Decomplexify – Signal to Noise

Mar 7, ’11 1:07 PM

I know it’s not really even a word, but it’s a good descriptor in theory: decomplexify.

If I have a chance to sit back and think about the stuff I really would love to process and enjoy (and remember), and compare that to the insane amount information I attempt to ingest daily things don’t really add up.

With that in mind, I thought I’d write up a tiny list of sites that I’d like to stick to that create original content (no aggregators/scrapers!) and help me cut out a bit of clutter.

This is my attempt (hopefully not in vain) to lower my signal-to-noise ratio and boost a bit of retention in my brain.

1. Co. Design

An incredibly well-laid out resource covering the breadth of great design, from products, to emerging tech and everything in between.

Visit Co Design.

2. Smashing Magazine

I’ll say it here: I flat-out earnestly want to become a better coder & programmer. Smashing Mag always seems to have the perfect blend of design and typography love and the bits of clutch programming news I can digest and understand.  Tons of phenomenal, original content.

Visit Smashing Magazine.

3. The 99 Percent – 99%

I’m not really sure of the proper way to write that name, but that sounds right. If that age-old Thomas Edison line rings true for anyone in even the slightest (“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”) this is a spot to be. Enjoy it as a solid resource for productivity to help creatives.

Visit The 99 Percent.

4. Zen Habits

A minimalistic, powerful blog that hones in on focus and clarity in chaotic daily life. I actually would like to get in this zone more often; making the time is an art form. The sister site, Zen Family Habits, also has really great content for the parents out there.

Visit Zen Habits.

What are your practices for keeping the tech noise down?

Full disclosure: This is a work in progress. I’m truly quite scatter-minded, but trying to be better.

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Making It Right With Your Users

Jan 10, ’11 5:43 PM

Last week, an email came through my work account that was sent by someone using a 3rd party email platform (Vertical Response, in this case).

The subject line began with “Test – “. I started to frown. I opened the message, and the salutation reads “Dear Test,”. Full-on sadface.whoever you are

It’s understood that mistakes happen but in this case you are addressing your base informally, and this reads worse than if it didn’t have a salutation at all. Count the ways your opt-out rate will go up starting now…

Anything that ever ends up in the hands of your community/users/potential clients that is the fault of a technical glitch from your marketing provider, or from some clunky fingers on your part should be addressed soon thereafter.

My boss at my first job, Manny Hernandez, taught me well about getting started in the world of the web, so it’s fitting that I can post a link to how he handled just this type of a situation that resulted in a “Hello Site Owner” salutation going to his entire database for the non-profit he runs.

When addressing the “unsubscribes” that resulted from the naming error, he wrote:

I don’t blame you: I would have likely done the same thing myself. This is simply not the way we do things at Diabetes Hands Foundation and for that, I want to apologize to all of you, even if you didn’t unsubscribe or even if you didn’t think it was a big deal.

Not only was he owning up to it but he apologized to everyone. Not just the people that opted out, everyone. Check out the entire note here.

So if this happens, try and make it right. Write an apology post. Send it out to your social network. Append a link to the apology in your next email that will go out to your list.

There’s a ton of noise in this new marketing world we’re in, and people notice the little stuff.

Food for thought.

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The Dumb Switch.

Jan 7, ’11 5:55 PM

So in lieu of not getting as much done as I’d like to in the new year, I’ve cut back drastically on my television intake. Television is extremely therapeutic for me, which just by typing that out lets me know that something is weird.

For the last 2 weeks or so I’ve cleared my brain of TV for the most part and have been able to really get a lot done. It may be easier since my key shows like Boardwalk Empire have ended for the season, but whatever.

I’m trying.

So I began to wonder, with my mind off of TV what it would be like if I gave myself a little taste last night (addictive behavior?).

The “little taste” turned into an episode of ‘The Jersey Shore’, quite possibly the most retarded exhibition of human emotion to ever beam its way into people’s eyeballs, courtesy of their cable provider.

And it was like an off switch. Click!

I was more dumb. I giggled like a knuckledragger trying to decipher who was shouting over whom, who wanted to have sex with him/her/it, and basically at the notion that they’ll earn more in a season than I will in 20 years ($130,000 an episode?!?).

Anyhow, although it’s a terrible example, I figured I’m not missing much in front of the tube after all. Except COPS reruns. Which I really miss.

Turn off the babysitter box.

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Just When You Feel Like It’s Not Making a Difference…

Jan 5, ’11 4:31 PM

Working professionally in any creative capacity, especially working alone or with a remote team, can give you a beautifully gross list of hang-ups that at one point you’ll have to come to terms with and hopefully get over.

intern illustration

Got Issues?

Some examples, in no particular order:

  • My work isn’t “good” enough.
  • I’m not making a difference.
  • I’m bored & complacent.
  • There’s something bigger and better every day, all the time.
  • Look what he’s doing. It rules more than what I’m doing.

Without acting on them and just leaving well enough alone, they don’t go away or stay stagnant. They get bigger, fatter, and profoundly more annoying. For me, it’s always like a monkey sitting on my open skull smacking my frontal lobe around. It sucks a whole bunch.

photo by jason scragz

Photo by Jason Scragz - Click Image for Original

The Intern

I had an intern that worked for me last year, from about May through August of 2010. She was a marketing & communications major about to begin her senior year at university.

At that point I was slammed with work and welcomed an open-minded intern but my past experiences with interns for the most part left me a bit sour about the whole ordeal. To my delight, it turns out she had an eye for design so I started pushing some promotional design work for events her way. And she embraced it.

She worked super hard, always on time and getting to the office early (even before me occasionallly), and for being a college student was extremely open minded about design criticism and working for a great end product.

I had no clue the impression the whole process was having on her, again being wrapped up in my own head doing my thing and probably not paying attention to my surroundings like I should be.

So as her internship came to an end, she announced to me that she wanted to continue her education after her senior year, move south to attend the university I graduated from, and get a design education.

This totally blew my mind.

She went on to fly down to Orlando, tour the campus, and got herself set up to start a month after she finishes her marketing degree. She polished up her internship, I wrote her performance synopsis for her professor, and that was that.

Conclusion

My point in telling this little tale is that it made me feel more proud than ever about what I do and how I do it, and when self-doubt creeps in I think back to it and the impression the experience left on a person that was already at the end of one milestone and willing to take it a bit further.

That monkey lays off the frontal lobes a bit more these days. He’s still there, but he’s just not as much of a jerk.

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The Cliché First Post

Jan 4, ’11 1:47 PM

So I used to write. A lot.

Somewhere, somehow I stopped. I’ve done a lot of personal rebuilding over the past few years, and actually debated importing all of my old writing onto here, but I’m opting out for the sake of a “fresh” start.

I wanted a new way to focus on content, so in turn this site is running on Khoi Vinh’s beautifully gridded Basic Maths. Concentrating on filling my post full of clichés, I am a designer so using this was both a weird decision but one that made sense. I felt if I was to get back to the core of content as a writer and designer, what better way to do it than to start with a great example to follow.

This may just be a coincidence that it is happening to close to the New Year, or maybe not. When do fresh starts tend to happen anyway? If it’s chosen to be read that way, chalk that up to the magical third cliché in this post.

Before I keep hammering them in there, we’ll leave it at that. Not to tune out so fast, but to get a plan together. Back soon.

Update: Please excuse my incorrect grammar. Feel free to substitute “contradictory” or “coincidental” where appropriate. Don’t hate.

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