This Skin Doesn't Fit

Want to know something ridiculous? I have a folder in dropbox called "website redesign." It contains 27 different designs, all created in the last two months. On my external hard drive I have roughly 30 folders just like it, all containing different takes on what my website could have looked like over the past 3 years - and not a single one has made it past development. My current site doesn't bring me any happiness, and the blog is only slightly better. Its like my skin doesn't fit...but if I peel it off before I'm ready I'll just be standing here...without skin.

I make the WORST client for myself! The root of my problem is not knowing what I want to say - is my website just a portfolio, or is it a business page? Who is my audience? Who do I want my audience to be? Do I want to show everything I do, or only what I enjoy? Is my site supposed to bring in work, or is it just available for when I need it? Since my freelance work is more or less a "side thing," I'm ill equipped to answer most of these questions. I'd have serious issues if I were trying to make a living off of it, but for now I continue to flounder around in the undefined space knowing I'm not required to sink or swim. Someday I'll have to figure out how to feed myself my own medicine!

On that note, I want to lay out some of the groundwork I do when starting with a new client, especially those who have the same problem with ill-fitting skin. Most people who hire me ARE required to sink or swim, and creating a website and marketing plan that will propel their business forward is really important.

Facing Reality

1. Do you know what is at the CORE of your business? If you have one, return to your vision statement. If you don't have one, now is the time to make one! 
2. Does your website suit you or suit your client? Realistically, which is more important? (hint: the answer should be obvious).
3. Do you know your audience? Make a basic profile of some of the most common clients you deal with (age, gender, services required).
4. Going back to your vision statement, determine what the most important things you want to communicate are. Then list them according to priority. 
5. Going back to your audience, put yourself in their shoes and figure out what they come for. List them according to priority. It might be helpful to enlist some help on this, or get a few people to walk through this individually. 
6. Now the hard part - put your list of priorities up against your audience's list of priorities, and take stock. Are they in line? Are they completely different? Keeping in mind that your audience's needs come first, but that the core of your business must be communicated, combine the lists and try to narrow them down. 

Finding The Fit

1. Once you've figured out who you are and who your audience is, you've got to do some trimming. Keep in mind that you should only have one main message. Imagine trying to direct wedding guests to the reception venue, but giving them a map with all your favourite restaurants, shopping malls, and friends houses on it as well. They'll be frustrated and confused - why do they need all that extra information? Some might even end up at your favourite restaurant instead of your wedding reception. Even worse, imagine giving them that map but not telling them which location is the site of the reception. Chances of them ending up where you want them are slim to none! 
2. Differentiate between the purpose of your website (get people to buy our pillows!) and the messages you send to your audience (our pillows are on sale, they are beautiful, we are trendy so if you buy our pillows you will be too). The messages should support the purpose, and can be sent using words, graphics, and usability. 
3. Keep in mind that your audience has a very short attention span. If anything distracts them, frustrates them, or confuses them, you'll probably lose them. Make choices that reenforce who you are and what you do. 

Once you've answered these questions, we can design a site that communicates your messages in the right priority. This is done with the right mix of location, size, proximity, colour choices, graphics, etc. The end result should be logical and straightforward! Designing a website should be more than just putting a nice skin on confusing content - it needs to be a collaborative effort between designer and client to make sure you're putting your best foot forward!

PS. I DO have a re-design approaching... I think I'm actually getting somewhere and I hope to move forward with it soon! 

Cutting Corners

I am an absolute MASTER at cutting corners. I vacuum only the visible dirt, I cut three pieces of paper at once, and I have bruises all over my legs from literally trying to cut corners and running into all manner of things.

The result? like I said, I have bruises all over my legs. My home-made pillows often develop holes in the seams, and sometimes I have to put the chicken back in the oven. 

I've learned the hard way that cutting corners can hurt. But I've come to understand that my natural inclination to cut the corners and find new ways of doing things is an extremely valuable asset to my design work. Thankfully, design is something I've worked to understand, and its not hard to distinguish between rules that need to be kept and rules that need to be broken! That understanding, plus following processes to make sure I slow down and evaluate, means I can be sure my professional creations won't develop holes like my pillows do. 

Some corners can be cut, and some can't. I'm working to learn the difference - and make sure to deep clean every once in a while, even though it means getting in to every single corner.

Are you like me - impatiently creative? Or do you find yourself carefully crafting your vision, no matter how long it takes? 

When Inspiration Fails [and other creative lessons]

Its been 5.5 years since I graduated with my Graphic Design diploma. I feel like the space I'm at now allows me to look back on some of the things I really wasn't prepared for, the things that nothing can teach you except real-world experience. For a while in the blogosphere there's been a lot of people making noise about doing what you're passionate about for a living. Lately I've noticed a few "I tried doing what I was passionate about…and then the passion died" posts. It made me so sad, but I also resonated deeply with the challenges that all creatives face - especially stepping out into the working world of 8 hour creative days that don't wait around for inspiration to strike. I feel like I've learned a some things about managing this challenge, and I want to share a few! These are written to the budding creative professional, but really apply to any human being trying to find their place in the world :D.

When Inspiration Fails You

Inspiration is essential to developing innovative new ideas. Without it, we'd never think to use iPads in hospitals, or old tires to make chairs, or the force of wind to create electricity. But I find that many people (student-me included!) have the wrong idea about how inspiration finds us. We take on a new project and get really excited about the possibilities. We sit ourselves down under the tree and wait for the apple to drop. And wait…and wait…. Sometimes it comes (as in the classic newton example I just alluded to), and we ride the high of the right mixture of attention to detail and problem solving that spits out magic with little to no effort. But that is not the norm! In order to keep our "creative wells full" we need to learn how to dig for water. I've learned that the majority of projects have "frustration and hair tearing" as well as "hopelessness and confusion" built in to their creative process. When we put our passions to work, its just that - work. But when we start to train ourselves to create inspiration instead of waiting for it to find us - the rewards are incredible, and all of a sudden a long-term creative career is a real probability!

When Comparison Kills You

I think this one is going to haunt me forever. "Comparison is the thief of all Joy" is one of the truest statements floating around out there! The problem with keeping your finger on the pulse of what other creatives are doing is that you very quickly switch from being inspired, to being discouraged by what you didn't think of or can't pull off. It takes an effort to shut out the voices and separate your own work from what other people are doing. I find that separating my "idea finding" time from "idea generating" time helps let the things I've seen seep in and inspire my ideas instead of directing them. We'll lose ourselves if we get caught up trying to be someone else. It's a pretty straightforward concept, but intensely hard to internalize!

When Standards Overwhelm You

The accessibility of the internet is a great asset to the work of a creative person. It's so easy to follow creative trends and the needs of our market place. We can learn from the successes and failures of others without having to meet them for coffee. Similar to the problem of comparison though, is the danger of getting carried away with industry standards for success. I think our creative natures drive us to pursue higher levels of achievement, but we let society define what that means. What if success for me isn't selling out a successful blogging workshop or getting design awards? What if success for me is finding a way to enrich my community with my skills and resources? We have to learn to separate what really brings us joy from what we think will bring us joy.

Does any of this resonate with you? Do you work in the creative industry or something else entirely? I'd love to hear from you, reader(s) :D! 

Field Notes - Bronchitis

Well. I am not about to deliver on the aforementioned "post of substance" from the last time I blogged. No, this is something else entirely.

Since returning from our European vacation I've been floating around in this strange place of fatigue and indecision. I've started and stopped numerous things, dreamed big one day and squashed it the next. I'm only just starting to feel like I've found my groove back, but with that progress comes a bit of a complication:

bronchitis. 

Ever had it? Don't. Here are some things I've learned about living (and travelling!) with bronchitis. Field notes, if you will. 

• bronchitis means coughing. There is nay supposed to be mucus in your lungs yo, so cough it up! 
• everyone thinks your coughing sounds like you're actually dying. 
• doctors can't get rid of your bronchitis. They can however offer helpful tidbits like "you have big lungs!" ...thanks...?
• airplane descents with the sinus infection that accompanies bronchitis are painful! And also silly - I swear at one point air came out my eye. 
• cold air means coughing doesn't work very well. As a result, sore ribs/midsection/throat/head! (thanks weekend in Edmonton)
• bronchitis makes all the essential-oil enthusiast come out of the wood-work with helpful tips and kind offerings.
• bronchitis does not really respond to essential oils, or anything much else.
• bronchitis makes you TIRED
• bronchitis makes you really really appreciate your cuddly cat, your cozy home, and your loving friends and family and husband who cut you slack and take care of you. 

Back! Miss Me?

Although its doubtful that anyone has missed me on the blog, I'm back!

And I thought I'd give a little update while I try to get myself together and post something of substance. First of all, today is my 25th birthday! Its strange, this one definitely seems like the end of something...and the start of something awesome. So here's to a great golden year! 

We got back a week ago from a 2 week stint on European soil. It was a whirlwind of history, food, and culture, and hopefully soon I'll have some photos together to share. I've been wary through this whole experience of over-sharing, but everyone I talk to says "I can't wait to see your pictures!" So I'll try to narrow them down to a digestible amount :D!

We had a great thanksgiving weekend with family and friends. There is normally more space between thanksgiving and my birthday, so this year I feel extra abundantly blessed as its all pilled on at once. I have an amazing, functional family - fantastic friends who know me and (still!) love me - a terrific group of people to work with and a job that somehow still keeps me interested and inspired - and an incredible husband who I appreciate more every day. And a cat that never stops purring to fill in all the space between everything else :D. 

Here's a visual summary of life since I've been home. AKA last week :D

Reality Vs War

Sometimes, in the middle of my normal morning routine—between resigning myself to a banana for breakfast or weighing the effort vs payoff of making a smoothie—I hear a fragment of world news.

I struggle to grasp the reality of life for those living dying in Egypt, Syria, Israel, Sudan....

It seems to me we consider 2 options.

1. Feel a bit sad, but don't allow the reality to really sink in. After all, there's nothing you can do. 
2. Drop everything and dedicate yourself to making a difference. After all, what is my paycheck compared to someone's life?

Of course, most of us don't really consider option 2. Thats crazy talk. We resign ourselves to option 1, "wishing there was a better way!" 

I have no answer. But I am convinced that God's heart breaks for these conflicts, and if mine remains aloof, how can I continue to pray "let your will be done"?

Image (egypt): Josef Heiss
map: wikipedia

July.

- lost my dear cat, adopted a charming kitten (cried a few tears). joined thousands watching fireworks. soaked in buttloads of sunshine. stood by dear friends as they got married. Put together my first book design. spent too much time feeling insecure. failed to make morning runs a habit. instead made them some kind of occasional hobby. dared to dream a few times.

Here are some highlights from the July Insights.

Dreaming an Old Dream

A few nights ago I had a dream I can remember clear as day.

I emerged from the muddle of some sort of plot line that most dreams begin with and found myself astride a beautiful white horse in a field of tall grass. We stood at the top of a bluff looking out over a sea of rolling hills. As the wind rustled through the long stalks, turning carpet into velvet, I smiled and said aloud, "This is it. This is the dream. This is all I've ever wanted, and its perfect."

Then I turned, and rode back in to the muddled fog that I came from. When I woke in the morning, it was fresh in my mind. It left me feeling refreshed, renewed, and reminded that the pressures of this world are not what our Father in heaven created us for.

I'll get there someday. :)

(photo taken in Rossland BC)

Days

Like most people, I think about a lot of things on a given day. Things like the future, my goals, happiness, peer pressure, my faith, the four seasons, the Bachelor (sick, I know!), chocolate, and what it means to be a christian artist and career wife.

I'm not sure if its that artistic creative side of me, but I do spend a lot of brain time on what my identity is and how I should be defining myself. There's a lot of talk these days about who we should be and what we should be living up to. First there's the "dear mom with an iphone" post, then theres the counter-posts. There's the "social networking is essential for your career," vs the "I'm swearing off social networking forever." The 'worldly' pursuits of beauty, financial success, and happiness vs the 'churchy' pursuits of holiness and servanthood and "joy in every circumstance!" In every one of my social circles there is pressure and standards to be met.

Over and over again I try to nail down my position and catch the ever elusive answer to my questions, and I keep stumbling on the same hard reality: life is not black and white. It's a daily set of decisions and actions that require discernment and wisdom to tackle, and as my circumstances change, in small ways so do I. What I would have done yesterday I may not do today. What I chose to do today I may not do tomorrow.

When I peel back the layers, there are a few things that make up my core, but everything else is seasonal. Like a tree, my leaves will grow and change and die to become new again.

Today I love triangles. Tomorrow it might be squares. but I will always love shapes, graphics, and using the creativity God pours into my soul daily.

So here's to letting the fads and trends blow by. To simply enjoying the leaves you've got right now, embracing the things that bring you joy and pointing that joy back to the one who gave it to you. I'm not going to waste any more of my week thinking about what kind of iphone mom I should be someday or whether or not my home/blog/clothes should be more/less white/coloured/graphic. And as I watch the seasons pass, the core of who I am will grow stronger, taller, and more resistant to the storms that come my way.

on that note, below is a space that brings joy to my soul and excites my love of colour
as well as a set of cards that indulge my triangle AND colour infatuations
and to complete the set, an illustration that just rocks

Old House

I was spring cleaning my photo archives at work and found these photos I took a couple of years ago. I dont recall what I was working on, but I stopped to shoot this old run-down house on the side of the road. It was a creepy place (I think I saw a few needles) but the texture of the aged paint and crumbling shingles made for some awesome photos. Its a good reminder to me that it pays off to pull over and shoot!

Dreams

I'm starting to grow dreams.

I've never been a dreamer. It is much safer to concentrate on the here and now than to hope for something bigger tomorrow. Its easier to be content with what's on my plate when I don't think about what could be on it tomorrow. Its much less frightening to look straight ahead than to look up or down and acknowledge the heights I could be climbing.

safer. easier. less frightening.
boring. stale. irresponsible.

We've been given many gifts, and I don't thing God gave me mine for me to keep clean and dress up on holidays. So, I'm starting to grow dreams. Its scary, and each opportunity that approaches makes me wince, shrivel up, and want to hide. But instead, I plug my nose, squeeze my eyes shut, and jump.

Simple.

some people are really good at being succinct. I am not. But I will try, because really, its simple. 

Recently everything changed for me when I realized, like really UNDERSTOOD, that life is much much richer when you think about others rather than yourself. We're all much more selfish than we realize. The next time you feel unworthy, awkward, ugly, or like a failure, just STOP, and find someone to serve. Nothing makes you feel worse about yourself than dwelling on the fact that you feel bad about yourself. The truth is: you are NOT any of those things. You are incredibly valued and loved by your creator! The only way you will understand that in your heart, in the midst of feeling the complete opposite, is to start living like you're worth it so you can see the proof. Focus on others, and eventually you'll look back and see the sunrise.

...was that ok to say?