You would think an article like this from Seth Godin would make design firms shiver in fear that clients would walk away, and do design themselves. In case you don’t follow that link, Seth Godin talks about how you can become a better designer with a few hours a month of reading from his book list.
Not us.
In fact, it makes me happy. I fully agree with him, and I think you SHOULD be a better designer. Why you ask, would a creative firm like factor 1, want clients designing things themselves?
1. You can’t rely on design firms to make the small things. Sure we can build an awesome website for you. But when you need a single powerpoint slide, for tomorrows presentation, thats harder to get a firm to want to do.
2. Almost every one of our websites is a CMS (content management system) driven site. Meaning our end client can log in, and add content. I would love it every one of our site administrators could insert top notch graphics.
3. If our clients know a bit more about design, and can speak the lingo, it makes communication and brain storming even better.
4. At the end of the day, I know the years of experience, talent, and overall approach our team brings to the table is not going to be beat by a book.
So I am sure some creative companies cringe at Seth’s post. I for one, embrace, encourage, and fully support it.
as mentioned in past posts, we like to do things differently around here any time we can. And I LOVE to see other companies doing the same.
Who said water needs to be in a gross plastic bottle that pollutes the earth, both in creation and decomposition.
boxedwaterisbetter.com
About 90% of the Boxed Water container is made from a renewable resource, trees, that when harvested in a responsible, managed, and ethical way serve as an amazing renewable resource that benefits the environment even as it’s renewed. Our carbon footprint is dramatically lower as our boxes are shipped flat to our filler and filled only as demand is created, opposed to most bottled water companies that ship their empty bottles across the globe to be filled, then shipped back for consumption. The flat, unfilled boxes we can fit on 2 pallets, or roughly 5% of a truckload, would require about 5 truckloads for empty plastic or glass bottles. Our cartons can also be broken down to their original flat state, are recyclable in most areas, and will be everywhere shortly. We’re also giving 20% of our profits back to the resources our product is composed of – water and trees. Not only does it simply make sense, but we really enjoy supporting water and forestation organizations as it’s part of our company’s ethos and way of thinking to give back and participate. All that and an over-arching focus on simple and beautiful design that compliments our brand as well as the spaces it’s sold and consumed in.
Why do I always hear such negativity when it comes to innovation? There are always those naysayers who discourage the true innovators.
In a recent search for building an online payment system (so we can maybe have our clients pay an invoice online with our merch account), I came across this gem (I wont give them the pleasure of being linked to).
Do Not Develop Your Own Online Payment System
No organization today builds their own word processing application, they purchase Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect, which are far cheaper and superior to anything that could be developed in house. Publicly licensed software designed for mass consumption is generally superior to applications developed in house primarily because of economies of scale. Why would an online invoicing solution be any different?
This is from a company who offers online payment systems. They continued to be negative, for 8 paragraphs, and basically tell me that no matter what I do, it will never be better than what they offer.
Seriously?
While I do understand their point of not needing to re-invent the wheel. At the same time I see the person who thinks they can do it better, should. Build a better Word processing app, google (docs) and apple (pages) did.
Our country was founded on innovation. Yahoo was a search mogul in the early internet days. Only an idiot would build their own search engine to compete right? I guess the guys at google didn’t listen. Think of all the companies who competed with the big dogs and changed the game: Google, toyota, honda, apple, blackberry, Adobe indesign, Vizo TVs, I could go on and on.
So don’t listen. Innovate, do things different. Be a game changer.
I wonder if anything is worse than stating the obvious. Like when watching a sporting event live, and the guy next to you has to constantly scream “Shoot the puck (or ball, or whatever sport)!!”
So somehow this guy clearly knows more about when and how to make the shot, than the guy on the ice (or court, or field)? I doubt it.
Its easy to sit back from a distance out of the game, in the stands, and think that if you want more sales, go out and get them. Want to make more money, get more projects. Duh.
Get in the game, Yes the generic goal may be to make sales happen, but take the calculated shot with good timing. That guy in the stands will yell at you one way or the other. Just dont be that guy.
This is NOT one more post about the tough times… you can get that negative talk anywhere. We all need some inspiration, motivation and ideas to move forward and upward in our pursuits. —- One of the most foundational contributions to my personal leadership & business development was being pressed by a friend to read “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber. A key principle from the reading,
“work on your business, not in your business”.
Translation: On good days most of us small business owners slave away trying to keep up with all the items that are going on. We run form one urgent item to another following the squeaky wheel axiom. On bad days, we moan, groan, have lunch with buddies and hope that our yellow page investment will finally pay off with the phone ringing in new work any minute.
Every day that you are in business that you don’t invest in working on the development of your business or organization is a wasted day. QUIT wasting your days! Take at last 30-60 minutes every day to look ahead into areas where you need to do something better, different, more efficient, etc. Build your business, don’t just work in it.
Start by picking up a copy of this particular book and reading — it will inspire you to grow!
For those of you who may not know, Sitepoint.com is a major website / publisher dedicated to the web design industry. We own several sitepoint published books and binder kits. Their articles usually feature the top firms and designers from around the world on topics ranging from business, design, tech, skills, and marketing.
A few months ago, Darren Hoyt wrote a not so small article on the Role of design in modern church marketing. We were very fortunate to be seen and interviewed as one of the top movers and shakers in cutting edge design of church websites.
How cool is that right?
Check out the article here:
The Role of Design in Modern Church Marketing
About 3 weeks ago we launched the new Maricopa Salsa Festival website. Designed and built in partnership with Travis at Mindbogl
Marty McDonald From the City of Maricopa said:
Factor 1 was awesome to work with. They work with you to understand the vision and goal of the website and then work hard to deliver on the wishes of the owner. For us, they created a web site that is user and visitor friendly to promote the largest Salsa Competition in the USA! Awesome company, awesome support and it was truly an awesome experience!
Color is very important in design and web design. Your color choices can affect the mood of your site, the functionality, and the effectiveness of your site in general. Many people tend to like blue, it’s a very popular color. But your favorite color isn’t always the most appropriate choice for your company, and there are many things to keep in mind when choosing colors for your site.
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we are shaking and baking around here last month. Just a few sites we really liked.
Noele From Crosswinds said:
Factor 1 was fantastic. They listened to my endless questions, offered suggestions and was always prompt in their response time. There wasn’t a single time I felt dissatisfied during the development process
Maricopa Salsa Festival website & blog. Design and built in partnership with Travis at Mindbogl