Holistic Web Design and Design Eye for the List Guy, were two among several panels that got a group of us really excited about starting a collaborative design group. Even 4 weeks after SXSW, we’re still all hopped up on Jim Coudal and Jason Fried’s opening remarks (listen, listen, listen!) about starting a business on-the-side.

We see several examples of collaborative business models already - Neubix, Happy Cog, Pixelworthy and the like. All successful studio arrangements. But we wanted to tie together a band of full-time designers, developers, and creatives, who could work together from time to time on special projects; collaborating from great distances.

MethodArts.com is an “open source” creative consortium. A virtual studio consisting of 4 Principals and any number of contributing members. Membership is by invitation only. The site will function as a group portfolio for projects we collaborate on, a group blog about… ...(more)

Preaching ”no spec work!” is easy when you have more work than you know what to do with. But as a student just starting out on your career, the temptation to do work up front for little or no pay in the hope winning a project or future opportunity is hard to resist.

I used to teach Senior Illustration Seminar at Milwaukee Institue of Art & Design. It was exciting because the entire class was full of students ready to embark on their careers as professionals. All that useless information living between my ears was suddenly valuable to those 17 people. I remember what I used to tell my students about making your own opportunities, and paying your dues. You’d think spec work sounds like a great way to be competitive and gain exposure when you’re just starting out. You’d be wrong.

Let me start by saying I’ve done plenty of spec work. It took me a long time to be confident enough in what I do to expect… ...(more)

Congratulations to Web Superhero - Veerle Pieters and the other winners of the ExpressionEngine Shootout! (I am SUCH a giant Fanclub!)

If you’re thinking of designing your own site, you must check out this post on her recent blog redesign. I think we can all agree, no one saw this coming. Unbelievable talent!!!

I’m also completely stunned (and proud) to have made the top ten. I need to thank friend and web developer Anna Brown who taught me everything I know about EE, and who contributed in some capacity to 2 sites among the top 30 Shootout winners.

Download the ExpressionEngine Core now for FREE!

Wow, okay so I’ll keep this brief as there has already been plenty written and posted on Flickr (20,333 currently) about it. SXSW Interactive - If you didn’t go this year, you need to next year. It was ten times the experience I’d expected. Amazing speakers, amazing parties. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who responded to my Free Coffee at SXSW post. In the end, there were 3 people I was unable to connect with (for more than a brief introduction). I’m sure we’ll run into each other again somewhere, and when we do, I owe you guys some Joe!

In the interests of brevity, I present my summary in Haiku form:

Hot humid Springtime.
The birds here are psychotic;
“May I see your Badge?”

Pictured Left to Right: Greg Storey, Mark Bixby, part of Jason Santa Maria

...(more)

There’s much noise lately over traffic, and whether we should all care about it or not. I think there’s a distinction to be made between being highly findable, and one of its inevitable benefits… traffic. In a recent Washington Post article, Frank Ahrens posits over another popular meme, that blogs have peaked, and invites bloggers to tell him why they blog. I saw a connection between the two, and felt compelled to respond:

(An open letter)
Mr. Ahrens,
Good article. I’m certain you’re getting it with both barrels right now, so I’ll keep this brief. I found your article through Steve Newson’s blog.

And that’s exactly why I blog.

I’m exponentially more findable when I regularly publish content relevant to my market. People who track blogs and keywords such as design, blogging, brand, creative, etc… find anything I publish containing those keywords, almost instantly. This connects me to, and generates dialogue with, new clients,… ...(more)