Why am I doing this?

Do I love what I do? I mean, it's not so much the design business, but do I like running my own business and being self-employed?

I have to ask myself this every once in a while. Especially in times where I might not be drawing in as much money as I'd like, days where I'm working from 6am in the morning till midnight, days where I might have had a difficult customer who flips out on me for something they disagreed with, days where I just simply don't want to work.

If I had to do this all over again, would I?

I think the answer that's come back to me time and time again is simply, "Yes". Despite all the hard work, despite the uncertainty in income, despite all the pressures.... being in control of my own destiny and seeing the direct fruits of my own labor is a feeling that nobody can understand until they've tried to run their own business.

The joy of being self-employed isn't just a money thing. Yes, that's obviously a key thing...if I don't make money doing what I do, why do it in the first place? But personal rewards come from so many places when you have your own business... things you might not expect:

I'm SO proud of the fact I can see my own ads in the yellow pages...
I got so happy seeing my little box of Anniversary cards printed up...
Being able to pass out my little business cards to people in my weekly meetings...
Spending money to buy new a new computer or software for the business...
Heck even to some sick degree...being able to pay my taxes free and clear gives me some satisfaction...

Why? Why does spending money back into my business give me so much satisfaction? I must put back over 50% of my income back into my business. I think it's just simply because I can. Being able to do all this under my own effort & sweat makes it feel good. "Wow, I did all that...I met those challenges head on and I tackled it!"

I think I notice a commonality between business owners I see week to week in my meetings...versus people who just go about a routine working for an employer. It's almost like a little secret "wink" those of us self-employed people can give each other, "I understand! Keep on doing what you do!"

I won't downplay the advantages of being employed by someone else though. God it would be nice to have my weekends back to goof off. It would be fantastic to have regular 2 week intervals between checks again. No accounting work...what a dream!

Tastey Tidbits

Found this great site called "Brand New" where they've kept track of all the company rebranding around the world. So you can basically see how company's are re-designing their logos for better...or in some cases, for the worse. In some cases they've found the company history and how they've evolved their logo over the years.... it's a good read for those of you looking to do your own logos for your company & you want to see the level of thought that goes into the process. You'll never see a company like Xerox going to a $50 logo design warehouse that's for sure!



Check this out. Carve your own postcards out of these sheets of wood! Wouldn't that be cool? I'm not sure of our US post office accepts something like this though. Even if they did your recipient might end up with a bunch of wood chips by the time they get it.

Adobe unleashed a new service called Adobe Photoshop Express, which is like an online version of Photoshop! Neat! I've heard of a few online graphic editting tools out there....but with a powerhouse like Adobe behind this one, I'd certainly give this the benefit of a doubt if I had to do some quick photo editting work and I didn't have my own computer anywhere nearby.

Creative Desks

Remember this old picture of my desk? Shrimpy isn't it? That's like the same desk I used since highschool. But it's build very solidly...in face I tried to pull off the shelving once and I was practically standing on the desk trying to pull it off and I couldn't. It's like glued & fused together somehow. I'm sure I could force it, but I don't want to destroy the darn thing either.

Anyway, the point here isn't to look at my desk... but check out these other designer's desks:
Some of the desks were very immaculate. But desks like the one above makes me feel pretty clean. I should show this to my wife and go, "SEE?! I could have been like THIS!!"

Why do I have a feeling that wouldn't convince her of anything?

Fanboy MacHead

I finally did it.

I clicked "order" on my new MacBook Pro today. I've ordered many things online before, but it still scares me to this very day how unremarkably easy it is to spend large sums of money online.

I remember my 1st computer back sometime in high school (ok you gotta remember I am in the Gen X generation ok? Not everyone had computers forever), the WHOLE family took a trek down to the computer store. Computer stores in those days were little boutique mom & pop shops that seemed like heaven to a young geek. EVERYWHERE you looked there were buttons to push. And that's not even talking about the games. "Zork..... " ooooooh

Mom and Pop discusses long and hard the benefits of chunking down $2k - $3k for a computer with 32MB of harddrive space, and less then 1MB of RAM. I even had a dot-matrix printer. Fantastic!

It was a big deal back then. I remember plugging in the computer...everyone gathered around while we watch DOS boot up. First thing I do? "Oh, what's "format" mean? Let's try it" Ziiiiip..... back down to the computer store to put all the software back on the harddrive again. I can still picture the "you idiot" look on the computer owner's face.

TODAY, I order a laptop a billion gazillions times stronger then that 1st computer and because I order it from Amazon, they have all my information already stored. "Quick checkout" + 2 clicks. The damage is done. Nobody to share the joy with...the only thing to look forward to is spending all my tax return money right back to pay this thing off.

So I'll finally join the ranks of being a MacHead. I'll be ooohing and aaahing all the overpriced gadgets at the Apple store. Sip away at my sugary coffee at Starbucks letting my little laptop glow its white apple lights at my nearest neighbor. Listening to the sounds of Yanni and Enya with my matching iPod and white bud earphones. Sticking little Apple stickers on my car window. Whispering to my fellow MacHeads, "oh we don't have viruses! tee hee!"

Hmm... now if I could just find an old copy of "Karateka" I'll be the ultimate fanboy.

Monster

Here's a fun little tidbit I first heard mentioned in Wired Magazine... the site is called "Daily Monster" where the artist takes a daily inkblot and transforms it into an original monster artwork. The site has taken on a life of it's own now...where visitors are getting involved and creating stories for each of the monsters created each day.

Things are a little hectic lately...

First I got this determination to make sure my business can weather the storm this year with all this talk about "recession this" and "recession that". I haven't seen too much direct evidence of that here yet in Hawaii, but I've heard rumors of it here and there. I've had a couple of clients who have told me, "Yeah, business has been really slow these past couple months"

It's been said there's not much of a catalyst for this fear though beyond just the fearmongering on the daily news channels. I guess I'm not so much a financial analyst, but I understand a big part of all this economy stuff just boils down simply to public perception. People get scared....they tighten up their pocketbooks. That's about all she wrote.

Meanwhile though, my wife and I are like, "Errr, how might this affect your design business?" Honestly, I don't know. Like I mentioned before, in theory, when business is slow...businesses need to advertise more. That's good in talk, but I'll have to wait and see if that's the effect. A couple of new projects have trickled in lately that are precisely due to this effect....so I'm guardedly optimistic. If my business were a color chart...I'd be like a yellow on my own little business happiness wheel. We've been toying with the idea of finding me a lecturer or teaching position part-time to help as a backup.

In the meantime, the casual looksie into our housing situation continues. Sorry Nick....a friend of mine is constantly reminding us "don't do it" for weeks now because he thinks the housing market hasn't even begun to crash. Then I got another investor friend who says there's no sign of a crash at all here in Hawaii. So what does that say? Absolutely nothing... we just keep our eyes open and see what the situation is day after day.

The latest foray is a new condo project coming up new Waikiki that isn't even going to be finished for another 2 years. People are expected to be standing in line for 4 fucking days for this thing! Sorry for the potty mouth but the ridiculousness of this kind of situation appalls me. It's kinda like saying, "Here, I am ready with a half-million dollars to buy your stinkin' condo.... please put me through a 4 day endurance test to get the chance to give it to you!? Oh please oh please oh please!?" If it wasn't for this whole line situation, there was enough attractiveness in this opportunity that my wife and I might have at least considered it...but the more I'm driven into this situation, the more I think it's full of shit. Let these other nuts stand in line.... I got better things to do and other opportunities will come up in the future.

So I dunno, it's ridiculous here. If the market is turning south, there are certainly many people still ready to ignore it right now.

So all this nuttiness is driving me insane. I'm turning into my own daily monster.

Random Goodness

Remember I mentioned a couple weeks back that I had a "No Fucking Around" sign posted next to my desk and behind my front door? It was a suggestions a couple years back by my brother as a way to keep self-motivated to chug away at work and not to goof around. It's worked...but after a couple years now I think the only people that notice it anymore are the guests I have come to the house. "What's THAT?!" they ask me. It's not the world's best wall decoration.

Anyway, mom sent me one of these emails today meant to help us kids stay motivated & positive. I'm not one to regularly read these chain e-mails all the time, but today's message seems pretty simple. I think I'll print this out as the new replacement motivational phrase to stick next to my desk:

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearances, giftedness, or skill. It will make a break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it." -- Charles Swindoll

The other day I ran across some good basic tips provided by a seasoned graphic designer to an aspiring designer on the LinkedIn board. The question was, "How do I market a design firm?" I agree with his thoughts and I asked if I could post it here:

Call and email everyone you know. Brothers, cousins, classmates, aunts, ex-spouses— everyone... see more has a relative in business or in a marketing department. Explain EXACTLY what you do. "I create logos and brochures for companies to sell their products" works with laymen better than "I conceptualize and brand companies and supply collateral materials." That will meet with a blank expression or a big smile and a "sure, I may know someone! You're a printer, right?" Put together a "killer" on-line portfolio web site. Keep it simple, friendly, and don't try to be too "high-tech" and flashy. If someone can't access your portfolio within 10 seconds, you're dead meat. Put together a nice, small, brochure explaining what you do (with biz cards) to hand to friends and family. Again, keep the explanations simple. Join guru.com as a premium member. The work usually ain't great, but if you want consistent work, you can get it there. It's a good starting point anyway. The pay usually sucks, but you can get some nice portfolio pieces. Most of the clients are small businesses who are not marketing or design savvy, so... (sometimes you can get a good one though). What's your niche? What industries do you want to work in? Go for your strengths. Avoid working on spec unless it is for a large, trustworthy account with a killer budget. Make sure you "copyright" your designs (property of John Doe on the back of the comps). Make sure you have a contract signed wherever possible prior to starting work so each party knows what they are buying. Is a company buying the usage or full rights for a logo design? Get paid a percentage up front with new or smaller accounts. I ask for 50% in advance with people I don't know. Once you know them and trust them, then you can give them terms. Save money. Put away at least 3 months worth of living expenses. You WILL experience a lull somewhere along the line. Finally, at some point, you are going to get screwed. Either someone refused to pay you the final amount and stops the work, someone goes belly-up, and on and on...tough luck, move on, and don't beat yourself up over it. Hindsight is 20/20 and learn from the experience. BUT...your spidey sense is usually right on when you meet or talk to a new client. If you think they may take advantage of you, you are probably correct, so protect yourself. The hours are long, the weekends are just 2 more working days, and the deadlines are tight, but... I have made a very nice living working from my home for the past 20 years, have made some great friends, and have been able to be home when my kids and wife needed me, so all in all it's a nice life. -- Saul Fineman Fineman

Finally I found this little fun design tidbit today while surfing around. Customized fruit! Sweeeet! It looks real doesn't it? But I'd place a bet it's probably just some good Photoshop warping and displacement work. But still an impressive typography example anyway.

Narrowly escape death

I'm tired...

I almost drank my mouthwash this morning when I wasn't quite awake. Worse yet, turns out it wasn't my mouthwash...I almost drank my aftershave lotion. I had it poured into my cup and was THIS close to drinking it. THAT would have sucked. It would be me that would turn up on the obituaries one day, "He was a good son and husband... tragically he died from drinking aftershave lotion. He was stupid"

Why so tired? Just a bit of everything as usual. I'm becoming more and more like Richard Lewis aren't I?

You know, it's tax time, I got bills to pay, I gotta drum up some new business, I gotta finish old business, yadda yadda.

On top of that, I've been asked to become the president of my business networking chapter I see regularly each week. Imagine that....here's the guy that was too shy to go meet people for networking at one point in time, and now I'll be serving as president for one of the business chapters in town. I guess it's supposed to be an honor. But it still involves more work and responsibility on top of everything else I have to do. It's a good group though. Some our new members lately are very experienced with what they do and they seem very committed to the concept of networking.

My taxes are pau! The good news this year is that instead of paying thousands of dollars in taxes last season, this year I'm actually getting money BACK! Yippee Skipeee! So I think I'm on the right track in terms of learning how to handle my deductions and estimated tax payments during the year. Plus this year I got some new help with my tax professionals plus I got married...so maybe my tax brackets have changed as well. Bottom line is....Uncle Sam is paying ME this year! *stick out my hand*