It’s ok to be scared. There is a prevailing sentiment out there that fear is a sign of weakness, but the truth is, fear can be a productive thing. Understanding our fears and engaging with them is the healthy way to move forward. Cancerland taught me a lot about fear: about my own, which was abject and all-consuming at first; …
The baby and the bathwater [post 46/100]
Another reader-suggested topic today… Here’s the question as it came in: “how is the art of ad making getting disrupted by the ‘skip this ad’ on YouTube – i.e. what message can you get across in 5 seconds to make people watch 30s?” I know I come down on advertising rather often and rather hard. But while it’s true that …
All change, please
The end of an era After 4+ years of working, playing and generally wallowing in the digital world with some of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met, my time at Fjord has come to an end. I’m proud of all I was able to be a part of – countless client engagements, launching the strategy/business design practice, redesigning the …
Creativity vs. Design (a Q&A)
Every now and again, a student comes to Fjord asking for input for their dissertation. Sometimes, I’m the one they end up talking to. Today, I had an e-chat with a lovely young lady who’s doing her dissertation at Goldsmith’s. She had some questions that made me think, so I thought I’d share an excerpt here (with her permission, of …
Benched. (does anyone do speech-to-Illustrator software?)
Today was going to be the day I wrote about my latest soapbox/speaking topic and invited commentary/argument, but I’m not exactly typing well, because of this stupid finger of mine. I’ll be here, swearing at Illustrator and my uncoordinated efforts to use it, if anyone needs me.
Physician, heal thyself! (on redesigning a design agency)
[NB: This was originally written for the Fjord blog, and is cross-posted here by permission] As most people who’ve worked in an agency environment well know, there’s not a lot of existential reflection in what we do – we spend so much of our time working with our clients that there’s little time left for examining ourselves. This being more …