Why and how to build a visual kit box

I’m feeling a bit sad now that summer dwindles off over the hill, and all camp action is (probably) done for this year. Too soon!

Here at my desk I’m dreaming back on those easy days of barefoot slobbing on balmy sites in France this summer, taking a designer’s aesthetic and organisational pride in the state of our pitch in order that maximum camp satisfaction can be achieved.

Let me tell you, this wouldn’t happen without The Grey Box. The Grey Box is like our Mission Control, full of essential camping weirdness (mallet to lighters to multitools, tealights and tent pegs, etc) that keeps a trip going smoothly. By far, it takes up the most space in the boot but we’d be lost without it.

And why do you need to know about The Grey Box?

Because having a lovingly prepared kit box makes the difference between shambolic and triumphant operations.

We all need a work-related ‘Grey Box’ when it’s time to get our great messages out, I reckon. A kit of parts that has a useful tool tucked away for certain occasions – right through from a simple business card to a big, bold manifesto.

In my visual world, I want ideas to be the heroes, and I think the world needs much better words and ideas to focus on. So it figures that we need loads of different ways to make sure that happens*.

*I ran through some of these in my last post.

If being prepared can only be born of experience, making clanging errors and learning from them, then it’s alright to take time to build your kit box slowly but surely. Watching your business grow over time, you will learn what works and what doesn’t for you, for your style and what you have to say.

You may hit moments of horror or frustration, realising there’s a key piece of stuff missing from your kit yet not enough time to get that together (eg. “Agh, wouldn’t it be perfect if I’d done that little booklet and could give her this right now!”)

Nevermind, I say. You will figure it out, because your message and ideas grow from travelling a brave path that’s taken a lot of graft to follow, and if you just turned up in your pants alone I bet you’d still communicate the lovely essence and quality of all you hold true. (BTW. Please don’t just turn up in your pants. That was not an invitation.)

Communicating your lovely ideas is an adventure. It takes time and experience to build the kit you need. Let the path unfold, have fun exploring, see what your people engage with and set up camp there for a while. Listen, and have faith in the journey. 

You’ll soon figure out what you need when you find [the thing you didn’t know was a thing] is not there in your kit box.

A bit like arriving at your campsite and realising the rubber hose connecting the gas bottle to the cooker is missing… (sorry about that M – add it to the checklist?)

So, wherever your adventures in thought and work and life take you, happy devoted kit building, people!

how to engage with a designer : pt1

Sometimes the thought of talking to a designer or agency about your visual stuff just feels tricky. It shouldn't.  Whether you've had experience working with designers before, or are new to the game, what's best to focus on when weighing up design services on offer? I reckon connecting person to person has a massive amount to do with helping your communication mission taking off smoothly right from the start. I outlined some key things to think about in a previous post. Here, I'll concentrate on the emotional aspects of these initial chats, that can so often get forgotten about but which I think drive our projects.  Today's focus is on the heartfelt considerations in choosing the right person to work with.

First of all, are they proven? 

Simple (perhaps obvious) one to start off – do you like their online portfolio and does it show their relevant skill? If it gets your heart going that's a really good thing! 

 

You may get excited by examples of their work and see something you feel really speaks your language. That's obviously a good sign. An emotional response means that their way of saying things is visually resonating somewhere deep down, and is a potentially powerful tool for getting your message across too.

Visual language can connect in a heartbeat. Listen to that.

 

Some designers have a distinct style, and it may or may not hit the right notes for you. That's okay – not everyone goes for the same things, the way not everyone likes the same music. 

 

Perhaps you found them through referral, so what do others say? 

 

 

Second, what does their biography say? 

Check out their track record on a biography page. Is it rounded, relevant and interesting? 

Someone with a bit of life experience will not be phased by twists and turns that inevitably go with building a business, and the changing demand on your brand design or visual content as a result. 

Awards? Well, yes of course they are nice, but they aren’t everything. I say this having won a few awards, and also spent years being out and about making adventurous projects happen too, so can definitely see both sides here.

 

Sometimes people with the most interesting life stories will bring just the perspective you need to make good decisions about your communication.  Remember, this is about character. Do they have it, and do you like it?

Next is empathy.

Do not underestimate the value of empathy.

 

Do they get you? Do you get them? Do you like them? 

Once you have met up, have they listened to you, and asked relevant questions that help get to the heart of the matter? 

On the unusual and non-linear orbit of design and visual communication, having personal empathy for one another will really help in negotiating the right course.

And do you respect each other?

 

Choose to believe that that great biography counts for a lot, that they really know their stuff about how humans communicate, and are also willing to talk to you about that in plain english! 

However, in the middle of this, are you reassured that they understand and respect your expertise, challenges, market, audience, budget? This is so important.

Mutual respect for the expertise you both bring will carry you an awful long way. Be prepared to ask vulnerable questions and listen out for wise insights they offer in response. 

 

To jointly realise those dreams for your business, showing trust and being able to let go a little will be important, but it goes both ways. Do aim to meet face to face, at least with a video call if not in person. We all pick up more than we imagine this way. And finally...

Don't be bowled over by swagger and bullshit. Please. The world will be a much better place without that.

***

So to sum up:

Does their work make your heart beat faster? Do you like their character? Do you empathise with each other? Do you respect each other?

And DON'T be bowled over by arrogance.

When I think of my favourite projects of all time, respect and empathy have been mutually present all the way through, and have been crucial to overcoming hurdles along the way. 

I'll pick up in my next post to talk about some of more practical considerations, such as budget and project management. In the meantime, enjoy the soundtrack and do get in touch with thoughts, questions or useful experiences – it's always good to swap notes then we design people can learn how to do it better.

***

 

"Sometimes you feel so deserted, but hold on 'cause help's on the way"

{Today's Soundtrack: The Chemical Brothers – Sometimes I Feel So Deserted}

Halfway Down a Long Path

Now roughly half way through this 100 Days project, I want to take a moment to check in with some ideas that have occurred as I’ve progressed, and the reasons for taking a break before continuing.

As mentioned at some point in recent posts, rattling through 100 Days really is a long time to be rattling, and is rattling really a good use of my precious time? What am I learning here? What is better in the world as a result? It’s a long time to keep mechanically repeating a task or approach with either no critical judgement—"I’m just doing it for its own sake, and that is good enough."—or with no sense of direction either.

I realise I want direction. 

I realise I want the wealth of all those days to add up to something significant.

I want that wealth of thought or effort to show either in a resolved, embedded attitude of mind, and/or better skills, and a rewarding body of work too.

Agreed – sometimes its important to just play as that’s when your mind can loosen up and become free enough to let new things happen.

Somewhere in here though is a neat point about the purpose of regular discipline and the benefit in forming a new habit. By definition, a new habit will not be so polished to begin with. Being accountable to the world by sharing all this online amplifies inevitable personal vulnerabilities, and maybe these last couple of weeks I just needed to take a breath and then here’s the next thing I realise:

I realise that being publicly accountable with the things you make day after day is a little nerve-wracking and slightly exhausting, and quite difficult to do unless you have the strength of a rhino, which I don’t. 

This began with the question, "What could you do with 100 days of making?”

I have a new question. Now I have glimpsed what’s possible and I know the effort involved, how can I make my next 50 days really count? 

 

{Today's Soundtrack: Shivum Sharma – Flicker}

_benefits of good design

The time has come. After working long and hard to start your business, after taking a brave leap to realise this new dream, devoting months, possibly years, to polish raw thought into clear shape, you know your new business venture really deserves to look its best when you launch into a world that badly needs it. 

You know good design and a strong brand is important for getting your message across, but can you put your finger on why? 

To give you something to hang on to, here are my five top reasons good design will set you apart.

1. Good Style

It is so important to present your business in a way you know is true to you and your mission. Your good visual style begins here, to match your good thinking, smart thinking, with appealing character – all characterised in your visual communication. 

Style is about character and personality. Fashion is about fad and trend. They are not the same. 

Done well, good design style always transfers beautifully across all materials you use in the day to day of your business. Business cards and web banners are just the tip of the iceberg, but good style can come through on anything you use to communicate with your audience because it's based on something true that comes from the heart. And it also has flexibility to adapt – so basically, your perfect capsule wardrobe that goes to work in all sorts of scenarios. 

Paying attention to good design means you always show up in really good—and appropriate—style, because you know yourself, and you know your audience. 

2. It’s about Personality

A well-thought-through approach to your design and visual communication gives you plenty of scope for getting your personality across. Good design should give the world a sense of you and what you stand for, so whether someone has a quick glance at your business card or a longer read through an eBook or slideshare, they get a feel for the type of character and attitude inherent in your business. 

3. Coherent Communications

I'll say it again. Good brand design should be transferrable across many platforms and materials. I’ve mentioned web and business cards, and consider too – proposals, blog illustrations, training material, the book you’re writing. These can all work really well for you with a strategic approach to the design. What about the signage at that annual ideas camp you're dreaming about hosting, or the campervan-freindly stickers you want to give out? 

Think about the stretch – how far will your company reach?

The folk at DO have a very simple approach, but they do it so well. And I like Pie Minister too (obviously). You can always spot both of these a mile off, whether a bookshelf at ten paces, or food-stall banner at a busy festival. 

Coherent design plans mean all elements clearly live in the same visual family. Not to say they all look identical – different formats are used for different reasons, but it’s important they all work together. 

Your audience should always know they are looking at your stuff. 

4. It Helps People Believe You

Done well, consistently, and over time, good design helps people to believe you – your message, your passion, your integrity and conviction, and commitment to making the world a better place. It's consistent with the key principles of good content marketing, which says wherever you speak, whenever you speak, do so in a consistent voice.

Of course, there are many more things that go into the mix, but without good design woven all the way through, well, it’s like buying a campervan and only using it for the school run.

Benefiting you and your message, and helping your audience know what to expect from you, good design really does set you apart and give you distinction by communicating in the voice only you have. 

Good design can be a mark of integrity.

And finally,

5. More than words

Sometimes an idea is so much more powerful seen visually, with a great image or some cracking typography.

Think of a painting or image you’ve seen that made an instant impression, held you glued, gazing, with no verbal explanation necessary.

I have a little fridge magnet on the radiator next to my desk, bought at the National Portrait Gallery during their Lucian Freud exhibition a few years ago. What he'd make of a fridge magnet I don't know, but I love the quote:

“What do I ask of a painting? I ask it to astonish, disturb, seduce, convince.”

Visual communication can do these things for us too, if done well. 

So that's it. Hold on to these five gems, they'll help you make good decisions as you grow your company's design.

***

If you've found this post helpful, you may also be interested in these articles: 

• My friends over at Valuable Content flesh out some of my suggestions with super-practical advice

• And in more detail, here is Newflangled with some Content styling tips

_how to DO things

There is progress to be had in discipline, and I've been catching some of that lately. 

While elbowing a space each day to work on old school lino print projects at my desk, just for the beautiful sake of it, I've also been feeding on the wise, often vulnerable words of experience shared by speakers at the DO Lectures, and decided to share some of what I learned here.

All this is in a fight against, perhaps, inertia, or getting stuck in ruts. It's also an attempt to create a working environment that nurtures those faint inklings that could get lost too easily while cruising on autopilot, and without some careful TLC. Those of us who set out to shape our business around things we care about really need to be watchful, and stay plugged in.

So who did I listen to? For me, a focus on creativity, but these talks all appeal broadly. In no order:

• Andy Middleton, who told me that whatever we do in our businesses and our ventures, we need to support life. We need to learn about risk and problem-solving the way nature does – business and life cannot be separate. Commit to real, raw adventure, or we're totally stuffed!

• Marion Deuchars, who told me how to make a genuine connection with my world, my ideas, my imagination, by making art the way a child does – in play, freely, uninhibited by right or wrong. That's exciting, she says, because who knows where that will take us in business or otherwise?

• Mark Boulton, who—with the opener that 'Making things is messy'—shared five practical principles that have helped him grow successfully through years of design and publishing. One of my favourites is this: "Stay with the mess and talk to clients about that too." Honesty, humility, and courage.

• Tim Smit, who slightly scared me but no one can argue against this tour de force. He is on a fierce rebel mission for beauty as our only way forward, and I for one love that. Soak it up! (And then go and recover at the Eden Project.)

• And finally, Stef Lewandowski, a lovely, life-bringing hacker who has a wonderful story behind his 15-year-long maxim to 'Create Something Everyday'. A humble, gentle man who's clear focus on life is infectious, and who will leave you in no doubt whatsoever that however tiny the step you make, the moment is now. "Lean in!"

I think there's something really precious about taking time to search for shared gems like these. It means those valuable thoughts of ours that sit quietly in the background may actually have a chance of finding their way out. Thanks DO-ers!

Bristol Media Brand You Awards 2014

What a night! Last night was the 2014 Bristol Media Brand You Awards, and I went along with nearest, dearest people having been nominated. Here's how the night evolved:

Fluttering around a busy and beautiful room full of stylish people, there we were cramming our faces with the fancy canapés, slightly wary of what a free booze-bar can do to an empty stomach. While no one was looking my partner wiped a smear of salsa off my cheek while I thought, "Well, if nothing else happens these snacks are truly amazing."

The Brand You Awards were set up last year to recognise the significant input of freelance experts in Bristol and the South West's media industry. I was delighted to have been nominated in three of fourteen categories – and slightly confused. We are not short of very clever, creative people in these parts, so the room was packed with a lot of very brilliant, and some quite heavyweight competition. Some of Bristol's largest agencies were out in force, and to those of us who work alone, ploughing our own furrow, this feels very intimidating.

I was fully expecting the Brey Leinos and Mason Zimblers of the world to bag all the gongs, so when Fraser Bradshaw read my name out for a second year running as winner in the marketing category, I swiftly scoffed down my chicken goujon, did some massive(ly inappropriate) power grabs and sashayed up to the stage while my lovely friends cheered like animals!

Award winners feeling the joy

It was an absolutely wonderful moment, and a total triumph for the 'small is beautiful', 'power of one' devotion that so many of us commit to, believing we can make a difference in the world with our skills and insights.

Thanks to Bristol Media for hosting such a special night, and congratulations to fellow winners and nominees, especially Melissa Kidd who was there with Pam Lloyd PR. Mick snapped this lovely pic of us both:

Me and Melissa in the afterglow

Beaming with my award

_what to do with what you've done

So, welcome to the new year. How are you doing? Fancy taking a moment to draw breath and gather good strength for the year ahead?

Standing at a turning new year, I can't help but get a little reflective – come on, you know me well enough by now! Walking around on sunny (yes, really) English beaches over the winter break and enjoying the big views, I felt really grateful for a year of hard work and great achievements. I also felt strongly that I didn't want to waste those accomplishments, but build on them as we push ahead into the coming months with new ideas.

I think lots of us forget, when setting new plans in motion, to really appreciate the foundations we've worked hard to build. I think that's one reason why lots of resolutions don't stick, because we throw baby out with bathwater and assume new plans are all about starting from scratch.

Instead, let's ask, "What's really helpful about what's already happened?"

Translating big dreams into tangible goals can feel unwieldy, so, I thought I'd share a useful help with you by way of this simple exercise. Based on David Kolb's experiential learning theory, I came across this 'reflective cycle' in my post-grad studies and have often found it helpful since. Even if not writing things out explicitly, doing this exercise a number of times can form a habit of mind, and now I naturally find better motivation to get on and act, reflect, imagine, plot, see great things happen, and keep moving – act, reflect on that action, imagine how it could be improved, and practically plan your next move.

The picture above is postcard-quality size – feel free to print it off and stick it somewhere helpful so you can easily refer to the stages:

Write down:

1: WHAT? What act did you do? What experience was it? Just describe facts.

2: SO WHAT? Reflect on what you learnt, or discovered. 

3: WHAT NOW? What could you do to build on this, and improve that action next time?

4: & HOW? Given this revelation, make some practical plans for your next 'WHAT' experience.

If this is your year to explore new ways of communicating and using good design to get your message across, this reflective cycle could prove really helpful in keeping track as you try things out and refine your visual language. If someone else is helping you with that, I think this could be a good way to practically reflect on stuff that often seems difficult to get a handle on.

I hope you have a really great year with some brave moves, rich experiences, and cracking results – a really happy new year folks!

_why we want you to be yourself

Have you ever had that nagging worry that you are not coming across as you want to? (I mean visually speaking, obviously, although we can talk about the rest of life too if you like!)

Sometimes I have such doubts about being able to get my words out properly that it stops me saying anything at all (yes, believe it). Wouldn't it be great to feel more confident about telling my side of things well, about my story being heard, and in a way that truly engaged people so they were totally up for the chat?

Connection? Space to be real? Permission to give a sh*t? 

Yes please!

If you could grow more confident and honest in your story-telling and communicating, it would probably help you figure out better who you want to talk to and work with day-to-day. It would also help us all get on and have those meaningful conversations in a better way – a much more authentic and real way.

It takes immense courage to put true personality into your visual communication, but if you do, your working life will be richer for it.

There's a lot of talk at the moment about business becoming more 'authentic', involving real personality and truth, people being open and vulnerable with each other in order to get things done. We want humanity, not slick gloss that pretends everything's fine.

For those of us running our own businesses and trying to sort our visual communication out, this can feel terrifying, but it doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to be terrifying, if you know that the sort of people you will then connect with each day will connect because they know it too, and appreciate your courage. In time it just becomes The Way We Do It.

Who's in?

***

A friend tipped me off about this Brené Brown TED talk on The Power of Vulnerability. It's not about design, but it is about being 'wholehearted'. I found it hugely encouraging:

http://embed.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html

_you are not a machine

So here I sit, pondering as I do on the creative process.

Process. What a stupid word for the human condition and our expression of it, all beautifully messy and unpredictable. Who thought that one up?

Today, this post goes out to anyone who is stuck and feeling a bit brain dead, perhaps (like me) with a 'wading through treacle' feeling after a little while of working really hard and breathing life into lots of quite empty spaces. It's really tiring work, so don't beat yourself up if you're struggling to find a 'process' here to rock you into even more action. You don't need action. You need a break.

No, it's not rocket science or brain surgery. But in the course of trying to make the world a better place, creating and making and doing in order to encourage dialogue can be a humbly noble thing in our complicated world.

A wise man once said that to reduce human experience to mere process is to render us as machines, or something like that. Machines, my friends, we are not.

We feel things, and we communicate out of our empathies.

Moved to fairly generous tears by sound and vision this week, I left a huge theatrical moment on Wednesday night—Joy Division Reworked—rocked by the emotional statements that had come soaring around our heads through the layers of music and projected images. A very powerful use of instruments and film with enough heart and empathy to sweep us off our feet. It was truly incredible; disarming, even.

I'm not sure our work with creating has anything at all to do with process. Sure, there's a physical process to using tools, but they just serve the heart don't they? So you have to work at staying connected and in tune with why you pick up those tools in the first place. Whether making or absorbing, this is about unique connections between lifelong experiences and poetic symbols we find in the world around us. Some connections resonate more than others, and some combinations—for no reason anyone could have known—shine particularly brightly, and cause the eyes to leak.

A creative person is not subject to process, as convenient as that would be. You are not a machine, and therefore, you have permission not to perform like one.

If the creative person in your world is being a bit slow on the draw at the moment, give them as much of a break as you can and encourage them to go and stare at a blank wall for a bit.

Or if it's you, please, come and share my blank wall:

 

_going out on a limb

//player.vimeo.com/video/74448876

Midday, sometime during our July heatwave in a beautiful barn in Somerset.

The only brief was that there was no brief.

"Okay then," I thought, biting my lip and scratching a not-itchy head, gazing at the over-heated cows out of the window.

At first, an open brief is totally exciting – a whole universe of possibility! Then within minutes paralysis sets in, in a strange parabolic curve where increase in creative freedom links to a decrease in ability to narrow down an eternity of all the ideas that could ever be. Know how that feels?

I just figured that you have to be prepared to go out on a limb for anything extraordinary to happen.

"Do not be afraid to go out on a limb; that's where the fruit is."

{Anon}

So I let this encouragement flow, and set to work on a short film based on these very words. I think I found fruit here.

•

Okay, so here's how it happened:

When the team at Sparkol invited me to get involved with their adventures in Videoscribe, it was really about coming up with anything I wanted that would explore new horizons with their software and how far it could go.

After a little panic and a lot of scribbling, the words of this proverb seemed so apt. I decided to concentrate on making a beautiful typographic piece as an encouragement for all of us ideas-filled adventurers, and which would stand as a lovely piece of cinematic movement too.

One of the great things about Videoscribe is that it mesmerises you as you anticipate a line appearing, not knowing which way it will go next. That's what adventure and risk-taking is all about – following a line, not sure where it will take you but convinced it's worth it.

So I wanted to really push Videoscribe and my use of Illustrator with it - which is really the core of Sparkol's technique. There are technical tricks I've learnt over nearly 20 years in the industry that I wanted to try, some of which were in Illustrator, and after hours of crafting my Scribe I also exported it into After Effects and pushed some depth into it through layering. You can achieve an awful lot by doing this, introducing photographic stills for texture, and playing with all the settings and various layer modes. If this is your bag, just open it up and get stuck in! Don't be afraid to really mess around. That's how I've discovered lots of ridiculous nerdy tricks. (Hard fought, precious personal wins after a years as a young designer at the BBC, holed up in a small, dark edit suite!)

Talking of going out on a limb though, this project has been a neat opportunity to celebrate some of what Jon and his Sparkol team have achieved and push it to new heights. They are trying new things out all the time, with the motive of making this type of visual communication accessible to everyone regardless of illustration experience.

I like this very much, because they make good communication between humans more possible.

Now that's fruit.

How about you? Have you ever gone out on a limb to create something to encourage people or get them communicating?

*

(If you have more questions about how the film was made please submit them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer. You may like to see some short films on Videoscribe's YouTube channel too.)