As a freelancer, my time literally turns into money if I track it properly. For over a year, I’ve used Harvest, and I couldn’t be happier to pay for the service. I whole-heartedly recommend Harvest to colleagues and clients knowing they will not only find it adequate, but that they will become advocates themselves.

The team behind Harvest, Shawn Liu and Danny Wen, work tirelessly to make it better, always unveiling little gems that make Harvest more functional and more friendly. Whenever I have had contact with them, they have been quick, helpful and always friendly, usually receiving a response in minutes. You can’t beat that for customer service.

Recently, one of my clients moved all its time-tracking and estimating to Harvest. The employees and contractors love it because it’s easy to track their time. The project managers love it because they can keep tabs on their projects, people, and budgets. The accountant loves it because he can cut the reports 100 different ways, or just download all the data and slice it up in excel.

If you have a need to track your time, try out Harvest.
http://www.getharvest.com/features

Creation rarely happens in a single iteration.
What happens in-between is critique, a close examination by yourself and others regarding the concept, assumptions, and execution of your idea.

A constructive critique is collaborative, creative, and directed. When done well, it can be productive and incredibly gratifying, and it requires only the engagement of its participants. In this post, I suggest some simple strategies for engaging in good critique that also serve to jumpstart a lethargic group. Over time, these strategies will increase your critical awareness and improve both the quality and usefulness of any critique you participate in.

A quick note on groups:

It can be hard to overcome the inertia of silence. Group members can be lazy, distracted, or self-conscious of their opinions. In this situation, a substantive critique is unlikely. Fortunately, it only takes one person really engaging with the material to put everyone on the right track. Take control. By making it a point to speak when others will not, you single-handedly overcome the inertia of silence, and if you say something useful, provide points of reference for others to launch from. Someone who disagrees with your assessment, or who feels validated by it, will feel more comfortable chiming in once the discussion has already begun. Once jumpstarted, critiques tend to feed on themselves and continue until they’ve run their course. More times than I can count, a single speaker, with one or two good comments, transformed a silent room into a cyclone of activity.

But what should I say?

You’re stumped. What now?

First of all, what is your initial reaction?

This is important, because this first impression is the closest you will get to how a consumer would experience the work.
Do you like it? Do you dislike it? Are you indifferent? Can you articulate why?

If you like it, say so immediately and, if possible, elaborate on why. You can take your time with the “why” and don’t be afraid to change your mind, but talk it out.
If you don’t like it, hold off speaking until you have something specific, and constructive to say. You can always come back to the piece later which demonstrates continued thinking on the subject.
If you’re indifferent, say nothing and try another strategy.

Find something good. Even if you hate the overall work. Even if you think the person is an idiot.

This will force you to look beyond your first impression, to be more thorough. Believe there is something good about it. Keep looking until you find it. It doesn’t have to be big, it just has to be good. “I like the color palette,” or “Your choice of illustration style really sets the tone that you are going for,” are sufficient.

Anyone can find something they don’t like. When unqualified by solutions or positive feedback, it becomes a demoralizing negative spiral. If you can find something legitimately good in everything, people will value all of your opinions more, and it softens the blow when you have to deliver the really bad news. Additionally, positive comments tend to garner solutions, while negative comments breed more negative comments.

Ask a leading question?

Any piece of work is the result of countless decisions. If you are curious about something, ask about it. Even if you are not particularly curious, asking a question is a good way to get somewhere else.

• What made you choose that typeface?
• How did you decide on your color palette?
• What attracted you to that style of illustration?

Try to avoid questions that start out with, “Did you think about…” because not only are they yes/no questions, too often people use the construct just to say anything or to make the presenter look stupid. If you find yourself about to pose a question like this, try to rephrase it. You’ll likely get a better response.

What is the one thing you would change?

Ask yourself, if you were to take over production from here, what would you do, and why. Try to present your ideas not as suggestions or judgments, but as “feelings.” They should act as a transient jumping off point for discussion, not as point to be argued.
Some quick examples:

• The ad needs a hero. The visual is great, but the headline competes so strongly with it that I end up bouncing back and forth.
• It doesn’t seem gritty enough for what you want. Maybe color photography isn’t the right solution.

If you’re stuck, ask yourself:

• Is the photography/illustration/type best suited for this message?
• Does the execution fit the stated strategy?
• Is it eye catching?
• Which is stronger, the words or the imagery?
• Is the strategy/execution appropriate for the client/campaign?
• Does the ad says to you what they intended, or is there a disconnect?
• Is there something in the execution that takes away from the message?

What do you think about the:

• typography
• font choice
• relative type size
• color palette
• use of negative space
• tone
• contrast
• copy
• headline
• layout
• placement/size of the logo

1. Get a Wacom Tablet. Now.
   As an art director, you will get one at some point. You might as well get it now, learn it, and benefit from it as soon as possible. Some things are basically impossible to do without it, and the rest is just a whole lot easier.

   A good one is the Intuos 4×6″. You an get them used, or new for about $200. You can get a Graphire for about $100. It also makes a great birthday/Christmas present.

   As an art director, this is one of the few professional tools you have (other than your camera and laptop). Treat it as such. You can use your Wacom for many years to come.

2. Learn Flash Elsewhere.
   It’s a dirty little secret that you will be under-worked 1st Quarter. Use this time wisely to start learning Flash. Your options include books, websites, community college, adult education classes, and computer training companies like LearnIT in San Francisco. For books, you can’t go wrong with Adobe’s Classroom in a Book Series.
   As always, check the public library. They have lots of resources for free.

   In addition to working on perhaps the most in-demand and lacking skill for art directors, you will save yourself time and money. You won’t need “Intro to Flash” taking up your time and tuition in later quarters when you’d rather be making stuff.

3. Start a Backup Routine.
   Yes, this sucks. Yes, this is a little technical. Recovering from a hard-drive crash sucks more, and is more technical. It also usually happens when you can afford it least.

   EVERY QUARTER, at LEAST one person I know has a complete hard drive crash. Some of them have had good backups, some haven’t. Hard drives are mechanical devices. They fail. All the time. Don’t be caught without a backup of your work. I generally suggest an external hard drive with backup software (more on this in another post). Forget about CDs, DVDs, and flash drives. They don’t have the capacity, speed, or reliability you need.

Follow these 3 simple pieces of advice and you will be miles ahead of your 1st Quarter Art Director brethren.

I been to many classroom and guest speaker Q&A where I was embarrassed by the questions being asked. The answers you’ll be given get depend on the politeness, honesty, and age of the person asked. Here are some old stand-bys that always come up, and the real answers.

Q: How much money will I make when I get out of school?

A: It depends. Somewhere between $12K and $70K depending on your location, your awesomeness, how likable you are, how much they need you, and a million other factors. On average, you can expect to make ~$35K in your first job. A wise advertising guy once told me:

For the first half of your career, you will be grossly underpaid. For the second half, you’ll be grossly overpaid.

Q: What if I’m offered an amount of money that I cannot live on?
(not to be confused with being underpaid, see above.)

A: It’s up to you. No one else can make this decision for you, but my advice is to find another job. It’s an ethical issue. To perform in a job, you need to be able to eat. Anywhere that does not support that is not someplace you, or anyone, should be working.

Q: How many pieces should I put in my portfolio?

A: This is usually asked by two types of people: the green, and the graduating.

For the newbies, it doesn’t matter at this point, focus on getting great work done, then read the below.

For grads, the questions is only valid if you are interviewing with the actual person you are asking the question. If you ask 10 creative directors (and I’ve seen it) they will vacillate and give you 3 answers a piece. I’ve heard of people getting hired with with riveting 600 (and 10) page portfolios.

They don’t really care, it just has to be awesome.

Q: What kind of stuff should I put in my portfolio?

A: A follow-up to the previous question. Again, it depends. If you are going to a shop that specializes in print, you want to have alot of print. At an online agency you’ll have to have banner ads and microsites. You will want to tailor your book for each interview, if possible.

A Few Points:

• You sure as hell better have a website.
  Don’t plan on getting hired without one. Doesn’t have to be fancy.
• The more interactive the better.
  It’s still rare in student books. More advertising is moving there, and agencies need people who can think that way.
• No one reads radio.
  Produce it and put it on a CD and on your website.
• Television storyboards never read very well.
  Produce it and put it on a CD and on your website.

Q: Is there more I need to know?

A: Yep, but this is a good start. Take control of your career. Be a student of the industry and how it works, not just what it makes, and you’ll be fine.

Credit to Peet’s Coffee & Tea for this a-ha moment.

Many documents have a long lifespan. How do you know if you have the correct version of something? The answer can be especially tricky if you are in a large organization that has several “current” versions depending on factors such as geography, season, store size, etc.

Document version numbers immediately answers the question “which version am I looking at?”

While “invisible” to customers, an unobtrusive but clearly readable version code integrated into the overall design of the document provides employees with meaningful information.

Imagine two versions of the same task, in this case determining if my local Peet’s is using the correct brochure versions.

Scenario 1: No Document Version Numbers

Scenario 2: With Document Version Numbers

Pro Lesson: Versioning work will make your life easier, and if you point it out to your client and explain why you’re using it, you’ll look smart and savvy to their business, potentially saving them headaches they hadn’t thought to solve.

Student Lesson: Incorporating a document version into a spec collateral design signals you really know how your designs will be used in practice.

AKA: The only dress code you’ll ever need.

When I started working with Rassak Experience I asked “What should I wear to the client meeting?”

“Dress so you feel strong.”

If you feel strong in a tshirt and jeans, wear that. If you feel like you kick ass wearing a tie, wear that. The idea is will do your best, no matter what the situation, if you feel strong, and confident.

Does what makes me feel strong depend on the situation? Of course, but when I get dressed, I only ask myself one question.

So what makes you feel strong?

Technorati Tags:
hr, dress-code

For all of you who shoot in RAW, there are two programs designed specifically to make working with your photos easier, faster, and more intuitive. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and Apple Apeture.

Lightroom is available from Adobe. I’ve been using Lightroom since its beta period, and I love it. Editing, sorting, and printing is drop-dead simple.  It runs on my 3 year old laptop, and accomodates screens of all sizes, with is a huge plus. **Lightroom works on both Mac and PC.

Apeture is Apple’s more elitist take on the same concept. While Lightroom will run on pretty much any Mac or PC, Apeture is hardware-hungy and will only run on very specific machines.  I’m told by people who know that while you can use it on smaller setups, Apeture is optimzed for dual-monitor, or very large screen use.
**Apeture works on SOME MACS.
Download the Apeture Compatibility Checker to see if your computer makes the cut. Apple keeps expanding hardware support, but I still can’t run it on my 12″ Powerbook G4.

If anyone has any first-hand experience with Apeture, please put it in the comments. I’m sticking with Lightroom, at least for now.
Happy shooting.

technorati tags:adobe, apple, apeture, lightroom, photoshop, RAW, photography, tools

I’m an SF-dwelling motorcycle rider, so when I buy furniture on Craigslist, or need to pick up 300 T-shirts in Mountain View, I get a Zipcar.

For those of you not familiar with it, Zipcar is part of the growing car-sharing movement where you pay a membership fee and can rent cars in your neighborhood by the hour or by the day. The fee includes all gas, insurance, maintenance and parking. It’s great. Other car-share organizations include CityCarShare and Flexcar. Rates and terms vary slightly, but the best reason to pick one over the other is proximity to where you’ll want to pick a car up. Zipcar has two locations within 0.5 miles of me, the others are at least 1.5 miles away. For me it was a no-brainer.

I climbed into a Zipcar a few weeks ago and I found a cool DVD set in the glovebox. I figured someone had forgotten it and I would report the loss to lost-and-found later. But then I found one in each of the back seat pockets, and 5 more in the trunk.

What a great idea, I thought. Zipcars have a certain audience, with certain needs, living in a certain neighborhood. If you want those people to know about you, leave it in the car.

Other reasons I love Zipcar:

• A super-friendly, helpful, and playful attitude apparent in everything they do.
• whenever there is a new one, there is a contest to name it (Mini McEvoy, Matrix Miros, Tacoma Tokias, xA Adrian to name a few).
• “Under the Hood” is one of the best email newsletters I receive as far as design, tone, information quality, and entertainment.
• They make you feel like part of a community, and turn their members into advocates (just like me =)
• They ask for help. Whenever they need something, are having an event or have a cool idea, they ask for their members help. It makes all the difference.
• Killer discounts. Check out http://www.zipcar.com/sf/partners for stuff your “zipcard” will get you.
• $50 of free driving on signup.
• XM Radio in every car.

Technorati Tags: advertising, carshare, disruptive, guerilla media, zipcar

I have a 12″ Powerbook. About two months ago, it started acting really slow. It was taking 45 seconds to register a mouseclick. It stopped booting up on the first try. Not good. I booted from the Mac OS X install DVD which lets you run several utilities, including Disk Utility and Terminal.

When I launched Disk Utility instead of:

SMART Status:Verified

I was greeted with:

SMART Status: Failing. Backup any unsaved work if drive not totally failed yet.

Luckily, I had backups of almost everything already. What wasn’t backed up already, I was able to copy to my external hard-drive via the Terminal. I have Applecare so I took my computer there and they replaced the drive, took them about a week. If I didn’t have those backups…years of work would have been lost.

So all you Mac users, here are some steps to ward off disaster:

1. Install SMARTReporter .It will proactively monitor your hard drives and alert you to any problems, maybe even in time to avert disaster. Disk Utility only runs when you ask it to.
2. Print My Mac Won’t Start - A Tiny Troubleshooting Guide. It will tell you what to do when your Mac is acting funny. I keep mine in my laptop sleeve and it saved me by telling my how to boot from CD, External Drive, how to check a disk, etc
3. Backup. Backup. Backup. Have more than two copies of your photo library. Email yourself important documents. Burn CDs and DVDs. Just think about if it was gone.
4. Be Redundant. You can mirror your hard drive to an external drive with a free program called Carbon Copy Cloner or the commercial and very good SuperDuper! or Chronosync. Both are well worth the $30 they cost and provide more functionality and a friendlier interface. If your drive dies, you can boot from the external drive and continue like nothing happened. (Just hold down Option while your booting and it will let you pick which drive to boot from.)

Note: Hard drives are mechanical devices. Given enough time, they will all fail. I have seen drives fail straight out of the box, and I see others still running fine after 10 years. Some fail slowly, others in the blink of a power surge. You can’t predict when they’ll die, so you had better always be prepared for the funeral.

Technorati Tags: technology

Takeaway: Don’t Ignore AOL for Viral Video

I’ve been working on a marketing campaign at Rassak Experience that includes several parody videos. The videos, as well as being hosted on the a microsite were also posted to YouTube and AOL Uncut.

We uploaded the videos on the same day with the same descriptions and the same tags. The graph below compares AOL views (red) with YouTube views (blue).

[Side Note:, We did try to post to both Google Video and Yahoo Video but had so many problems it wasn’t worth dealing with. Google had just acquired YouTube and uploading was broken. Once fixed, we had A/V sync issues with the Google encoder. At Yahoo, 4 videos posted immediately, the other 6 took up to 2 full days to appear.  When they did appear, 2 were broken and the rest were posted with a thumbnail of a girl in a bikini rather than a still from our own video so we deleted them.]

Technorati Tags: advertising, aol, youtube, statistics, video, viral