MACLove, PC Out, Game Over

I'm feeling a little like Lewis Black these past couple of weeks when it comes to Apple: Mac's in, PC's out, game over (include twitchy index finger pointin' straight atcha).

I've been committed to have my weekly one-to-one sessions at the Apple store and while my head isn't necessarily in the game this month (too much imagery on the gray matter), I'm enamoured with Mac.

There are sooo many nice surprises that reveal themselves to me as I work, that I wish I had someone with whom to share this adventure. Sure, Andrew understands -he initiated this change, but from a designer standpoint, well, it goes much deeper. The everyday way a person connects with the Mac is 'the way it should be.' I think the surprises are small features, but they're not -they're a part of the system. Like peanut butter is with jelly, the fundamentals are no accident, they're planned.

I do have one major complaint: Apple is too darned efficient. Period.

Andrew decided that it would be best if I had my own Shuffle and I agree. After borrowing his on a walk around the neighborhood this week on a most beautiful day, it was an extremely nice supplement. I really try not to fall in love with every gadget on set my hands on but this innocuous, simple tool encouraged me to keep walking -I continued enjoying the day. Miss Design-a-holic did not want to return the studio.

Andrew ordered the Shuffle from the Apple Web site Monday evening; it shipped from China Tuesday. An email encouraged Andrew to sign off on the FedEx slip that he could print out and hang on the front door for Friday's delivery, it arrived a day early. Imagine that.

Tomorrow, my Shuffle arrives (because I didn't answer the door). Now I just need to shuffle my butt back into the gym.

Planning Your Event Collateral

I've been working like a mad dog all month attempting to get imagery out to vendors -specially after Surtex & NSS.

This week much of my time was eaten up helping out Second Chance with all of their last minute collateral needs for the upcoming auction; I'll probably want to initiate a postmortem on that ordeal.

Studio Tip 1: Collateral for any event needs to be planned, devised, and designed well in advance of say 6 months or more. This gives the studio time to source paper, printers, and even ask vendors to consider pro-bono work, otherwise micromanaging the mess at the end is a bad idea -a very bad idea.

Studio Tip 2: When you plan your events out a year in advance, go to the sources at the first of the year (that's January 2nd folks) to be placed on the waiting list. Many services will provide charity work but if you're not on that list, you could be wiped off because they've either made their selections and/or have an exclusive agreement with a similar charity in the neighborhood.

Studio Tip 3: If you're new to an organization and have the opportunity to forge a new path, ask how things were done previously; not because you want to emulate them, but because one needs to know the successes as well as the pitfalls. If you have access to the original designer, get in touch with her -she can outline everything she's done to help make your job easier.
anymore!

To Exhibit or Not To Exhibit

ICFF + Surtex
Sunday flew by faster than the speed of sound. Andrew woke feeling like crap so I had to do the thinking for both of us. Luggage got packed, we missed breakfast, taxied ourselves to Javits to check our bags at the luggage corral. Shew!

We managed to walk NSS quickly and efficiently, keeping a close eye on time. We needed to find the people I needed to meet and keep those appointments made prior to the show. Managed to find [most of] my colleagues at Surtex and conducted a small personal trend report. Hey Robin! Hey Andy! Sorry we missed you!

It was great to hear that mfg were receptive to my work and I think that by not exhibiting at Surtex this year forced me to work differently than if I had -preventing me from placing my all marketing/advertising eggs in one basket. Upon returning home, we both surmised that not exhibiting was a smart move on our part.

I have to say that I got as many pre-show inquiries as I would have if I had exhibited at Surtex. While my eyes give away my exhaustion, I'm finally seeing a turnaround in spite of the economy.

The question whether or not to exhibit after 3 years wasn't a tough one. At the end of last year's stint at Surtex, I made a decision to commit us to the following show only if I had 3 great partnerships in the bag -not maybe because I've got a good feeling about this one, not send us your work and we'll show it, but 3 contracts signed, sealed, & delivered. Period. End of story.

August was also the deadline for the Surtex deposit -so the timeline made it easy to target. We had 1 in the bag, and second coming along, but the 3rd was anybody's game. After $30k in debt from the shows, I decided it was best to concede to the economy and play it a different way.

I believe that in today's world, one can make a success from any strategic vantage point.
Stay involved, but not necessarily in the way one had in previous months, years, and so on. Find what works today and tomorrow, but be willing to change the course of strategy the following month.

I also despise those mantras harnessed by mfg who walk thru the show and tick off companies that don't exhibit and boldly make myopic statements like, "After 3 years, I didn't think they'd return." Wow. How insulting. There are so many reasons small companies don't continue to exhibit, but to make them stick it out for 3 years before you 'pay any attention' to them is ludicrous. I wish I knew who those companies were so I could tick them off my list.

Do you have $30,000 to blow?
Say on travel, booth, time spent illustrating like crazy out of a crystal ball, and exhibit materials only to have folks arrogantly stroll by your booth? I know I'd much rather invest in my house, retirement, or hell, go to Vegas with it -I play a mean game of Roulette.

Pfsth! I sure don't miss those overpriced, less than stellar tasting tuna sandwiches at Javits.

ICFF

For some reason, we were able to get up at a reasonable hour without setting a clock this am and get to Javits. Unfortunately, we couldn't get our entrance badges for NSS because they weren't set up yet.

Travel Tradeshow Tip #1) Watch when shows begin and end at the Javits if they run concurrently. Just because the registration booth is set up doesn't mean it's comprehensive -it was only for exhibitors today.

Travel Tradeshow Tip #2) Make sure to register earlier than 2 weeks prior to the show so that you can have your passes mailed to you; these passes can get you into all 3 shows. We had to cough up $50/ea to get into walk the ICFF today -could have been free if I had been thinking a month ago! The plus side, is that as a visitor/buyer/design firm, other than an exhibitor, one gets a barcode applied to the badge so that you can have exhibitors *ping* you and send you the material you request -one doesn't have to carry it around like a beast of burden.

This show was immensely inspiring and met great product designers with whom I may be partnering in the future -depending on circumstances.

I gave Andrew the camera because he hasn't had a chance to play with it as ICFF is the *only* place folks will allow photos.

As design lovers, we loved the British design aesthetics. However, this piece was very intriguing because it looks like a digital image on the front, it's actually wood ends. We poked our pudgy fingers between the ends to confirm our eyes speculation.



For Jeanne


Bathtub Sightings

I wasn't on the prowl for bathtubs... until my feet started to ache.


Fireplace Sightings

I wasn't on the prowl for fireplaces... until I visualized myself in one of those cool bathtubs with a small inset fireplace frame on the wall... Ohhhhh, man...

Update: Rotating Fireplace Here.

PS. I'm sorry I'm remiss about product credits. We were so tired that it didn't occur to me until late tonight. If you're desperate to learn about these products, go to the site: ICFF.com for more info.

Wednesday Woes

While I'm not exhibiting at Surtex this year, Andrew and I are walking the show including NSS & ICFF. As I struggle to get imagery done for client meetings I've set up for Saturday & Sunday, I'm also churning new ideas for the 2nd Ladies Night being held next Wednesday. Man, I wish there were more hours in the day!

Prior to our trip to Vegas, I had one of my favorite charities ask for a logo for their Annual Auction as well as a few pieces of print collateral. How could I say no? Sigh. Well, Spring always seems to be an extremely busy time for me compounded by what else, the common cold -what a nuisance. I've been saddled with a darn chest cold since our return and it has naturally, eaten into my critical design time.

Below, you can enjoy the collateral I designed for the upcoming auction. Hope to see you there -SCPA has got some great raffles this year!

Second Chance Pet Adoption Auction Logo, Raffle Flyer, Wine Tasting


Auction Letters and Sponsor Outline

MAC + Podcasting: Embracing My New Frontier

Because I want to become intimately familiar with the amenities of my new iMAC PDQ, I have acquiesced to purchasing the one-to-one sessions at the local Apple store.

I had my first session last Friday afternoon with Andrea. Andrea was very good-natured and immensely tolerant of my forcing her to listen to my free-wheelin' intro created in GarageBand. Once she traversed my terrain of spotty MAC knowledge, she was able to provide succinct guidance into the world of 'look like you know what you're doing' within my chosen subject: Podcasting.

I have to say, I'm extreeemly excited to learn this vehicle of marketing and communication.

Another smart product that comes out of Apple are the session guides: this helps Andrea and myself go thru the checklist to identify just how much I don't know. She began to understand my MAC knowledge base and would interject crossover hints from one application to another -thank you for that! Since the one-to-one cost is ~$100 for 52 weeks, I'm getting some pretty hefty knowledge for just $1.92/per session or $8.33/mo or $.27/day.

Now that I'm becoming versed in the new frontier of podcasting, what subject matter would you like to learn from me?


Quiet Thought for the Day: I will learn to love MAC. I will learn to love MAC.

Enamoured with GarageBand

While in Vegas, I've snagged a few moments to learn Garageband to create my first podcast. It's an amazing program that takes very little effort to create a professional sounding product. Think I'll add an English accent -that makes any stupid thing I say sound brilliant.

Here's a short piece I think I'll use as my Intro for future podcasts. Please let me know what you think -I'm absolutely astounded as it only took me 5 attempts!!

ECStewart Intro


PS. I'm finding that when I turn on/off my studio sign that this piece does not play; I dunno if it's on my end or if you're experiencing this, too. I apologize if you are and as a workaround, you'll probably want to close your browser and relaunch. Quite annoying.