2007: A Tri-Fecta of Favorite Things in Review
Most publications start making predictions around this time of year, but I hate being wrong. It’s not so much that I don’t have ideas of where things are going – it’s more the fact making future predictions is a bit trite. Rarely are there any groundbreaking revelations and the novelty wears off quite quickly, usually by the third bullet point. In light of keeping it lite, there are three innovations which I feel are noteworthy for 2007 – the iPhone, the Wii, and Twitter.
Granted the Wii came out in November of 2006 and Twitter in March of 2006 – they really didn’t “blow up” until 2007. The Wii continues to have shortages and Twitter ballooned after SXSW 2007, where I first signed on. I had a conversation with Snook once and he talked about (and continues to blog about) staying away from hopping on any bandwagon as well as staying fair and balanced. This post will not be that way – I will gush and adore praise for my three favorite things of 2007.
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Transparency and the Old Guard
Wired wrote about it, but even before that it was in our hearts and on our minds. If trade-secrets ruled the day in the 20th century – transparency will rule the day in the 21st. The words competition and secrecy will be exchanged with collaboration and openness. Companies that fail to see this will find it harder and harder to gain the devotion of us, the “e” generation.
The “e” means we are empowered. As consumers, as professionals, as social networkers, as voters, and as evangelists. Believe me, you want us on your side. What we lack in numbers we make up for in determination and knowledge. Leveraging the internet to make real changes is second nature – and it will happen. We can’t be bought or sold by a television network – we really aren’t into TV, it’s too – linear, too “photoshopped,” or too fake. Our real news media has become satirical and our satirical news media has become real, and we recognize that.
Thriving in the Bro-conomy
Yep, that’s a new word, or at least I think I made it up (and if I didn’t, it’s like me to think I made up a word). The bro-conomy, to me, is the economy that exists between “bros.” Or better put, between people that you have, or would like to have, a more than a business/client relationship with – it’s something quite special. So special in fact, that in receiving a $90 dollar sweatshirt for $300+ dollars of work, you are immediately satisfied and feel that you got the good deal.
Think Bro-conomy, Think Big
So how does one crack the bro-conomy nut? When I was at an agency I noticed the guys who were making the deals getting all sorts of cool shit. Occasionally it would trickle down and I would get something like the aforementioned hoody or a circle-hoe. But for the most part it stopped right before the schwag hit the creatives. I think the most important part is exposure to clients. Before the end of this long winded, much adu about nothing post, I’ll talk about web design, a few tips to help one thrive in the bro-conomy, and a few of my own personal bro-conomy stories.
Good, Cheap, and Fast
Theresa Tran, of Tease Marketing, once said something to me in a conversation that resonated heavily, “You have good, cheap, OR fast, you get to pick two.” After mulling it over in my head for a little while, it made perfect sense. And as I broke off to go start my own business, it’s something I chalked up as a cardinal rule.
“You have good, cheap, or fast, you get to pick two.”
I have been on my own freelancing (or running my own business) for nearly six months, a few things have occurred to me. Cheap is a relative term – relative to the client paying the money as well as relevant to what you’re making across the board for all projects. Good, when doing business for yourself, isn’t so much an option as it is a requirement. And lastly, fast is the speed at which we do business period – people want everything yesterday. So do clients really ever pick two out of three? Or do they just automatically assume to run the table. After all, the customer is always right.
A Simple Guide to Building a WordPress Theme
Downloading and tweaking one of the many themes of WordPress is all fine and good. But what happens when you want to extend your blog/site past what someone else’s theme can give you? The truth is – this is a realm where most users are terrified to go. While I understand those fears, they aren’t totally warranted. Building a WordPress theme can be quite easy, given the right process.
I’m freaking out man!
Building a WordPress theme can be broken down into three steps; design, front-end development, and lastly the WordPress implementation itself. I’m not quite sure how others do it, but the following guide is a detailed look into the process I have developed for building WordPress themes.
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Avoiding the Designer’s Crisis
It would be a marvelous world indeed, if every comp/design ever produced was received with adornment and praise. The truth is, as designers, when we submit any comp – we expect that. This type of speculation is perhaps a bit naive – but we wouldn’t put anything out we didn’t think was founded in solid design principles and decisions. Well, that’s not totally true, occasionally we do have to put out work we feel could be better, given the proper amount of time. But for the most part an ill-received comp is not unlike a cold cup of water to a sleeping face, shocking.
“We hate it”
If one could predict what projects are going to go awry and why – perhaps the “Designer’s Crisis” could be avoided. It seems there are a few situations I have found in my limited experience which have a higher risk than others. It’s tough to design for designers, work under tight deadlines, and to follow someone else’s brand guidelines while resisting the “Designer’s Touch”.
Eleven3 Version 3.0
We designer types are a finicky breed. Rarely is something just right and we don’t really like the words time and budget. Good work takes time, a lot of it. That being said, when I launched version 2.0 of eleven3.com I was really excited, I felt I had achieved good work. I’m not sure if it’s just me, or if other designers do this as well, but when I design something I like; I stare and stare and stare.
With any creative work, the longer you expose yourself to it, the more stale it becomes. That’s why, about three months ago, I got the itch to redesign my site.
So here we are, one year ago and change I launched version 2.0 of eleven3. Today I launch version 3.0 – and yes I am just as excited as my last redesign. There are a lot of reasons for my excitement, but mainly it’s just a new look, a new focus, and more flexibility. Gone is the rigid and closed-source Movable Type and arriving is the flexible, fluid, WordPress.
Continue reading for the off chance of relating to the requirements of the relaunch, the design phase, the challenges of coding the front-end, and the use of WordPress and a plethora of plugins that now make up the site. A lot of work went into it, my hopes are that it is well received. Read the rest
The Apple Drop
This thread on Apple.com pretty much sums it up. It’s not that we early adopters didn’t expect a price drop at all, we just didn’t expect it so soon.
I have a feeling Apple will do the right thing and offer up some form of reparation. First off, we are the crazy ones willing to drop down $600 on a first gen device – probably the most likely to drop money down on the next first gen device from Apple – but now we feel burned. Without early adopters you don’t get normal economies of scale – without us – Apple may not be able to launch something as risky.
I sold my AAPL stock today because A) I felt burned (especially for how much I have sold the iPhone to curious onlookers) and B) This aggressive of a price cut means either the demand isn’t there -or- they have reached economies of scale (which in such a short time wouldn’t make sense, at least not $200 a phone).
I will probably be back – but not so blind to the Apple shine this time around.
** Update: Kind of saw this coming – but good to see it actually happen **
Disassembled Assembly, aka Weekly Wrap Up 8/27
No, not my new band name (but keeps it for future reference), I just had a few things cross my plate, all of which were too big to warrant a twitter, yet too small to warrant their own post. I dunno, that could all be a lie as well. You never know with these internet blogs.
First off, congrats to Tease Marketing, for they(we) have officially refreshed their homepage to include a sign up for their new newsletter, “The Tease Effect.” Sign up, these ladies throw lavish parties and seem to know just about everyone. The newsletter is for upcoming events they sponsor.
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An ODE to IE6
As I was writing up my typical IE conditional statement and creating my IE stylesheet, not necessarily for hacks, but for png fixes and such, I got all emotional and wrote a poem.
Feel free to include it in your IE Stylesheet:
/*
An ODE to IE6 – By A Webdesigner
—————————-
The road has been long,
full of anguish and pain.
How long will we endure,
the internet’s shame.
Once you were nice,
all light and fast.
Then came Firefox,
and lit up your ass.
Get a better browser,
the geeks have been saying.
The internet looks weird,
No PNGs displaying.
Conditional Statements,
feel like dirty code.
With anger and hope,
I write this ODE.
I create thee,
oh you dirty IE stylesheet,
With the hope of the future,
and pressing delete.
*/
George Huff
peddler of ideas and all things that are good
I am a digital geek; equal parts designer, builder, and ideator. I am the co-founder of a interface design shop in Portland, Oregon called We the Media. We do amazing stuff running the gamut from systems design to application development to interface design. If you would like to work with us, drop me a line.
We recently started a new company around a product we're calling Opal. It's a way to build company cultures around delighted employees.
At this blog you will find stories about business, life, web design, & culture. You will also find a stream of what I find interesting on the web. Enjoy.