FIFTY YEARS AGO, graphic design meant two things: working in print and kicking out mind-blowing creative. Wait, make that three: insisting on your own vision. The brash antics of Madison Avenue’s “Big Idea” branding campaigns, personified by George Lois and his “my way or the highway” client dynamic, have long since been replaced by a […]
Godin is great
Originally published in March 2016 in Blog
A Seth Godin blog post called “Reject the Tyranny of Being Picked: Pick Yourself,” published in March 2011, made the rounds on the internet again this week. And with good reason. (h/t to Gapingvoid cartoonist Hugh MacLeod for reviving Godin’s greatest hits in his crunchy daily email). To recap, in March 2011: Twitter was at […]
Skills pivot
Originally published in February 2016 in Blog
There are a lot of folks out there doing a skills pivot on their own time and dime. They’re saying yes to mastering data science and website design, and no to obscurity and unemployment. They’re plowing through long lists of recommended readings, and using Darwin’s Origin of the Species as the manual to justify preparing […]
Worst Enemy
Originally published in January 2016 in Blog
Two weeks, ago, a parade of friends made their way through singer Emma Lee’s Toronto apartment, one of those over-a-shop spaces that surprisingly cavernous when you step inside. We were responding to a call: “I’m shooting a lyric video for my upcoming single ‘Worst Enemy,’” she announced via email, “and am in need of your fabulous […]
George Jetson
Originally published in November 2015 in Blog, Doodling, Illustration
Did you know that when the The Jetsons debuted in 1962, George was a Digital Index Operator at Spacely Space Sprockets Inc.? That job was funny then, but weirdly familiar now, like so many gadgets and scenarios in that great cartoon. If you really want to geek out, George earned his living pushing a […]
My blogging strategy keeps changing — and so must yours
Originally published in October 2015 in Blog
Back in early February, I wrote a blog post that created a tiny stir in my journalism circle. It was about how news is getting more “mobile.” And by “mobile” I don’t only mean smart phones (although, they are massively relevant to what’s happening), I mean that news organizations are now having to abandon their […]
Planet freelance
Originally published in October 2015 in Blog
I stick up for freelancers. They inspire me. They’re my tribe. I don’t know if what I say disturbs the order. When there are still more men making $100 million a month on Wall Street flipping real estate than there are Occupy protests, I’d say … probably not. Every day, we freelancers show up to […]
Blogging’s bad rap
Originally published in August 2015 in Blog
Social media has scattered blog communities and pretty much killed engagement in blog comment boxes. I’ve seen it on my own site. I average about one comment every six months. Those two facts alone, some say, are proof that maintaining a blog is (1) old school and (2) pointless. Those same folks say that blogging peaked […]
