It’s always good to have a good laugh, and staying in good spirits can make you more productive! …just don’t spend too much of your work day perusing these links ;)
Is there something you’d like to see covered on the CMD+Shift Design blog? A design or freelance matter, an opinion, a review?
Tell me your ideas, you can either leave a comment or enter them here.
I have been managed by a fair share of project managers and have acted as one myself over other freelancers on some projects — here’s what I have learned in the process.
A project Manager who isn’t clear on what they want or what their client wants can cause an other wise cut and dry project to go completely haywire. Before giving instructions on step one, it is best to know your plans on steps 2, 3, 4, etc.
And in those cases where something unforeseen causes the plan to break at step three? You need a contingency plan as well.
Starting a project with a half laid plan is like a pilot taking up a jet liner without a flight path – its stupid and risky! Know every detail and be ready to make decisions on your toes. phrases like “i don’t know” and “I’m not sure” should not be part of your vocabulary, lets try “I’ll have my decision on this detail in the morning!” or “this is the approach we are going to take…”
project management isn’t for the timid. You need to be able to listen to your clients and make key decisions in their best interest – you are the expert – they have hired you for your expertise! Too often PM’s fall into the trap of simply becoming a telephone between the client and the freelancer, relaying what the client says to the designer/developer/writer and leaving it up to the freelancer to attempt to manage the project, which proves to be impossible with a middle man translating all of the feedback and instruction but offering no real management.
If you choose to outsource you work and take on the role of project manager, be ready to fill that role — other wise, simply refer your client to hiring someone directly.
Like managing anything else, It is important to have an understanding of what your team is doing. Now I’m not saying that every project manager needs to be fluent in web development to manage a web team – but you should at minimum understand the difference between HTML and PHP, know a widget from a framework and be willing to spend some extra time educating yourself on the tools being used if you’re not familiar with them.
Don’t pretend you know and think your team will be fooled, they will not be, and neither will your client.
“In my experience, this lack of understanding is the single biggest reason why projects delay and run over budget, why expectations are shattered and why subordinates find themselves frustrated and overworked.” – Tod McKenna
“At my job I project manage a lot of our projects, and something that I have seen hurt projects is to personalize them. To look at the players involved and identify their portion of the project with them as a person or how they work.
This can cause the team, and project goals to get lost in stereotypes, or pre-supposed ideas.
(i.e “well they are just saying that because they are engineers, so they only want to see engineering as the priority”) I been on both sides of this as a team member, and a PM.
The key is to see each member of the team as representing project needs, this eliminates personal feeling and opinions from hindering the project.” – Aaron Irizarry
Project Management is about delegating tasks, not ignoring the work. There no better way to create a bitter and ineffectve team than by not putting in your fair share of blood, sweat and tears.
At an old job I would regularly be juggling client calls, emails, design and production tasks while my art director spent half of the day shopping online and reading gossip blogs.
“I have a PM / Boss that is writing a medieval “Lord of the Rings” type novel with herself as the main character. I know this because she does it in the office during work hours instead of meeting her deadlines. It’s awesome.” – James
Have you worked under a PM who let the project get away from them? Have you struggled to effectively manage a team? Leave a comment and let us hear about it!
Interviewed with a batch of other freelancers about the ups and downs of doin’ it on your own!
I’m flattered that the people over at ODesk Blog have included CMD+Shift Design Blog on this epic list! There are so many great links in this article, check it out!
I asked some of your to recommend some must have books and I’ve pulled together a great list! Check it out, time to start that summer time reading! :)
“Making and Breaking the Grid: A Graphic Design Layout Workshop” by Timothy Samara (Recommended by Brian Hoff.)
“Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click?” by Susan M. Weinschenk (Recommended by Jean Yi.)
A recent read – great, current book that compiles recent psychological research that can be applied to web design
“My So-Called Freelance Life” and “the Anti Nine-to-Five Guide” by Michelle Goodman (Recommended by Ashley Marie)
“Craft, Inc.” by Meg Mateo Ilasco (Recommended by Ashley Marie)
Not just for craft entrepreneurs! :)
“The Ultimate CSS Reference” by Sitepoint (Recommended by John Loudon)
“HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide” by O’Reilly (Recommended by John Loudon)
“Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability” by Steve Krug (Recommended by John Loudon)
“Beginning PHP and MySQL: From Novice to Professional” by W. Jason Gilmore (Recommended by John Loudon)
“Joomla! A User’s Guide: Building a Successful Joomla! Powered Website” by Barrie M. North (Recommended by John Loudon)
“The Zen of CSS Design: Visual Enlightenment for the Web (Voices That Matter)” by David Shea (Recommended by John Loudon)
“Typography: Macro and Microaesthetics” by Willi Kunz (Recommended by Kristine Johnson)
“Typography: Formation +Transformation” by Willi Kunz (Recommended by Kristine Johnson)
“Design, Form, and Chaos” by Paul Rand (Recommended by Kristine Johnson)
“Design Issues: How Graphic Design Informs Society” by DK Holland (Recommended by Kristine Johnson)
For the next installment in my interview series, here’s another kick ass freelancer, Krissy Gogel of 6bDesign in Baltimore. You can check out her blog and work at 6bdesign.com or follow her on Twitter @6bdesign.
I’m a freelance web designer, all around tech geek, and advocate for animal welfare from Baltimore, Maryland. In my spare time I enjoy playing video games, watching football, spending time with my husband and our adopted and foster pets.
I started making websites in ‘96 at the age of 15. I had designed a lot of ANSI/ASCII logos, menus, and newsletter templates for different BBSes, programs, e-mags and art groups, so making the jump to web design once the 8-bit scene seemed like the natural thing to do. I bought a book on HTML, downloaded Coffee Cup HTML editor and taught myself how to make websites. Since I knew some C from modding BBS software HTML seemed easy and I picked it up almost immediately. I will admit that my first few sites did look like typical mid-90s Geocities/Xoom/Angelfire sites with tons of “cool” bullets, bars, animated spinning gifs, and image reflecting Java Applets. I eventually got better and my websites began getting some attention, so started freelancing from the basement apartment at my Grandmoms house where I lived.
Freelancing was very fun at the time, but it wasn’t very lucrative. Once I turned 18 I made the decision to get “a real job” and move out of the basement. I got my own apartment and a part-time seasonal job as a sale associate at a local Baltimore independent music store called Record and Tape Traders. That two month seasonal gig turned into career that lasted for eight years. I held many positions at Record and Tape Traders, but the majority of my time was spent as a store manager in charge of training. When the independent chain of 11 stores was sold to an out-of-state corporation in 2007, I chose not to reapply for my job and decided to try freelancing again. I learned many sales, marketing/promotion, communication, time management, merchandising, and general business skills in that eight-year period which gave me an entirely new perspective on web design and user experience.
If you don’t count the Atari XE with the 5.5 in. floppy drive I had in the 80’s, I got my first computer, a Macintosh Performa in 94. One of my cousins noticed that it had a 28.8k modem and introduced me to the world of “modeming” and gave me the numbers to a bunch of local Baltimore area BBSes. As an art student, I was very impressed by the amazing 8-bit, 16 color graphic ANSI and ASCII on some of these bulletin boards. I downloaded as many art packs as I could find, created some 8-bit art myself, and ended up joining Unit – a local art group run by Beverly Guillermo. Eventually I traded my Performa for a 486 with DOS and Win 3.1 so I didn’t have to run Telix (telnet program) and Acid Draw (ANSI/ASCII Editor) through a DOS emulator. As the local underground art and BBS scene began to fade, I decided to take the plunge and get internet access so I could start hanging out on IRC in #ASCII and #ANSI where the “famous” 8-bit artists hung out. I eventually joined other groups: Remorse (a division of Acid), Mimic, and CiA while running my own group, Aspire.
I absolutely loved creating ANSI and ASCII art.
If I’m feeling burnt out I usually take a break and try to regroup. Just closing the laptop and heading downstairs to the kitchen for a cup of coffee can clear my mind enough for ideas to flow again. When I have the time, I’ll whip out my handy Moleskin and doodle for a while. That seems to help clear my mind. I get some of my best ideas when I’m not thinking about the project I’m working on.
When I’m feeling uninspired I rarely ever look to the web for new ideas. I prefer to look at items around my house and office instead. Books, magazines, catalogs, CDs, DVDs, video games, and the product packaging of everyday items offer me lots of creative inspiration.
I don’t really have any rituals to help me cope. Since I work from home, trying to maintain certain daily, weekly and monthly routines seems to help me stay on track. I’ve also had to make certain self-imposed rules about when I work. It’s very easy for me to catch an attitude when my work starts to interfere with my home life and takes away time that would normally be spent with my husband, friends, family and kids. And by kids I mean cats and dogs :)
Recently I have been freelancing for Blue Sky Factory designing and updating email newsletter templates, landing pages and banner ads. It has been very refreshing having “co-workers” even if my only contact with them is over the phone, through email, Basecamp or IM. But as much as I have loved my time freelancing for Blue Sky Factory, I would have to say that my favorite project to date has been Blendetta.com. Blendetta is a pop-culture blog that I designed and run with my BFF Amirah Rahim. We worked together at Record and Tape Traders years ago and we both have web jobs now. Writing for Blendetta has kept me in touch with music and pop-culture trends and gives me the freedom to write about stuff I like – not stuff I should write about.
I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons since I’ve been freelancing. I’ve learned that only about a quarter of my time is spent actually designing while the other three quarters are spent handling administrative duties. I’ve learned that although working from home is convenient, it’s not as cost-effective as one might think once you take into account the cost of supplies, utilities, hardware, software, etc. I’ve learned that freelancing to pay the bills is not a part-time job. I’ve learned that you need to watch the trends, experiment, push yourself to the limits, but must always stay true to yourself, what you like, and what you do best. But most importantly, I’ve learned that web design and development is not something that you learn and do – it’s a continuing learning process. You can never know too much, especially since the web is constantly evolving. So my advice to those considering freelancing: Always Be Learning. Find out everything you can about design, color, typography, freelancing, taxes, time management, invoicing, etc. Being a one-person company is a lot of hard work since you are doing the job of 10 people. The more you know, the easier it is.
Personally, I like the changes. People get outraged when sites like Facebook make changes. Just the other day, people made a big stink because Twitter added tiny in-house advertisements on profile pages, although it didn’t affect their experience. Change is inevitable, and in my opinion a good thing. When things don’t change, they don’t move forward. If the web in general didn’t change, we’d still be looking at those Geocities pages with the animated spinning gifs : )
Without question my favorite book of all time is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. To think that it was Lee’s only published book is quite inspirational. Knowing that reminds me that anything is possible as long as you put your heart and soul into what you love doing. I also find much inspiration in the opening credits to the movie. The contrast of the modern typeface and the classic images is amazing; especially considering the film was released in 1962.
Favorite HEX? #4E27C. I’m a huge Baltimore Ravens fan.
Do you say “font” or “typeface”? Font.
When setting live San Serif text, which do you choose more often; Helvetica, Arial or Verdana? I shouldn’t admit it, but I will – Verdana. I hope all of you Helvetica lovers still like me! : )
Favorite Keyboard shortcut? Alt-Tab. I always have 2,623 applications open.
Favorite internet celebrity &/or internet celebrity crush? Christian the Lion. Ever seen that video on YouTube? It’s absolutely amazing!
In the world of freelance, there is a special breed of client known as the “nightmare client,” some of the unsuspecting freelancers who encounter these clients have stepped forward — these are their stories. (OK, so I watched a couple Law & Order episodes on Netflix last night, so what?) ;)
Liz Andrade is a Designer/Developer
A few years back, I was on a project doing print work for a wedding photographer from the east coast. Things started out fine. I worked along side my art director through the establishment of his brand and worked on his business card layouts. We sent out digital proofs of the design and he signed off on them pretty quickly, mentioning that he was in need to get that right away! I coordinated with my print rep to get him quotes for printing and handed off the bill for completing the order.
About a week later I followed up with my printer to find out why the job hadn’t been scheduled for press yet and was told the clients payment had not been received. So, I contacted the photographer and he LOUDLY informed me that he’d “PUT a check in the mail 3 weeks ago!!!” (even though the job had only been completed about 8 days ago.) He said “I can’t believe I am still waiting! I should have my cards in hand by now!!! This is ridiculous!” I tried to give him the benefit of doubt, and believed that perhaps is check had been lost in the mail. I suggested he cancel the check and said “We could arrange a credit card payment now over the phone and I could get this on press for you tomorrow.” He accepted and gave me his credit card information.We ran the card, we cut the printer a check and by the end of the week the client had his brand new business cards in hand and all was right with the world again…. or so we thought.
2 weeks later we get a notice from American Express informing us that the credit card information that the client had given us (the card that he had used to pay off the cost of his branding development, business card design + printing, plus a deposit on marketing materials and website design.) was a card he’s swiped from his mother — and she was disputing the charges!
This resulted in many heated phone calls and emails between my art director, the client, American Express and our bookkeeper — It was a wreck, but eventually some resolve was met and I was just glad to see that client gone.
Until a couple months down the road when my boss strolls up to my desk and tells me they’d accepted him back as a client and was putting me on for project managing his work – UHHG!!!
Judy a Designer, Mural Designer and Photographer:
Right after I graduated from college, I was in the process of designing & painting a series of murals for a local Pediatric Center. Shortly thereafter, the owners of the practice decided to have several of the exam rooms updated with new paint, and wallpaper. They hired a local interior designer to take care of that end of the job. I had a few days break away from painting while she was there working on updating the exam rooms. When I came back, the nurses in the office pulled me into one of the exam rooms the interior designer had worked on. They said I just HAD to see it. Turns out Ms. Interior Decorator used these weird stencils on the walls…in every room she had painted! This room was by far the worst. Ugly dark circle splotches on the walls with creepy smiley faces in them. The nurses said they didn’t want to take any small children in there because they felt it was creepy! I wound up having to paint over any wall space she had stenciled on, because it all looked so hideous.
Niki Brown is a Designer/Developer
Not that much of a nightmare…but I have had clients completely dictate a design to me, or verbatim tell me to copy something. I changed the design within limits (as to not get sued!) and executed the project. Hey….sometimes you just have to do stuff to pay the bills!
Anonymous Designer/Developer
I took a freelance job for a satellite reseller business about 3 years ago. Their site, at the time, looked to be built in the mid to late 90’s, using FrontPage. Needless to say, a total revamp with in store. Because I was young and vulnerable, I gave them a really low quote. Also because I was young and vulnerable, I gladly took their counter to the already really low quote.
Long story made short, after a month of back and forth revisions on the design, we struck an agreement and development began. Near the end of development (online store included) the owner of the business stops answering phone calls. Followed, of course, by ending e-mail communication and then eventually even discontinuing his cell phone service.
So, a couple weeks of floating around and thinking that my design was so awful that I sent this business owner into hiding, I read in the paper that the satellite store that I was building a website for shut down completely and the owner was on trial for kidnapping.
Needless to say, I didn’t get the final sign off on the project and am still waiting for that design and consolation payment.
Drag..
Marie Poulin is a Designer/Developer
I agreed to do a “cheap” logo design for a friend of a friend who was starting up a company with a friend. I figured it would be a fun portfolio piece. I made the mistake of sending too many options, and they ended up picking a very obscure option that didn’t resonate with me at all.
I continued to send round after round of revision (I told them initially they would get 2 revisions), until they sent ME a very detailed, well-labeled drawing of exactly what they wanted, complete with type selection and horizontal rules. They liked how the “lines could extend across a webpage”… they didn’t see how what they had drawn did not speak at all about what their business was about. They were hung up on how they could use specific elements, without understanding their relevance.
I struggled with how to respond. So I executed a version that I felt was as close as I could get to their drawing, and I offered several more refined versions of alternatives, and tried to explain as professionally as possible that I could indeed polish the one they wanted, but that it would not be the one I would recommend, and gave a list of reasons why. When they got back to me they said something along the lines of: “We will not be proceeding at this time. Thank you for the time you have put into this.” Luckily I had half of the $ up front, but it was still peanuts compared to how much time I had put into it.
I have since vowed never to do cheap logo jobs for people. It is always the clients with the smallest budgets that do not understand the value of hiring a professional.
I first heard of Michelle Goodman’s Book “The Anti-9to5 Guide” (and blog under the same name) just a few weeks after fleeing my staff position for the freelance life when she did an interview with Kristen Fischer on FreelanceSwitch.com. I picked up a copy of the book, which gave me a lot of insight on what awaited me in the world of the self-employed. Michelle’s books are must-have freelance resource guides and they even manage to make you laugh out loud (don’t you love it when books do that?!) Check out The Anti-9to5 Guide and her latest, “My So-Called Freelance Life”
I was recently able to interview Michelle, she talks about everything from visiting the beach for inspiration to writing about gadgets to sock-monkey slippers! Check her out…
My burnout usually stems from overwork and lack of sleep, which is where I’ve been at this past week. So to recharge, I sleep, get outside with the dog, do a little home improvement or watch some Battlestar with my guy (we’re on season 3), read, pop in a movie, dance around the house to 70s hippie rock (you already know about this), or see friends. Basically, I step away from the computer.
Going to the beach, even for an hour with the dog, always helps tremendously. But for serious burnout, a cabin plus a couple nights of 12-hours of sleep does me right. Oh, and I always get inspired when I go to the bookstore, though it has to be an independent bookstore. It’s fun for me to just hang out there and poke around the titles for a couple hours. Not the business/career titles, but the creative nonfiction and fiction ones.
“Don’t be such an idiot!” I didn’t plan for the self-employed life. At all. I quit my day job, moved 3000 miles west, and decided to freelance while on the drive out (to California, though I’m now in Seattle). I was 24, broke, really freaking shy, terrified to network or speak up for myself, and really clueless about rates/contracts/taxes? It also did not help that I had the business and marketing sense of a Beagle, no contacts in California, and the skimpiest of portfolios. (This was a couple years before the web.)
Had I planned things a little better, I would have figured out how to get un-shy and networked my ass off before I left New York (I was working in publishing, for chrissakes! a veritable goldmine of freelance work! at least then…) I also would have built up some contacts and better writing credits, and maybe even socked away some cash before embarking on my excellent freelance adventure.
Okay, I’ll fess up. I really don’t shower before I start working. I do it at the end of the day, mainly because I like to exercise after work. And there are weeks here and there where I don’t change out of my pajamas for a couple days in a row—or bathe. But working in the clothes I slept in for two straight does make me feel like a bit of a recluse or mental patient (not that I have anything against mental patients). So I’ve been moving toward cleaning myself up and putting on clothes before I work, sometimes even running out for an errand first (gasp!).
This dressing in the morning thing is more of a recent development. I used to just put on a fresh pair of pajamas before working. As for the slippers, I really do work in them, only they’re sock monkeys, not bunnies.
What’s the work that gets your blood pumping, and what do you consider your more ‘bread and butter’ stuff?Blood pumping work = writing a column about a topic I feel strongly about—for example, how so many people marry for health insurance (those that can marry, anyway) because it’s so dang unaffordable or how getting paid in exposure as a freelancer is usually a bum deal. Also, having to do interviews on a fun topic that resonates with people, like tattoos in the workplace. But more than anything, I love writing more essay-style pieces for anthologies and kickass media outlets, which I haven’t done enough of lately. Oh yeah, and loved writing the new book, except toward the end where I was freaking about the deadline.
Bread and butter work = the more corporate work I do. Some of the projects are a total slog and you get through them by reminding yourself how much you’re getting paid, and some are surprisingly fun. For example, I currently have a gig writing articles for a tech company about their mobile phones. I get to mess around with the phone and try getting certain apps and tasks to work with it. And then I take screenshots of what I did and write a conversational how-to article about it. To me, this is a lot of fun.
That we’re hobbyists who are either independently wealthy or living off a spouse with a day job and health insurance. So many of us aren’t. I find it so inspiring that so many single folks make a decent living from project-based and other self-employed work—and buy houses and cars and raise kids and take vacations (okay, maybe not this year, but you get the idea).
I did a TV interview a couple days ago and the newscaster said, “I have a tip for people who want to freelance: Make sure you marry someone with good health insurance.” I’ve heard that advice given a lot, especially to women, and it pisses me off. Even though I wrote an article about how some couples hasten tying the knot (or tie the knot when they otherwise wouldn’t have) in the name of one of them not having to drop a wad of cash on health care. If I could game the system this way, I would too; I’m sick of paying thousands a year to health insurance companies who cover squat. But to imply that you have to be married to freelance is just stupid. And pretty insulting to those of us doing just fine on our own thankyouverymuch.
So that I end on a positive note, I will say I’m grateful that freelancing has taught me how to market myself and hustle for work. I know a lot of other freelancers who feel the same way — and a lot of employees who, sadly, feel paralyzed and terrified right now. I’m worried about the crap economy too, but I think I’d be much more worried if I had one employer as opposed to half a dozen or so, and if I wasn’t reasonably confident that I’ll always be able to find some project to do, even if it’s not my first, second, third, or hundred-and-third choice.
At my old 9 to 5, I would regularly put in a 8 – 10 hour day and then come home and continue to work until bedtime. I was on salary, so this gained no overtime pay — just made it possible for me to stay on top of the monstrous workload. Eventually I got totally burnt out and had to ban work from coming home with me at all. At first, I (and my former boss) expected this to mean that I wasn’t going to be getting as many things done. But what ended up happening is that I was less tired, less burnt out and less bitter during my 8 -10 hours in the office — therefor way more productive!
As a freelancer it can be really tough to keep a wedge between work time and personal time. They are so interconnected. Not only do many of us work out of our homes, but we ARE our brands. That can mean a lot of late nights and long hours.
Over the last couple weeks, I’ve been tackling client work during my regular business hours, then returning to the computer after dinner to hash out the final stages on the new site design — I’m exhausted! And If I wasn’t a total nerd for all things web, then I would hate my life. But I’m making an investment in my brand and to me, that’s worth the dark circles under my eyes!
We’ve all sacrificed some precious hours to get things done, it’s just part of the freelance life, but I wondered how far some of you would go – so I asked…
* Stopping work to go to the bathroom, eat a meal, feed the cat, shower, check email, (+ other such comparable things) or take a nap under 2 or 3 hours does not count as STOPPING work.
“I think I am a workaholic type. Once I get into my work and if I feel very productive I will keep working until I am exhausted.” - Athena Emily (Designer)
“I once waited so long to proofread an 800 page book that I had to proof for pretty much 40 hours straight, with my housemate bringing me meals. He was not pleased. That was 15 years ago.” - Michelle Goodman (Writer/Blogger)
“when I wrote my first book, I worked on revisions for three days straight to meet the deadline, which I’m not entirely sure I met. ;) The whole time I kept thinking about how an officemate once told me that Quincy Jones worked on some composition for 72 hours straight and had an aneurysm when he was done.” - Michelle Goodman (Writer/Blogger)
“the longest I ever worked was about 30 hours. Low pay content writing job when I was just starting out. I wrote a lot of content.” - Aijalyn (Writer)
“I started working on it at 8AM and stopped working at 10PM; only taking breaks to use the bathroom, shower, and eat. Even worse, I still wasn’t done after all that. I ended up doing the same amount of work the next day!” - Jake Mates (Designer)
“one day I had to be up at 7am to take care of something that took minutes and I don’t like going back to sleep once I’m up.. So I started working at 7:30am — and throughout the day I was working on new projects, making revisions, sending invoices to clients, sending orders to print and then I’m sure a lot of my time was spent being distracted on sites like Facebook and other spots – but I ended up just going all the way to around 4:30am which is pretty bad!” - Andrew R. (Designer)
“I had a huge deadline for a client. I’m a web developer, who was working from home at the time. The problem was that I had been really busy with my personal life, got a new girlfriend, was buying an apartment all this stuff. So 3 days before the website was supposed to be delivered, I realized that I hadn’t done anything… so from that point on, there was a crazy scramble to get this thing done. I first took a day straight… I mean some 22 hours. Then I slept about 5 hours, guess I wasn’t panicked enough at that point. After I woke up, there was no sleep for the next 48 hours… as I just finished the project for the deadline… and slept for 3 days after that ” - Gissur Simonarson (Developer)
“I have this friend, he is a businessman. I think he owns 3-4 businesses now, but the thing is, that after he launched a new company recently (an accounting firm) he needed some sort of channel to actually get to new companies that might possibly need some accounting service. So he asked me if I could do a web app for sending out ads. It had to contain an ad uploading option, creating groups for different firms, statistics about the clicks and whatnot. So, I’m the if-it’s-a-new-and-exciting-project-I’m-all-in type of guy. So I actually spent 26 hours straight behind my computer. Of course I took short breaks (15mins.) to go to the toilet and eat, but mostly, I just sat there and wrote.” - Karl Sutt (Design/Dev)
“When I first started freelancing, I had about two weeks where I would quite literally wake up, make coffee, work, pass out on the keyboard, wake up, make more coffee, continue to work, get a phone call from my mother to make sure I was alive, work, realize I hadn’t eaten in roughly 36 hours, work, finally eat something, and eventually pass out.” - Jason Lengstorf (Design/Dev)
“Longest spell was eight months at 80-110 hours a week working for a start-up marketing and promotions company into Toronto.The longest single workout was a 48 hour stint creating a web portfolio in a desperate time, not having any experience whatsoever with web, so basically learning and building as we go.” - Brad Choma (Designer)
Want to stay up to date with the CMD+Shift Design Blog? You can subscribe to this sites RSS Feed or get updates via email.
 |
|
|
Learn about how you can advertise on CMD+Shift Design Blog |
|
I am a designer of web and print, a blogger, internet nerd and crazy cat lady. I run a one-woman web studio in Seattle, WA.
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |