7.11.2011
5 Tips for Better Collaborative Relationships
Humility: Open communication cannot occur when egos are competing. For designers it is easy to get frustrated when clients don’t listen or do not accept recommendations. But the quickest way to kill a relationship is to become defensive. The ability to control emotions at critical times, and maintain a level of detachment is critical for managing productive client/designer relationships.
Listening: Clients want to hear your ideas, but they also want you to listen. When relationships go sour often times its not the work, but the feeling that the client was not being heard. Although hearing is part of our everyday experience, active listening is a skill that must be learned. Active listening techniques include restating back ideas the client has suggested to reinforce the idea that you understand; being aware of body language that might communicate disinterest; focusing on the content of the conversation; prompting for details to better understand the clients point; and finally suspending judgment as to not cut off communication. A client that feels listened to is more forgiving during rough patches and will feel more comfortable providing information to the designer.
Questioning: The flip side of listening is questioning. Being able to ask meaningful and relevant questions not only prompts the client to provide more information, but also positions the designer in a lead role, not just a passive tactical role. The “Five whys”, simply asking “why” five times on any given point of conversation, is a simple technique that allows designers to dig down into the underlying motivations that are driving the client.
Feedback: The ability to give positive and negative feedback is a key factor in creating trusting relationships. Whereas positive feedback is easy to give, negative feedback can cause anxiety. When delivering feedback experts recommend that it is delivered in a timely manner, is to the point, is not sugar coated, is conducted in a face-to-face setting, and that the conversation should end on a positive note.
Transparency: Trust is achieved through understanding. By providing clients a transparent process in which they understand what is going top happen, when it will happen and what their roles and expectations are, designers take a step toward building strong relationships. Creative briefs, schedules, process charts and a charter that outlines the parameters of the working relationship all provide clients and designers a common understanding for moving forward, and can help mitigate misunderstandings.
Listening: Clients want to hear your ideas, but they also want you to listen. When relationships go sour often times its not the work, but the feeling that the client was not being heard. Although hearing is part of our everyday experience, active listening is a skill that must be learned. Active listening techniques include restating back ideas the client has suggested to reinforce the idea that you understand; being aware of body language that might communicate disinterest; focusing on the content of the conversation; prompting for details to better understand the clients point; and finally suspending judgment as to not cut off communication. A client that feels listened to is more forgiving during rough patches and will feel more comfortable providing information to the designer.
Questioning: The flip side of listening is questioning. Being able to ask meaningful and relevant questions not only prompts the client to provide more information, but also positions the designer in a lead role, not just a passive tactical role. The “Five whys”, simply asking “why” five times on any given point of conversation, is a simple technique that allows designers to dig down into the underlying motivations that are driving the client.
Feedback: The ability to give positive and negative feedback is a key factor in creating trusting relationships. Whereas positive feedback is easy to give, negative feedback can cause anxiety. When delivering feedback experts recommend that it is delivered in a timely manner, is to the point, is not sugar coated, is conducted in a face-to-face setting, and that the conversation should end on a positive note.
Transparency: Trust is achieved through understanding. By providing clients a transparent process in which they understand what is going top happen, when it will happen and what their roles and expectations are, designers take a step toward building strong relationships. Creative briefs, schedules, process charts and a charter that outlines the parameters of the working relationship all provide clients and designers a common understanding for moving forward, and can help mitigate misunderstandings.
4.04.2011
President Obama's re-election campaign kickoff
U.S. President’s Barack Obama’s re-election campaign just been kicked off, and it – again – makes clever use of Facebook as a tool for spreading the word and amass supporters.
My recent featured blog interview
Check out my recent feature on the ALFG blog! [Just click on the above pic] Special thanks to Tony Snipes of Art Lessons From God for this amazing interview!
10.05.2009
11.05.2008
I think we can all agree that Tuesday night November 4, 2008 was a historic night to say the least. That night proved to many naysayers that the United States of America would ever elect an African-American as their commander in chief. Words cannot express the energy that came over me when Anchorman Charles Gibson announced on ABC News that Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States of America. I literally fell off the bed and jumped up screaming. I truly believe that President Obama and Vice President Biden are gonna bring about the CHANGE that this country has been seeking. Check out the video!
Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.
Obama '08 - Vote For Hope from MC Yogi on Vimeo.
10.16.2008
7.25.2008
Good Typography is invisible...
I found this a few days ago, thought it was well put together. This statement speaks volumes to those that bastardize fonts and simply don't know how to use fonts properly.
7.22.2008
Typography video soooo awesome!
All serious graphic designers should know that in order to be good at what you do you must have a solid grasp on typography. This means knowing the many different parts of type: stem, x-height, ascender, bowl, serif, etc. etc. A designer must also know the difference between a serif and sans serif font. To those who have no understanding of type it may seem that design professionals are a bit "anal" about proper placement of fonts but its not that at all. As one of my professors taught me "Fonts have personalities and you can't just slap fonts on things and expect it to look good, because it won't." I've found this to be very true as I have developed a keen eye for type and design. I thought I'd include an example of both good and bad Typography so you'd understand where I'm coming from...
BAD TYPOGRAPHY :(
GOOD TYPOGRAPHY :)
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