Posted May 19, 2010 2:46 pm.
Filed under: lessons learned, mistakes, process
Tags: obstacles, process, unexpected
This morning before heading in to the studio, I decided I would try to run an errand that I didn’t get to last night. I left a few minutes before my regular departure time to compensate for the additional driving. The problem, however, is that I allowed just the correct amount of time for a flawless trip—a trip that doesn’t take into account unforeseen circumstances like weird traffic patterns or construction. So, as luck/fate would have it, I did indeed encounter a few obstacles. Literal ones. The first was a block of road construction just getting underway, funneling traffic down to just one lane. A cop was directing traffic by hand which slowed things down a bit more. Second, because my journey placed me in a different part of town (a much more populated part of town) from where I normally get on the freeway near my house, there were many more people trying to squeeze onto the on-ramp. I would say that it took 4x as long just to get on the freeway this morning. This shift in timing to a later freeway departure made a huge difference in the time it took to get to the studio. A few minutes makes a big difference in how many cars are on the road during the morning commute hours. It took me twice as long to get to the studio this morning, and I ended up getting here a little late.
One of the lessons that can be taken away from this experience, and how it relates to design (and just life in general, I guess), is that it’s wise to leave enough time for unexpected things to occur during the process of making or doing. Don’t factor in a “just-right” amount of time to get things done, if you can help it. Instead, it’s best to build in a buffer that will allow you to respond and adapt to any obstacles that might be thrown your way or mistakes that are made. And, as often happens in life, these obstacles and mistakes are indeed often encountered. It might also allow you to explore a different path that reveals itself during the process—a path that you were not aware of previously.
Posted May 10, 2010 5:53 pm.
Filed under: clients, field trips, process, school
Tags: d.School, design thinking, process
Friday was a rather eventful day, and I didn’t even have to step foot inside the office (hence the blog entry about Friday today). Before I left for the evening on Thursday, Christopher mentioned that we’d be heading down to Palo Alto in the morning for the Opening Day of the d.school’s new digs (Building 550, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford). MINE™, if you recall, recently completed a project for the d.school, which I, and many others in attendance today got to see for the first time.
So on Friday I met Christopher outside of Building 550 at 9:30am (I decided to commute by train + bicycle) and we signed-in and got assigned to teams. I had initially thought I was going down there to hear some introductions to the new building and to meet some people, but I soon realized I was wrong. (I should have known better from description of “d.school hootenanny” in the studio’s calendar.) I was now the newest member of “Team 7″ and was being directed to quickly customize my name tag before joining the rest of my team already underway upstairs. For the next 3 hours I got to experience a good dose of design thinking fundamentals in the form of a hands-on design challenge dubbed “Reboot Camp.” My team consisted of a Clorox marketing person, three Stanford professors, and of course little ol’ me, Intern™. Through a flurry of idea generation, rapid note-taking, strategizing, prototyping, testing, revision and reflection, we participated in a project centered around engaging 10,000 kids for 90 minutes a day over the entire summer, as part of a volunteer program. One of the coolest parts of the challenge was having a group of 5th graders come into the room to test out our prototypes and give feedback.
After lunch we attended a small workshop conducted by the editors of Ambidextrous, Stanford’s Journal of Design. There were about 10 of us at this particular workshop, and the goal was to redesign/rethink the magazine specifically for someone else in the room. We paired off and had 5 minutes each to interview the other person. Based off this brief exchange we then had 10 minutes to quickly sketch/construct a prototype of our customized magazine. I have to admit, at first I was a little nervous at being put in this situation with such a small amount of time to work, in a small space, knowing that I’d then have to get up and share it with working professionals. But what nerves did exist quickly dissipated as we got to work and I realized there was absolutely no reason to be nervous. Not only did it turn out to be a fun exercise, but we were given a boxed set of all 12 Ambidextrous magazine issues as a gift. Nice!
To top off an action-packed Friday, we all gathered in the large central hall toward the end of the day and were ceremoniously recognized as co-founders of the new d.school building. Tears were shed by many in the audience (not so much by me, though). Next thing we knew it was 5pm and time to make the trek back home. It was definitely an interesting event to take part in, and probably a bit of an atypical first full day of an internship.
Posted December 18, 2009 6:44 pm.
Filed under: daily happenings, details, process
Tags: balloons, holiday card, process, type
Every year MINE™ sends out a fancy holiday card to our many beloved family and friends. The theme of the cards change from year to year, but the premise remains the same. The cards focus on that transition between years—the point in which one year becomes the next. Out with the old, in with the new.
[more]
Posted November 24, 2009 6:47 pm.
Filed under: details, lessons learned, process
Tags: design, logo, process, sketching, thumbnails
After pages and pages¹ of sketches, we narrowed the logos down to 10 thumbnails or so. These sketches were then scanned and brought into Illustrator — their new vectorized home. Now in Illustrator, the process basically started over again: I would take one idea and modify it—hopefully generating dozens of itirations.² Christopher would periodically review my progress, give a Yae or Nae, some guidance, and I would keep clicking.
[more]
Posted November 23, 2009 6:35 pm.
Filed under: details, lessons learned, process
Tags: design, logo, process, sketching, thumbnails
One of the very first projects I worked on at MINE™ was a logo for CPA Lead, a marketing company. Coming in as an intern I was anxious to get my hands dirty in a real project. This project in particular was exciting to work on, as I knew that MINE™ has quite a history in designing logos. I was really curious to see how they went about the process, and to pick up on any secret logo design techniques.
The process went something like this (actually exactly like this:) I sit down with Christopher, and he explains the client’s industry and what their goals are for the logo. He talks about more general ideas (“They don’t want this.”, “It should look more like this.”, “Don’t make it cute.”, etc), and gives me pretty broad directions to work toward.
[more]
Posted November 5, 2009 6:59 pm.
Filed under: details, process
Tags: art in storefronts, everything is ok, neon, process
As some of you may know, two weeks ago saw the unveiling of the long awaited SFAC’s Art in Storefronts project — of which MINE™ was a part. The process of this project has been exciting to witness and to be involved in. Overall, everything came together smoothly: getting the brief; discussing possible options; landing on Everything is OK; creating and sending a mock-up; ordering neon; getting neon; preparing and installing Everything is OK in the space.
[more]
Posted June 8, 2009 3:30 pm.
Filed under: clients, process
Tags: book cover, book cover archive, chip kidd, client relations, process, rodrigo corral
One of the more recent projects we’ve taken on at MINE™ is to design the book cover for a New York Times best-selling author. Book cover design is a relatively new and exciting venture that we’re having fun with.
Beyond Chip Kidd and Rodrigo Corral, I was surprised to discover that there are a fair amount of designers whose sole design specialty is book cover design. While doing some research into the climate of contemporary book cover design, I stumbled upon a great site called the Book Cover Archive. It’s a great reference to survey what exactly is out there today. There were a few that really caught my eye on a purely aesthetic level, and a few that shared genres with the book we’re designing so I put together a pdf of my discoveries and sent it to Tim and Christopher for some broad brainstorming and inspiration.
With the client’s requests and suggestions in mind we’re thinking broadly about the topic, the goals of the publisher, and our stance as a firm with a voice and direction of our own. Nothing is off the table at this point and isn’t it until we feel content with the range of ideas and concepts that we start to narrow down the options. The cover is the initial hook, and the face of all the hard work the author, publisher and editors have put in. So it’s of the utmost importance that the concept of the book be communicated in a quick glimpse because it’s a fair estimate of just how quickly a possible customer will decide to pick it up or not.
One of the major decisions we find ourselves contemplating on this project is whether to design the book so that it sits well with books of similar subject matter or to separate it from the pack with something unexpected and possibly risky. At this point, we’re considering both approaches because we can – and because they’re both valid means of designing a successful cover. When it comes down to the decision – it will be whichever direction best suits the demands of those involved.
