Level Orange

When looking for work late last year, I recently got in touch with a former employer of mine, Bob Lamons, and we discussed building out a site for his new B2B marketing venture, Industribrand (as in “industry brand”). Now, I’d worked for Bob for nearly six years at his ad agency, Robert Lamons & Associates and when that operation closed its doors, I moved on to publishing for several years. Still, I jumped at the chance to both rebuild a working relationship with Bob as well as flex some more of my skills in web design. As I’m sure often happens in the design industry, I was once again working for a former employer, albeit in a slightly different capacity.

Back in 1998 or so, I’d built the RL&A site (ads2biz.com) entirely by hand, one page at a time. Eventually, I retooled the site using one of the early versions of Movable Type mostly out of a need to make adding and editing content a breeze. Similarly, the Industribrand site would need to be just as easy to use, while still being powerful and flexible. Enter WordPress.

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GET TO WORK.

That’s right. If you have work to do and are super-concerned about getting it done, that’s the only practical piece of advice I can offer.

Lately, I’ve been catching up with sites that claim to offer tips and tricks to stay productive and make your workload a bit easier and less stressful. You know, the kind of stuff that falls into the Getting Things Done mantra (you do know GTD, don’t you?). Sites like Merlin Mann’s 43Folders provide some excellent insights and perspective on what it means to be a responsible, highly-productive worker. Designer types like myself can go to Fuel Your Creativity or Smashing Magazine and find out how to get better at this or easier ways to do that. The tech-savvy can hop over to LifeHacker or TechieBuzz and find all kinds of ways to get the most out of their computers and technology.

These sites offer some really great advice and can be a big help whenever you’re in a pinch, but it seems like everyone’s got tips on how to do stuff. Even when I try to skim my way through a lot of it, I’ve found myself more enthralled by reading about how to be productive than actually being productive.

And so that’s where my three magic words come into play. I still like to find ways to make my computer faster or some nifty Photoshop tutorials as much as the next guy, but as far as getting things done, I come from the school of “Don’t talk about it. Be about it.” So the next time you find yourself being not-so-productive, try not to look to others for ways to do your work. Just get to work. You pansy. You’re welcome.

A few months ago, I took on a logo project and was tasked with designing an identity for a new venture into “green” upscale housing development. The biggest selling point of these new communities was that they would be constructed in parts of the country that were not necessarily conducive to “eco-friendly” housing, due to climate and/or economical factors.

Since these projects revolved around energy-efficient construction using the latest technologies and building materials, and were to be marketed to young, savvy professional types, two fundamental qualities had to be conveyed: 1) the environmentally sound design and 2) a sense of youthful, almost-nurturing practicality.

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1. You don’t spend as much time developing quality ideas.
2. You don’t consider what might happen if you don’t have all the details.
3. You don’t stay late to get that extra little bit of work done.
4. You don’t bother to understand everything about the business you work in.
5. You don’t really care about the work you produce, despite your best intentions.
6. You don’t find anything in your company to get behind and throw your energy into.
7. You do take home an exceptional amount of money to not do all of the above.

Of course, these criteria aren’t exactly all-encompassing and don’t always apply to every situation, but if you’ve managed to hit all of these, then yes–YOU’VE SOLD OUT. It’s cool. We can dig it. Don’t be ashamed about it (not that you would be), and whenever you think about the choices you’ve made or the reasons why, you can kick back and just think about all the bank you’re making! Fantastic!

Yup, that’s where I’m working these days. Yowza!

Earlier today, I happened across this post at dannychoo.org where Len-Vesper goes on about his “internet battle” with PiQ and how the magazine is closing its doors. Well, while I don’t remember hearing about or witnessing any “battle” and the magazine actually closed down two months ago, that’s hardly the focus of his tirade.

Like many others, Len-Vesper is actually more upset about the messy transition from Newtype USA to PiQ and how subscriptions were handled.

As I read on, I considered leaving a comment on his blog post here, but since I’ve never written at length about it and I got kinda wordy, I just thought I’d post it here on my own site.

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Sometime in the last week, the site for PiQ Magazine, piqmag.com, went missing. And not missing in the “we’ll be back soon” meaning, but missing in the way that so many sites go missing when there’s no one left to keep them alive—someone just decided to pull the plug.

I can’t say it saddens me a great deal because I had expected it to happen eventually. In fact, I’m more surprised that it happened so soon. Granted, it wasn’t a huge loss, but it was largely made up of content that didn’t make it’s way into the pages of the magazine itself, and since the magazine closed back in June, I’ve been watching the site in hopes that it would stick around and be a small, lasting tribute to what we tried to do with PiQ Magazine.

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One of the biggest challenges of starting any new enterprise revolves around the most basic and essential factor of business–the name of your company. It requires you to know your own ideas and goals, as well as your target audience and customer, far ahead of time.

It can be tricky in the beginning, because not only do you have to take into account everything that you want to accomplish with your company, but you also factor in how people might possibly react to your brand, and maybe more importantly, how you’ll be able to process said reactions. If you present your brand and aren’t solid on what it is or what it means, you’re going to have a hard time defending it or having to explain it on a regular basis, so it’s best to choose something that you believe in and can stand behind.

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I’ve had these for a little while now, but thought I’d take a minute to show them off now that we’ve put down our first issue. Seeing this thing take off from a nebulous idea into a reality has definitely been an adventure, and this is just the beginning.

It’s like a wise man once said, “Shit just got real.” I think it was Martin Lawrence.

The following is a real e-mail. Names have been changed to protect the parties involved, but really, it doesn’t make it any less ridiculous. Enjoy.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

RE: Emails

We all receive more than our fair share of emails every day. Some emails are time critical and others are simply informative while some are simply a waste of everyone’s time to have to open and read. In order to streamline our efforts and prioritize which emails need immediate attention (and which are low priority), The Company is implementing the following policy rules regarding emails. Everyone is expected to adhere to this system going forward.

SUBJECT HEADER:

Any email which requires the recipient to approve something should be prefixed with “FOR APPROVAL [subject]”.

All emails that are time-sensitive should be prefixed with “TIME CRITICAL [subject].”

All emails that are news should be prefixed with “NEWS [subject].”

No one should be sending out emails without a subject header. Additionally, no one should send out an email that has an ambiguous or hard to understand subject header… that is simply poor communication and unprofessional.

The Company encourages the use of the exclamation “!” point as well as the down arrow “↓” for everyone using Outlook or Exchange as their email program or other programs that support those features.

MESSAGE BODY:

Every communication to a group or individual should always clearly include the following:

1. Who the email is directed to (place these individuals in the “TO:” field)
   1. These are the people who you (the sender) expect to take an action and/or receive a reply from.
   2. Any recipient of an email whose name is listed in the “TO:” field should know that the sender is expecting a reply.

1. Who the email is being sent to as a courtesy communication (place these individuals in the “CC:” field).
   1. You should not expect
      anyone in the “CC” field to take an action or reply. If you do, then their name needs to go into the “TO:” field.
   2. If you “-cc” anyone, you should EXCEPT that they will read it when they have time, or maybe never.

1. The message body
   1. Declare the type of email on the first line of the message body

i. “FYI” (meaning: For Your Information and no reply is necessary)

ii. “Action Items” (meaning: a reply is necessary)

iii. “Dear [person]” (meaning: addressed to the name or names of the persons who you are communicating with and you expect a response from unless otherwise noted by the “FYI” or “Action Items” markers)

1. 1. Clearly state the purpose of the email.
   2. Maintain direct, to-the-point communication (Keep it simple.)
   3. At all times, AVOID USING PRONOUNS (he, she, you, me, they, etc.) in your communications and requests. Instead, use the person or persons names (or project’s name or company name) when communicating.
   4. Indicate action items

i. If sending to more than one person, indicate which people are to take which specific actions.

ii. Include a deadline turnaround time for all action items

REPLIES:

Please think carefully when using the “REPLY ALL” feature. It is a gross waste of everyone’s time when someone sends and email and then another 2 or 3+ people say “THANK YOU!” to the entire group.

Replies should only include all the “-cc’d” recipients only if it is really necessary.

GENERAL COMMON SENSE: Emails should not replace face-to-face meetings and picking up the phone. The purpose of email is for communicating to individuals who are NOT in the office or who are otherwise unavailable to speak with. Email is for communicating to large groups when those individuals are NOT available for meetings because someone in the group is either traveling, out sick or has immediate scheduling conflicts. Email should not be used for ‘chatting’ within the workplace…. Especially when we are all in the same building now. There is no excuse not to pick up the phone.

Any individual who continues to abuse the email system and waste others’ time will be placed on corrective action. Remember: Face to face meetings and picking up the phone. It’s that simple.

If there are any questions regarding this system, please contact me directly.

Your attention to this important productivity issue is sincerely appreciated, both by me and your fellow co-workers.

Kind regards,

Owner of The Company