Colin Harman

via Deviant Monk (Jason Watson) on Flickr

I wonder this often, it’s a question I seem to have to ask myself every month or so. I sometimes feel like I am on a short list of people who enjoy thinking ahead. Don’t get my wrong, there are some things I love just doing at spur of the moment, but those things are not related in anyway to work.

Tonight I’ll be pulling an all-nighter not necessarily because I had no other option, this one was my choice. Monday is usually my day off, but with this workload I would have normally gone in today to do some last minute work that has to get to the printer by tomorrow afternoon. However, my sister has been in town these last two weeks and today has been her last full day of time here and I didn’t want to spend that at work. I wanted to spend that time with my sister whom I don’t get to see very often (and who also will be moving to Germany by the end of the summer). I guess that’s part of being in the business of design and creativity. Sometimes you have to work ridiculous hours to get something done before the ever nearing deadline.

Living life by the deadline is kind of like the movie Saw (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7—Your choice). You know what you have to do to make “the bad thing not happen”, but no matter how hard you try it often gets to the point where at the last minute you’re finally getting the key in the proverbial lock to make it happen before your head explodes. (That was a messy example…)

All that to say, I wish I could avoid having to work such crazy hours, but when you’re the only one on the “graphics team”, you are it. It would suck if I hated what I do, because in reality I love it. I just wish sometimes there wasn’t so much to be done so I could do a few things with excellence rather than lots of things at a mediocre level. Also, I look forward to the day when God brings someone who is ridiculously talented and passionate to be a part of my team, but until then this is the life for me for this time in life.

Does your job ever put you in the place of burning the midnight oil? Do you live and die by deadlines? Do you enjoy getting ahead and knowing what you’ve got on your plate before day/week of? How do you stay organized? Let me know…

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I read this blog, by Ben Smith and I thought it brought some great principles to the table and emphasized the importance of graphic design in just about every environment desiring success and progress. Rather than rewrite it on my own, I’ve given you his thoughts:

If you run a business and you have any form of corporate identity then you should care very much. How you present your company to your chosen market is fundamental to its success.

The graphic design process is crucial to any business, making it stand out head and shoulders from the competition. Whether it is the design of an entire corporate campaign or the creation of a simple company logo it still has to work effectively for you.

There are four critical elements that should be seen in every logo design:
• It must be describable
• It must be memorable
• It must be effective without colour
• It must be scalable

Fairly obvious really but how does your logo stand up to these criteria? How does your company identity stand out from the competition?

Ask yourself why something is designed in a certain way. Consider why a particular colour is chosen instead of its opposite. Why use this font? Why include this particular graphic here? A good designer will think through every detail of a design and only include elements that will add to the design and re-enforce the brand.

Once your business is up and running you may think that any form of corporate identity will act to represent the company, visually creating a brand by default. Think again. If you look at the large corporations you will notice that their brand strategy stands the test of time for many years.

Many companies never change their logo design dramatically but only make the smallest of changes to keep the design looking modern and refreshed.

Benefits:
• Professional image
• Considered and long-lasting design strategy
• Make your company look bigger
• Stand out from your competition
• More effective

For one of my favorite books on logo design, check out Logology.

I look at this and realize that change for the sake of change is completely useless. You’re just becoming white noise, change with a purpose and change for the better. When you do, people will notice. Can you think of instances where graphic design has sold you on a product you didn’t think you’d normally buy? Made you smile? Influenced your thoughts? I know it’s happened to me, that’s why I buy 5 Gum, it’s just prettier and it looks like they take pride in their product so they get my business. I’d love to hear about your experiences.

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I hate losing, but not the kind of losing that most typical meathead guys get frustrated with. I am not a competitive person, I like sports but competing to me is really only a necessary evil (like facebook, and speed limits). I don’t need to win, I like working hard and playing as a team, but if I don’t win, that’s fine.

However, there is a kind of losing I cannot stand. CANNOT. I hate losing things. I was trying to vigorously search through the verbose vocabulary of my trusty friend Webster’s book for a word that was more strong and descriptive than just hate, but for now that will have to carry the tune of the following melodious rant. Let me start you out with a little ‘behind the curtain look at the terrifying interworkings of my deranged cabeza.

I am super anal about my stuff. Not like a ‘don’t touch my stuff because I don’t trust’ you kind of anal, but like a ‘I keep lists of all my crap because I hate losing things that much’ kind of way. (This next section is for left primarily blank and meaningless so that you have some free time to snicker and laugh at my ridiculousness, and when you are ready and regaining the majority of your composure and your eyes are dried from the unbridled tears of laughter and mockery, feel free to read on.) I just hate losing things.

I try so hard to be a good steward of every part of my life. I avoid wasting time, and I avoid being idle when there is work to be done I avoid wasting money in anyway possible, I strive to use the time I have to put forth the best product that I have, and more than all those things, I hate having something, losing it, and knowing in my mind that I wasted that money because of something stupid I did (or didn’t do).

I can count on one hand the things I’ve lost:

1. Gap Pajama Pants (The only pair that’s been long enough for my legs) // 2003
2. Red Billabong T-shirt // Early 2004
3. Innova Star Firebird Frisbee Golf Disc // Summer 2009
4. Discraft Nuke Frisbee Golf Disc // Summer 2010
5. Discraft Nuke Frisbee Golf Disc // June 20, 2010

You’re probably thinking, “Silly Colin, you’re a dummy and put the same thing twice for the last two, you’re a stupid boy.” Well on the contrary my observant friend, I lost the disc once, re-bought it, and lost it again today. Ugh, punch me in the neck. I think the only thing worse than losing something is losing the same freaking thing twice.

All this to say, I hate losing things (in case for some reason you decided to overlook the previous segments and eloquently versed paragraphs and skip right down to this very sentence for some brilliant reason I thought I’d reiterate just once more). I don’t know why it bothers me so much other than that I’m crazy. It’s weird, I know. 

Do you hate losing things as much as I do? Please tell me I’m not the only one that’s nuts. Although I suppose  a lack of comments on this post will further confirm I need to be confined to a room with padded walls and a ‘cool jacket that makes me hug myself all the time’.

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I have lived in Virginia for almost 6 years now. I have to say, Virginia isn’t necessarily the most incredible place I have ever been to, lived, or experienced, but it has definitely got some history here. I like history, and growing up in California, and living a good part of that in Northern California I was surrounded in gold rush and railroad history. Secret: I love it. It’s so interesting to me for some reason and I can’t explain it.

So when I moved to Virginia, I learned that the history I had grown up with was much younger than the history I discovered when I moved here. No where in California was I going to a house of someone who signed the Declaration of Independence let alone wrote it. I’ve lived about 70 minutes from Thomas Jefferson’s former plantation and have never take the time to visit it, until yesterday. 

Jefferson was a smart cookie, he was all about saving time, efficiency, remembering everything, learning, and doing things better. I love all those things and work towards them as much as I possibly can. It was great going through his house and seeing the thought he put into everything from the way he told time, to how he recording the weather, to the way he kept records of everything, to what side of the bed he woke up on. He was just always thinking of how to do something better, more wisely, more efficiently—I aspire to do this, but I can only dream of one day having influence as memorable and long lasting as his. It takes a lot of effort to move people into doing new things, even if there are things that would make their lives more effective, productive, and streamlined.

Why is change so tough? Why are people initially so resistant or hesitant to something that could make their life better? Change is necessary for growth and improvement. Please don’t ever let me settle. Ever.

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San Francisco is a city I love. It just is. Stop trying to conjure up in your mind a list of cities you think is better because I’ll save you the time and tell you right now that you are mal-informed. I would love to live here. I think I just love how easy it is to get around and not have to drive, I love driving though, which is weird, so I don’t get me on that one. However, I love how much can be happening in the single place like San Francisco, I love the technology that encircles it, the street cafes, and the excitement of progress all around me. Most of all, with both of these cities, I love the ability to disconnect from it all and feel alone in a city filled with millions of people. To know you’re a part of something, but that you can also choose the part you play.

On the other hand I love New York, and not because of the song, but the song is spot on. It’s a great city, I’ve only been up there to experience it three times now, but every time I left wanting to explore and experience more. There is so much culture, so many people, so much excitement, hustle and bustle, I thrive on it. Though it’s so expensive, I would love to one day live in the proverbial epicenter of US design, and though I don’t know that I’m necessarily equipped for the task just yet, I’ve still got lots to learn and more I want to learn (and still need to find time to learn it all, but that’s a whole other subject that I could go on and on about). I love learning, it’s weird and I can’t help myself.

If i had to choose one over the other I don’t know which I would choose, I hope I never have to choose and get to experience both at some point in my life. Anyone have any connections out there that could get me a connection to these places? Talk to me.

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