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I bought a house in 1995 for $98,500. I was 22, and living in my hometown, Prince George. In my mind it was an investment; strangely, however, it never struck me that there was ...
It’s a September Friday and it looks as though the sun may make an appearance. I’m in one of those “places” where everything seems to be moving along pretty nicely. As such, I thought ...
I’m a bit of a fence-sitter when it comes to the Mac/PC “thing”. At home I run Macs, while at work we use PCs. (We also use iPhones.) There are things that ...
I’m a big believer in design firms taking on self-directed projects. They are a wonderful outlet and afford designers the opportunity to “own” something, which is rather rare in most client-driven projects. In fact, ...
In the past year we’ve been approached by six different agencies wishing to acquire smashLAB. Some were big players, two were regional firms, and the others were working as agents for other operations. Needless ...
Marybeth from Orca Communications might be an idiot. I’m not saying she is; however, her behavior is certainly in-line with the kind of idiocy that some PR firms are practicing. I know ...
It’s summer and I’ve been writing very little. (Lately the beach has taken priority.) A couple of weeks ago, Mark Dudlik asked me a few questions for a magazine he’s involved with called ...
A while back I posted Random observations - Part 1. This is a follow-up. As noted earlier, these are personal ruminations on patterns I’ve uncovered through my professional practice. Some are topical, while ...
I used to think that a great idea was enough. We’d carefully run the process and develop a strategy and solution to help solve our client’s challenge. After all of this analysis, exploration and ...
I’ve now been involved in some kind of creative activity for the bulk of my life. From design to running a business, I’ve found that certain patterns have emerged. Clearly there are ...
A year ago I started to write a book on creativity. In it I discuss how we’ve made this notion so mythic that it has become ridiculously exclusive. This seems rather silly, given that ...
Readers of ideasonideas are well aware of my bullish stance on digital and how I often reference large agencies as rather out of touch. This doesn’t mean I’m against the big guys (heck, I’d ...
Few designers haven’t tuned-in to Design Matters, Debbie Millman’s podcast that engages the brightest design minds in discussion. She’s a partner at Sterling Brands in New York, and recently released her first book ...
A couple of weeks back I took part in a panel discussion on Web 2.0, which quickly moved into a debate on the implications of social media. It’s funny; I don’t look ...
In art school I became friends with a colourful and interesting fellow named Ian. Although it has been years since we last spoke, I often think back upon his unique perspectives and the typically ...
This is an open blog post to Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada. Steve, I want you to sit down for a moment. I have a little request, and I think you’re going to ...
Struggling with too many projects, and not sure where to start? Wish you had a few tricks up your sleeve to make things easier? While the following is certainly not a definitive list, it ...
All of us in design, marketing, and advertising are used to change. It’s simply a matter of fact that the way we communicate evolves. You and I, however, know that we are all in ...
Ta-da! Welcome to the redesigned ideasonideas! The new “look” represents both a change in direction and a bit of a revised mandate. I’d like to talk about the future of this blog, our reasons ...
Design is such a multi-layered practice that it’s often difficult to define. That being said, I believe that the word “design” is increasingly confused with “style”. For example, to most “I like the way ...
Design is such a multi-layered practice that it’s often difficult to define. That being said, I believe that the word “design” is increasingly confused with ...
At the last moment, my wife and I decided to drive north and visit with family for the holidays. Flights were sold-out or seemed rather overpriced, and our little Tercel seemed hardly up to ...
At the last moment, my wife and I decided to drive north and visit with family for the holidays. Flights were sold-out or seemed rather ...
Text cut into the designer’s torso with a razor; a whoopee cushion featuring the inscription “style = fart”; a German Shepherd that lunges in to attack; and a ...
Introducing a new party to an existing design process can present serious challenges. A case in point: Two years ago, I was caught off guard. ...
As a studio matures, one of the nicest benefits is in the luxury of actively “choosing” which projects to engage in and which ones to pass ...
For the past months I’ve lived a dual-life, working part-time on a PC, and the remainder on a Mac. While there are things I like about ...
At smashLAB, we love making stuff. As such, we split our efforts between client work and personal projects. Our moral obligation inspired ...
Of my daily reads, Michael Arrington’s TechCrunch is one I most enjoy. It’s an amazing look into the new ideas (some great, and some “not so ...
Warhol wasn’t even close, but who could blame him? Could he have even fathomed a world of Twitter and Facebook when ...
Unveiling a solution is arguably the most harrowing aspect of the creative process. In our last post we talked about how we can work to better service our ...
If you live in Vancouver, you complain about the rain and the cost of housing. It’s easy game, as we all share in this experience, no matter how ...
Thinking back on colour coding high school class schedules to make them more usable (embarrassing, I know); I accept that design was fused to my DNA. To gain ...
Almost every morning, I spend $2.17 on a doppio espresso. The Starbucks on Water Street is just a short walk from our office, and as a creature of ...
Erik Spiekermann has a remarkable CV. His design insights are respected, his typefaces have become standards and he has developed design systems for global brands. In ...
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