Freelance Web and Graphic Designer

Moving my blog site.

2012-03-03T06:02:00.001-08:00

This is my last entry on this blog. To view my current blog, go to http://www.frogg.com

Designers need to eat too...!

2012-02-18T12:52:00.000-08:00

Contrary to popular belief, Designers do not live on tea, cigarettes and stress alone (although we would die without those...) They occasionally need to work for money. In an ideal world, we would most probably be content to work on a bartering system, but life is not like that. We, as freelancers do not have a company paying our medical aid, we have to foot the bill ourselves. We need medical aid, because if we keel over from exhaustion, we are no good to you, nevermind ourselves. Our computers run on something called 'Electricity', which, as we all know, is expensive in this country. That is why we need our clients to pay us for services rendered. Our overheads may be lower than the average bear, but they are there, nonetheless.

I find it strange that people would pay thousands of Rands for fliers, yet they do not like paying for webpages, as it is not something that is tactile, it's a virtual thing, so the worth of it is considered less. Webpages are your online brochure. 24/7, and the hours spent writing scripting and converting images, is worth the money. That flier will be binned long before you update your website. Think of how things have changed over the past decade. Remember Yellow and White pages? That was where we looked to find telephone numbers. Nowadays, we Google them. People are online daily, Facebooking, researching. Remember the days of Encyclopaedia Britannica? Now most of our information is available at the touch of a button, the flick of a wrist (iPhone). Is it therefore not rational to spend a little more money on your website than you do on printed work? Send an electronic invitation or an ebrochure or mailer. It makes sense, it is immediate, and you are not cutting down any trees.

Create a classic web presence that can stay online longer, link it to your blog, and you can then write on your specials etc, without cluttering up your website. Keep your front end website clean and to the point.

A Sticky Situation.

2012-02-18T10:39:00.001-08:00

I worked as a 'Commercial Artist' in Zimbabwe on Pioneer street for a printing company, in what seems to be a lifetime ago. I had just spent a few months working as a silkscreen designer, and had landed what I considered a 'plum' job. Granted, it was in a dodgy part of town, where prostitutes hung on the corners of the streets, pretty much like bats in a cave. I was young and adventurous, and excited about working with 5 other designers in a buzzing art department. Imagine my surprise, when i walked into an abandoned Art Department - I was to be the only designer there, coupled with Mrs Robinson, the boss's mother-in-law who was soon referred to as ''Dragon Lady". She was the typesetter, receptionist, bookkeeper and the one person who made my life a living nightmare.

It was in the days of Letraset and Rotring pens, rulers, rubber cement and set squares. Those were our design tools. The only electric thing on the premises, was a state of the art IBM Golfball typewriter and a bromide machine. Artwork was not initiated by the oh, so fabulous and familiar 'dwang' of an Apple Mac. No, artwork was a PROCESS. And I believe I am divulging my age at this point...

You started your day with a cup of tea. Naturally. Then you found the off cuts of cardboard neatly stacked by the printing staff next to your desk. These were then primed with rubber cement and shiny label paper glued onto the board. You had to be careful to start at one end and using the long end of a set square you 'wallpapered' the label paper onto the board. Then you cleaned off all the rubber cement. ( A clever designer would prep about 10 boards to save time.) If the glue wasn't cleaned off propery, it would affect the quality of the artwork. Any air bubbles had to be pricked with a pin, and flattened. Then you were ready to begin. Depending on what you were designing, you would use a 2H pencil to lightly mark out the artwork size, using a ruler and set square. Accuracy was key. Then you would start your Letraset headings on a separate piece of paper, remembering that pencil marks were picked up by the camera, so the lightness of the lines were important. Main body text was typed on the Golfball typewriter and proofread. When all text and headings were done, they were cut out using a ruler and a scalpel, and positioned on the artwork area. Then, out came the rubber cement, the papers again 'wallpapered' and stuck down whilst using the ruler, set square and dividing tool to align and position the text in straight lines. Lo and behold if you stuck it on crooked!
Then you would clean off all the glue.

Any drawings and logos were glued in position and all lines and cut marks were drawn in with a Rotring pen. Authors corrections are always a nightmare, but in those days, we would have to pull off the stuck down captions and carefully reposition them without cracking the Letraset. Typing corrections were difficult, as one word corrections, sometimes in 6 pt would have to be pasted over the incorrect word, once the word had been neatly cut out of the stuck text. The final product had to have one depth.

The bromide machine was used for large headings. Each letter had to be exposed onto light sensitive paper in a darkroom and then developed. Great for larger headings.

Seems so far removed from vectors and pixels and the fact that you can 'add all printers marks in the PDF' doesn't it?!

Perhaps you'll appreciate those boring print jobs now...

Letraset

Rotring Pen sizes

Working at a College. Fun times.

2012-02-18T09:54:00.001-08:00

Working with a college is always an experience. As a contract designer at the time, and working both on and off the premises, one cannot help but get caught up in all the activities on the premises. Photographing all main events, Speech days, New Boys day, along with all the sports events, posting the photographs on their website, executing the artwork for the various programmes, church events, house dinners and cultural activities, posters, invitations, not to mention roll ups, more updating of the website. Life was hectic, and although the pay was not brilliant, one couldn't help but get caught up in it all. Working with the various departments of the College, I soon became adept at learning which of the staff members operated in a conservative manner, and with which staff member I had more of a free reign in creating more adventurous design work. Everything was always a rush job and in all fairness and not a little pride, I met all deadlines the College set me.

Working in an all boy environment was lovely. The boys were always well mannered and polite, and I often used their photographs on my design work. At first they were a little reserved and reluctant, but as time passed, I could see them all pour over the Mitre ( the term magazine) pointing out their or a friend's photograph. Laughing. Teasing. The next time the boys saw me wandering around with the camera, it was not unusual to hear them shout "Me, ma'am, photograph me!"

Six years I do not regret. They were great!

Why making your Website Mobile-Friendly is important to your business.

2012-02-10T02:46:00.004-08:00

How do you communicate on a daily basis? My guess is your mobile. Take a look around you. We are all reliant on our businesses and conduct our business via our mobile phones. You even sleep with yours next to your bed. Am I right? We are a mobile phone generation.

There is currently an market explosion for mobile websites overseas. The reason? Statistics have proven that in 5 years time, 85% of your business will be viewing your website on their smartphones.

How does your website look on your phone?

Go to your website and see how it looks on your phone. Pretend that you are a client and trying to find out about you. Is it easy to view your product/service? Most of you will be reaching for your glasses and enlarging text, waiting for images to load, get confused about where you are on the website.

The internet was originally intended to be viewed on a desktop computer, whilst having plenty of time to peruse the site, navigate from one place to another.

Your clients are more mobile than you think and use their smartphones to surf the net, whilst waiting in queues, collecting the kids from school, and looking up numbers.

Consider this:

25 percent of Americans use only mobile devices to access the internet (as opposed to desktops).  

By 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common web access device worldwide.  

45 percent of mobile phone users now have a smartphone (this was 18 percent two years ago).  

Nine out of 10 mobile searches lead to action, over half leading to purchase.  

Mobile coupons receive 10 times higher redemption rates than print coupons.  

70 percent of mobile searches lead to action within one hour. It takes one month for the same percentage of desktop users to take action.  

Nearly 60 percent of web users expect a site to load on their mobile phone in three seconds or less, and 74 percent will leave the site if a single web page does not load in five seconds or less.  

43 percent of local searchers on mobile devices physically showed up at the location, and 22 percent made a purchase.

Reasons to go Mobi

Content is condensed and easy to consume
Graphics are quick to download
Click to call, instant directions, click to email.
Higher rankings in search engines (mobile ready sites are getting priority on mobile search engines)

Can your site be adapted or do you need a new mobile site?

A mobile site will appear slightly different to a desktop version. It will contain fewer graphics and condensed text (Think of the mobile as a ‘mini me’ version of your desktop site. You will have a link to your desktop site on your mobile website, should the client want to spend longer on your website or read in more detail, however your most important contact information, email and product/service will be on the mobile site, and you will find that people will call you.

It’s easier than you think to convert your website to a mobile one!

A mobile web site does not replace your desktop version, it just creates a friendlier experience for your mobile visitors, although the look and feel of your desktop site can be maintained in a different format.

Get with the times and beat your competitors by going Mobi

Currently, only 20% of businesses have a mobile website, but with modern technology and companies like Boots, Tesco and Facebook, as well as mobi banking, isn’t it time you consider that a mobile website can make your company look progressive and up-to-date? Going mobi is the future.

For your mobi site mail me : frogg@frogg.com

DIY blonde.

2012-01-30T12:58:00.001-08:00

In a bid to save money - January is always tough - I decided- very wisely, I might add - to do my own foil highlights. A good deal @ 59 rands. How difficult could it be? Part, foil, colour, wrap. I have a degree forgawdsakes! Well, last night I struggled but sort of got it right. I had to kind of bend over, lean sideways, try see the back of my head... The highlights were a stunning platinum blonde, not even the hairdressers can get it that Colour. Great stuff, barring for a slight misjudgement in placement and lack of uniformity in widths. My hair looked just a little mottled and as I walked to buy my cigarettes today, I saw a hairdresser staring at my new blonde streaks in total fascination. Needless to say, after much inspection from all angles using mirrors and parting my hair in various places, I was too embarrassed to approach a hairdresser to fix it. How exactly was I going to explain that I had tried to do it myself? How was i going to bear the tittering and tutting when he saw the light ping pong ball shape on the righthand side of my head? Was I going to blame another hairdresser for the abortion that now was my hairstyle?! Of course not! I would have to do it myself and save face (not to mention hair...!) The good thing was that the colour in the various dabs and lines was great. It was just the stripes and dabs that were the issue...

So I sent my son to buy the dye, I did not want anyone to see a woman who had truly messed up her hair buying dye. THEY are going to know and snigger. When he returned I asked him if he could somehow fix it. Even out the stripes, make it seem like a really funky hairdo. He muttered that he 'would try'. I saw the doubtful look in his eyes. I didn't want to end up looking worse than the circus freak I was, so it was determined at a rather late stage, that I would use the highlight powder as a tint and not for highlights. Obviously, in that case, I wouldn't have enough to cover my whole head, so off to the shops he raced again to purchase some more dye before they shut. By the time he returned I had managed to cover three quarters of my hair with dye, and half my head was already a lovely butternut yellow. Not phased, (how bad can this be?) I put the rest of the dye on met head and covered it with plastic. Lovely and glam too! (not). Well, the concoction heated up and it felt like a thousand Matabele ants were attacking my scalp. The instructions said to leave it on for an hour, but because the second mix was put on 50 minutes after the first mix, I had to bear the pain for an hour and forty minutes, by which time I was climbing the walls with the itching and burning. ( I reminded myself that it took pain to look good).

Ecstatically I finally washed the colour off. To find out that not only was I blonde, I was a white blonde. Witch blonde. Doll blonde. It has been a few hours now, and I still scream when I see the ghostly apparition in the mirror.

Let's hope things look better in the morning... On the plus side, they say blondes have more fun, I say blondes can take pain and have a sense of humour. My son said that my IQ has dropped by 60 points...

A living loss.

2012-01-29T03:54:00.001-08:00

There are times in your life when you suffer a living loss. A death would be easier. To know that a person walks this planet but wants nothing to do with you, when what you would want to do more than anything in the world, is rectify the situation and you can't. That is a living loss. Through perhaps a misunderstanding or a misrepresentation of a situation, a harsh word when a loss of control is experienced, is no doubt the most bitter pill to swallow. It is a time for reevaluation of self, of idealistic, unrealistic expectations of another being or a loved one, and realisation that perhaps if you could somehow set it right, you would, but no matter how you look at it, there seems no way to explain or understand, because they choose for you not to find them. A sad, sad place to wander in. It feels almost like an unexplained suicide. Somehow from somewhere, a survival instinct resurfaces. A belief that if they have found the happiness they deserve in life, even though you cannot share it with them, that would be a reward within itself, in some bizarre process of reasoning. The hollowness inside must surely die, yet the missing continues. I will miss you every day of my life and although it is not a conscious thought, it is with me all the time.

I found a paragraph somewhere on the Internet - perhaps lyrics, perhaps just someone writing down their emotions. Somehow it rang true, because I saved it. I cannot read it without becoming emotional. Hence, I am aware that much healing still has to be done. This is the paragraph:

“I miss you when something really good happens, because you are the one I want to share it with. I miss you when something is troubling me, because you are the one who understands me so well. I miss you when I laugh and cry because I know that you are the one that makes my laughter grow and my tears disappear. I miss you all the time, but I miss you most when i lay awake at night and think of all the wonderful times we spent with each other; for those were some of the best times of my life.”

Textures

2012-01-22T12:04:00.003-08:00

My love of photographing textures

Work in January

2012-01-20T08:14:00.002-08:00

I've spent the past few days building a mobile site for Kirsten Printers in Louis Trichardt. Work on a mobile site is very different to that of a normal website - size restriction for one, and it needs to be basic - in essence you are doing double the workload. The nice thing about it is, that as long as you keep your phone numbers in HTML, they are activated on a touch screen by touch. You don't have to zoom into the website to see it, it is made to fit your smartphone's screen. Scrolling down is the norm. Samples of website and desktop site attached.

Aunt Bertha.

2012-01-09T23:40:00.000-08:00

We all have someone from our past, who affected our lives – not necessarily in a ‘mentor type’ fashion, yet who remains embedded in our memories forever. My aunt Bertha was one of those people. If nothing else, she developed my sense humour … She was an inherited aunt, and not family (thank God). I referred to her as the ‘crazy lady’.

Aunt Bertha used to live in the big house down the street. My mother, a seamstress, used to do her sewing, contouring her dresses to fit her tall, lanky frame. Aunt Bertha had a scrawny body, and a silver, permed hairdo. Never a hair out of place. She wasn’t exactly an oil painting, and its fair to say that I was secretly scared of her. Aunt Bertha did not like dogs, and we believed that she was the culprit who used to poison the neighbourhood dogs.

Aunt Bertha was old. I didn’t know how old, but she always looked the same, ageless.

I remember that she was married when I first met her, to an old man who always wore a felt hat and his collar up, although, for the life of me, I cannot remember anything else about the man, barring the fact that he died and left her the house and great deal of money, which she hung onto frugally. They never had children and she lived her life in solitary confinement, locking her doors and I think I was only in her house on one occasion. I recall that the house was filled with valuable antiques and was pristine, although she had no outside help and no visitors to entertain, which is unusual in Africa. The house was dark inside, uninviting, no music and I was told not to touch anything inside the house, as we would be accused of stealing. Aunt Bertha had a habit of hiding her cutlery under her mattress and sleeping on it, just in case someone stole it. She would count the pieces daily to ensure they were all there, and often accuse my mother of ‘stealing her stuff’. This would lead to horrible arguments, with my mother eventually showing her where her cutlery was, and that would shut her up for a while. Until the next time. My mother hated going there, so aunt Bertha either phoned my mother or came to our house.

Aunt Bertha inherited a car along with all her money although she could not drive. Once a week, she would ask my mother to drive her to the cemetery to visit her husband and other relatives or past friends who were buried there. (These seemed to be her only friends and the only people she could relate to. Dead ones. Come to think of it, perhaps that was the only way she could relate to the dogs … dead.) My mother would walk to her house and use the newly washed car to drive her and her pet ‘Freckles’ (‘Sproetjies’ in Afrikaans) to the cemetery. Freckles – her only pet. Freckles was a mottled chicken, who aunt Bertha loved and cared for. Freckles used to sleep in aunt Bertha’s bed with her. Freckles was the cleanest chicken in town, bathed daily. She used to spread Freckles little drumsticks and powder his privates. We would often see her walking down the road, on the way to the corner café, holding Freckles under her arm and pointing out all the birds in the trees to him. She talked to him constantly. Anyway, I digress, the cemetery trips were planned weekly, so off they went, with freshly picked flowers from her garden, and powdered Freckles.

At dinner, my mother would tell us how aunt Bertha would arrive at the cemetery, and walk between the tombstones, telling my mother about each person buried there, and who had affairs and who were just horrible people. Then she would get to her late husband’s grave, tell him all her news, and then tell him what an awful person he had been in life, and how badly he treated her and then place flowers on his grave. After two hours or so, it would be time to leave, she would put a few Rand (SA currency) in my mother's hand, tell her it was for her time, although she didn’t feel that she should be paying for the service, and then get driven home, my mother silently fuming.

When I asked my mother why she put up with aunt Bertha’s abuse, the answer always was; “My child, if I don’t do it, who will?”

I don’t know if aunt Bertha got her white coffin with brass handles and her two dozen red roses on, as was her desire, but I do know that she lies buried in that same cemetery with her husband, perhaps driving him nuts in the afterlife. Where Freckles is buried, I don’t know. My mother now lies in that same cemetery, but hopefully not too close…

Another beautiful evening in Africa

2012-01-09T21:38:00.001-08:00

Last night we had dinner outside. I suppose the thing I love most about Africa is the predictability of the weather. Sitting under the stars, eating by candlelight, watching the moon rise is so special. Good company, appreciative dinners and perfect chicken. There simply is nothing more perfect. Time seems to stand still, and the stars seem just a little brighter somehow.

I am looking forward to the year and the challenges it brings. Hopefully the home design business can sustain me for yet another year. I enjoy the freedom it gives me, working from home.

I seem to be blessed with mostly lovely clients, and I am grateful for the part I play in putting them on the map, giving their companies identities.

Yesterday was the start of the working year, and I was approached by Pecanwood College to update their matric results. Let's see what today brings...

2012

2012-01-02T00:35:00.001-08:00

The festive season has come and gone and I wish everyone a prosperous and healthy 2012. I am looking forward to the year and working hard.

Although I have had a marvellous Christmas, spent with family and good friends ( I missed the family who were not there) - the turkey has been cooked and eaten, the wine raucously drunk and it is now time to face the New Year with renewed vigour.

Take advantage of my mobile specials, as they will be changed by 15 January.
Let it be a good year for your business. Remember, you cannot market enough! Get your website updated by adding a new look and feel, even if the content remains the same. Changing a background or a banner can do wonders for your site. Do not hesitate to email me for a quote.

Tess.

Seasons Greetings.

2011-12-14T02:53:00.001-08:00

Websites

2011-12-12T21:26:00.001-08:00

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Confucius

Work consisted of:

New bespoke website
Flash sections
Email form

Work consisted of:

Total revamping of existing site
Photography of students and staff members
Photoshop enhancement
All banners and menus
Billboard promoting opening of new boarding house
Site in excess of 500 pages
Uploading on a weekly basis
Site maintenance for 1 year to date

Work consisted of:
New bespoke website
Corporate ID inclusive of logo, email signatures, letterheads, business cards, fliers, roll up, newspaper advertisement

A cats life.

2011-12-11T01:10:00.001-08:00

My little Ragdoll is the most wonderful cat, full of the Siamese playfulness, yet has the attitude of the Persian side. Too beautiful to be a boy... This morning he wanted to go play in the complex car park, a place we don't want him to play. There is a perfectly good garden out front with bugs and catnip. He was so cheesed off at me, that he found a new hiding place, where he thought he couldn't be found. Well, little Dallas, I found you! Isn't he too cute?!

Favourite Lyrics

2011-12-10T12:26:00.001-08:00

SHE WAS WAITING FOR HER MOTHER AT THE STATION
By: Shawn Phillips

The glow around your face
When you see the lightning rays
I know I'm very near
And I can hear the thunder

A woman of perplexity
A woman for eternity
A woman of the land
A woman for a man

I'm down on my knees
And I'm saying: "Please believe me"
It's hard to fall out of love, completely
It's harder to find a way to come back, discretely

To speak of things anew
To weep in quiet blue
Brocade upon your bed
Memories shouldn't fade, at least of you

A sceptor of ice and fire
The spectre of my desire
A girl child of such loveliness
A woman of my emptiness

A woman of fame, renown
A woman who kicks the clown
A woman of the land
A woman for a man

SOMEDAY
John Legend

As days go by
and fade to nights
I still question
why you left
I wonder how
it didn’t work out
but now you’re gone
and memories all I have for now
but no it’s not over
we’ll get older we’ll get over
we’ll live to see the day that I hope for
come back to me
I still believe that
we’ll get it right again
we’ll come back to life again
we won’t say another goodbye again
you’ll live forever with me
someday, someday
we’ll be together
someday, someday
we’ll be together

I heard someday
might be today
mysteries of destinies they
are somehow
and are someway
for all we know
they come tomorrow
for today
my eyes are open
my arms are raised for your embrace
my hands are here to mend what is broken
to feel again the warmth of your face

I believe there is more to life
oh I love you much more than life
and still
I believe I can change your mind
revive what is dying inside
and someday, someday
we’ll be together
someday, someday
we’ll be together
someday, someday
we’ll be together
we’ll be together
we’ll be together
someday

LONG NIGHTS
Eddie Vedder

Have no fear
For when I'm alone
I'll be better off than I was before

I've got this light
I'll be around to grow
Who I was before
I cannot recall

Long nights allow me to feel...
I'm falling...I am falling
The lights go out
Let me feel
I'm falling
I am falling safely to the ground
Ah...

I'll take this soul that's inside me now
Like a brand new friend
I'll forever know

I've got this light
And the will to show
I will always be better than before

Long nights allow me to feel...
I'm falling...I am falling
The lights go out
Let me feel
I'm falling
I am falling safely to the ground

My favourite Quotes

2011-12-07T01:10:00.001-08:00

“I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.”
― Marilyn Monroe

Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
― Marilyn Monroe

A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.
Leo Buscaglia

Change is the end result of all true learning.
Leo Buscaglia

Death is a challenge. It tells us not to waste time... It tells us to tell each other right now that we love each other.
Leo Buscaglia

Don't brood. Get on with living and loving. You don't have forever.
Leo Buscaglia

Don't smother each other. No one can grow in the shade.
Leo Buscaglia

“What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course”
― Marilyn Monroe

I believe that you control your destiny, that you can be what you want to be. You can also stop and say, No, I won't do it, I won't behave his way anymore. I'm lonely and I need people around me, maybe I have to change my methods of behaving and then you do it.
Leo Buscaglia

I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love is not hate - it's apathy. It's not giving a damn.
Leo Buscaglia

I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things... I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.
Leo Buscaglia

I've always thought that people need to feel good about themselves and I see my role as offering support to them, to provide some light along the way.
Leo Buscaglia

If I don't have wisdom, I can teach you only ignorance.
Leo Buscaglia

If we wish to free ourselves from enslavement, we must choose freedom and the responsibility this entails.
Leo Buscaglia

It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.
Leo Buscaglia

Life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized.
Leo Buscaglia

Love always creates, it never destroys. In this lie's man's only promise.
Leo Buscaglia

Love is always bestowed as a gift - freely, willingly and without expectation. We don't love to be loved; we love to love.
Leo Buscaglia

Love is always open arms. If you close your arms about love you will find that you are left holding only yourself.
Leo Buscaglia

Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.
Leo Buscaglia

Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations.
Leo Buscaglia

Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.
Leo Buscaglia

The easiest thing to be in the world is you. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don't let them put you in that position.
Leo Buscaglia

A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world.
Leo Buscaglia

Don't smother each other. No one can grow in the shade.
Leo Buscaglia

I believe that you control your destiny, that you can be what you want to be. You can also stop and say, No, I won't do it, I won't behave his way anymore. I'm lonely and I need people around me, maybe I have to change my methods of behaving and then you do it.
Leo Buscaglia

I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love is not hate - it's apathy. It's not giving a damn.
Leo Buscaglia

I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things... I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.
Leo Buscaglia

I've always thought that people need to feel good about themselves and I see my role as offering support to them, to provide some light along the way.
Leo Buscaglia

If I don't have wisdom, I can teach you only ignorance.
Leo Buscaglia

If we wish to free ourselves from enslavement, we must choose freedom and the responsibility this entails.
Leo Buscaglia

It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.
Leo Buscaglia

Life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized.
Leo Buscaglia

Love always creates, it never destroys. In this lie's man's only promise.
Leo Buscaglia

Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations.
Leo Buscaglia

Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.
Leo Buscaglia

The easiest thing to be in the world is you. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don't let them put you in that position.
Leo Buscaglia

“The Bluebird of Happiness long absent from his life, Ned is visited by the Chicken of Depression.”
Gary Larson.

HOW NOT TO BRIEF A GRAPHIC DESIGNER

2011-12-07T00:49:00.001-08:00

I found this somewhere on the web. It is extremely funny and too good not to repost. I wish some of my clients would read this....thanks to the innovative designer who wrote this:
________________________________

It is the graphic designers’ mission to subvert us with their subliminal design techniques. They force us to spend our hard-earned budgets on pretentious drivel, cause manic anxiety, and eventually drive us to random acts of violence. Graphic designers are the reason there are so many wars in the world. Of course, most of them are communists. So here’s a list of things you can do when briefing a designer. Just to redress the balance.

SUPPLYING COPY

When sending a designer a document, make sure it's been created in Microsoft Office – preferably a really old version like Office 95. If you have to send pictures, don’t send JPEGs or TIFFs, instead copy and paste your pictures into a Word document. Or better still, a PowerPoint presentation. Don't forget to make sure you only ever send images in low-resolution format (72dpi). That way, they’ll have to ask you for a better quality version. Then send them a completely different picture – but half the size. If you're emailing it, forget the attachment.

CHOOSING FONTS

Always ask for documents to be designed using Arial. Or Helvetica. If the designer tactfully suggests you be more adventurous, ask for Comic Sans.

USE OF COLOUR

When asked by your designer whether you have any colour preferences always insist that you have, and that it’s very important to you that they be taken into consideration. Then write down twelve random colours on little bits of paper, put them into a hat, and draw six. Your designer may suggest that you limit yourself to a ‘palette’ of 2-3 colours at most. Ignore them. They’re being lazy.

LAYOUTS

Designers always like to include lots of white space in their layouts. They’ll tell you that it’s because they’re easier to read that way, that an uncluttered look is more elegant and professional. Don’t believe them. The reason they do it is to spread the design across more pages, so that they can charge you more. That’s because designers hate clients. They also eat babies. So be sure to specify narrow margins and really, really small text. Get your money’s worth by requesting at least six or seven fonts (bonus points for including Comic Sans). Supply clip art. Ask them to include lots of pictures. They might try to dissuade you. Be strong. You got a GSCE in art, didn’t you? You know what you want. Besides, the client’s always right.

LOGO INCLUSION

You can’t include too many logos in a design. Or have them too big. When the designer asks you to supply logos tell them to get them from your website. If that doesn’t work copy and paste them into a Word document (see above). And if that doesn’t work send them a version which has to be cut-out, preferably set against a gradient tint background. Then, after your designer has painstakingly managed to cut it out, tell her you need it bigger. If you want a logo designed for you, supply a sketch on a napkin. Better yet, don’t supply a sketch – or indeed anything in writing. Just talk about what you want. Don’t be too detailed though. The less the designer understands what you want, the more changes you can ask for later. Never accept the first version you’re shown, or the tenth. Make him or her change the colour, the font, and any wording. Ask them to include a picture, and then remove it. Be sure to include bevelled edges and complex shadows – and of course, Comic Sans. At the twelfth attempt tell them you liked the first one best. I know it's mean, but designers are the reason we have global warming.

GIVING FEEDBACK

When giving your designer feedback use language that doesn't mean anything. Ask them to, "jazz it up a bit" or to, "make it more webbish". Likewise, when briefing use expressions like, "I want it to be really sexy" or "I’d like lots of nice graphics”.

SCHEDULES AND DEADLINES

Take your time when approving designs. There’s no rush. Take two days. Take six. Then, twenty-four hours before deadline, ask for two or three big changes. Insist that they’re really important. Ask for the designs to be resubmitted, on deadline, for approval. When the designer points out that doing so will prevent you from making any further changes insist on them being ready first thing the following morning instead. Then come in late and go straight into a meeting. Follow it with a long lunch. When the panicking designer eventually does manage to get hold of you casually accuse them of leaving it to the last minute. After all, graphic designers cause child obesity.

DELIVERING THE KNOCK-OUT BLOW

Follow these guidelines and your designer will soon start to feel undermined. The slow realisation that their advice – no matter how well qualified or experienced they are to give it – will inevitably be ignored will take its toll. Your designer will abandon all hope of influencing you. They’ll put up less resistance to your demands. Eventually they’ll just do whatever you tell them to, without question. You want that in purple? Sure. Six different fonts? No problem. When this happens it’s time for you to pounce. Express your disappointment at their lack of initiative. Tell them that they are, after all, the designer. Why is it that you’re having to come up with all the ideas? Tell them that the designs they’ve produced for you look cluttered and uninspired. Point out that you were expecting more in the way of input and advice. Imply that you think they’re overpaid for the service they provide. Tell them that you've decided to do your own layouts and design work in future, using Microsoft Publisher.

Mobile web special - December 2011 only

2011-12-06T02:57:00.001-08:00

When you have made the decision to go mobile, they can set you back thousands of rands. The reason is simple. Designing a mobile site is like starting from scratch, with symbols as navigation, although the copy and images can be resized from your existing site. It remains time intensive. Contact me for your mobile site. December only prices are: landing page R800. Each additional page: R300. Price includes 10 images, all links, email links. Forms carry an additional cost. Frogg@frogg.com or visit www.frogg.com for more info.

Looking forward to the party.

2011-12-06T02:02:00.001-08:00

I've been invited to Kevin's 50. It should be fun. Retro party. So I'm going as KISS' child star. Gourmet gurus are doing the catering, and knowing Richard, the food is going to be absolutely divine. I love fancy dress parties. It's a time to change your persona and dance in total abandonment to all those wonderful hits of the 50s, 60s,70s and 80s. Can't wait to gyrate. I just know those boys are going to put on Abba's Dancing Queen. I shall survive Abba. Putting black in my hair for the child star look. Hope it all washes out!

Life as freelance

2011-12-06T01:39:00.001-08:00

Well, no one said it would be easy. I have spent the past 15 years working as a freelance, creating websites, corporate ids, brochures, ads, billboards and more for small to medium businesses. It is always when the year starts winding down, and most families go on holiday, that us freelancers really feel the pinch until the new year starts in February. This is the time when our belts are pulled in and we dread monthend, when debit orders go off. Hungerstrike, here we come. We watch our salaried friends go ballistic during the Christmas month, splashing out their bonusses and going on exotic holidays. No sea nor margaritas for us mere mortals. We stay in and hibernate. We stare at the blank screens on our apples and start wondering how to keep ourselves busy. We like the pressure and being busy, busy, busy. So we Market like crazy and hope that someone, somewhere, needs work. Send me business cards, anything! Let me revamp your site while I have time, please don't wait until I'm hectically busy. As freelancers we spend more time on your work in December without doing the normal 'clock watching'. In a nutshell, you actually score. Roll on February and hectic times.

Working on Mobile Web

2011-12-06T01:07:00.000-08:00

I have spent the past month working on mobile web sites. The importance of having both a traditional as well as a mobile site cannot be stressed enough. Your traditional website is an expanded one, the mobile website becomes a 'mini me' version. User friendly for smart phones and loads quickly. It is predicted that by 2017, 85% of the world will be finding your site via their mobile phones, so GET WITH THE TIMES. I'm excited about both the fun aspect of offering a new added service to my clients, as well as overcoming the challenge of learning to design something different, to think differently...