of resumes that listed design work, which is great, but then went back as far as customer-service type jobs. Working at McDonald’s may grow character and an irrational hatred of hamburgers, but it doesn’t make you a better designer. Unless maybe you’re designing the cheeseburger wrappers, but even then, I have my doubts.
- Your portfolio is probably too big. And please don’t attach it to your email; my computer goes into anaphylactic shock when it needs to download 12MB of attachments all at once. Restarting my machine makes me cranky.
And of course, chances are good that if you’ve made someone cranky, you won’t be getting an interview, no matter how lovely your portfolio is or how well-rounded your resume. A cranky employer is an employer who’s going to hire someone else!
]]>That said! Here’s what I’m looking for.
This will be a very part-time job to begin with. My aim is that it will grow with time into a more full-fledged position, but I’d like to start small. I don’t have an office anymore (unless my couch counts), so you’ll need to have your own equipment. Ideally we’d be able to do a mix of co-working and telecommuting, but I’m open to alternative arrangements. You don’t need to know everything already; I’d be glad to teach. Pay will obviously be adjusted depending on the amount of teaching required! This position is best-suited for an entry-level or intern who’s looking to get started in the industry.
Required Skills
- excellent communication skills. This is non-negotiable as it’s pretty much the only thing I can’t teach you. You don’t need to be a fantastic orator, but solid writing skills are absolutely vital.
- basic understanding of basic design principles (and a “good eye”, which is also non-teachable
- basic understanding of standards-compliant HTML/CSS
- basic Adobe CS skills, or the equivalent freeware alternatives
- attention to detail (I’m a perfectionist)
- independence and problem-solving skills
- passion for your work and a desire to learn
Skills that would be deemed a bonus
- PHP programming ability (actually, if you have this but no design skills, contact me, and maybe we can arrange something)
- strong web skills (HTML/CSS, Ajax, “making things work”, etc)
- strong design skills
- comfort with Wordpress, which I’m using more & more as a CMS
- marketing/PR skills (I’m lousy at marketing myself)
Job “perks”
- flexibility & the ability to set your own hours
- opportunity to learn about the ins & outs of client relations and running a business
- chance to work on a wide variety of projects
- opportunity for advancement
Please send resume, portfolio, and anticipated hourly wage range to , and introduce yourself!
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About 95% of the work I do tends fall into the “logos and websites” category, but every now and again I’m given the opportunity to work on something a little different. One of my favourite “little different something” is the resume. I’ve designed a number of them, and I always enjoy them. They’re challenging from an information hierarchy point of view, and people really notice them. I’ve heard all kinds of comments, in part I think because people are so used to seeing the same boring MS Word templates. Julie Smith is a Toronto lawyer whose resume I recently designed. She sent her resume out to two different companies one day, and was given an interview on the second. Later, she passed along this comment from a headhunter:
Your resume looks fantastic! One of the best I’ve ever seen!
So, if you find yourself facing unemployment (I’m not going to use the “R” word, or even the “D” word, but do feel free to ruminate on the current economic climate in whatever manner you’d prefer), you should invest in a custom-designed resume! It’s cheap, it’s fun, and it may even get you a job. And I get that warm-and-fuzzy feeling that comes from helping someone out.
]]>Anyway, new projects!
- Wordpress theme for Jaye Wells
- menu design
- website for Marilyn Hicks
- and I’ve updated Marilyn’s identity page, finally
Jaye Wells
I’m working on a number more, too, that hopefully will see light soon. It is definitely time to rework this website, but of course that’s way on the bottom of my list. And I need business cards beforehand–I think I have less than ten left. It is seriously time to start buying myself a pair of new shoes every time I do work for myself.
Speaking of shoes, I wrote a guest post over at East Coast by Choice. So if you’re looking for tips on how to wear stilettos in crazy weather, you should go read it!
]]>It’s amazing. News stories break on Twitter before the newspapers even have an idea what’s going on. You can see real-time photos of Stephen Fry stuck in an elevator. If you complain about a product, its manufacturers will help you out. But most fascinating are the conversations: it’s like what I imagine The Crysalids was like. Someone makes a comment about the colour of the sky, and people respond; threads of conversation begin spidering off in different tangents. Anyone can jump in at any point and drop out just as easily, and nobody dominates because every response is limited to 140 characters. It’s the digital representation of the collective unconsciousness. And it’s searchable!
Social media, I’m sure you’ve heard, is changing our world. If you’re late to the party, like me, it’s time to get involved! Rather than give you a bunch of information that may or may not be true, I’m going to point the way to some resources from more credible experts than I.
Please note that I’m only addressing here the aspects of social networking that I use myself or find most useful… there are a great many other tools that people are using, and there are a great many tools that will rise to the forefront as the internet changes & progresses.
General Information
- a long, but excellent overview of the merits & business implications of social media
- another great overview in pdf/eBook format
Write a blog
Everyone and their goldfish has one. Why don’t you? Blogging will generate more hits to your website, will provide your users with valuable content, and will allow you to interact with your visitors.
I can help you set up a blog and develop a custom template for it (you don’t want to look like everyone else now, do you?), along with a whole range of customization options! I like Wordpress myself, but I’ve also used Moveable Type, Livejournal, Blogger, and other platforms.
Twitter: not just for twits
Twitter is the most-used “microblogging” platform; ie, blogging for the lazy. It takes 20 seconds to post a microblog post, and that’s only if you’re really thinking about it.
Facebook: the workplace productivity vampire
In a business context, you probably want to avoid posting photos of yourself doing jello shots, but otherwise I’d advocate being as open as possible. Any time I receive an email from a prospective client, I look them up on Facebook to get a feel of who they are.
LinkedIn: Facebook without the poking
LinkedIn is sort of like the professional version of Facebook.
Monitoring Tools
Find out what people are saying about you. If they’re not saying anything, find people who are talking about the things you can help them with, or the companies with whom you compete.
Remember!
- Keep trying! You will see an ROI, but it may not be immediately measurable. Social media is about forming relationships, first and foremost.
- Help out other people as much as you can to be seen as an expert and a valuable asset to the community.
- Be authentic and open.
- Upload your photograph to your profile if you do nothing else… people will trust you about 100x more if they see a face. We react personally to a face in a way that we don’t react to words. (Same goes for your website.)
- Interact with others–if you’re communicating in a void, you aren’t communicating.
- Respond to negative feedback instead of suppressing it.
- Find your audience & join them.
If you’ve any resources to suggest, or comments, please feel free to leave them!
]]>I have many stories and photographs, which are forthcoming. For now, two new projects: the holiday cards I mean to do every year, and a redesign and rearchitecturing of Fernwood Publishing.
]]>The Bad: No more Digby. I’m trying hard not to think about it because it makes me sad. Why aren’t there more beautiful & clever, highly saturated things around? (I am happiest in technicolour). I don’t understand why “reality” is so interesting. There’s enough reality right outside my door; I’d rather the fantasy when I’m looking to get out of my head.
and the Ridiculous: Minggl thinks “b3k 4w5″ isn’t a valid postal code. It took me three tries to figure out they wanted me to capitalize it. Seriously? Canada Post will deliver my mail if I forget the majority of the address and scrawl it upside down with a six-inch-wide marker, but some web app that isn’t ever going to send me mail can’t validate a lowercase postal code?
Also, why are all web apps named by dyslexic five year olds now? I miss real words.
]]>I’ve been using Wordpress for everything lately, and have totally fallen in love with it. I seem to always be a little behind the curve on web trends (as a side note, I’m now on Twitter, though I still don’t really understand the point entirely) due to my general distaste for trends (if everyone likes it, it can’t possibly be any good, right?). But I really wish I’d discovered the power and flexibility of Wordpress earlier on—it’s brilliant and I’m beginning to use it for more and more of my client projects.
I was first introduced to it earlier in the summer when I did a website and serial novel page for Lilith Saintcrow. I used it for another Orbit Books author website, Brent Weeks. Most recently, I’ve used a highly customized version for a community website for Maplewood on the Lakes. I’m developing a few more sites using it, and have discovered that, generally speaking, it’s actually much faster, simpler, and more powerful that creating my own customized administration panel (though I’m still doing this for more complex database-driven websites).
In non-Wordpress related news, I’ve also added the design work I did for Sebastien’s Bistro, and the identity materials developed for the Walker Inn.
And that’s all the updates for now! I’m going to keep trying to make my updates happen on a regular basis, but I’m like the chef who comes home and eats frozen dinners (and I’ve met a few) in this case.
]]>Anyway. Two things I’ve learned:
- Gmail doesn’t care about your CSS text-formatting. That’s right, that means you’ll need to use <FONT> tags. Gross. I haven’t used those in at least five years!
- Outlook 2007 will make things look ugliest. Apparently, this is because it uses the MS Word rendering engine. Now, seriously? Why? If you’ve ever tried to design anything in Word, well, you know how impossible it is. They do, however, provide this handy little “validator” to check to see how/if your code is going to work, which is nice for those of us who get the shakes just opening Outlook. And it’ll plug into Dreamweaver!
On a vaguely related, but mostly unrelated, note: remember to vote, kids! This is the first year in a while I haven’t been directly involved in doing design work for a campaign, and as a result I’m less jazzed about the election than I usually am, but it’s starting to get to me as the day goes on. Go! Vote! (Or at least spoil your ballot (though it’s illegal to do so). Or vote Libertarian, if you can! Efficiency 2008! Down with Busy-Work! Alright, now I’m excited.)
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