B Reference

Here’s a bit of a recap from the materials we looked at in class:

Some statistics related to salaries:
From Core77:
2011 Core77 Salary Survey

From the Bureau of Labor and Statistics
Overview of Wage Data by Area and Occupation
Craft Artists
Artists and Related Workers
Commercial and Industrial Designers
Architect

From Jobs-Salary.com
Job Title: Furniture Designer
Job Title: Junior Designer
Job Title: Architect I
Employer: Williams Sonoma
Employer: Karim Rashid
Employer: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
Employer: fuse project and fuseproject

From Salary.com
Job Details and Salary Wizard for Industrial Designer I
Job Details and Salary Wizard for  Architect I

From Salary Expert:
Average base salary for Furniture Designer in New York, NY
Average base salary for Industrial Designer in New York, NY
Average base salary for Graphic Designer in New York, NY
Average base salary for Commercial Designer in New York, NY
Product Designer Salaries by region
Architect Salaries by region
Furniture Designer Salaries by region
Industrial Designer Salaries by region

On Saving and investing:
Starting at 25 vs. starting at 35. from Darwin’s Finance
The Benefits of Saving Early, from Callan Associates
Wikipedia: 401K
Wikipedia: IRA

And here is an article from the New York Times about Negotiating in a recession.

f Christopher

If you’re working with CSS or HTML,  W3Schools is an indispensable source of information and help on these topics. It explains the functionality and syntax for pretty much every variable of these…languages? If you’re using a CMS, like Cargo or Virb, you’ll need to figure out where and what to modify to get the result you want. Its always a good idea to copy your “good code” into a text document before you mess with it. That way if you mess it up, you can revert back to what worked. Some goodies from W3 Schools:

• learn about how to style text with CSS
• learn how to style links
• learn how to style your background
• learn about padding – the clear space around an element

f Christopher

Here’s a reminder of the content management systems (CMS) we looked at in class:

Cargo Collective. A basic account is free, but is limited to 12 projects and 100 MB of storage. You can edit the CSS, but no HTML editing or a “vanity” url on a free account. An upgraded membership is $66/year and has unlimited projects, HTML editing and a custom url.

Virb. Free trial for 10 days, from there its $10 a month. It includes unlimited projects / pages, HTML and CSS editing, and allows for a custom domain.

4ormat. There’s a free 30 day trial. From there, there is a basic and pro plan ($4.99/month and $9.99/month respectively). You can set up a custom domain, edit HTML and CSS and the basic account is limited to 50 pages and 100 images, the pro account allows for 1000 pages and 1000 images.

See for yourself how the  features and plans of each service stack up:
Cargo  vs. Virb vs. 4ormat

I like Cargo and Virb better than 4ormat. Cargo perhaps has nicer templates, but Virb is easier to customize if you don’t want to get into editing CSS. Remember the advantage to these types of options is that once you dial in the site design, adding, removing, and modifying content is easy. If you have someone who is willing to help you out, I would suggest you have them help you set-up a hosted CMS system (like Cargo or Virb). That way you won’t have to rely on them every time you need to update your site. Additionally, the hosting offered by these services is cheaper (or at least competitive) than what you might typically find from services that offer only hosting.

If you’re not going to use a hosted service, Topher has made a good suggestion for hosting. Although not as inexpensive as Topher’s recommendation, I’ve had a good experience with Dreamhost. Whatever you do, if you are going to have an email address associated with your domain, I suggest using Google Apps – its free, and it provides the same functionality of gmail (your RISD email is run on Google apps). If you want to analyze the traffic that goes to your website, I suggest you set up Google Analytics. Its also free, easy to set up, and easy to use. Both Google Apps and Google Analytics can be added (or come with) Cargo, Virb and 4ormat.

f Christopher

I’ve reprinted a list of local printers you might consider for your business cards. This list is taken from the The Design Office website.
I know that in the past students have had great results from Dan Wood Letterpress. I’ve also had work done at Black Cat Graphics. If you can gain access to a Pantone color guide book, it will make specifying colors easier and more accurate. The idea is that Pantone swatches are consistent and prevalent enough that if you specify a color to a printer with a Pantone number, rather than going off of your screen, your job will come back a closer match than you might get otherwise. This is because colors will render quite differently from screen to screen. If you specify color on your Macbook on a sunny day and your printer views you file on a Dell monitor in the dark, the results can be quite different. The library has an old and perhaps outdated Pantone book. I checked to see if the materials library on the 2nd floor of the library had one and they only had Pantone books for textiles (might work in a pinch). Perhaps the Graphic Design department has a set of Pantone books for student use?

f Christopher

As requested, I’ve created a sample proposal loosely based on the one I showed in class.  This is for a project of modest scale. Often times an RFP (Request for Proposal), a proposal for a large project, or a project with a client whom is not familiar with you, will require more than I’ve included, such as a bio, a portfolio, case studies, or references.

How Magazine has published a redacted version of design firm Rogue Element’s winning proposal for a web design project for a law school.
Check out the introduction from How Magazine here
Check out the proposal here

Also, I’m posting a sample of an RFP from the textbook Professional Practice for Interior Designers, by Christine M. Piotrowski. As you might have guessed, this RFP is for an interior design project, but it might help clarify what an RFP may contain.

There is plenty of other useful information on the web about proposals:

• Graphic Designer Nigel Gordijk has a thorough article describing his approach to writing proposals for web design projects. Because its written with a focus on web design projects, some aspects of his approach are more relevant to your task than others, but you’ll see the purpose is the same.
• Deep in the Core77 archives there is an article about freelancing that has some comments on the importance of a good proposal to securing work. Although there are some tips that are irrelevant in a technological sense, its an interesting read.
• This article from the “Career Lab”, though seemingly not at all related to design, provides some good advice about how a proposal fits into winning a job. It also makes some remarks about the legal stability of proposals, despite the article starting with a legal disclaimer.

f Christopher

In class on Monday we took a quick look at how spreadsheet applications like Excel can make quoting easier and more responsive to “market volitility“. Unless you use equations and structure your spreadsheet carefully, the only benefit your deriving from these applications is penmanship.

I’ve made a sample of a spreadsheet using Google Doc’s Spreadsheets application that details production costs and profit margins for a hypothetical product. I haven’t distinguished between retail and wholesale in this example, but this spreadsheet not only tells you how much it costs to produce a good and how much profit can be expected, it also provides insight as to what is expensive about this product, what is inexpensive, and where costs might be cut. The relationship between profit and production costs are also offered in two ways: one has the retail price of the item determined as a factor of profit x production cost, the other assumes a target retail price and figures a profit margin based on the production cost relative to the price. I’ve also created a pie chart on this spreadsheet that displays cell values in a graphical breakdown of the production costs.

I’ve shared the document with you all, so you can edit the document and see how the different variables affect the results. You should also be able to “save a copy” as a starting point for your own use. Look for the little yellow triangles in the top right corner of cells for an explanation of what the various tables do and how they function. Keep in mind that many of the cell values are equation driven. One useful equation is to equate the value of one cell with another. For example: If I have an hourly rate of $20 per hour, I can make one “master” cell that can be linked to from multiple other cells. Every cell that I need to input my hourly rate is linked to this master cell rather than inputting the value directly. When I make a change to this master cell, all linked instances reflect this change.

Here is the editable copy of the spreadsheet I’ve shared with everyone (you might need to sign into your risd google apps account to view it):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjS3fbMAPm9WdDk5ZHNKZjAxNjFqQkFncG1RTGt0MVE#gid=1

Here is a public copy that can not be edited (in case you are having trouble accessing it):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjS3fbMAPm9WdG9tQjhTbG15VzQ3S0poVGpOdVpuSEE&hl=en_US

f Christopher

Hi,

This reading was recommended to me by career services. I have yet to read it but it looks pretty great.

Best,
MK

Get_a_Design_Job_2008

f Matthew Kulp

In class this past Monday, we viewed some examples of Brand Standards documents.  These documents detail the ins and outs of a particular brand, showing potential affiliates, employees, and businesses how to properly represent the brand or organizational identity.  Design firms invest huge amounts of time and effort into conveying a precise attitude and message through branding.  The resulting corporate or organizational identity is only fully realized when used and represented in a coherent and consistent manner.   This Apple Logo Guidelines document and this New School Brand Standards document are two solid examples of brand standards are implemented.

These documents can also reveal some great technical tips about how to portray identity through graphic media.  For extra resources, this Style Guidelines and Standards Resource, will provide you with more enough material to satiate your interests.

Again, all this information about branding and identity design does not mean you need to develop your own brand standards or even your own logo.  Keep your efforts on representing your identity appropriate to your career.  You most likely are interested in being professional furniture designers, and should not overwhelm any potential clients or consumers with flashy logos, or graphic media void of real substance.  Rather, a simple and concise use of graphic elements to convey your professional persona is the goal.  Allow a refined and consistent format of your personal media to be the vehicle that exhibits your talent, creativity, and potential.

f Taylor McKenzie-Veal

In you case you need a reference or a refresher on some of the identity design and branding concepts brought up in class this Monday, you can follow the link below for a PDF of the presentation.

ProfessionalPractice_IdentityDesignPresentation_Web

f Taylor McKenzie-Veal

If you are curious to delve deeper into the worlds of brands, branding, brand strategy, identity design, etc, I’m posting two texts that might be of interest.

First is The Designer’s Guide To Brand Strategy, which is a PDF book that was published and written by M. Damien Newman. Although the author claims that his book “…is by no means the definitive text on the topic…”, it is a very readable, thorough, and helpful introduction. He makes the point that branding “… is a marketing term that came about largely in the last decade to mean the marketing of products.”, and is something different that brand strategy, but this might just be semantics. He presents a thorough analysis on the terms: brand, brand identity, brand personality, and strategy. The focus of the text is skewed a bit corporate, but without much effort the ideas presented can be applied to pretty much anything.

At the end of the book is a link to a website that seems to no longer be associated with the author. This document is re-distributed several places online, but if you are curious to learn more about the Damien Newman, see his Linkedin profile or check out his consultancy, Central.

The second is an excerpt from the book Designing Brand Identity, by Alina Wheeler. This text analyzes some critical success factors to consider when designing a brand identity. This too is a very readable and helpful reference if you are considering developing a more deliberate “personal brand”. Even more so than in other text, much of the material here is directed at sizable corporate projects. Some of what is presented might not really be relevant to the individual, but it does provide an idea of the many variables one often needs to consider when taking this kind of work on. The author, Alina Wheeler, has a brand consultancy business and describes her work as “…managing perception…strategic imagination”

Another great source for information, analysis and inspiration related to brand identity is Brand New. It’s a frequently updated blog that focuses specifically on the topic of identity design, and they do a great job of presenting new work in the field, while offering authoritative criticism. A highlight is their annual best and worst lists.

f Christopher

If you are having difficulty getting started on setting your goals, here are a couple of readings on the topic that might help inspire you:

The book Write it Down Make it Happen cites several stories of goal setters who turn into celebrities after they write their goals down. Apparently Jim Carrey wrote himself a check for $10 million and Scott Adams of Dilbert wrote “I will become a syndicated cartoonist” 15 times a day, long before either came true. Although this is perhaps a simplistic view of the steps these individuals took on their road to success, the author spends 250 pages arguing for the power that writing a goal down can have.

I mentioned the often cited study of Yale’s class of 1953, which claims that the 3% of polled graduates that had set goals were more successful than the other 97% combined.  Fast Company seems to be making the claim that they debunked this myth, but Yale also has an official statement on their website stating “It has been determined that no “goals study” of the Class of 1953 actually occurred.”

If that doesn’t make you skeptical of the benefits of goal setting, there are plenty of articles that try to do just that. The Boston Globe has an article that reads like a cautionary tale against letting goal setters get out of hand (warning – it loads slowly). The article cites a paper titled “Goals Gone Wild,” whose author, Adam Galinsky, says, “Goal setting has been treated like an over-the-counter medication when it should really be treated with more care, as a prescription-strength medication.” Sounds Dangerous. The New York Times also has a post in their “Idea of The Day” blog, that touches on, and links to more content on the trouble with setting goals. In the end, I think, like all things, moderation is key. As long as you maintain an awareness to your greater situation, keep an open mind, and set S.M.A.R.T. goals, I think you will be better off having set goals than you might be otherwise.

Elsewhere in the New York Times, the owner of a furniture company outlines some of his near term goals for his business. Although he has an impressive list, these goals read more like a to-do list than “goals” as we have been discussing them. And another article in the New York Times has some exercises you can do to help figure out what your goals might be. It’s focused specifically on single year goals and was written to help with new year’s resolutions (from 2007), but it might be useful anyway.

If you are looking for some scholarly research on the topic of goal setting and motivation, try Motivation: Theory and Research, a report that was funded in part by the Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. Perhaps most relevant in this text is Chapter 2 “Goal Setting Theory”, written by two pioneering researchers in this field, Edwin Locke and Gary Latham. Another approachable text that covers some of the same territory is Goal Setting and Task Performance: 1969-1980, also co-authored by Locke.

If you are still stuck, below are some questions you can ask yourself to help get in the proper mindset (adapted from the book Professional Practice for Interior Designers) :

• If you were going to interview for an opportunity tomorrow, what specific career goals would share with the interviewer?
• What could you do now to improve your chances in pursuing the opportunity you desire the most?
• List three of your biggest successes
• List at least 3 things that drew you into your field
• List 3 people you most admire, include a few sentences explaining why
• Which of the following is most important to your career: money, recognition, self satisfaction, creative expression
• What do you think you need to change to make yourself happier in your career?
• What frustrates you most about your pursuit of your career?
• What do you like most about the working in your field?
• When are you at your best?
• Do you prefer to work in a group or independently?
• What do you want to be remembered for, what will your obituary say?

Another exercise adapted from the same book:
On a sheet of paper make 2 columns, one with the heading “problem” and the other “solution”. Under the “problem” column, list things that are holding your back, then write a potential solution to the problem in the “solution” column.

If you find anything else helpful or interesting, share it with the group here.

f Christopher

For your reference (or entertainment!), I’ve posted the slides from the “Goal Setting” presentation.

f Christopher