Our last show of 2010! In 2011!

We take questions from the field of Twitter (follow the site on @36point, Nate @vossome, and Donovan @eleven19), and then, we talk about them! It’s a killer end to the season, really. It at least gave me an excuse to turn Tron Girl there into InDesign Tron Girl. Which I love.

So listen up!

Download The Reflex Bluw Show, Season 3, Episode whatever or, click here to subscribe to The Reflex Blue Show from the iTunes Music Store.

The Reflex Blue Show

Welcome back to 36 Point! This is my first post using Movable Type 5, which we installed over the weekend. I’d like to say it has gone off swimmingly, but as with most beta software it done broke a lot of the crazy stuff we’d programmed into the site. In fact, there are probably going to be a lot of bugs here and there over the next few weeks as we add new features and build up the new site. For instance, right now I’m having an awful lot of trouble categorizing this post as a comic, which will of course prevent the comic from being seen at all. I guess you’ll know how that turned out by the time you’re reading this.

That being said, the sketching that appears on this strip is most definitely not the fault of MT5. When I return to my place of origin I promise I’ll get you a clean strip.

I was going to use this space to critique the new AIGA Design Jobs/Behance website experience, the confusingly URL’d portfolios.aiga.org but that subject has become …robust, as it were. Probably going to pull out of comic-blogging mode and do some straight-up design writing on that subject. Watch out for that this week, after I’ve had time to  test and use a few more features.

‘Till then, keep that creativity up! Peace –

Wednesday I made a promise that we’d stick with Newton’s artistic longings, so consider today’s comic a minor distraction.

I’m not sure how much I want to go into the issue at hand, for fear of exposing myself. Let me just say that sometimes in life, things happen, and the best way to deal with them is to share them in three panels.

Happy Wednesday. We’ll be spending a little bit of time with Newton’s previous hair-heavy state (also seen here) for the next few days, or until I run out of jokes, whichever comes first.

News of note: 36 Point is going comic-only for a few weeks here while we re-tool the site. We’re looking into a lot of what Movable Type 4 offers and seeing what makes sense and what we think you guys would like to use around here (aside from timely comics, drew). I’m picturing an atom-bomb of total awesomeness that will probably amount to a water-balloon of “pretty-good” when it’s all said and done, but regardless, we’ll give it our best, promise.

fancy wednesdays

Tanya Harding had it wrong you see. You want dat medal? You jus’ wait ’till you see dat medal on dat der podium. Then you take dat shit.

I feel like the homepage preview, our tiny little comic that lets new readers know there is, in fact, more content to their posts, kinda gives this one away. So either look at it, really close, or close your eyes and just start clicking like mad.

I have very little comment on today — outside of pointing out the obvious continuation of last week’s singular comic endeavor and referencing it’s probable Wednesday conclusion.

I’ve had a few local friends asking me where all the comics have been in 2010. They are here, residing in my brain, waiting to be unleashed. If you would like to help those along in their journey, I would wholeheartedly recommend a trip to our fabulous Zazzle store, to show your support in deep, meaningful ways. I would also like to point our our social-sharing functionality, at the top of this post, above the very words you are reading now.

I know many of you already utilize these features to their full extent, and I shall thank you and continue shower you with all the gifts I have to give.

I love watching the Olympics. For me it’s a family event, though the families I’ve watched it with have changed over the years. It’s amazing to me how long I’ve been watching them — do you realize how long it’s been since Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan seemed relevant? I mean, sure, you can still drop their names into a joke and get a forced chuckle, but let’s face it: if this strip were about Conrad kneecapping Steve before a client pitch…

…wait. I’ve said too much. That actually sounds totally awesome.

Watching the accomplishments of these athletes that have trained, in some cases, their entire lives for these moments, it is easy to feel less accomplished. We don’t have speed skating, or the the flaming tower of awesome that was Snowboard Cross, we have more complex, yet smaller victories. Yes, we have medals, though they are awarded after a lifetime of great moments, not after one. But it’s what we have, so we must take it.

Over the weekend I was working up some design concepts for a new client project. In my head I crafted the perfect set of type, to move and play off one another in a beautiful dance filled with rounded slab-serif italics and contrasting weights. Then my world came crashing down around me when I saw the pricetag — which was not exaggerated for today’s strip.

My disappointment turned into anger, and from anger to feelings of persecution. My client deserves a perfect solution to their design problem, as does any client. But my client can’t afford a perfect solution, and I cannot justify four hundred dollars for two typefaces. In my entire career, I have never, ever been able to justify the purchase of a typeface for a project. Not when I was working for an employer, and not now that I work for myself. Maybe at the $50 range, and maybe once. Even then, we’re talking about a single style at a single weight. For fifty. Dollars.

I’m of the opinion that typographic design world faces a similar problem the music industry faced a few years ago — only worse. Essentially they’re selling computer software, and when you sell computer software, you deal with piracy. Sadly, type designers also have to deal with amateur hour over at every 1001 free font dot com in the world, peddling crap that just might work for us designers (like Anime Ace, the current type that 1PT.Rule is set in) when we can’t afford the real deal. Did I go to Veer and House to check out type when I started this strip? Hell yes. Did I balk at the pricetag and settle for less? Hell also yes. If you think graphic designers have it bad justifying work and pricetags in the face of amateurs and undercutters, I can tell you we’ve got nothing on type designers.

So in order to combat those issues, and make the most of the sales they get, new type designs are priced sky high. This also demonstrates the principle of value-through-price-point, as in, “our type is better because it is wicked expensive,” a marketing trick that almost all of us fall for every single day. My problem is that this has created a serious barrier for entry for those of us with small operations and small-budgeted clients. So it is in fact tougher for the little guys to produce big design — despite talent, enthusiasm, knowhow, and need.

To this day I believe that Helvetica Bold should cost $5. Helvetica Bold Italic should also be $5, and they should be sold through an iTunes-like service that also manages the fonts on your computer system. An iTunes Music Store for fonts, with matching appropriate pricing. Granted, Helvetica Bold Italic is not going to sell near as many copies as Lady Gaga’s latest single, but under this model it would solve at least the piracy problem (look at iTunes’ $1 price-point effect on music piracy for the general public) and by making the great typefaces as readily available as the crap out there for free, you stem the tide of garbage in, garbage out from designers using them.

I could go on. For $400 I could buy a Dyson, a Playstation 3, a Kindle, or two iPhones. Or two fonts. I know they take a long time to make and are a delicate craft, but after eight years and maybe only one purchase, how can these prices be justified?

Last week’s Christmas comic was derailed in reaction to what has come to be known as The Christmas Blizzard of 2009, which completely destroyed fully 75% of my holiday plans, and continues to pose a threat to this day.

The unexpected upside of being snowed in for four days was working through nearly all of the DVDs my wife and I received on Christmas. Quantum of Solace itself was the lone hold-out, being sidelined by a Band of Brothers marathon on Spike TV. In case you are wondering, that formula looks like this: BoB > QoS.

My wife received Julie & Julia, a movie I had previously vowed never to see, in fact suffering through G.I.Joe while she saw it with her mother last summer. Being a good husband I sat down and was moved emotionally by the tale of a young blogger during the heyday of the blog (long since past). I guess that movie is supposed to be about a cook but NO! it is actually the greatest (only?) movie about blogging interrupted sporadically by Meryl Streep playing a muppet.

The entire tale of Julie is one any mid-aught blogger knows all too well. The initial rush of excitement, the feelings of isolation and the void of the internet, the elation of your first comment, followed by your first comment from someone you don’t know. Feeling pressured to produce something worth your audience’s time, day after day, with a spouse and family who don’t really get what you’re doing at all. A roller-coaster, that. In the end, through nothing but the power of blogging, this young woman scores a book deal and a movie based (half’sies) on her life. God that’s a happy ending.

There was much more of a visceral reaction to Friday’s Craigslist comic than I anticipated. Apparently that’s something an awful lot of us have had to deal with in our time. While the conversation over there has a few good tales, I’d be remiss not to have to you spend a few hours of your day wasting away in front of the megasite for airing such grievances.

I’d also be remiss not to mention our fun-timey interview/chat with designer/author Jason Tselentis, who a little birdie told me may have found himself in a contest to out-foxy one Steven Gordon. How this contest ended I do not know. That we are still here upon this Earth following it means it did not go full-force, and precludes a rematch may someday occur.

And, lastly, my reward for finishing today’s strip was waiting until I was done to watch this (office warning — naughty words present):

“Welcome back!” I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot lately. I honestly thought, coming off of the weak summer schedule, that Fall would be different, and return me back to the salad days of months and months of uninterrupted, three-comic weeks. Alas, it seems I was mistaken, and the workload of managing a full-time independent design career along with part-time professoring has steadily crept back into my comic schedule. So my goal is to start working up a buffer, writing strips ahead of time and roughing them out whenever possible. That should help.

Today’s strip is based on me, last week, pouring through old notebooks looking for ideas for strips. Occasionally something will happen in life and I’ll say “dag, I gotta write that down. That’s going into the comic someday.” This happens quite a lot, and dates back a year now. So please believe me when I say I have no idea what happened to cause me to write down the words “Newton has a client who is a stalker…” but we’re going there anyway.

Mwa ha ha! Back again two days in a row to bring you the complete story.

Matt outed me in the comments of yesterday’s strip — this whole thing has been building up to a parody of the greatest scary book of all time, The Spooky Old Tree, which does, in fact, star the Berenstain Bears. This riveting piece of illustrated fiction is a high-bar for the entire publishing world, as far as I’m concerned, and while my copy has long since been destroyed, the story sticks with me to this day.

If you’re no Lester Beall fanboy today’s strip may be a bit obtuse. Start here and come back whenever you’re ready.

This strip was an awful lot of fun to write and draw. I briefly considered turning this into our second episode of Force Justify, but I think I’ve figure out something a lot more fun. I’ve very excited for next week. Very.

Drawing every line of Milton Glaser’s most famous poster (is it? Now I’m not sure) gave a surprising amount of insight into how he drew that image. Which shapes he began with, which he filled in. It reminds me that we can call it design until we’re blue in the face, pour over every contour and detail and dissect them, but really that all started out as a man drawing. And if you’re a designer who loves to draw, there’s something very inspirational about that.

Have a good weekend. Freelancers keep those pens up –

Welcome to the SECOND YEAR OF ONE POINT RULE.

Yeah that happened yesterday. I’d be interested to know, at this point, what you my dear readers think were the high points and the low points of the past 134 strips, sketches, and that big fat full-color Special that never got it’s proper follow-up (which is sitting now, patiently waiting, penciled in a pile next to me). 

If you haven’t partaken yet, try out our 1PT.Rule Facebook Quiz! So far I’m seeing a lot of Newtons out there, which tell me a lot of you are choosing the responsible answers, not the answers you would necessarily choose in real life.

Today’s blog post has nothing at all to do with today’s comic, so for those of you that count on that, here’s something: Vonster’s texture packs show up in the details. That’s a little ‘making of’ there for ya. Much love.

–nv–

Happy Halloween-ish! It’s a spoooooooky time of year, so watch out for dead-end jobs and other scary puns!

Tomorrow 1PT.Rule turns one year old. I’d like to thank everyone who helps me keep this going by tuning in three (or so) times a week! My schedule is pretty tight at the moment, but I’ll try to have something cool up this week to celebrate!

–nv–

Hey! I almost forgot! There is now a cheesy yet “frighteningly-accurate” What Kind of Designer Are You?-Facebook-quiz brought to you by 1PT.Rule! Get on over there and check it out –

Coming home from the AIGA Make/Think Conference I went from inspired, to excited, to confused, to excited again, and finally to apprehensive. When I got back to my desk I found the same messy stacks of paper, the same project folders needing to be filed, and what I though was a lot of e-mails until I read Armin Vit’s Twitter.

Sorry there was no Wednesday strip. The catch-up from being out for a few days coupled with the regular workload of finishing a children’s book (and a handful of other slow-burning projects) pushed my schedule unexpectedly. Also I didn’t really have a joke. I summed up my week this morning into this joyous little pill for you to swallow and I hope you enjoy it.

Whew! What a conference! Really, it’s hard to say on any level that Matke/Think wasn’t better than the Denver ’07 Conference, at least from my perspective. We’ll do either a full podcast recap or a Review Gone Bad of the experience this week, as well as post our Reflex Blue Show with Ann Willoughby recorded before the trip. So there’s lots to say, and alas, as I plow through this Monday morning I find I have not the time to say it. So I leave you with this sketch, done for Friday, which was roundly defeated by our server and the Conference Wi-Fi’s double-team of destruction. Home, and with a proper scanner, I feel better about the result anyway.

Love –

Nate

This is going to be one of those strips where I have to remind my friends that our two heroes are in fact, young, single designers, not the ragged old men they were originally based upon.

Yesterday we were invited to make beauty happen upon shoes as a part of a fundraising drive for the Green Omaha Coalition. We like those people. The guest list of artists ranged from local radio celebrities, to a very talented industrial/product designer, and, somehow, to us. While I struggled against the medium of “shoe” to apply my trade, landing somewhere between the intended thought and the blurry, middle-school art projects of my past, Donovan erupted as a gladiator of artistic passion and strength, barely looking up or aware of anyone else being in the room. I’m pretty sure most people thought we had a sort of Penn & Teller thing going on.

The shoes go up for auction at some point today, and when they do we’ll be sure to link the holy crap out of them.

iStock seems hell-bent on their quest to become the Wal-Mart of the graphic design industry, by offering the cheapest quality at the cheapest price. They have recently turned their hungry, hungry eyes on logo design, and are seeking clientless, meaningless logo art to stock the shelves of their store in hell before launching it to an unsuspecting public. For your trouble, you will be paid $5.

Five. Dollars.

Last week I got bent all out of wack over two kids charging $200 for a logo, so I’m sure you know how I feel about this. Design, and the good that comes from it, is not a commodity. That is why Wal-Mart is not Target, why Microsoft and IBM are not Apple. You cannot prepackage design. Even in this uncertain economy, even with a crunched and desolate job market, $5 for a logo is beyond the pale. Even Hobos have standards.

This week on 1PT.Rule it’s ALL HOBO DESIGNERS ALL THE TIME! These lovable little scamps are back at it, wandering, sleeping, tracking, and kearning all day long! You never know where they’ll end up next, or what kind of wacky misadventures they might find themselves in. The only thing greater than their ability to get into trouble is their ability to get into your heart!

To celebrate our love and friendship with all creatives, 36 Point is pleased to bring you our newest desktop wallpaper design. Featuring the popular Hobo Designers characters from the never-bitter 1PT.Rule, we think you’ll agree that this is the hap-hap-happiest wallpaper around!

Head on over to our downloads section for this and much, much more!

During our recent trip to Kansas City to hang out with the coolest people we could find (a successful endeavor to be certain), we quite accidentally ran into two dudes doing the exact same thing, only across the entire country. Then, in fact, we discovered they have not only been through our town (no doubt on a train car or dusty back road), but they knew our friends and, in fact, have profiled some of them.

They seemed polite enough, you know, for hobos. I don’t think they were actively being malicious or mischievous, but the way they afford to travel the country is, sadly, accurately depicted in the strip. Pray for them that they don’t knock on the wrong door.

Or that they do. I’m not here to judge your level of evil.

Apologies for the big, long Labor-Day break. I spent it working, which is, as they say, a problem I’d like to have, but sitting down to do today’s comic, which was meant to be posted last Friday when this kind of news was still relatively new, felt like going back to Calculus after spending a whole summer forgetting how to do it.

If you missed it, Michael Bierut, perhaps the nicest design mega-star (again, if there even is such a thing), brought two of my worlds together when he announced on the Pentagram blog that his team handled the new iteration of the Guitar Hero logo. This, of course, includes an entire Guitar-Hero typeface design, and endless visual interpretations that seem to center on fire and rock. Brand New, of course, has a great dissection of it as well.

Bierut gets the credit, and I really don’t have a problem with that, but the actual designer on the project was a fellow by the name of Joe Marianek, and the typeface itself was designed by Kai Salmela. The common problem with working at Pentagram and not being Michael Bierut or Paula Scher (or any of the other 18 or 19 partners) is that you often get overlooked by the masses when you do something awesome. The way around this, or so I’ve heard, is to start four or five of the most successful design websites ever, and even then you still have to quit to get noticed.

But it’s still no Rock Band.

Thanks to everyone who’s been commenting and sending nice things about the strips lately. I thought Conad’s been getting a lot of the limelight that past few weeks here, so I’m switching it up for a few strips. College is back in session, so maybe portfolio reviews are just where my head’s at these days.

I tried, valiantly, to watch Batman, Mask of the Phantasm the other night on NetfliXbox, as it was Donovan’s assertion that it was the one 90′s-era Batman movie to top Batman Returns, but alas, no, that movie is not better better than Batman Returns. Maybe it was when you were 12, and I have a huge amount of respect for that animated show and everything it did, but no. And, again, this is for the third spot on the overall Batman list. My next fact-finding mission will be the 60′s Adam-West historical epic. Mostly I’m just happy to incite random conversations about things. There’s a part of me that wants to do it again, right now…

Ahh, maybe I’l wait until Friday.

Even though I’ve been at it for two years, there’s still a lot about freelancing that I continue to learn and re-learn on an almost daily basis. The idea of not getting comfortable, ever, is one of those lessons.

By the way, make sure you try out our new sharing features plugged into each post. These will let you drop a link on Facebook, Twitter, and if you click “more,” well just about any other site you care to spread the word on. These will link back to whatever URL you click from, so if you want to share a specific story, make sure you’re on that story’s page, and not, say, on the homepage. Although who am I kidding? You do what you like, we’ll love you just the way you are.

Briefly posted. thought and summaries from last night’s Great Pizza Hunt outing will be posted this afternoon as they come in.

nv out

It seems I’ve started something with my declaration of Zio’s being the best pizza in four states (those states being, officially and for the record: Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Iowa. If you live on either of the coasts, or London, just imagine the most boring place on Earth to eat pizza and that will represent well against what we are talking about). This was a statement made, like many of mine, without much reason or thought, and as such has begun what I can only describe a medium-wide debate. Well, I am open to being corrected on this matter, but will only do so based on physical evidence, not assertions or opinions. Here’s how this is going to break down:

The 1PT.Rule Great Pizza Hunt

The Great Pizza Hunt will begin tomorrow, August 20, at Zio’s Pizzeria on 130th & Center, in Omaha. We (should you choose to accept this mission) will order slices of pizza to our individual likings that will become the baseline for measurement. We will then travel to other pizzerias and attempt to order the same slices of pizza, and determine then which is better. In this way we are comparing apples to apples, so to speak.

The second stop will be at Yia Yia’s in Lincoln, Nebraska, as it has been the most staunchly defended since Monday as the actual best pizza in Nebraska. If you want to take part in this first leg of The Great Pizza Hunt, you need to attend the local AIGA’s Third Thursday tomorrow at Zio’s for a comparison slice, otherwise your opinion on the matter will be moot.

Other important rules:

Any attendee who participates tomorrow’s inaugural outing will be considered a part of The Great Pizza Crew and may suggest a venue for testing.

Only pizzerias, where pizza is the driving force behind the menu, will be considered for inclusion in The Great Pizza Hunt. If your venue choice offers pizza as only a few choices of a much broader menu selection, it does not count (thus, using Omaha as a baseline, The Upstream is out, Bene Pizza/Pasta could conceivably be in).

Qualifying statements such as “…when this is half price it is totally better…” automatically disqualifies any establishment from consideration. If if needs to be half the price to be enjoyable, it is not enjoyable enough.

Some travel will be necessary, but let’s face it, we’re not driving to Wyoming just for pizza, and South Dakota is a stretch (though Souix Falls is nice, I’d go there again). If you live there, mail us pizza and we will hold an event. Otherwise I’m certainly willing to cross the stream over to Iowa, and would consider going as far as Des Moines if the Pizza Hunt Crew (TBD) is up for it and there’s some sort of design happening, er, happening.

If you are man or woman enough to take part in this epic adventure, sign off in comments below. If not, STFU about your pizza and watch helplessly as we decide your fate.

Your important links:

AIGA Third Thursday

Zio’s Pizzeria

Yia Yia’s (no real website–WTF Lincoln designers?)

–Nate out.

The nightmare has ended! 1PT.Rule is back and alive on Monday mornings!

Those who have already listened to our insightful, inspirational, and slightly educational interview with designer Bill Grant will have caught a preview of today’s strip quickly during the show. We’ve interviewed so many designers over the past few years the answer to “how did you get started in X?” usually turns out to be “…the client asked if we did something we didn’t do, but we said yes because we wanted the work.”

AIGA Nebraska’s monthly Third Thursday social event has recaptured my heart after a string of very enjoyable times the past few outings. There’s networking to be had, and a chance to meet up with people in real life that you know you only really see on Twitter and Facebook anymore. Also, they were kind enough to let me pick this month’s location, and I have settled on the very best pizzeria in a four-state area (that also serves tasty, frothy beverages). I would very much like to see you there.

Another glimpse back in time at Conrad’s mysterious, dead career in advertising. I remember, vividly, telling myself I would never become a jaded old designer, burnt-out an dead inside. Then I worked several thankless jobs in that dreaded field, and … on the bright side, I have plenty of fuel to write this comic strip!

I am not going to even pretend to be one of those designers out there having a shit-fit about the new Nickelodeon logo (or rather, the passing of the old logo). The new logo is perfectly competent, just aimed at different goals. Will it last 25 years? The better question is probably will it really affect your life if it doesn’t? Most people in my age group grew up with the splatter as a major part of our afternoon programming (I still refuse to acknowledge Nick-At-Night exists due to lingering anger at them taking away my night-time cartoons when I was like 4), and so most designers bemoaning this change are simply holding onto the lingering remains of their past. But, like Transformers, and now G.I.Joe, the time has come to let it go.

Just to let you know, today’s comic started with children, moved on to dogs, grandparents, and finally settled on hobos. That’s how my mind works, so please be grateful to all of my friends and family for installing a self-censor into my mind, even if it only works half the time.

–nv–

 Download Reviews Gone Bad: The Learners (12 meg) or click here to subscribe to Reviews Gone Bad from the iTunes Music Store.

Annnnnnnnnd scene. We’re done with this thread now folks. Thanks for coming along on the ride. Make sure you stop by our new downloads page to check out a ton of 1PT.Rule goodies for you life!

Insert blog post here? Today’s comic is important. You’ll want to jot this one down in your memory banks. Like Sauron after Helm’s Deep, vengeance will be swift and terrible. Eventually. This became a very, very long story, and will wrap up tomorrow, and after that I think we’re going back to normal for a bit. Because there have been happenings in the design world that I’ve missed — jokes that now will never be! Rock.

Download Reviews Gone Bad: Cheese Monkeys; A Novel In Two Semesters (15 meg) or click here to subscribe to Reviews Gone Bad from the iTunes Music Store.

I TOLD you this was going somewhere! Ooooooooooooooooh.

So Neenah Paper has been pushing their Love Linen site pretty huge on Twitter, and pointed me towards it a few days ago. It’s a lovely site, but i am far past being impressed by sites simply for being lovely. What I was impressed by was them overnighting the Love Linen swatch-book-promo-piece to my ‘office’ about as quick as I’d ordered it through the site. For free. That kind of no-holds-barred push for promotion gets my respect far and away. There’s another portion of the site, where you upload a jpeg and they’ll send you a custom proof, that I have tried several times and failed at, as the system always hangs on my images (I’m trying the Marie wallpaper that will be available for all on this site… soon?). If I can get it to work I’ll let you know. For now, simply know that their Promo/Swatch book is a work of art that you should keep around your office just to show you specifically why print is not dead.

Heeyyyyyyy — back on track!

Lil’ bit of housekeeping on 1PT.Rule this week, as our current storyline found itself to be a touch unresolvable in its current state. Well after a few days of tossing ideas around not only do I have something much better, but it’s going to actually take about three times as long to resolve. This may or may not come as good news to you, I’m not sure. I promise to make it as entertaining as I possibly can for the ride.

Still going strong 101 comics later! Hey-o!

Having 100 comics is awesome because big, round numbers are awesome. Also because reaching that milestone in under a year feels pretty neat, to boot. Thinking of 100 different comics makes me feel like they’ve got some weight, and maybe that’s why I’m trying out some character-based comedy of late. Time will tell if that pays off, but rest assured you haven’t seen the end of this particular tangent.

By my count, the other longest-running graphic-design webcomic, which has been at it for a few years I believe, will be eclipsed in sheer volume in a number of weeks. This is my way of saying I’m the shit over here, and recognize.

The first comics in this series pain me to both view and read, and I know that’s half the fun of watching any artist over time. Looking at early Peanuts and Garfield strips, or Calvin and Hobbes to a lesser extent, is always fun and charming, seeing where character started visually and comparing them to where they end up. The webcomics version of this is Penny Arcade, whose early strips look like a monkey drew them when compared to their radiant current form. Of course, there’s ten years of difference there, and thousands of strips to grow as an artist. In my neck of the woods, Newton’s nose eventually overpowered his face, and –as some assert– portions of other characters came to overpower other portions. Such is evolution. Hopefully Rob thinks I’m getting better at drawing black people, too.

Looking back, I’m happiest with the camping excursion and our foray into detective fiction, Force Justify, aside from the random gag here or there. Then of course, there’s other’s I’d just as soon forget exist. I have to believe other cartoonists feel the same way, but that’s one of the benefits to this. There’s really no endless iterating of ideas. You do a strip, it’s done, you move on and you do the next one. So when one turd pops out, there’s always a chance the next one can be solid gold. 

Admittedly, most end up in the middle. Thanks for everything,

–nv–

Coming into our 100th comic at what seems a staggering pace here, people. Please don’t expect anything on the awesome scale of the 50th strip (that was a product as much of lucky timing as anything), but go ahead and expect something a little bit special. I mean, I [heart] you. I want to give you nice things when I can.

We are two comics away from the odometer clicking over that first zero to a “one” and this is the part where I tell you the big-ish plans we were hatching for the 100th comic have been slightly delayed as the complicated web we’ve woven to bring you this strip is complicated. So these plans will be replaced by smaller, still fun plans, in the interim.

Last week I wrapped up my first set of illustrations as a Veer Marketplace Contributor, and I’m here to report on that process. Smooth as silk, though as the site warns, requiring of patience. In abundance. Patience while you wait, like waiting for a blood test, with no indication of success until word comes all at once. Happily, I shot 10 for 10 from the line, and later this summer you’ll be able to buy some Nate Voss artwork on the cheap — er, on the reasonable — from Veer.

It’s what amounts to a Veer-branded iStock site, which I guess people are calling “microstock” these days. I am okay with that, though there was a time (before my independent employment) when I found the practice somewhat less savory. iStock is the Wal-Mart of image-sites, and Veer has always been like a smaller, cooler boutique chain. Sure it’s a chain, but it’s cooler. It’s like the Apple Store before the Apple Store was everywhere. I’ve always felt like they “got it” from their wallpapers to their blog, and especially their Merch section, from which I scored a few shirts that has in the past years have become worn from wear. So becoming a part of that brand feels very good to me.

So right now there’s 10 Nate Voss’s that will appear on Veer later this summer, and now that I know that whatever it is that I’m doing is what they’re looking for, you can bet there will be more. Have a great weekend.

Also — HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYONE!

The How Conference daily podcasts continue with a slightly shorter episode that is literally bursting at the seams with no more than six guests playing a rousing game of pass-the-mic, including Clint Walkingstick, (eL) Ron Hubbard, a second illustrious appearance by both Kenneth and Jenneth Visocky-O’Grady, U&lc/SpeakUp/BrandNew-man Armin Vit, and Design Goddess Debbie Millman. Not a bad way to spend a quarter-hour –

Are you in Austin? Want to be on the show? Hit the 4th Floor everyday at 5:00 (right after the close) and chat it up!

Download The Reflex Blue Show HOW Conference Special: DAY TWO (12meg) or click here to subscribe to The Reflex Blue Show from the iTunes Music Store.

The HOW Conference is alive and well, and it you have the right combination of twitter accounts coupled with our amazing coverage, well it’s damn near like you’re there right now. Which I’m not. I expect most of my next few days will be spent chasing the turmoil that is the #HOWconf tag, and looking for sweet twitpics, and most definitely not getting anything done.

If you’re keeping track, this is our 95th 1PT.Rule comic, so as we count down to the über-special occasion of #100, go on back through the catalog and get caught up.

Shoryuken!!

Doing it right from Austin, Texas, live from the Conference Center’s 4th Floor — The Reflex Blue Show HOW Conference Special continues!

Day One guests include speakers/authors Jen & Ken Visocky O’Grady, author/speaker/man-about-town Steve Gordon, and Not-Anymore-Speaker/Not-Quite-Author Justin Ahrens (who graces us with a full-show appearance)! It’s all about setting the tone for the conference and covering the pre-conference workshops (sort of), and the lead-up to the conference itself — as it appears on Twitter? Also featuring the mad psyching-out of the O’Gradys vis a vis Armin Vit’s Design History & Practice: Mano a Mano battle royale that is apparently going down like Chinatown Thursday night.

Are you in Austin? Want to be on the show? Hit the 4th Floor everyday at 5:00 (right after the close) and chat it up!

Download The Reflex Blue Show HOW Conference Special: DAY ONE (17meg) or click here to subscribe to The Reflex Blue Show from the iTunes Music Store.

Donovan hits the tarmac in Austin Texas for the 2009 HOW Design Conference. We’re recapping every day’s event right here on 36 Point, so check back each night to see what you’re missing, and what you’re not!

Today we’re joined by Courtney Christensen from the City of Kansas, Missouri and get a special late walk-in from Rule 29′s Justin Ahrens for a microcast that gets our feet wet on this pocasting from hundreds of miles away business.

Major coverage starts tomorrow!

Download The Reflex Blue Show HOW Conference Special: DAY ZERO (10meg) or click here to subscribe to The Reflex Blue Show from the iTunes Music Store.

Some people might shrug off launching a new feature as lo-fi as we have here, (and lo-fi afficionados should buckle-up) the content is there, if not the proper tools. This will be corrected with time, I imagine. For now, check out the video by clicking the link below. Eventually this regular feature will be available as a video podcast an in other media, but for now you can get it right here:

Download Reviews Gone Bad: 100 Habits of Successful Freelance Designers (36 meg) or click here to subscribe to Reviews Gone Bad from the iTunes Music Store.

So if you missed Monday’s comic, that’s because I missed Monday’s comic, and it happened to fall on Tuesday this week. You may want to read it to give today’s strip a little more context, but, if not, no biggie. I’m sure you get the gist.

It’s been a somewhat distracting week for me as my partner in crime has been tracking pinball and arcade machines with the restless zeal of Aragorn himself. Of course, me being a tremendous gaming nerd, I’ve found myself bitten by the bug as well, learning way more about MAMEs and JAMMAs and replacement joysticks than I ever thought possible. Did you know it’s theoretically possible to pay a pretty low price for a random, crappy arcade cabinet, drop in a new motherboard for the game you want (purchased at 1/10th the cost) and just sort of, slip it in and go to town? Well you do now.

I do believe arcade games will soon become the design office accessory to have.

Before we begin, do check out our latest, news-heavy episode of the Reflex Blue Show. I’ve listened to it, it’s a gas.

I have found that, now that Debbie is indeed the President of AIGA, I am experiencing some guilt about not being an active member. There’s not a whole lot to be done about it today, as today’s strip suggests it would take some draconian plans to work the colossal cost of membership into my current professional budget. It would be nice if that number could come down somewhat — maybe chill out on expenditures of supporting design in China for a while — or that (and I’m just throwing this out there) qualified sole-proprietors/independent designers could merit a softer point of entry during the current economic climate.

I won’t hold my breath if you don’t.

This strip really took off for me at panel three. Of course he has an eyepatch. At some point something is going to go down and that eyepatch is going to be a necessity. This is officially a part of the cannon now. It is in continuity. Apparently so is ear hair.

There’s a new podcast on the way tomorrow with some exciting official announcements about our show and some mammoth design conference that is quickly approaching, and sometime in the next seven days we plan on finally getting a brand new feature for 36 Point out to the world, bring the reasons you have to visit this site from a paltry two to an unfathomable three. Get ready.

I’m on a short clock today, so I must be brief. First, sorry for today’s horrible art on the strip. Second, this announcement did indeed find its way onto my TweetDeck yesterday, and I’m pretty excited (for him) about it. I think a Chip Kidd-written Batman book could only be described as “a hoot.” Chip can only really be described as the world’s biggest Batman nerd, as well as the King Geek of Design, so this project has to be one of those life-long, dream-come-true situations. I get it: Read books. Read Batman books. Design books. Then design Batman books. Then write books. Then write Batman books. 

Like Paul Rudd’s character’s line in Knocked Up, “I wish I loved anything as much as my kids love bubbles,” I’m not sure I can relate. This would be like me making a Star Wars movie, Halo game, and X-Men comic all at once.

Don’t believe me? Listen to our barely-safe-for-work interview with Chip Kidd and hear for yourself!

And our camping adventure comes to an end, the only way it ever does. With sadness and tears, and long, long walks home.

Today is National Donut Day, and I am going to partake. The rest of the day will be spent at the new eleven19/36 Point HQ testing out some big, big ideas we’ve had. If you follow HOW’s twitter, you already know about one of them, and we’ve got two more we’re working on. More soon.

Hey, let’s have a comic!

Getting out and doing some hands-on creative stuff — for simply the sake of doing it — is a damn relief for me as a designer. Putting the research, planning, study, and fundamentals aside for a damn minute and just making something the way you want to make it just feels good. The last proper creative retreat I was on was a mix of creative exercises, departmental planning, and guilt-laden “why aren’t you better” management speak, and I’m not sure about anyone else, but the battery-recharging didn’t really take. Designer Camping is a thing, I ‘spose, we’ve done in our neck of the woods — we have hats — and for some reason always serves as a proper refresher. Fresh air and great weather do wonders, and I’d recommend everybody go get some as soon as possible.

Go Summer.

I don’t have a lot to say about today’s strip other than you will see this story continuing next week. Also, that’s maybe my favorite middle-panel of all time. What luscious, amber-hued locks that mofo must’ve had in college! All the ladies swooned during critiques, of this I am certain.

Be sure to check out yesterday’s amazing Reflex Blue Show, too. Talking about critiques and the very Tip of Mig himself.

Monday should also bring a Supporter-Goodies update (by the end of the day) and a more in-depth look at how those work in conjunction with our store and donations to the site. WORD/..

I had this wonderful conversation yesterday with my partner in crime, who is producing some goodies for people attending the HOW Conference. I won’t spoil it, but should you spot Donovan Beery and perhaps drop a secret password on him (or perhaps not), you may receive something of perceived value. What I can tell you is, when you see this package of fun, you will find a piece of it is dead sexy in white type reversed out of a black background. I take 100% full credit for this design direction, as the first panel of today’s comic was essentially the entire above-mentioned conversation. Black type on white will always fall to white type on black. Always. It’s like math.

Hello! Welcome back from Memorial Day, I guess. As a working man, 4-day weeks always mess up my clock. Let’s pretend it’s Monday and call it comic day. We’re still going to pretend tomorrow is Wednesday, which it is, so we’ll have a comic then, too. Then Thursday is podcast day, and everyone will live happily ever after.

I want you guys to check out The Brads, if you haven’t yet, and add it to your bookmarks in a folder called “Awesome Webcomics Based Around Design” right after 1PT.Rule. It’s a weekly, but creator Brad Colbow makes up for fewer updates with full-color and an ability to weave the very structure of comics in a web-based format into the humor of his strip that I find myself very jealous of. Check it out.

Raise your hand if you’ve done this. Now, the rest of you, raise your hands because you’re lying.

Since Wednesday, there have been developments in the ongoing Nebraska License Plate Debacle. And by developments, I mean the kind head-removal-from-anus that cannot be called anything other than “heroic” in the world of politics. What was once stonewalling and inability to admit failure has transformed into someone in local government actually standing up and saying “you know what? This is a little fucked up right here and we may have to do something about it.“

Throughout it all, the gang at CollegeHumor.com (which has only been identified as “a college humor website” by the local press — subtle, right?) has floored me as the strut about as some bizarre peacock-unicorn hybrid with their insistence of victory and balls-out unapologetic manner. They remind me of those two dudes who punked Boston with the Moonenite graphics for Cartoon Network a year or two ago. It’s sort of totally awesome. If I lived anywhere else I’d give that guy a high five. Living here, probably I’d fake the high-five and punch him in the balls.

But really, if these recent developments hold, his actions will actually guarantee that the worst option never gets made into the newest license plate, something we should all be thankful for, should it come to pass. The real problem here is how the designs themselves are “commissioned” and selected for presentation for the state to vote on. Until that’s fixed, we’re all just picking out our favorite turd to smear our cars with.

So yesterday this happened, followed swiftly by the general discovery of this having happened, followed moments later by College Humor taking credit en masse like insurgents from a cave. Officials deny the massive prank had anything to do with the outcome, but I’d wager the results would be quite different if they removed votes that came via the site. Not that we’d have better plates in two years or anything.

The plates, which vertically read “NEERASKA” (but don’t worry because it says “NEBRASKA” again right fucking next to it) was designed “professionally” by a dude or lady at the manufacturer of the materials that are used to make license plates. This is exactly the place I want my artistic representations of the state I call home because all of the most creatively talented and inspired artists work in the office of a metal shop. 

The government response has been Political Sidestepping 101, with officials spouting platitudes such as “You can’t please everyone” and “nobody ever likes the license plate designs” coming from either the Gov’nor himself or the woman in charge of the situation, though I would posit the following:

I you gave everyone you know a present every year, but that present was always you kicking them in the nuts, you may come to believe “Well people just don’t like presents.” 

While I don’t think the state would ever eliminate voting, they certainly could commission actual artists to deliver the selections the voters have to choose from, ensuring that any winning design would have actual artistic merit, and while no, it may not please everyone, it also won’t make us look like a bunch of idiots when we go on a road trip. I would be happy to spearhead a subcommittee to select these artists, Mr. Governor, and my door is always open to you.

Sometimes the process of writing these comics astounds me. I cannot recall the intended joke of today’s strip, only that it was far, far removed from what I wound up with. Somewhere around panel two things took a seriously unexpected turn when Newton started explaining his technique of meeting new clients. This is, of course, derived somewhat from reality. I do have a client meeting today and I do not intend to bring along a portfolio of work.

Some time ago I became a no-go-portfolio guy. I had a few meetings with potential clients that went famously well, and at the end, there I was, with this big black case filled with my previous work just sitting there, unopened. Once or twice I actually asked if they wanted to see it as we were winding down, and I cannot recall anyone answering in the positive. I occurred to me that I sent along my portfolio’s webpage (newest version here) long before the initial meet-up, and by the time we were in a face-to-face, it was really more about people getting to know each other and each other’s business, and less about “check out this sweet poster i did.”

So I’m a confirmed No-Go-Portfolio guy. Are you?

When we were children, my brother and I play-fought quite a bit, usually with toy guys or, better yet, toy lightsabers. It was all good fun until someone got whacked in the hand inadvertently and the beat-downs began. There was a secret phase the accidental aggressor could say to help stem the tide of these retaliatory beat-downs, and I will tell it again now:

SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY!

That being said, we love Debbie Millman over here, and would like to congratulate her on 100 great episodes of Design Matters. You’re the best Debbie. Hugs.

–nv–

You ever have one of those days where something you do doesn’t live up to your own expectations for yourself? So I had this sweet experience the other day…

I went to a skateshop to attempt some research for a client project that so far hasn’t actually materialized. I found, upon entering, that I had a full 90-seconds worth of imagined street cred to be standing there in my khaki’s and polo/Express shirt, pretending to be cool enough to actually look at anything in there. I could not muster the strength to look behind Skinny-Totally-Disinterested-In-Me guy to see any real skateboard designs. Mostly I looked at shoes. Owning one pair of cool sneaks myself — which of course I was not wearing that day — I figured this might be an adequate way for me to inch closer to people who actually have cred. For as it stands now, I know that I have none.

My wife has cred, and does not understand this in me. I believe that I am somewhat a master of the subset of cool known as “geek” and a few of it’s subsidiaries, but when it comes to anything that is actually cool — indie music, skating, scrapbooking — I become instantly socially incompetent. This is, I suppose, mostly imagined on my part, but is nonetheless the last bastion of my teenage insecurities that remains.

At least I have a boss-hog Star Trek movie to keep me safe.

Hey everyone. I wrote a whole post for this strip and the Movable Type, our (non-webcomics friendly) publishing platform was kind enough to delete it. So whatever. Here’s a recap:

Two “middle-panel-as-screenshot” strips in a row was totally by accident

I am excited about Star Trek

The art on this strip kind of sucks because I’m illustrating on Donovan’s GIGANTOR iMac today, and you almost have to re-learn how to draw on a Wacom at that size.

Word up. Have a great weekend everybody!

In my twitter-life I often seek out advice for my real, independent-professional-designer life in the form of articles and lists linked and retweeted up the mountain that must surely contain the sweet nectar of the divine — new business. Often I am shocked at how valueless these lists are. Not that they all suffer from some massive dearth of actual content, but that the content they share usually has little to do with how to find new clients, or establishing new connections, and falls more along the lines of: 1. You should get some new clients, and 2. You need to establish new connections. As helpful as a 12-year-old may find that advice, to struggling indies it hold little value. But the Twitterverse loves its lists, and so my search goes on.

Then there are advice columns from the über-stars, or mega-designers, or, I don’t know, graphic design world-devourers where the advice seems to be like that of a parent admonishing their child for doing the exact same thing they themselves once did all the time. Like they’ve forgotten what it means to be starting out. It’s easy, they say, just invite the VPs of Marketing from the top four employers in your city to golf at your private country club. Oh yes, I forgot, it is that easy. How silly of us all.

Almost forgot — big thanks to superstar designer Drew Davies for essentially writing this strip in an iChat last Friday and Prescott Perez-Fox for our design megastar’s nom de guerre.

I’d be lying if I tried to tell you I do not covet the Winterhouse writing award. I do. Like Boromir, I fear this desire will destroy me, or at least drive me to beat up Elijah Wood, which is something I really wouldn’t want to do.

Every year Design Observer puts out the call for entries and that amazing $10,000 prize taunts me like Mohammed Ali, letting me know that as much writing and commentary as I produce on design on a weekly basis, it is not worth $10,000. This could be a false assumption, because I do believe the first prize went to a girl who obsessively dissected emoticons. And that seems to be it: like most of the over-long and painfully dull (re:non-Bierut & Heller) articles on DO, you have to write obsessively about something nobody cares about. Like coffee-filter packaging or something. I’m sure somewhere right now there’s some obsessive-compulsive design writer putting together a three-part thesis on coffee-filter packaging and that’s probably going to take the 2010 prize. 

I was looking through the 70 (if you count the one currently-produced Special) strips I’ve got here and feel pretty good about a few of them and the medium’s ability to comment on design, and then the rule set of the Winterhouse took over and I remembered the part about everything needing to be set in Courier. This, by the way, is basically designers removing the design from their papers, and I get it. It’s supposed to remove any typographic context. Maybe the judges have a hard-on for mono-spaced fonts, I don’t know.

With a relatively low entry fee (only $25), I am still considering entering the strip, if only to piss off the judges. However, I think I will wait for next year, in all seriousness, when my journals of milk-cap sticker designs and their impact on the American consciousness are completed.

I had very mixed feelings when the closing of SpeakUp was announced this week. Throughout the years I had a very pleasant love/hate relationship with that website. I loved what it did for design, I hated what it did to designers. With all the high talk of promoting a dialog and/or discussion of design, my experiences there often boiled down to calling the person who disagreed with you a fuckwad and vice versa, or piling on some poor bastard’s logo design even when, let’s face it, there really is nothing wrong with UPS’s logo these days. They were just ahead of the curve. By the way that fisasco went down (which was the first time I found SpeakUp) you’d think they clubbed a baby seal at Peta convention.

But on the other hand, SpeakUp opened my eyes to a lot of things. Some intentionally — like finally realizing I don’t have to agree with or support everything the AIGA does just because they do it. Or my severe dislike of the word “just” when discussing projects. Or, eventually, the fact that just because you have a strong opinion on design, doesn’t mean you absolutely have to shove it down everyone’s throats. It certainly taught me how to be mindful of the comments I make online to others.

I’ve had a few conversations with Armin, some pleasant and supportive, some less so, but never anywhere near the length of yesterday’s interview. Love it or hate it, no designer can deny that SpeakUp essentially created the online graphic design community — which I would describe as thriving — and that we are all richer for the experience.

–nv–

This is a thing that really happened about a week and a half ago. Huge job shows up on my doorstep, practically gift-wrapped. And it’s big, it’s a lot of work. I send out a fair price, the client comes back, and we settle on something a little lower but still doable. Life is good.

A few days later I get the “guy knows a guy who’d do it for this.” And THIS turned out to be 10% of my bid. My response to this was, well, who the F is this guy bidding huge jobs that low? Was it a teenager? Because I can counter that in a conversation. No, it turned out to be a guy who makes a great living doing something completely unrelated, and just does crap like this on the side to make extra money for ipods or something. Crap Like This being the thing I make a living on.

And I wrote on my page: “I lost a job to someone who bid 10% of my price and in walked a man 10% of my size.”

Don’t ever let anyone say that when I tease a kick in the balls, I don’t follow-through.

Sorry I didn’t ever get around to posting anything to go along with Wednesday’s strip. I got pretty comfortable with my buffer and apparently decided I didn’t need to do any work at all that day. That buffer, if you can tell by the time of this posting, has evaporated already, but was nice. I will have some time this weekend to myself, I may spend it getting up to speed again. I already have next week written, no reason to sit on my duff I guess.

If you haven’t heard it yet, be sure to check out our interview with Timothy O’Donnell about Sketchbook. Despite the underwater “effects” that seem to have hampered our recording, it really is a great interview. Leave it to us to try haphazardly to step up our remote-recording systems on an episode that actually carries some weight.

The heroic story of Preston McPressman can finally be told! Talk about your exciting surprise character inventions — I have a feeling he’s going to stick around for a while.

Hopefully you’ve been noticing some changes we’ve been making around here at 36 Point. Some of these are cosmetic, some are a little more functional. I woke up over the weekend to find each and every 1PT.Rule comic now had a little preview comic off to the side if you stumble across the story on a non-comic-only page. Big enough to see, but small enough that the possibilities engage your brain like a still-wrapped present on Christmas morning. My partner in crime insists the code for this MT hack appeared to him as an apparition, in a vision, and that he felt compelled to create lest its secrets departed his mind for greener pastures. As is often the case in these situations, I found myself going along for the ride.

Do you follow me on Twitter? You should — it seems we’ve started giving away free stuff there once or twice a month now. Also I’m quite dapper.

A day late and all kinds of labyrinthine Garage Band issues later, we have a terrific interview with author Timothy O’Donnell, who’s first book takes a look at the work behind the work. We got a copy of Sketchbook at the studio and we must say — it is impressive. There’s a laundry list of notable designers here, ranging from Small Stakes to Marian Batnjes to Lance Wyman, designer of the ’68 Mexico Olympics. Timothy takes us through the book from idea through conception, which mega-famous designers turned him down, and how to get in and out of Pentagram in under and hour when confronted by Michael Bierut’s 85 sketchbooks. Be sure to check it out when it releases next month.

Sorry for the poor sound quality on this one folks — with as much trouble as we had on this recording/editing I almost feel lucky to have a show at all! We’ll try not to subject you to too many more like this.

Download The Reflex Blue Show with Nate Voss and Donovan Beery, Season 2 Episode 2 (22 meg) or click here to subscribe to The Reflex Blue Show from the iTunes Music Store.

Golden rule, gang: Always be nice to your printers.

This will be continued on Monday, and then hopefully Wednesday, then Friday. I reall have to apologize for all of the late strips lately. The end of March and beginning of April have been just about hell and it has been very difficult to find time for the strip. But never fear! 1PT.Rule isn’t going anywhere, I just need to take some time, hopefully this weekend, to get back in front of my buffer. Fingers crossed!

–nv–

Bernard Uy (of Wall to Wall Studios) is the kind of guy you can’t help but love when you meet. Charming, friendly, funny, and endlessly intelligent. And please don’t take this show’s cover illustration as a play on his ability to convince his partner to open a second office in Honolulu — and that he should staff it — the man has mad ukulele skills. We talk shop in the beginning, but this episode is really about AIGA Honolulu’s big push for sustainable design: DesignFootprint.org, which leads into our best examination yet of going green in your work. Because when your specialty paper needs to be shipped halfway across the Pacific Ocean, well, I guess you think about those kinds of things.

–nv–

Download The Reflex Blue Show with Nate Voss and Donovan Beery, Episode 13 (20 meg) or click here to subscribe directly from the iTunes Music Store.

This week we welcome special guest Sean Adams of Adams Morioka! Current President of the AIGA and master of all things super-great, Sean was our guest while visiting the great city of Omaha for the AIGA Leadership Retreat last month. Aside from being a great designer and, according to him, a fantastic boss, Sean is really one of the most generous and kind people we’ve had the privilege to share the microphone with.

Sorry for the spotty sound on this show (and a few upcoming); the 36 Point Mobile Recording Studio turned out to be on its last legs during this conversation and died shortly thereafter. We don’t know if that’s what actually makes us sound terrible on this show or not, but Sean sounds great, and that’s who you’re really tuning in for, now isn’t it?

–nv–

Download The Reflex Blue Show with Nate Voss and Donovan Beery, Episode 12 (21-ish meg) or click here to subscribe directly from the iTunes Music Store.

This week: Music Meets Creativity with special guest — Graphic Design’s DJ — Steve (RDQlus) Gordon.

Rarely do you see the designer today without their iPod (or, if you’re one of those people, your Zune) plugged in, filling the gaps in their creativity with their music. While we spend the first few minutes being a little Radiohead-centric, Steve, Donovan and I eventually discuss the parallels of creation great design to creating great music, what music is great for design and what music can kill a creative mood, and why the Halo 3 soundtrack is actually awesome and Donovan needs to shut up about defunct 80′s rock. Enjoy The Reflex Blue Show Episode 9 with a cold one and your favorite playlist.

–nv–

Download The Reflex Blue Show with Nate Voss and Donovan Beery, Episode 9 (22meg) or click here to subscribe directly from the iTunes Music Store.

The main difference to me is that you’re either doing overflow work for a creative shop and/or ad agency, or working directly with a client on random jobs that the majority of are too small to outsource to an agency, and would be considered ideal for an in-house designer if they had one (or if it was a high enough priority). As before, these things I learned are listed in no particular order:

1. You Know What’s Right
If you’re doing overflow work for an another design shop or an ad agency, you know what’s ethical. You also know what will get you on their bad side. Do the right thing. You shouldn’t put the work on your website unless they know about it – it’s their client and project, not yours. Putting it in your portfolio when trying to get a job and being honest about the parts you did on it is usually fine. If you have an actual contract you expect them to follow (like on pay and hours) you should follow the small print they put in there. In the long run, you’ll be much better off.

2. You Are Temporary
It’s called overflow work for a reason. Eventually it will either go away, or become enough that they hire someone full-time to do the job. I’ve been in a few spots where I was offered a job this way (always flattering even when you have to decline), and it means you either take the job or you lose the work completely. This is something you have to be ready for, and it’s a business, so don’t be upset when this happens. If they get busy again, you will be on the list to call. I have found that working as a ‘temporary employee’ is a great way to learn different philosophies on dealing with clients, how to pitch work, and how to build files. These are invaluable things if you ever go out on your own.

3. You Don’t Have to Work in Their Office
It’s been a few years since I looked into the details, but in order to not be considered an employee of a company by the IRS, and to be a true contractor, a few things need to be followed that include not requiring you have set hours, not requiring a specific location you need to work at, and not requiring that they specify the exact way you complete the work (i.e. what software to use). It may be of your benefit to work on-site regardless, as it keeps you in their mind for those little jobs when they are trying to figure out who to hand it off to.

4. Don’t Be Offended
This work isn’t for everyone. You have to understand that even though you don’t work there, the work represents the agency it’s done for, and they have the right to show (or not show) what they feel is best. Depending on your availability, and the availability of their own staff, you may just be making minor type revisions on work that is already complete. You may also end up coming up with a whole new campaign for an initial pitch, and someone else may make all of the changes. If you’re the type to be upset when someone else alters your work or finishes the project without your input, straight freelance may be the better option. The advantage is the opportunity for a single freelancer to work on larger projects and learn what it’s like to work with a team.

5. Take Less Money
Contract work will sometimes pay less than freelance work either because there is now a middleman in there taking a cut from the client (it is their client), or it’s direct overflow work from an in-house department and probably not work deemed worthy of full agency rates. There are things that can be offered in these cases that make it worthwhile to take a smaller hourly rate on your end: the fact that there is much less time selling to new clients on each project (consider it like paying a salesperson a commission), a guaranteed amount of hours, and a written contract guaranteeing such hours (these usually come with a 30 day cancellation option for either party).

Our complete guide to getting a graphic design summer internship. We welcome Design Princess Ashley McFeely back to the show, well, to the Reflex Blue Show, for the first time ever to trade old war stories of internships gone by. Tales of portfolio samples; tales of getting boned by other interns who hate you, and tales of that one guy who got hit by a car. We also give out a Top 5 tips on how to land an internship, so don’t think we forgot about you. A must for design students. Peace out –

–nv–

Download The Reflex Blue Show with Nate Voss and Donovan Beery, Episode 6 (24 meg) or click here to subscribe directly from the iTunes Music Store.

A few weeks back Donovan and I gave a show stopping presentation at a student portfolio event called Meet the Pros (site and poster design by me). And even though we weren’t their first choice, we were the first ones to say “yes” and low, PORTFOLIOWN’D was born. A rip-roaring take through the entire student portfolio process — from purpose to process, order to interview, we cover how to make a great portfolio from top to bottom. Much of what you are about to hear we learned from our own experiences as former students, as professors, as interviewers and portfolio reviewers, and from people much smarter than ourselves. So sit back, grab a cold one, and relax on your inflatable couch. Enjoy.

–nv–

Download The Reflex Blue Show with Nate Voss and Donovan Beery, Episode 5 (25 meg) or click here to subscribe directly from the iTunes Music Store.