The Midweek Mix (Issue .02)
New Designer Interview - New Book - More Insights!
I’m So Glad You're Here! - Thanks for sticking with me!
It’s been another busy week but a productive week, packed with everything including some good family time, and playing with the kids.
I thought I would share the second issue of The Midweek Mix you can see the 1st issue here.
The past few weeks I have discussed:
In the issue of Don't Pitch Your Work For Free! I mention how i like to validate the client and ask for more information including scope and budget before i start to engage with them.
Not only does it enable me to learn about the project and its scope, it also allows me to validate the client before i commit more time to speaking with them.
As i don’t want to be on the phone with a prospective client to find out they are not a good fit for my business.
By gaining as much information as possible before I speak with them, it frees up more of my time for me to spend on things that I am getting paid for.
I understand that some people like to speak with people right away and not ask them to provide any information digitally in fear of losing them, that’s fine if that’s what you want.
I look at it like this: if they are unwilling to spend a little time supplying the info you require then i can’t see them being a good fit to work with.
Even though my way stops me from getting in to the below situation it got me thinking.
On The Call..That’s a Low Budget!…Hummmm?
Have you ever been on a call with a prospective client that seemed to be going really well... until the prospect revealed what seemed to be an absurdly low budget for the project?
Even if it seems obvious to you that your assistance would be worth far more than their budget, trying to directly convince them of this doesn’t usually work very well.
What should you do? How do you answer?
Here is what I would do if stuck in that situation.
Instead, invite the prospect into a conversation in which they voluntarily share what they believe the value of the project to be. (NOTE: The value, not the budget)
The way to do this is by asking questions like this:
“Will you please help me understand why your website is such a low priority?”
“Correct me if i’m wrong in thinking that this website could become your most profitable sales channel?”
“What is your most effective sales channel currently?”
Once they start answering, keep asking questions until every assumption is removed. At that point you will either:
Discover that the project isn’t as valuable to the prospect as you had assumed.
The prospect will discover that it would be silly not to invest more than they had budgeted for the project.
Either way, you’re better off.
Designer Interview With Craig Ward
In this Designer Interview I Interviewed Craig Ward who is a British-born designer and creative director based in New York; he is an occasional artist; and the author of the book Popular lies about graphic design - Book available on Amazon - UK, US.
Craig is better known for his pioneering typography work. Fascinated by the process and concept of words and images, Craig established his own design studio in New York in 2011 after stints as head of design at grey (NY) and agencies based in London, UK, including the likes of CHI & Partners and MCBD.
Some of Craig's previous clients include Calvin Klein, Adobe, Aesop, Google, Hennessy, Nike, Macy's, Gillette, Peugeot, The New York Times, Wired, the V&A Museum, Mulberry, Dockers, and (RED).
Craig's work has been recognized by the ADC, the TDC and One Show, among others, as well as being exhibited globally - including at The Museum of The City of New York, The Cooper Union, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, Colette in Paris, Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center and London’s Conningsby and A Foundation galleries to name a few.
Craig was named one of the most important designers of all time in 2015, and in 2018 he created a custom typeface for the England World Cup kit in Russia.
As a regular public speaker, Craig has been a guest at Adobe MAX, Soho House, the Apple Store, AIGA, TEDx, and the OFFF Festival in Paris as well as a variety of colleges and universities.
ZNAK. Ukrainian Trademarks 1960 - 1980 - First look video
I have had this book for quite a while now it was sent to me by the author U, N, A collective. I am working on the review but decided to read it again as it’s a really interesting read.
Znak. Ukrainian Trademarks 1960 — 1980 is research by U, N, A collective (Uliana Bychenkova, Nika Kudinova, Aliona Solomadina) on the history of Ukrainian graphic design, in particular, on the area of corporate identity during the period of Thaw, Stagnation, and Perestroyka.
Visual and textual narratives coexist in the book, as this type of material needs not only visual but also textual support. They address the given subject in wider chronological order: from the 20th century avant-garde to the present. Most importantly, the publication focuses on the Kharkiv school of industrial graphics and the accomplishments of Volodymyr Pobiedin.
The publication displays archive materials, identifies the names, describes the processes and highlights the influences in Ukrainian graphic design in the local and global contexts.
The book is available in the US on Amazon.
Free Resources
I have been an Evernote user for years and had an account since the company started or not long after, it really does help me with productivity and keeping things in one place to stay organised.
A similar online app called Notion which i’m sure a lot of you are familiar with is offering a free personal plan.
Similar to evernote you can write, plan and organise in one place. I thought i would try it when i first started this newsletter back in May.
I have imported everything across from Evernote but at the moment i’m only using it to plan my newsletters and find it ok so far.
I will continue to use Evernote as i have been using it that long i’m now used to it and i like using it.
It does not hurt to have a backup so I will use Notion as well, with the plan moving forward to use Notion for content related things.
Hot Find! - Minimal Brand Guidelines Template
I was having a browse and found this nice clean and minimal brand guidelines template.
The design is highly focussed on a minimalist approach featuring bold typography, a clean colour palette and optional layout choices of which are extremely easy to customise to your own liking.
It comes compatible with Adobe Illustrator and InDesign.
As i always say - “Stay curious & enthusiastic, and good things will happen!”
Thanks for reading. :)