What is Upcoming? Upcoming is a community for discovering and sharing events. It can help you find stuff to do, discover what your friends are doing, or let you keep private events online for your own reference.
Project Background
I was first approached to redesign Upcoming by founder Andy Baio (Waxy) back in June 2007. Andy was made aware of my work via a CNN redesign article I had written. Andy’s initial brief to me was concise and informed. He gave me an open brief, to use all the existing content on Upcoming, and redesign the site how I saw fit. Now this is the type of brief I like, because for a client to approach with this attitude means they have an understanding and respect for my design ability (usually demonstrated by past projects). Although this, by no means, means that I do whatever I feel like doing, it means I have a brief which is open enough to do what I believe is best for the website or brand. There is a difference.
I’ve been syndicating content on Heavy Backpack for some time now. So I thought it was about time to explain RSS to the uninitiated, so you can keep track of the news and articles added regularly (but not always everyday) to the site.
If you’re a visual person, I’ve included a video explanation made by Common Craft explaining RSS in really simple terms.
If it’s better for you to read it, here’s my written explanation below.
They are structured. They are professional without being stuffy. They communicate clearly. They are open and approachable. They have a distinct identity. They are 8 great business web designs.
If you’re not exactly sure what a tumblelog is, then check out What is a Tumblr? for a bit of background. But just because it’s a random sequence of thoughts doesn’t mean your tumblelog needs to look like random trash. Here are the top 10 designs and themes that I’ve s(tumbled) across in the past few weeks:
http://tumbl.us is a tumblelog by Matt McInvery who also maintains a design portfolio and blog at pixelspread
When the new year is still fresh, I like to explore and experiment with new things around the web. My discovery and pick for the biggest web app growth this year would have to be Tumblr. Although Tumblr has been released for a little while, and the concept of keeping tumbelogs is not totally new, there’s a few reasons I wanted to give it an overview. Read the rest of this entry »
To the uninitiated, the current CNN home page is cluttered and overpopulated to say the least. So when I saw that CNN was launching a beta site with a redesign I was very interested to see the new direction. I have been aware of the issues on the CNN home page for some time now, and thought a new design was in order, and well overdue.
The blog reviews I have read about the new beta design have been mixed, but for mine I would say that, although not fantastic, it is a step in the right direction.
I can say this because I’ve already considered the design direction in which CNN should be headed. Here’s one I prepared earlier. Literally. Over 4 months ago I took some time to redesign the CNN homepage addressing some design and layout issues.
Generally referred to as No-Spec jobs or Free Pitching, this letter following is something that is spreading quickly around the design webisphere that may help to explain the practice. The text below was originally posted on Craigslist (and quickly removed by admins) in response to the ridiculous job offers soliciting creative services for free (or for very little money).
But continually the written letter is repeatedly being posted on craigslist. At the bottom of the article is “Please copy and repost daily so that our profession may be respected.” So someone posts it, it gets taken off, then reposted again.
NOTE: The following was posted anonymously on Craigslist.
Every day, there are more and more Craigs List posts seeking “artists” for everything from auto graphics to comic books to corporate logo designs. More people are finding themselves in need of some form of illustrative service.
But what they’re NOT doing, unfortunately, is realizing how rare someone with these particular talents can be.
1. The first step to having a good relationship (in business of course) with your client is to take on good clients in the first place. Don’t feel obliged to chase down every client that sends flirting glances in your direction. You could be ‘jumping into bed’ with a client that others knew not to touch.
2. Some clients just aren’t right for you. It’s not you, it’s them. (a) Some clients are too big. You’ll be lured by the big bucks, but when they should decide to leave, remaining will be a gaping hole in the heart of your business. (b) Some clients are too small. If possible, check to see if they pay their bills (or request some upfront payment on larger invoices), and that you won’t be spending all your time and effort educating them on ‘the process’ of working together. Find the client that is just right, to avoid a painful divorce.
3. Anyone can compete on price, but not everyone will compete on service. To give yourself a more valuable position in the relationship you need to make the transition from being just a vendor with services to being a strategic partner with their business interests at heart. Make yourself indispensable from your clients selling process. The more valuable you are to the client, the more love will be returned back to you.
While in a toy store a young girl spotted some play jewelry that caught her eye, a beautiful pearl necklace. She asked her mother to buy it for her, her mother said no, but said if she earned the two dollars that it cost, she would be able to buy it herself. So the following days the girl proceeded to find chores that could earn her some money.
She help her auntie with the cleaning, she got fifty cents. She helped her mum with cooking and got one dollar. Her brother helped her out with the final fifty cents as she helped him clean his bedroom. She eventually went back to the store to buy the plastic pearl necklace which she took home and cherished. It was her pride and joy. Many months passed as she treasured her favorite item, and apart from when taking a bath, she never removed them from her neck.
One evening her father was tucking her into bed and asked her if she loved him. She replied ‘yes’. Her father then asked if he could have her pearl necklace. She hesitated and said, ‘but I love my necklace so much, you can have my teddy bear if you want.’ Her father said okay, and left. The following week the father again asked her if she loved him, she said, ‘yes very much’. He then asked again if he could have her necklace. She clasped her necklace with concern, and said that he could have her doll collection. He said that was fine and left. Again the following week the father approached the girl. She replied, ‘yes I love you daddy’. He asked ‘Do you love me enough to give me your necklace?’, holding her necklace she shook her head ‘not my necklace daddy’.
Designer “Yes, we need the logo in vector format before we can finish the brochure and go to print” Client “What’s a vector? Can’t you just use the powerpoint version of the logo I sent you? We need to have this finished by the end of the week” Designer “We can use that logo supplied, but the quality will be very low” Client “ok, I’ll see if anyone can find it, I’m not sure if we have it.”
Sound familiar? Some times it is just quicker and more painless to look here first. It’s a website that has long been in the arsenal of many a time restricted designer. A massive archive of corporate logos that can be downloaded in vector or illustrator format. It’s long overdue that this was granted an archival page of it’s own. So for the record, bookmark logotypes.
And, it seems at least finally the Russians beat the Americans to something. Gaining in momentum is a similar site, where between the two, you should be able to find the brand you are looking for.
Some of the qualities that make an artist or designers work stand out amongst the crowd are attributes like originality, innovation, quality, technique and character. While searching for some of these qualities in individuals to feature on the site, one of the things I’ve noticed as similarities throughout the talented pool of profiles currently on Heavy Backpack is that, without my prior knowledge, most profiled are either self employed or available for freelance.
Although I don’t particularly believe this is a pre-requisite for the creation of great work, it has definitely presented itself as a running theme. Due to this being a web based platform, the bias in part should be put down to the nature of freelancing and the need to gather exposure and showcase an online portfolio to potential new prospects, but nevertheless, it is definitely a working and lifestyle environment which allows many to blossom to their creative potential. So why don’t more people do it? The transition into freelancing or starting a business from a full-time study or employment position can be daunting, and many find this a difficult step to make. I recently heard a short story which (although a little abstract) might help identify the situation for some people.
