I wanted to share my design process for clients projects, maybe its different than most. It works for me.

In theory my process is to "peck" at a design or issue. Peck until inspiration dies or until my design or ideas fall into a rut. Pecking allows me not to waste time on a bad idea, sometimes a bad idea feels so right at the moment. Later you look at that idea and its totally wrong, you forgot something or you have created more confusion.

1) Review documents from spec or emails from the client. Our specs... now that is something we'll talk about later.
2) Work on other things. I usually do some sort of bike ride or walk in the evenings. During that time I think relax and go over the spec again in my head.
3) The next day or later that night I will sketch out my ideas maybe its a quick comp in PS. Work for an hour or so maybe inspiration hits maybe it doesn't
4) Let those thoughts clear out, it might take a day.
5) Continue thinking about issues if any...
6) Work on the concepts further until inspiration dies OR IF YOUR DESIGNS START LOOKING THE SAME. At any point if you designs start looking the same, stop, do something else.
7) Usually after a couple days of pecking the right idea rises to the top and its easy to see the right direction to go in.

I have found pecking to save me alot of time and it gives me the ability to juggle multiple projects at once, keep the creativity mojo flowing.

If you have a design process let me know, I would love to hear how it works for you.

In the past 7 days, I’ve had several people randomly email me saying that a site called ShoeBoxed.com looks like Less Accounting. So I check out their site.... and well.... “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” -- I guess. OK, maybe they didn’t use our site as inspiration. Perhaps I have a twin out there, separated at birth and he (or she) designed ShoeBoxed.com. ….you decide…

Notice the colors, the logos, the layouts and even the ideas are similar.

I recently ran across a site with some unique copy (http://dna.co.nz), if you take the time to read it. Its quite refreshing to see a different message then the standard "we're an awesome web company" message. Enjoy.

We were recently contacted by the Colbert Report, a widely popular show on Comedy Central. Stephen Colbert, the show's star, has written a political comedy book and needed a website to publicize it to the masses. They told us, that we and four other companies had been selected to bid on the project. They needed a spec outlining our ideas, well, bottom-line I was late on getting back with them. They gave the project to another company, Electric Pulp (they built Truemors for Guy Kawasaki). I was sad and pissed at myself for being late. A few days later I received a package....what is it, I wondered...? Shirts! Sweet, well kinda of sweet. What are the chances they sent XXXL shirts? Not likely. I still wear my Colbert Report shirt, even though it fits like a sports bra with sleeves. Sometimes more is better. Beware of the picture below.



here's the site that Electric Pulp built link here

I recently found TryMango.com, its a site that helps its users learn different languages. Prepare to be impressed - I am fluent in English, "American", "American-Redneck" and a little "Ebonics". No really I took 4 years of Latin in high school and it’s been virtually useless.

Since finding TryMango, I have had the urge to learn some Spanish, so I signed up. The UI is perfect, so easy and simple; you can choose different languages to learn and which lesson to start. Even signing up was simple; all I needed was an email address, no username, no password etc. The account is only to track that lesson you completed last, so why include a password or any other fluff! TryMango is still in beta but its seems to be a very solid app and its free. Its free however I would pay a couple bucks a month to use it, shhhhh but don't tell anyone that. I am on Spanish Lesson 5 and learning only the important stuff - Vino rojo o vino blanco? ...Vino rojo por favor!

I usually don't pay attetion to banner ads but this one caught my attention. Its ad for ebay and the banner shows live data on a yahoo map. They also use your IP address to show you on the map in proximity to the car listings. Nice stuff, especially for a banner ad. Thumbs up Ebay.

Does this image make you WANT to see the dentist? I recently saw this image used in a dental office's website. I was immediately turned off by it. The dental office can be a scary place for many people. Why would anyone use such an unfriendly image?

Designers: be aware of your audience and what they need to see or what they DON'T need to see. Just because an image relates to the subject doesn't mean its the right image. Seeing a scary lady in a mask isn't good imagery. On that note, I'll go brush my teeth to avoid the dentist.