Colin Harman

I have done a lot of doodling and writing on paper without much purpose for pretty much my entire coherent life, yet none of it has been in any kind of consistent or single location. Ever. I’ve always kind of thought that a journal was more just a diary for boys, so I just wrote anywhere, but it was always a hot mess lacking organization.

Enter Day One. I have been using this app since the day it was released, and I can only scratch the surface in telling you how much it’s changed the way I record and reflect on my every day.

Having both Mac & iOS clients means that I’m rarely ever more than a few taps or clicks away from recording a moment. Having it be private and secure allows me to reflect honestly and think out loud without clouding my mind with the fear of someone stumbling onto my scrawlings.

In many ways it’s lessened what I tweet (and sadly, also cut into the amount I write here) because I often simply just want to savor a memory of a particular event or experience, but not necessarily broadcast it to the world. I love having it as a journal to record Maria and I’s memories together of the places we go, or the experiences we have that writing/sharing online just isn’t the proper platform for. Even just for personal ideas, or future endeavors, it’s a great place to save such things because it’s completely searchable.

This is only a very small facet of why I highly recommend Day One if you have any desire to create a written or photo journal of any kind. Day One and the fellows at Bloom have offered me a nearly resistance free writing habit that I couldn’t give up now.

Unless you’ve been under a rock or perhaps were just recently born, yet gifted with a computer, and the ability to use and understand it immediately, you’ve probably heard of the recently released cinematic adventure directed by Wes Anderson—Moonrise Kingdom. I’ve been wanting to see this movie since I’d first heard about it, as I not only love Wes Anderson’s style, but I was quickly swooned by the beautiful poster typography created by the infamous Jessica Hische.

I have always admired Wes Anderson’s Style, and this particular film did not disappoint. Captivating story telling that really brings the characters to life, beautifully shot and composed scenes that coupled-with and enhanced the story perfectly, and an excellent award winning cast made this movie a big win. Writing about this movie and do it justice is like trying to dance about architecture, so it’s one you really just need to see for yourself. I honestly can’t wait to see it again.

“So impressed with Moonrise Kingdom. It’s like Anderson figured out how to keep his touch, but loosen his grip. Taking notes…”
— Frank Chimero (@fchimero) July 9, 2012

Check out the trailer, get some tickets, and go see it while it’s still in theaters.

I have been a long time iPhone owner and my home screen has gone through dozens of revisions of what wins the prized spots on this first page (of two) that is always within arms reach. I try to run my app repertoire as lean as possible limiting it to only the essentials I use fairly often. Like most, my scheme is to keep the things I use most on the front page, and things I use “second most” just a tap or two away.

Having an iPhone is a blessing and a curse because it leaves me wondering how I went without it before, but also wondering if there will be a time in which I could be less dependent on it. It’s my memory, my link to work, my office on the go, my book, my music source, my to-do list, my alarm clock, my fitness tracker, my podcast player, my RSS reader, my GPS, my Bible, my calculator, my camera, my collaboration tool, my e-mail, my stock broker, my calendar, my catalog, my link to everything at any moment. The only thing that stands in the way of me and the knowledge I desire is a few taps on a handheld robot affixed to an increasingly dense amount of pixels tucked ever-so-usefully behind a glass screen.

I have gone through seasons where my phone was a toy. It was a way for me to always have something to do. God forbid I ever get bored for more than 8.6 seconds.

But the more I become aware of things that are constantly demanding my attention, the more I realize how much I’ve let those things win me over. I’ve discovered I carried this stigma that if I’m always busy, then I can’t be unproductive. However, an iPhone allows you to never be bored, but at the same time accomplishing nothing.

In creative work that I’m a part of everyday, I realize how important it is for my brain to get bored sometimes. I need to let my brain set all the clutter and noise aside to bask in the silence of nothing. I think of times I could just sit outside on our porch and think, and the time since I’ve last done anything like that is pathetic.

I’ve become more aware of the invaluable power of boredom. It is in that time quiet, of hush, of silence, of internal solitude where you can find a place where God can meet you. It’s a place to discover what you’ve been missing all around you. There is so much to think of, to see, to study, to learn, and I don’t want to miss it by constantly burying my face in a handheld robot meant to “enhance” my life hoping it will give me the answers I long for.

Though li’l iPhone has its place, it too must be in moderation. Though it can do a lot of things, it is not meant to do all things. I want to be present, I want to make memories I won’t need to tweet about to remember. It’s time to get crazy, look up from the blue-glowing handheld robot, and live a life worth living.

Here’s to the crazy ones…

Here’s To The Crazy Ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world—are the ones who DO.
—Steve Jobs

Who is Mark Boulton?
Mark Boulton is a graphic designer living in South Wales with his wife and two daughters.

He currently runs a small design studio, Mark Boulton Design, where he works with clients such as ESPN, Warner Bros, BBC, British Energy and Drupal. In the past, he has worked for the BBC and Agency.com designing wonderful experiences for all manner of clients and people across the world. He is also co-founder of small publishing imprint, Five Simple Steps, where they publish practical design books for the web community.

Mark has gifted the typographic community with an abbreviated but insightful series of writings about how to better one’s typographic prowess. They’re from a while back, but quite worth the read if you ever spend time setting type in any form, whether for print or web. It has definitely enhanced the framework I use to set type. I’d say more, but I would rather you spend the time reading the articles.

So without any further rambling I present the “Simple Steps…” series:

• Part 1: Measure the Measure
• Part 2: Hanging Punctuation
• Part 3: Ligatures
• Part 4: Typographic Hierarchy – size
• Part 5: Typographic Hierarchy – weight

Getting clarity is tough. At times it’s quite a battle. Having to navigate the murky waters of the creative process riddled with dozens of opinions, personal preferences, and mis-information can cause your motivation and zeal toward the chance of creating something new to capsize under the lack of clear direction. There is little more discouraging than realizing all that could be done, yet having no clear direction as to which path to take.

Clarity is crucial. But can we realistically expect clients to know exactly what they want? If they knew exactly what they wanted, why wouldn’t they just make it themselves? I’m not saying designers have all the answers, but one thing we most definitely should be armed with is great questions. After all, it’s tough to find great answers when you’re not asking great questions. Figure out what you really need to know, then discover the answers together with the client. This is normal in many other fields, but for whatever reason that reality gets skewed in the design world.

A typical client coming to you and proceeding to tell you exactly what they want their design project to look like would be like an everyman telling a surgeon exactly how they would like their liver transplant done. It doesn’t work that way. In the same way that people go to doctors for professional surgery backed by years of schooling, mentoring, training, and experience to help them solve a difficult problem that is beyond their ability, so should people entrust designers. It would be absurd for you to go to a friend’s step-son for a critical surgery simply because he has a scalpal, yet it’s widely accepted to do just that when the same step-kid has a pirated copy of Photoshop.

Now hear me out, I’ll say again designers do not have all the answers, but designers do want you to have the best solution possible for your needs. However, designers can’t know all your needs unless we grill you with questions. Contrary to common practice, they shouldn’t just be questions for the client to tell what he or she wants, but more to show what tough question they are trying to answer. Often they’re trying to answer their own question then telling you to make their answer, when really they should present their question (problem) so the best answer can be discovered together.

Often the answer they bring is something like “We need a new website so people will buy more of our [insert product/service name here].” When really it would make more sense for them to come and say something like “We’d like to boost our sales/traffic/clients. Looking at our company how could we best do this in the world of [web/print/ads/billboards/e-mail/etc]?”

At this point the designer needs to be ready not to give answers, but to ask more questions. Great questions. Questions that help him discover what the company/client is all about. How they think, what they do, what they don’t do, what they’re good at, what they’re bad at, why they want more sales, and throughout this process attempt to have a better understanding of “the question/problem” than the client. Maybe they don’t need a direct mail coupon campaign, instead they need an e-mail campaign because their clients are not in the demographic that often gets mail (teens). Maybe they need well-designed billboard ads around town to raise their awareness rather than another 1″×2″ ad in the local PennySaver. Maybe their customer service stinks, and no matter how many new clients they happen to bring in, they’ll eventually lose every one of them. Maybe they don’t even need a website redesign, they just need more memorable branding. There has to be strategy, there are no quick fixes.

However, none of these [more appropriate] solutions would ever be uncovered without the asking of the right questions, extra questions, maybe even too many questions. This will save you innumerable hours of redesign, scrapped projects, and frustration when you seek to know as much as possible about where you’re going before you even push a single pixel.

Go above and beyond. Clarity is not easy. It’s not your client’s job to bring all the answers, that’s a part of why they’re bringing in a creative designer. Make them glad they did.

Learn who you are working for, with, and alongside of to unearth not just another good solution, but a great, clear, and concise solution that meets and succeeds their actual need. Directional clarity is often unearthed by first asking great questions rather than trying to just provide an answer.