Working with a very demanding client

No, this isn't a story about a client from hell.

It's a story about someone who knew what they wanted...and will soon be my wife.

At the end of 2008, I got engaged to a wonderful girl named Mary. As winter turned into spring, the euphoria of OMG! I'm getting married! shifted to OMG! We have a lot of planning to do!

In those initial discussion of what we needed to do, I said, "I can take care of the invitations" I figured I was qualified to do so, having done a little work in the field of illustration and graphic design.

Mary wanted me to start working on them right away. As soon as we had a date set I would start getting routinely questioned about when I was going to start working on the invitations. My response was always soon enough. The last thing I wanted to do was create something that was initially loved then fell out of favor over time. I know that I'm somewhat critical of my own work and start picking it apart when I go back and look at it months after the fact. I didn't want both of us to be picking apart the invitations when the time came to send them out. I also didn't want everyone to see them before they were sent out.
So, I engaged in what I'll call strategic procrastination.

Mary was also upfront about things she didn't want. She assured she didn't want to offend me but said that my work could be "cold" and "forceful" and "industrial-looking" and that she didn't want the invitations to have those qualities. She wanted something a little more romantic.

She also wanted the Brooklyn Bridge.

I proposed on the bridge and our reception venue is right in the shadow of the Roeblings' masterpiece, so the landmark had some significance in our relationship. I had no problem coming up with a Brooklyn Bridge image in the past, so I didn't object.

The other thing she wanted was yellow. Its her favorite color and she's having a yellow wedding. Yellow, can be a tricky color to work with, especially if you are planning on reversing type out of it. I'm sure those who remember the early days of the internet recall the awful white and yellow web pages.

With those things in mind, I put together a rough design that looked like this:



Mary was very pleased with this was heading, so we headed over to Lion In The Sun, a local stationary store specializing in invitations to discuss our printing options. It was here that Mary got to see firsthand how great letterpress invites could look. Thankfully, they weren't priced out of our budget. With the decision made to go with the letterpress, my all-yellow invite design wasn't going to cut it any more.

In the redesign process, I added a little more detail to the bridge to break up the large swath of solid color. We also made the decision to print in gold and blue. The gold was chosen because the yellow inks that were available probably wouldn't have reproduced all that well on the paper stock that we chose. We did, however, choose some yellow envelopes that looked very nice with the final printed piece. I also created a reply card that we would reverse letterpress in blue. (Blue is the secondary color in our palette.)

And here's the final product.





Needless to say the bride-to-be is very happy with the results.

And as luck would have it, so was the printer. I should have some news about the availability of this design after our wedding.

I should also mention if there is anyone out there looking for custom wedding invitations feel free to get in touch with me.

Salvation for Print

Print to Pixels, originally for Folio:

The iPad is coming.

It brings with it the opportunity to rescue print, or at the very least the companies that currently publish newspapers, magazines and books.

The new platform offers a pretty cool opportunity for publishers to create a product that combines the interactivity of the web and the narrative nature of the printed page.

Presumably, the user would be able to download an application or an individual copy through iTunes and begin reading right away.

If that's the case media companies have an opportunity to make a ton of money.

Traditionally, production and distribution of printed materials have been one of the biggest expenditures. Some of those costs were recouped by subscriptions and individual copy sales.

However, in the age of the internet people started reading content for free online and stopped paying for news. Leaving distrbution costs to be paid by a smaller audience and declining ad rates that were tied to circulation.

The transition from print to pixels could save magazines and newspapers that were left for dead. They have an opportunity to shed their 20th century distribution network and again get people paying for news.

The challenge now becomes producing enough interesting content to keep readers engaged. The internet and TV aren't across the room anymore, they're on the same device.

The only way of doing that is hiring lots of good writers, editors, designers and artists

Just Another Training Tool?

Apparently, my last post on running with headphones touched a nerve with some other runners. There are plenty of runners who listen to music while training and a few added their two cents.

Reuben Morley pointed out:

...The fact is, some people prefer running with music while others don’t. As long as your sensible there is no right or wrong choice. Music can act as motivation, inspiration or simply a distraction to get the job done (this does not mean we as runners are unaware of our surroundings)

For people like me who train a lot, music can break the repetiveness of running and make it more enjoyable.

As I said, in my opinion, there is no right or wrong choice when it comes to music. As long the runner is precautious and sensible, they should be fine. I love music and I love running. For more than 600 miles they’ve gone hand in hand perfectly. They won’t be getting split up any time soon. iRun to the beat.

I certainly don't want to begrudge anyone who is making an effort to get out and exercise. There are certainly worse things you could be doing than donning the headphones.

However, it still seems like a needlessly risky activity kind of like texting or talking on the phone while driving.

John Fenton shared his approach to make it a little more safe:

...I only wear my headphones when running on closed-access paved trails or on the treadmill. I don't wear them on roads or sidewalks. I don't wear them on real trails. And, on top of that, I don't wear them during most workouts.

...I also keep the volume at a reasonable level. Almost without fail, I can hear cyclists coming up behind me before they pass.

It's getting warm so there are going to be a lot more runners taking to the streets. If you're one of them, regardless of whether you have headphones or not, be safe.

I'll be out there training for the New York City Marathon, and raising some money for the Leukemia so say hello if you see me.

iGnoring Yourself and the World Around You

This past weekend I had the chance to watch a little bit of the NYC Half Marathon. I was blown away by the number of runners with iPods. I've run thousands of miles in my life and wouldn't need all the fingers on one hand to count the times I've run with headphones.

There are really only two reasons why I shun the portable music devices – they screw up your training and they're dangerous. (a view I share with my friend Blaine, who also happens to be a pretty good coach.)

There have been a studies linking listening to music and performance while running. The studies say pretty much the same thing – When you've got your iPod on, your pace will sync up with the tempo of your music. If the music picks up the pace, so will you. However, when the music slows down so do you.

Your body will tell you all sorts of things when you are running, you just have to listen. Heart rate, breathing, muscle response all give valuable clues as to how we are running, whether our pace is too fast or slow or if a discomfort is temporary or something more serious. When you have your headphones on you ignore these messages and run to match the beat of your music. That can lead to overtraining which causes injury or burnout.

Unfortunately, that's not the real danger to running with you iPod.

Runners with headphones tend to be oblivious to the world around them. While the dangers are probably limited to bumping into another runner or missing a turn on a closed road race course, most of us run in the roads between races.

You don't own the road. You're sharing it with drivers and cyclists. A runner involved in a collision with a car is going to lose every single time. Getting hit by a bicycle isn't much fun either, for the runner or the guy on his bike.

It is in the best interest of runners to be able to hear cars and bikes approaching. There is plenty of time to get out of the way when you hear a car coming. Of course, you have to hear it first. You're a lot less likely to hear someone coming if you're rocking out to your mp3 player.

Just last week I witnessed a runner with headphones head full speed into a busy intersection against the light and right in front of a car. Luckily the car stopped, but I'm convinced that had she not had her ears plugged she probably would have heard the cars coming, looked and stopped instead of being startled by a car coming to a screeching halt.

Because I'm probably starting to sound like an old crumudgeon, I'll cut my ranting and raving short. But for your training's sake and your safety's sake leave the headphones at home the next time you go for a run. Trust me it won't be that hard. You might even find the soundtrack provided by the city and mother nature quite enjoyable.

You'll also have an opportunity to learn the age-old lesson that running teaches us:
The challenge in front of me can be completed one step at a time.

You won't learn that lesson when you're zoning out, running with your iPod.

White House Seeks Artists' Comments to Improve Copyright Protection

From the Illustrators Partnership

New Copyright Czar begins Joint Strategic Plan to Protect Intellectual Property.
Victoria Espinel is the first U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC), also known as the Copyright Czar. Congress created IPEC by an Act of Congress. Ms. Espinel serves within the Executive Office of the President to coordinate with all the federal agencies that fight the infringement of intellectual property.

Ms. Espinel and her team are specifically tasked with formulating and implementing a Joint Strategic Plan to help protect the ingenuity and creativity of Americans by improving the U.S. Government's protection of the rights of intellectual property owners.

Your input is requested.
The White House is inviting your public input and participation to shape an effective intellectual property enforcement strategy. Please respond with your written submissions regarding the costs to you, your business and the U.S. economy resulting from infringement of your intellectual property rights, both direct and indirect.

This will be a 2-part process.
The first is to gather public recommendations by March 24. IPEC will then gather your input on the formulated plan.

Please be precise.
Include your name, city, state, and what type of artist you are. Explain why copyright is critical to you as a commercial artist, how infringement affects you, and what the U.S. government can do to better protect the rights of American artists. If your submission is about your economic loss due to infringement of your copyrights you must clearly identify the methodology used to calculate your losses or otherwise validate your infringement and enforcement costs.

Your submission will be publicly posted.
For this reason, please do not include in your comments information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal information or proprietary information.

Confidential disclosures.
If you have confidential business information that would support your recommendation or that you believe would help the Government formulate an effective enforcement strategy, please let them know by contacting:
Thomas L. Stoll
Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator
(202) 395-1808

Deadline: Submissions must be received by Wednesday, March 24, 2010, at 5 p.m. EST.
All submissions should be sent electronically via intellectualproperty@omb.eop.gov

More backrgound information is available here.

For news and information, and an archive of these messages visit the Illustrators' Partnership Orphan Works Blog

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UFOs in Brooklyn

UFOs have been spotted over Brooklyn.

Are they aliens from another planet? If so, Why are they here?

Did they come for the bagels? The music scene? To visit their grandmothers?

Or were priced out of Manhattan?