In addition, I ve been experimenting with the YouTube 3D conversion features from some of the video footage taken from Australia and the USA. Below you can see some of the video taken with the FujiFilm FinePix W3 3D camera. The main advantages are the that the camera provides the ability for conversion software to easily display the video in a variety of formats such as Red / Cyan anaglyph, HTML5 3D or interlaced but the quality at higher resolution is poor, the 3D effect limited unless within 2m of an object and with no image stabilising technology on the FujiFilm camera the picture is pretty shakey. To view the 3D Red / Cyan version, prepare your Red / Cyan anaglyph glasses and then click the 3D button on the video controls – the ideal setting is the ‘Colour’ using enhanced, optimised Dubois anaglyph mode at 720p.

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[PROCESSING CAN BE SLOW DEPENDING ON ACROBAT.COM TRAFFIC]

See the review of the FujiFilm Real3D 3D Digital Camera and also the detailed description of lenticular technology.

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Existing Example

For the benefit of providing a good example for this article, we will take the example of a client of mine – Torse Ltd – as they have a particularly tricky dilemma in the way they present information to their current and potential future customers. Torse Ltd is an energy broker based in Nottingham in the East Midlands of England. Their ongoing struggle is with 4 aspects of providing information for their customers:

• Dealing with the tarnished reputation that energy brokers and similar services have across the UK. Torse Ltd happen to be an honest, straightforward, straight talking company with a loyal customer base. However, when dealing with potential customers they must wrestle with the generally corrupt and devious reputation these type of services have acquired.
• Providing a detailed and customised individual response to the energy requirements and recommendations for each client, ensuring that the right energy contracts are provided for them. This means that it is very difficult to create an online energy assessment form where ‘one size fits all’ – a contract is assessed and finalised using human judgement and experience. The problem here is that on initial impressions Torse are then at a disadvantage because they cannot offer an immediate web based answer to the question “how much can I save with Torse?”.
• Generating high quality and useful output from the media channels available to the company. The energy market is a notoriously fluctuating beast with sensitivity to changes in world affairs and economics. Keeping up with all of this and generating good quality content is a difficult task.
• Producing content that is relevant to business owners with varying degrees of knowledge and understanding is a skill that requires a deep understanding of the activities, motivators and range of knowledge that your audience will have and providing a medium level of depth for the majority whilst catering for those who need to know more about specific aspects of the subject to make an informed decision by providing access to these. The browsers and HTML were designed for this purpose amongst others.

Opportunities

Website static content

Generating web content describing your aims, services, products or even terms is usually at the very least a time consuming task, but is also usually a very difficult task in that taking the principle of not wasting potential clients time – you want to provide the least complexity that provides maximum results. Almost every product or service we use has a level of complexity beyond our desire or need to know and so we pick and choose the elements we read to ensure we know the most in the shortest time. This is where it becomes tricky – where do people begin to switch off and either lose interest or experience information overload?

News items and dynamic content

Quality news items for the purpose of blog pages on a website, or even in a PDF newsletter, are tough to write – no matter which sector you work in. Why? Because a really good news item delves into a subject that is either brand new or provides a different perspective for consideration whilst reaching directly to the audience. If you are writing bland, generic, self congratulatory news items for the sake of writing then you are doing more harm than good both in terms of your time and effort and the reputation you are trying to establish – provide news items clearly targeted for your audiences needs, aspirations and expectations and provide a unique style or perspective to ensure that they begin to pick you out from the wealth of web pages clambering for attention. Essentially, do alot of in depth research and ensure you can be bold, daring and get your facts right all at the same time!

Short messages and pointers

I am really talking about the power of Twitter here – limited and overrated as it is, it does have a place. It is the marketing answer to a quick heads up about the latest goings on in a company and if written intelligently, can provide the public and followers with an insight into completed projects, upgrades, new offices, news items worthy of attention – communication that your audience wants to hear that could impact upon or benefit them or communication that relays your honesty and commitment to a specific product or service.

Other websites recommending your services

Carefully selected partnerships or lists of ‘friends’ can really be an advantage in sharing good quality sites – the visitors of one site are recommended to the other sites of a similar or ‘of interest’ nature. These are often found in a footer or sidebar of a website and almost act as mini-ads for the partners / friends. Facebook has not been mentioned here yet and for many in business to business based services it is not an appropriate or particularly productive channel in my opinion.

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing on the web has the potential for increasing traffic and sales from your website via groups of people online who are given the task of selling your products via blogs, adverts, links and other methods familiar to those browsing the web. However, I personally think that in certain circumstances this can lead to the web being populated with biased reviews and misleading or exaggerated information. Why? Well, if you are paid to review a product or can make money from people buying a product or service you are more likely to write a dishonest or misleading review unless you have the ability to only sell those products or services that you rate the highest. Affiliate marketing is a method that works but there is no doubt it is open to abuse and tends to populate the web with exaggeration or misinformation.

Other media types

If there are other methods for communicating your message then these may be attractive to returning viewers. Creating episodes of video content, a series of exhibition or a podcast can ensure that returning readers find something of benefit to them each time therefore increasing the real value of the site.

Measuring Success or Failure

The key to keeping customers interested in coming back to the example site, www.torse.co.uk, is to make it of value to the reader. How do we measure what is of value to customers? There are various tools and techniques that could be employed to establish where customer value could be attributed:

Web Statistics

There are many ways of obtaining webstats including the use of Google Analytics and most web hosting companies will have their own statistics generators from log files on your site. How are these useful? Well, you can establish where people are spending most of their time and which pages tend to get overlooked. Then it is a case of analysing whether it is because the information is buried or simply not of interest. Once these trends have been analysed it is down to the analyst to provide insight as to recommending change, removal or redesign of a page.

Voting via Google +1, Digg, Stumble Upon [or other]

Allowing your readers to easily “like”, “+1″ or “digg” a news item, page, gallery or portfolio could generate a whole raft of interest from other sites designed to highlight or promote popular news items, useful websites and those pages that are of particular interest to internet groups. The traditional “like” system on Facebook is currently facing a small but growing challenge from Google’s +1 and with Google having such dominance over the web, it is important to take note of this development.

Direct feedback via survey email or phone

This has to be handled fairly delicately in many ways so as not to annoy your existing / potential clients or even use data you have access to in the form of email addresses, phone numbers or addresses in an illegal or inappropriate manner. Sending simple customer surveys through phone, email or even postal channels can provide an insight into what aspects of your content were useful to them and what they as readers or customers would like to see on the site in the form of articles or frequently asked questions. In many instances a guide to content can be found by assessing the enquiries made via web forms or phone and looking at how these can be covered on the website to answer these questions.

Increase in sales

Another indicator of success can be an increase in sales. However, attributing this to web content can be a difficult task though using tools such as Google Analytics, iMapt and other similar tracking tools can provide an insight into the popularity of your content and consequential activity. Paid for tools such as iMapt do provide additional insight into activity on your site and in some cases provide live warnings when someone enters the site.

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Loughborough Design School Experience

The students were asked to highlight elements of the Loughborough Design School education that they found particularly beneficial and describe why students considering a course of study in design should choose Loughborough.

Example Projects at New Designers

Here are some of the products Loughborough students have created for their final year projects that have been taken to the Business Design Centre to display to other students, potential employers and other Universities. It is a great opportunity to see the very latest and best design talent leaving education establishments in the UK.

Photographs from New Designers

Find out more about Loughborough Design School

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Initial Questions

When considering setting up a business start by asking these questions:

What skills and experience can I offer a potential client?

Personally I can offer a variety of skills and abilities to a potential client – these include web design, print design, photography, creative brainstorming and ideas development as well as video and audio production. Each of these skills is honed in a way that allows me to offer competitive products and rates without trying to become an expert at everything – see wide but focused skill-sets for further explanation.

What is the market like for my area of expertise?

It is often quite difficult to know how many people will offer you work unless you have been building up a list of contacts who are talking money and offering you paid work. However, the trick in many cases is to find guaranteed work that will bring in a guaranteed income whilst you experiment with your network and cast your net out for new jobs. This may be in the form of temporary work in a call centre, coffee shop or just simply asking the boss if you can go part time. With the last option – I always find it best to be honest about your position in that, an explanation to the boss of your intentions is fair to the employer and sets a precedent of open, honest deal-making even in difficult situations.

To a degree your research for understanding the market will come from an evaluation of the following:

- How many companies perform similar tasks in your area? Search Google and type in your company’s activity and the name of your city for examples of local companies. Expand your search as appropriate.
- What are their clients like? similar to your your desired clients?
- Do you think you can compete with similar companies in quality and price? Could they be a business partner?
- Can you identify companies you would like to target? Are they open to you discussing freelance work with them? [ie some companies may have in-house skills and never look externally]

Are you able to pitch an idea to a potential client?

The ability to network or pitch ideas to potential clients is one of the most crucial things as person starting a company -especially in the field of freelance design. An understanding of the industry, the motivation of clients and methods for negotiating and dealing with costs confidently will make or break a deal. Clients want a clear understanding of two things – benefits and cost.

Organise and Manage

One of the key skills for someone starting a company is to be able to organise and manage time. Sounds obvious but there are several factors to consider all at once when you are running a business day to day:

• Energetic, vibrant and creative application of your skills and abilities to stand out from the crowd of other companies who want the same business
• Keeping up to date with the latest information, technology and activity within your sector to ensure your knowledge and understanding of the sector is up to date. Finding quality sources for this information is vital as there is pressure on your time to maximise understanding with minimal effort.
• Sourcing new work is an ongoing effort for the freelance designer or other sole trader. Every event attended, simple conversation on the train or most importantly, your last piece of work, is a stepping stone to a potentially new and exciting project or lead which must be exploited in a careful and considered manner. There is nothing more off-putting to a new lead than conversation with an entirely selfish “I need more work and money” agenda – business is a two way thing – the benefits you the client and the benefits to you or your company.
• In amongst all this intensive activity you need to be developing your skills and maintaining your edge to ensure that you are able to deliver what is expected.
• Ability to remain calm and professional under pressure is vital. There are many pressures on a company including client expectations, non-payment of fees, staffing issues and projects not going according to plan that all require patience and the ability to separate the personal from the professional
• Finally, but not least – a healthy balance of work and inspiring play is vital to anyone running a business and in fact, it can aid in your creative, dynamic edge in any sector. Whether you are a sports enthusiast, arts fan or musician – giving yourself time to indulge in a way that compliments your business can reduce the possibility of burn out or a lack of enthusiasm for your direction.

The Business of Business

To use a classic line of business-speak – “the business of business is business” which essentially refers to the fact that the world revolves [ideally] through the fair exchange of skills, abilities and money. In the world of business we are constantly looking to produce quality work and be paid for this. Simple as that.

It is possible to be friends with your clients but the primary connection with a person should never mix with the friendship side – they are expected to pay you and you are expected to return that agreement with the best work you can produce. However, I personally work with some great people with whom I can have direct business conversations with but then as a separate issue I can have a good chat with about business, life and the world in general….I just need to remember our initial agreement at all times and enjoy the business relationship with that in mind.

Wide But Focused Skill-set

As a designer I am always keen to make myself available for as much work in the design industry as possible. Targeting a narrow area of web design in your daily activity can render some highly paid specialised jobs but it may be that your specialism is only sold to a client 3 or 4 times a year and unless your fame spreads far and wide there is a chance that you may exhaust your leads very quickly. On the other end of the scale is the ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ where skills are so thinly spread that there is little opportunity to refine your offering to industry and therefore clients lose interest because there are more capable companies or individuals. This is where a ‘wide but focused’ skill-set comes into play:

• I focus on producing websites using the highly capable WordPress platform which enables me to produce a reasonably wide variety of website types without needing to learn HTML, PHP or CSS in very fine detail [I do need to understand it to a reasonable level] whilst maintaining industry standards.
• I focus on design for print for manufacturing companies, businesses requiring information design and banners for exhibitions. By understanding the typical needs of these sort of clients I can offer a quality service and reach effective design decisions swiftly.
• My video is focused upon documentary making in relation to projects or business activity and uses a very similar series of probing questions to really maximise the benefits of including an interview as part of a presentation DVD, website link or other application.
• I do offer Flash design on a limited basis but have a reduced rate for this service as I have less experience in this area of design and production. This allows me to develop Flash skills whilst producing the quality of projects a client would expect for the money spent.

Should I Ever Turn Work Down?

What happens if you are asked to complete a project outside of your usual skills base or do not feel the usual level of confidence in the specification? There are two options.

1. Make a judgment on the complexity of the project in relation to your previous experience and if it is a calculated risk that will push your skills then it is worth pursuing for the benefits to both you and your client. The end result has the potential to be a compliment and asset to your progression as a company or freelancer.
2. If the project is reasonably far displaced from your usual line of work then it maybe unfair to the client, yourself and your companies reputation to undertake the job.

In the second instance, all is not lost – a client will respect you for explaining where your skills are focused and if you make a recommendation to another company or freelancer then it may be that you will get a phone call from the same potential client when they have a project that is within your ability to complete professionally.

Do I Need To Buy The Latest Equipment?

As a designer I need to own a suitable computer system, internet connection, mobile phone and other means to complete my work – see Designer Top 5 Tips for an overview of my own personal priorities on equipment and other resources for designers.

My personal opinion is that when the hardware is appropriate for the type and style of work you are doing then an upgrade should only really be occurring every 3 years on average. For example, upgrading Adobe Software costs me around £700.00 each time, a suitable desktop – around £800 for the base unit and a laptop is £1000.00. On a year by year basis this is unnecessary to complete quality design work but the purchase of new equipment can open up some new channels of design and production and increase efficiency…..so there is a balance to be had.

How Much Should I Charge?

This is a tricky one but I would suggest that the formula for setting your pricing would involve three factors:

• Regional and national cost comparison eg what do others charge?
• Evaluation of your skills / experience
• Overheads and outlay for equipment, transportation and materials

Should I Ever Work For Free?

The old chestnut of speculative projects or competitions has been covered by Design-Design previously in the article Speculative Design and You where the topic is explored in all its cynical glory. This is a tricky area which applies to many areas of industry and whilst they should not be completely discounted, should be approached very cautiously.

Quoting

Quoting is one of those time consuming business facts-of-life that may or may not lead to business but really has to be done as part of the process. For those in business and generating quotes they will know that quotes are expensive to produce if you consider time as money. The only advice I can give is that quotations should respect the client in quoting fairly and accurately by stating any reservations or limitations of the project to ensure a happy outcome.

The other side to this is that if you ask for a quote from a supplier or project partner then you should respect the use of their time and limit the efforts they need to go to by stating clearly what you are requesting and giving them an estimated percentage chance of the quote being used. There are many people who have asked for quotations or meetings in my own history who have no respect for your time, expense or effort you put into just getting to see them and prepare for them – this in a way is an interview regarding their attitude and whether you respect them professionally. In my opinion, those who a careful with you and your business are the clients to seek and those others – well, they set the rules in their approach to you shall we say.

The Mac vs PC Thing

People often make the statement that ‘designers should use Macs’. Not necessarily true – the software is identical on both platforms and performs equally well. The issue is mainly about price and preference differences, though it has to be said that the quality of Windows driven PC machines vary considerably more. Macs are on average about 30% more expensive than the equivalent PCs, though salespersons and Mac fans will always qualify the difference in speed and efficiency. They may be right to a certain degree but not to the extent that they do believe in their own hype……and to be fair, the speed of design style and creativity is independent of the Mac / PC platform .

Some Practicalities

Down to the basics. On a practical level, here are a few bits of advice related to the physical aspects of your company:

• Have you decided whether you will work from home? If so, is there a suitable location where you feel comfortable working? What will happen when you need to get away from the potential isolation – can you work in other locations?
• If you require a building for machinery or offices, have you investigated the cost of doing this considering the business rates, rental costs and cleaning of the building?
• Are you looking to recruit staff? Have you considered the appropriate employment law surrounding employment? Have you considered how you will select your candidates and how you will ensure that a fair and efficient process is applied to managing staff and the respective expectations of working conditions?
• Do you know how you will resolve disputes with clients or staff? Have you got a process for recovering payment from late payers? Are you aware of the legal implications of your actions related to clients and staff?
• Do you have a list of terms and conditions for your products or services? See Business Links example terms and conditions.
• Have you got a suitable bank account? For example, HSBC will provide ‘Free’ business accounts for those with limited cheques or payments each month which is perfect for many freelancers.
• Are you aware of pension schemes for you and your staff? If you are not part of a scheme, have you got a savings strategy appropriate for both now and the future.
• Do you require indemnity insurance to cover legal costs in the event of liability?

Alot of these issues are covered on the Business Link website which provides a useful starting point when considering the legal and management side of you business. If you’re interested in the latest business and technology news then online sources such as Mashable and BBC Click. My suggestion is that you use Google Reader to build a collection of RSS Feeds that you can briefly glance through each day to check for new and relevant information.

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I started my own design business under the name Simcoemedia in early 2002 and so as of writing I am about to begin my tenth year of business in February. This is a good sign that things are going in the right direction and whilst its not all plain sailing, many SME’s such as Torse Ltd or Greenbarnes ltd and some large organisations such as Loughborough University or Via Mat International based in Zurich have placed trust in Simcoemedia to produce a high quality and appropriate solution to their design problems.

Design Bubble

When judging the quality of your design work it is easy to forget that, once you have established yourself with a few clients and your business relationship goes from strength to strength, you can become trapped in what I would describe as the “Design Bubble”. This occurs when you remain within your comfort zone and please your clients with some great designs but do not develop or enhance your skills, experiences or client base through other design related activity. One factor that fuels the “Design Bubble” is that, in the early months and years of establishing a freelance business there is a huge amount of energy that goes into working out your business strategy and principles as well as the learning that is necessary for survival – this reduces the time and energy that can be put into popping the Bubble.

Signs you’re in the bubble

1. You are unaware of design trends in web, print or video production
2. You do not have any updated sources of reference in terms of design or associated technology
3. You are comfortable that your business is doing well and don’t feel the need to explore other avenues of investigation related to your work
4. You do not have a long term strategy for your work direction or processes
5. You are intimidated when people question your techniques or processes
6. You are not looking for opportunities to diversify in related design areas

Why pop the Bubble?

1. Preservation. Maintaining your business and income. Knowledge of design trends, techniques and technology should enable development of design skills, aquisition of useful technology and innovative discussion with clients
2. Respectability. Your clients will admire and respect your knowledge – they will put more trust in you and your business as they feel that your finger is on the pulse and that using you will put them ahead of their competitors.
3. Contribution. Remaining competitive and pushing your skills allows you to contribute to the ongoing design discussion through forums, simple competitions [though watch the Speculative Design trap].
4. Inspiration. Discovering new and exciting things about design can be inspirational. Writing for this Design-Design blog has helped me put many of my discoveries into words for future reference.
5. Satisfaction. You have pushed yourself and your design capability to the limit and this shows in your portfolio as it goes from strength to strength.

How do you know if you are improving?

1. Your designs begin to look competitive with some of the inspirational sources you have used.
2. Techniques you were experimenting with become commonplace in your workflow.
3. You begin to identify and mentally disseminate more and more complex designs.
4. You identify more clearly information that is of value and that which is useless.
5. You are able to communicate more confidently with clients and other design related staff.

Sources of Inspiration

1. www.bbc.co.uk/click/
2. www.mashable.com
3. www.quickonlinetips.com
4. www.computerarts.co.uk
5. www.designfloat.com

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Please Note

To a degree this list could look like it is just stating the obvious – “yes, we know we generally need a PC or Apple Mac to create design work in this modern digital age”. In addition to the obvious, the listings should also be viewed as a set of priorities or levels of importance – the first on the list being the items that the freelance designer should consider as most important and a bench mark for functioning as a business. I hope that this provides some guidance or inspiration if you are currently designing or thinking of starting your own freelance design business.

TOP 5 BASIC ITEMS FOR FREELANCE DESIGNERS

1. Laptop PC or Mac [and desktop if possible] with broadband access
2. Mobile phone with email capability – Smartphone, iPhone, Blackberry
3. Website with portfolio examples + webspace + custom email + good domain
4. Contact list + maintained address book eg Outlook
5. Office space at home + favourite cafe or social space

TOP 5 COMMUNICATION TOOLS

1. Mobile and desk phone with inclusive minutes – make sure you can contact clients anytime
2. Email account personalised to company name eg design@simcoe.co.uk
3. Screenshare + voice capability from www.skype.com to collaborate with other remote users
4. www.yousendit.com account for sending large files [up to 1Gb]
5. www.adobe.com account for using communities, Kuler and other services

TOP 5 RESEARCH WEBSITES FOR DESIGNERS

1. www.mashable.com
2. www.designfloat.com
3. www.quickonlinetips.com
4. www.computerarts.co.uk
5. www.bbc.co.uk/click/

TOP 5 DISTRACTIONS

1. Non-work related emails or websites
2. Administrative activities such as new equipment
3. Television such as film / news / daytime terrible TV
4. Poorly managed projects and unhappy clients
5. Telephone calls

TOP 5 WAYS TO IMPRESS

1. Immediately responde to queries, errors, problems or corrections with plans
2. Show persistance and an understanding of how both parties may benefit from the work
3. Show respect to the hierachy of a company as well as the boss
4. Contact a company / organisation / client after its all finish and paid
5. Show creativity in conjunction with the ability to deliver + discuss pitfalls

TOP 5 WAYS TO DEPRESS

1. Do not respond to emails in an acceptable timescale eg within 2-5 hours in most cases
2. Show a lack of understanding / inflated sense of your importance in relation to the client
3. Assume that you know better than others and make unreasonable demands
4. Do not make the project advantages and limitations clear to the client
5. Allow a project to spin out of control either in time or functionality

TOP 5 USEFUL ACTIVITIES

1. Create a design blog and discuss your experience of designing in helpful articles
2. Experiment with other not-for-profit projects to gain experience and exposure
3. Visit relevant exhibitions and galleries to inspire and understand art and design further
4. Completely change your day with some exercise eg running, sport, music
5. Meet with other people in similar circumstances eg freelance, design, other creative

TOP 5 MOTIVATIONAL GOALS

1. Create excellent design projects that create a sense of professional satisfaction
2. Expose yourself to unique experiences through creative activity eg travel photos
3. Community and connection through the production of successful projects
4. Fund your food and shelter needs by doing something you have chosen and enjoy
5. Help fulfill your own desires and material goals by helping others to achieve theirs

TOP 5 STOCK RESOURCES

1. www.istockphoto.com – great for finding design elements or images for your work
2. www.themeforest.net – great for finding themes for WordPress, Joomla, Drupal etc
3. www.activeden.net – Adobe Flash and multimedia elements for your websites
4. www.audiojungle.net – low cost audio soundtracks for your videos or podcasting
5. www.shutterstock.com – alternative backup to iStockphoto.com

TOP 5 SOCIAL SITES

1. www.youtube.com – promote your video production or podcasts
2. www.linkedin.com – display your academic and professional achievements
3. www.flickr.com – online photo sharing site with great supporting tools
4. www.twitter.com – create a list of useful links and designerly comments
5. www.facebook.com – establish a brand and connect with your clients




If you like this article please click on the DesignFloat indicator on the right

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One particular place that stands out as a place of interest both visually and culturally is Cuba. Cuba, and in particular, Havana, is a rich source of interesting visual imagery including the famous classic American cars, weathered Hispanic architecture and people going about their daily business in a very unique political and economic environment. If you want the real Cuba – visit Havana on your own – not with your partner or your mates – ON YOUR OWN, ALONE.  Forget all that you have read, seen and heard – absorb the atmosphere, ponder and make your own mind up as to what Cuba is really about.

Jim Anderson, owner of Gesso & Bole said:

I was really impressed by Pete’s work and the effort he had gone to to capture the vibrance and visual flavour of Cuba. We love work like this in our gallery as it allows us opportunity to push our own creativity as framemakers and show off our own frame designs. Pete is also a great artist to work with in terms of considering both our business needs and the need for integrity and quality in the process.

I was recently contacted by Jim Anderson at Gesso & Bole in Derby, asking me if I would like to exhibit some photographs from Cuba in his gallery on The Strand in the city centre. Last night was the opening night of the exhibition and a great opportunity to see ten of the images I took in Cuba displayed in hand crafted picture frames with a custom weathered and distressed effect – one of the custom styles Jim is promoting in his gallery. The images are mostly from Havana and took considerable time wandering “off the beaten track” to find them. It is interesting to see which images people are drawn to a why – my favourite is not necessarily theirs and the reasons for a purchasing decision, entirely different. Jim Anderson, director and owner of Gesso & Bole, said:

Ultimately, travel is about the experience and adventure and whilst carrying your camera equipment around can slow you down a little or make you stand out when you would rather be inconspicuous, it is an important opportunity that reasonably low fares and varied routes affords modern life. Making photography part of the overall experience is an important part of my adventure and finding ‘that’ photo to explain the feelings and emotions of the moment or simply a beautiful scene that you want to share with others.

Other links:

Overview of the photographs in Simcoemedia portfolio »

Review of the gallery opening night »

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Please Note:

Due to a lack of interest in the Designers Forum [What? There are no designers in Chester? ], the Meetup.com group has been closed. However, I have left the article on Design-Design as it outlines the ideas and aspirations behind the group.

The aims and objectives of Designers’ Forum are to encourage artists, designers and musicians to meet, share information and potentially collaborate on design projects on a formal or informal basis. My experience of Business Link, On Course Innovation and E-Business Events in the East Midlands [2003 - 2009] were generally positive and it would be great to bring these positive experiences to a group of people in creative industries in and around Chester.

Meetup.com was chosen as the vehicle for encouraging this activity because it seems to strike the right balance between professional and personal interests, has a large following, is an acceptable price to start your own Meetup.com group and has a reasonably intuitive interface. This is the write up for the Designers’ Forum:

This group is for designers, film makers, graphic artists and animators in the Chester area. The focus is on creating a support network made up of freelancers and company employees who enjoy meeting other people with a similar interest in designerly activity of different sorts.

The next meetup on 12 September at Telfords Warehouse [2pm] is all about how we use the web as professionals and for personal inspiration:

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The fact is, I’ve just written about Joe Biden and his health reform – I’m not the only one by a long way and there are many t-shirt designs to prove my point – also, David Cameron and his comments about Twitter and Joy Division’s re-released single. These apparent faux pas may be genuine but maybe not. Remembering that these people have reached the top of their game and experience many different types of public presentation – verbal and written to the mass media audience, it SHOULD come as a surprise that these mistakes are made. After all, these people will have PR and marketing people working for them 24 hours a day and sometimes the only way to get yourself noticed is to behave outrageously or out of character because this is the sort of news that people are interested in – serious public figures acting in fallible or indiscreet ways.

Nothing happens by mistake?

The question is – were these actions planned or not? In most cases I would suggest that nothing happens by mistake and that these mistakes are carefully orchestrated to keep the agenda afloat or at least keep the web talking about it and therefore raising the online profile of the subject matter via YouTube, Twitter or other social media. There can be an associated monetary or political value to this raised profile in obvious ways.

So, how should this apply to you as a company director, academic or even designer? Well, I would suggest that you don’t immediately publish your own agenda, promotional advertising or university paper with a raft of strategically placed foul language, ‘in jokes’ or deliberate mistakes to shock your reader but see these as examples of curious events that lead to wider coverage because of their unconventional nature. That is all. It is all about the wider coverage and [potentially] the way some of these examples may or may not have been carefully orchestrated.

If a blogger wants to get noticed within their subject area then the challenge is to write something about a subject that goes against or intelligently challenges the understood norm. The key here is writing on a very sophisticated or intelligent level and yet presenting an argument clearly and accurately but then bringing the reader round to another agenda or point of view in more subtle ways – which may simply be by allowing user comments to reflect the other part of an arguement. A YouTube video that recently went viral is Mental Designers Graphic Designer Vs Client video that represented comments that every designer had heard from potential clients at some point in their career – this is not so much following the apparent mistake examples already given but is a clever way of shocking people to get the message across – a message that contains many levels of angst and truth.

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