I once estimated that most people know what an estimate is. I was wrong about that estimation (won’t be the last time, either). It seems there’s some confusion afloat, but there’s very few things I can’t answer, provided access to Google … [Read more...]
Winning Proposals: Selection Criteria and Design
The way you present yourself is often seen as a direct reflection of the quality of work you are expected to deliver on the contract. It isn’t much unlike how we portray ourselves in our everyday lives. … [Read more...]
Training Opportunities for Furloughed Workers
The current Government shutdown sucks for a lot of reasons—for a lot of people. While the back-and-forth bickering continues in Washington, many companies and organizations are stepping up to lend a hand to the hundreds of thousands of impacted Federal employees. … [Read more...]
4 Tips for Overcoming “Designer’s Block”
It’s an unfortunate fact of life for anyone working in a creative profession: sometimes you just don’t feel very creative. We’ve all probably heard of “writers block,” and graphic designers deal with an all-too-similar set of hurdles that can make our job difficult. … [Read more...]
Removing the Stigma of Competitive Intelligence
What’s in a name? It could be argued that the entire Competitive Intelligence industry did itself an ironic disservice by choosing a moniker such as “Competitive Intelligence”. … [Read more...]
The Importance of Voice in Writing
Nothing you ever read should be boring. Of course, this would require every piece of written material to achieve a certain level of entertainment, grabbing your attention and holding it hostage, page after page. Impossible? … [Read more...]
Visual Literacy
You wouldn't write a press release announcing your company's hotly anticipated Next Big Thing if you couldn't write. And by “couldn’t write” we mean, honest-to-goodness couldn't write – Not, "omg I am so flunking english ths yr FML," but more like, "I am seriously illiterate and cannot write." … [Read more...]
Social Media Beats Cable Again
What does democracy look like in the United States in 2013? None of the major cable news networks could tell you, as they were busy covering, uh, blueberry muffin calories while history was being made in the Texas Senate. … [Read more...]
Design-by-Committee: A Cautionary Tale
Allow me to indulge you with a fictitious cautionary tale. Our friend Margo was once commissioned by the “Animal Makers Company” (AMC) to design an innovative and useful new creature, called a “horse.” … [Read more...]
7 Traits of Effective Graphic Designers
Let's imagine, if you will, a world where every graphic design firm relied solely on good faith. A world where designers didn't have to prove themselves before helping win your bid. Now immediately destroy that world because that world sucks. … [Read more...]
PowerPoint is NOT Graphic Design Software
I would keep writing that over and over again, but at the risk of you leaving the page, I suppose twice will suffice. It can be argued that PPT is flawed enough as a presentation software, so why the f#%~ … [Read more...]
Five Things You Should Know About Graphic Design
When writing about the finer nuances of our industry, we sometimes lose sight of providing the basic groundwork for why you need good design. Whether you're a designer yourself or someone thinking about using (cough*our*cough) graphic design services, here are five important things you should … [Read more...]