The Archives

Everything I've written about realted to "professional"

1. Everyone is Hiring!

   Thursday, February 5th, 2009 | 5 Comments

   The economy seems to be in the media spotlight and we are all sort of scared shitless. Yet, I wonder, how bad is it? Just looking around in my own neighborhood, every design agency here is hiring.

2. It’s that time of year; get your shit together!

   Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 | 7 Comments

   So yeah, New Years has come and gone but you are still the same procrastinator you were last year; some things never change.

3. Do Web Designers Need Degrees?

   Monday, July 28th, 2008 | 45 Comments

   What is more valuable; quantity and quality of work or a degree? If the work ultimately outshines the degree, should we question spending half our first decade getting into debt as opposed to building a career?

4. Why I love my mistakes

   Monday, June 23rd, 2008 | 2 Comments

   It isn’t the making of mistakes and learning from them that has made me successful – it is knowing that I can and thus not being afraid to make mistakes that is the key.

5. HolaNeighor; a creative experiement

   Monday, November 5th, 2007 | 4 Comments

   Hola chaos, adios productivity – that is the true tagline of DC’s social experiment, Startup Weekend. But it was a great time none-the-less and much was learned; just not what I thought I would have learned. DC Startup Weekend was more of a crash course in living the life of a start-up than it was […]

6. Sometimes even Seth Godin gets it wrong

   Friday, September 28th, 2007 | 12 Comments

   Yesterday evening Seth Godin wrote a very short (and very meaningless) post titled, CSS. While the post was surly full of good intention, it is the absolute worst thing your boss could read; or the most annoying thing. It promotes ignorance within the workplace and gives justification to those yet to buy into the “CSS […]

7. I used to work “for” this guy; the sad realities of your talent-less boss

   Thursday, August 16th, 2007 | 4 Comments

   The Denver Egotist recently responded to a young designer seeking advice on his “Creative” Director. The response was ten sad realities of a creative director. I am sure many of you will agree that this rings true for your current and/or past experiences. The article is hilarious – I couldn’t stop laughing as with […]

8. What I learned at BarCampDC 2007

   Monday, August 13th, 2007 | 6 Comments

   It is simple – the Washington, D.C. area is full of some of the brightest and most talented people in this industry. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, there is “Untapped Creative Talent in Washington DC“. It was such an amazing experience to be surrounded by such passionate and like-minded designers […]

9. “Viral Marketing” is your Buzz Word of the year

   Wednesday, March 21st, 2007 | 3 Comments

   Online “Viral Marketing” is the buzz word of the year! Last year we couldn’t get enough of “User Experience” and the year before that “SEO” was all the rage. While many of us trying to innovate the industry laugh at these buzz words of yesterday – we need pay attention. Whether you work for yourself […]

10. The business card five second rule

    Thursday, March 8th, 2007 | 16 Comments

    It is all in the title; never be more than five seconds from your business card. This is more common sense marketing than it is some eye-opening, jaw-dropping business epiphany. We are so immersed in this industry that it is often easily overlooked that there is more to your presence than your web presence.

11. Introducing nclud, a new and very talented creative web design agency

    Monday, March 5th, 2007 | 12 Comments

    It is SXSW week and I am sure everyone is eagerly awaiting their flight out. However, that anticipation aside, I have something very exciting to announce myself; the launch of nclud, a creative web design agency. Co-founder, along side Alex Giron, and senior consultant for nclud, I am very pleased and very proud […]

12. Web Design Freelancers: The Psychology of your Rate

    Monday, January 15th, 2007 | 43 Comments

    The question I get asked most from fellow freelancers is, “how do you determine your rate”? It is a tricky question with no direct response that is appropriate for anyone one person in any one area. There is a lot of that goes into determining a rate – a lot of personal questions need to […]

13. 10 days of freelancing – creating a firm one day at a time, one client at a time

    Sunday, January 14th, 2007 | 2 Comments

    It has been a wild ride and I love every moment of it. I’ve connected with old clients, made new clients and seem to find myself networking even at 3:00 am during last call. My calendar has never been fuller and it seems as though I’ve got a client call scheduled daily. My fears of […]

14. You’re Time’s Person of the Year and no one seems to care!

    Tuesday, January 9th, 2007 | 16 Comments

    I subscribe to a lot of industry feeds and I am baffled by the lack of coverage on this years’ Time Person of the Year. For those out of the know, the person of the year this year is you! While Time described the person as generically as “you” — it is more specifically, “us”. […]

15. A Little Less Foolish in the New Year

    Monday, January 1st, 2007 | 9 Comments

    Another year past and it seems as though so much has changed and so much more is to come. Starting the New Year with a fresh start is always rather refreshing – it seems as though “refresh” is going to be my theme for 2007. This year I will no longer be working with The […]

16. Every Designer Needs a “Personal Board of Directors”

    Monday, December 18th, 2006 | 10 Comments

    We are creative designers; most everything we do is subjective and easily critiqued or criticized. Most of us know where we look to for inspiration, but do we know who we look to – do we even have someone, anyone, we can talk to or share ideas with? Some may say our co-workers; others may […]

17. An empty design portfolio, where to start?

    Monday, November 27th, 2006 | 16 Comments

    As a hiring manager and creative director, I’ve often been asked by young talent, where do I start? Everyone wants to see a portfolio and no one will hire you without one; so how do you get a portfolio if the only way to build a portfolio is by having a portfolio? My advice is […]

18. Web Designers, how much experience is enough experience?

    Thursday, September 7th, 2006 | 41 Comments

    As a young designer I often cringe when I hear experience only being expressed by years worked. This is a wonderful industry – one of its perks is that a 20-something can bring just as much to the table as a 10 year veteran (which crazy enough can sometimes be a 20-something). If you know […]

19. Freelancers, how to determine our rates?

    Monday, August 28th, 2006 | 18 Comments

    I’ve been asked on several occasions how to determine a freelancer’s rate (with respect to web design). I’ve always given sort of off-the-cuff responses; however, how do we determine legitimate rates? I believe, like most things, it all comes down to supply and demand. We have to evaluate the need and compare that will the […]