Design issues and more at Mark Boulton's site

Bookmark this site for reading when you are thinking about design and design issues. Mark's writing skills are high and the articles are thoughtful and full of information.

Mark Boulton | Information design | Journal: "Following my article in Design in Flight I’ve received countless emails to elaborate, in some way, on how to correctly design grid systems. It’s quite a complicated field and so distilling it into ‘Five Simple Steps’ has proven to be quite tricky, so much so that I thought I needed to write some sort of preface before we get on to the first part."

This is a site to bookmark: PhotoAttorney

PhotoAttorney: "You’ll often see a copyright “notice” – the familiar � or the word “copyright” with a date and name of the copyright owner - posted on these works of authorship. This copyright notice is no longer required for copyright protection, but it may stop someone from stealing your work. Also, it helps to post a copyright notice on a work because the infringer then can’t say the use was innocent. You can even use the copyright notice without registering your work with the U.S. Copyright Office, but there are many other reasons why you should register your work."

The Language Artist Launches

Blogger LaShawn Barber has started a new business helping companies understand blogging and the importance of watching blogs that may pertain to their industries. LaShawn is a consummate blogger and we wish her great success.

The Language Artist: "Blogs have had an impact on traditional journalism, politics, business — just about everything fundamentally important to our democracy. It was only a matter of time before someone created a whole new industry dedicated to the business of blog watching"

And if you want the real skinny...

on the still / motion camera convergence, you can get your copy here for under 3 grand. Yep, I think the future looks bright for these hybrid devices,

Still and Video Camera Convergence: "Still and Video Camera Convergence — Pervasive Motion Capture and the Future of Consumer Imaging Digital cameras have long had the capability to capture motion clips - with such limited quality and capacity, however, that the feature was little more than a novelty. The latest digital still cameras by contrast record TV-quality video — full-screen and 30 frames per second, up to the capacity of the storage card."

Blog and New Media tools...

Being able to capture high quality images and movies on very small units will be a big change in the delivery of content for news, marketing and information sites. I know that Rick Lee takes some amazing images with his little pocket camera, and soon there will be more of us "pros" carrying the little cameras everywhere. Here are a few that captured my attention.

Casio Exilim EX-Z750 Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review: "Announced just before PMA in February 2005, the EX-Z750 is the latest addition to the top of Casio's popular 'Exilim' line of ultra-compact point-and-shoot cameras. It joins models such as the Canon SD500 and Sony DSC-P200 in one of the most fiercely competitive sectors of the market and offers by far the largest feature set in its class, with a plethora of 'Best Shot' scene modes (30 in total), full photographic control, MPEG-4 movies, in-camera special effects and basic image editing and long battery life. So is this the 7 megapixel, 3x zoom compact by which others will be judged or an over-specified novelty piece? Read on to find out..."

Casio has added to its Exilim Card range with the super slim EX-S500. The 5 megapixel camera is 13.7mm at its thinnest point (excluding protrusions). Despite only having a 3x optical zoom, the S500 features Anti-Shake DSP and also has a 2.2-inch LCD. Movie capture is 640x480 at 30fps and there's also a Past Movie funtion, which enables recording five seconds before the shutter button is pressed. The stainless steel-bodied camera is available in meister gray, fiesta orange and nordic white in July (Europe) priced £299.99.

Quality and affordability. The Bell + Howell 6.0 Mega Pixel digital camera is housed in and aluminum, shock proof body. This offers the kind of durability other digital cameras can't match. 6.0 Mega Pixels with a 4x digital zoom means you'll be able to take sharp close up photos and crisp, clear longer shots. Also, digital video recording makes this camera extraordinarily versatile.

The first digital camera to carry Fujifilm's fourth-generation Super CCD HR (High Resolution) sensor, the FinePix F410. The camera, which has 3.1 million effective pixels, provides first-time digital camera users with increased resolution, sensitivity and color reproduction, and produces high quality images with 2,816 x 2,120 (6.0 million) recorded pixels. The FinePix F410 Zoom integrates full digital multi-media video and sound. A sharp 3X optical zoom fits into Fujifilm's stunning trademark square palm sized design. It's a great choice for low light photography with its 1 MegaPixel 800 ISO mode. The F410 records movies with sound - The camera captures AVI digital video with sound for short clips that can be replayed for friends and family at later dates. The camera can record 98-second 320 x 240 pixel movies with a 16MB xD-Picture Card, and 5.6 minutes for 160 x 120 pixel movies.

Yeah... No Kidding

Traditional advertsing is missing the mark when creating ads for men? Really? So men aren't either

• "gangbanger wannabees"
• "slovenly, stupid technophobes"
• "serious and insipid metrosexuals"
  

Wow. These folks are smart. (Not)

They also give us ads with so much streotypical crap that it is amazing that they sell anything at all. Most of us are finding ways to tune out the drivel, and they are having meetings to discuss why the drivel may need to be shifted in its viewpoint.

Clue... If you have a great story, a great product, great service and a public with an appetite for what you are selling, it'll work out. Just no more talking cars, trucks going 90mph over rocky terrain and guys who can't figure out how to "program a VCR". Hell, we don't even have VCR's anymore. And Tivo is easy enough for, well, even a guy.

Morons. (This meeting took place in the South of France... well... there ya go.)

Male-targeted ads found to be in no man's land - Yahoo! News: "Most ads have lumped men into one of two groups -- the soft, caring type known as 'metrosexuals,' who are comfortable with facial peels and pink shirts, or the stereotypical 'retrosexuals,' who remain oafishly addicted to beer and sports.

'As the world is drifting toward a more feminine perspective, many of the social constructs men have taken for granted are undergoing significant shifts or being outright dismantled,' said Tom Bernardin, chairman and chief executive of Leo Burnett Worldwide.

'It's a confusing time, not just for men, but for marketers as well as they try to target and depict men meaningfully,' he said this week during a presentation in the south of France where the ad industry is gathered for its annual conference."

I will be shooting Kelley tomorrow. She has never modeled before. I took this shot at the interview process as she was leaving. Simply standing in the doorway with open shade light. I will post some of the better shots from tomorrow to my Flickr account. 

Good Enough? That would be nice...

Sometimes you get too angry to even blog about it. After a very stressful 3 days, I will simply say:
To the McDonalds in my neighborhood: It's a good idea and policy to hire mentally deficient people and try to mainstream them. It really is. However, do you really think it is a good idea to put them on the FRONT COUNTER??? Hey... here's a customer retention tip for free... when you have 20 people standing at the counter and one kid who is abvously defeated by the entire system of pushing the freaking "Big Mac" button... get some help. You lost 12 customers today!!!

To the people who we refininaced with: You got my money and now I can't get any customer service. I want my escrow account to be added to my payment. Is that hard? Is it too difficult? You have sent me 27 pieces of mail trying to sell me more insurance, life insurance, health insurance, mortgage protection plans... And when I call for the bazillionth time to find out what is happening with my escrow I get an interminable sequence of voice mail instructions... and at the end I get my payment... WITHOUT THE ESCROW!!!

To the guy who came out and took an hour of our time to give us a bid on painting the interior of our home: You said you would have a bid to us in 3 days. That was 12 days ago. We have talked to your office staff and they promised us next day. Then we called you and you said "ooops, sending it tomorrow." Then we called again and left a message. Dude... we got another guy.
PS... to the 4 contractors who didn't show up after scheduling an appointment... we wont bother you again, and we will let our friends know not to bother you as you seem to be too busy to do what you say you will. Yeah, I know, stuff happens.

To the people who are whining about the economy and how tough it is to do business: If you do business like these people (oh and also my cellular company, the clients who don't respond at all after long proposals have been diligently delivered on-time, and the couple who thought that I should shoot their merchandise for free so I could get great shots of gift candles in my portfolio...)... get out. You don't get it. You will fail someday. Hopefully.

And to the people who keep sending me spam with catchy messages like:

"THIS WILL BE OUR ABSOLUTE ANNOUNCEMENT

We have sought to be in touch with you on a lot occurences and now is the time to respond!"

And

"Hi beautiful The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is the example of the eternal seductiveness of life.,"

And

Give all to Love; Obey thy heart; friends, kindred, days, estate, good-fame, plans, credit and the Muse, nothing refuse,

>> And then show the most repulsive porn photos that you can imagine<<

There will be a special place in hell for you freaks... Stop it. Stop it now
------------------------

I am making it a goal to do business only with those who value business. Really value it.

Argghhhh.... ("a little banjo music here.... ahhhhh.... happy again)

I am starting to do workshops for photographers. Just thought I would post this banner to show what we are going to be doing. I have taught before and really enjoy it. These workshops will focus on creative lighting on a budget, working with models and creating images with 'Style'.
You can visit the workshop site here.

Check out number six...

... I have no comment.
Mahalanobis

The tricky new division...

... between protectionism and innovation.
It aint 'cut and dried' as they say.
Read it all

Darknet: Story: The tech exec who broke federal law (and why the law is broken): "“This is precisely the kind of exciting consumer creativity that should be enabled,” he said. “I don’t claim to have all the answers. Should I have to go clear rights to use ten seconds from Rudy in my son’s video, or does it fall under fair use? Should I have to pay pennies for every second of a snippet? I don’t know. But I do know that we have to figure out a way for consumers to do something creative without breaking the law.

“To me, this episode was a great way to frame the question: Should copyright law permit this or not? Should the DMCA criminalize this sort of thing? Or should the creative community, high-tech community, and lawmakers get together to try to stimulate this kind of innovative behavior?"

Wonderful, yet disturbing interview: Mary Ellen Mark

One of the first books I bought as a budding photographer was "Passport" by Mary Ellen Mark. I was blown away. Still am. These images are so powerful, so technically well done and I wanted to recreate that power in my images. I worked exclusively in black and white, TriX, normal lens kind of things.

It has been interesting to me that this type of work is seemingly less seen in the magazines and only seen in the book arena.

This is a long interview, (hat tip Steve D), and you may feel a sense of loss as the work that Mark does seems to be going the way of the dodo bird as we keep looking for cooler shots of Paris Hilton or Trump.

Listen to it all...

The Connection.org : Photographer Mary Ellen Mark: " The photographer Mary Ellen Mark insists that 'reality is always extraordinary.' For more than forty years, she has been focusing her lens on the gritty, and often unattractive reality of people who inhabit the seamier side of society. Her first in-depth project took her to the Oregon State Mental Hospital where she spent more than a month living with female inmates.

Her decision to immerse herself in her subject matter is a trademark of her work. Whether it is the red light district of Bombay, or working with street kids in Seattle, or a homeless family in Los Angeles, Mark captures the intimate, the disturbing and the unexpected on film.

But Mark says that our interest in these picture is disappearing. All we want, she says, are the glossy, celebrity shots".

Is It Time to Raise Prices?

Read this. Print it. Read it again.

Is It Time to Raise Prices?: "There's no more important number than the one on your price tag, and nothing provokes a case of the cold sweats like the thought of raising it. After years of almost no inflation, relentless downward pressure from places like China and India on the price of almost everything, and comparison shopping at the click of a mouse, it's more competitive than ever out there. It's easy to see why fewer than one-third of business owners surveyed by the National Federation of Independent Business reported in February that they had increased their prices over the previous three months."

Damned If You Do

... Damned If You Don't

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Technology -- Snap judgments: "One of the benefits of digital photography – the fact that amateurs can take better-looking photos and doctor them using photo-editing software – is also becoming a bane. Photofinishing labs increasingly are refusing to print professional-looking photographs taken by amateurs.

The reason: Photofinishers are afraid of infringing on professional photographers' copyrights."

Trees and Suns

Trees and Suns
Originally uploaded by Wizwow.

A shot from the archives. I was going through some old scans and it caught my eye. Thought I would share this image.

I missed this earlier...

Nice to see galleries of great images.

PDN's 2005 Photo Annual Winners Gallery: "PDN's 2005 Photo Annual Winners Gallery

May 18, 2005

The PDN Photo Annual is a visual journey through the year, a glimpse of how the world looks and feels through the eyes of our industry today. From the heartbreaking images of war and disaster to the whimsical and absurd moments in everyday life, the power of photography can be seen in all the images presented here. We are proud to recognize the iconic photographers of our times and the photo students who will tell the stories of tomorrow. "

You need a better example of a "story"?

You know, if you have been reading this blog, that I believe that your story is as important as your 'brand'. I rather think it is more important in the art/craft world. It isn't about logos or flash or websites as much as it is about who you are and what you are about.

In a world that is enamored of digital right now, this guy's story really stands out. It is a differentiator of huge proportions. It is what the art scene is buzzing about. His images are important, no doubt... but the story is as important.

Think about it... handbuilt camera, farm in rural NY, no computer work (indeed, no computer) and correspondance by handwritten pencil. The story is fun to talk about, a bit whimsical and definitely a defining item. His camera is hauled around by an Ox.

How many other photographers can you name that have any kind of animal haul their camera around? What does that have to do with photography? Not a damn thing. That's the story.

Wired News: Civil War Era Grips Tintype Rebel: "Photographer John Coffer lives in a hand-built cabin in rural New York and makes a living taking old-fashioned metal-plate photographs.

For years, he's eked out a living taking portraits of Civil War re-enactors from the back of a horse-drawn wagon. Now, his distinctive pictures are becoming popular on the chic New York art scene."

I think this sucks...

... and you can quote me.
However, I understand. It is a rapidly changing industry and some ot the things we took as granted are now considered obsolete.

The trickle-down? Enlargers will become even more a rarity... even though there will be people shooting black and white and printing on silver paper for a long time. They will be 'artists', hobbyists and the eccentric. Kodak isn't the only one making black and white paper, so some vendors will be picking up some more business.

I am totally digital in the printing end, even though I still shoot black and white 4x5 and 6x7. After processing I scan.

Sad to see an end of an era, especially one that I was so intimately involved in.

Kodak to Discontinue Black-and-White Paper: "ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Ending a century-old tradition, Eastman Kodak Co. will soon stop making black-and-white photographic paper, a niche product for fine-art photographers and hobbyists that is rapidly being supplanted by digital-imaging systems."

What's Up with Michael Jackson

Uh... was he in some sort of legal trouble? Loved that Thriller video...
I never watch Jon Stewart, but his take on the trial is simply priceless. Caution: do not drink anything while watching this clip.
Crooks and Liars: "You knew Jon Stewart would have a field day with 24/7 and the aftermath of the verdict."

Going Visual... a podcast

Hat Tip: Steve D
I have been a big fan of the book and the concept. This interview may inspire you to get the book.

IT Conversations: Alexis Gerard and Bob Goldstein - Tech Nation: "Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with Alexis Gerard and Bob Goldstein, authors of 'Going Visual -- Using Images to Enhance Productivity, Decision-Making and Profits,' about the next generation of all our organizations. It's more than just the gadgets themselves. It's the fact they've become ubiquitous -- from huge companies to the everyday worker."

I thought it was amazing back then.

Wow... still relevant today.
... and at a price (free) that you gotta love.

The Cluetrain Manifesto — Entire Text Index Page: "the entire text* of
The Cluetrain Manifesto"

Tom Peters... when doing good enough - isn't

tompeters! management consulting leadership training development project management: "We have just agreed on these 12 rules for how we operate in Tom Peters Company UK. What would your 'teamship' rules be?

1. Respond to all requests.
2. Address issues quickly—don't let them fester!
3. Think 'who else should know this?'
4. Always tell the neighbours before you have the party!
5. No passengers.
6. 'Tell me if I'm talking a load of old cobblers.'
7. Share learning and feelings—positive or otherwise.
8. Show appreciation of others' efforts.
9. Take ownership! When something goes wrong, think, 'What can I do?'
10. Ask for help—don't suffer in silence.
11. Show up at team gatherings.
12. Celebrate success seriously!"

"Get to Know Joe Blog" and Jane too...

Trying to build a network of solid devotees, fans, supporters, evangelists, clients and client wannabes can be daunting. It can also be incredibly powerful. Just doesn't happen overnight, and we expect that in our "have-it-now" world. It takes work, consistent effort and strenuous sticktoitiveness to keep the effort going strong.

One photographer I know targets 60 would-be clients. He researches their work, awards, clients, articles - whatever, to make sure his work is right for them. Then he goes ballistic. Emails, postcards, signed prints, article reprints... whatever it takes to get them to consider him for a gig... or a knee to the face. Whatever. He gets remembered... and he gets at least 2 of these "top-tier" folks into his client stable.

What he doesn't do is a 'targeted' email campaign to 3500 designers on a list he bought in Florida. He doesn't spend outrageous dollars on "source-book" advertising that is old before it gets printed. He also doesn't spend time on clients who don't "get" his style. Focus, focus, focus.

He is building credibility and awareness among a small group of people, and his outcome produces jobs he WANTED to shoot with clients he WANTED to have. Ya know?

Media Guerrilla: Marketers, Get to Know Joe Blog: "So, while Joe Blog on the C-list may lack the reach of his blogger brethren, he still has a degree of influence on those folks who read his stuff. Even if itÂ’s only 5 people, those 5 people follow Joe Blog because they either know him, like what he writes or they share a common interest. Regardless, thereÂ’s a level of trust in Joe. And influence is a very powerful byproduct of trust."

As traditional marketing slips into the sunset...

Innovative ways of marketing show up. Hire an up and coming artist to sing a special song for your company, then show clips from the "music video" on TV to the demographics you want. Throw a logo in it and it becomes a commercial. Invite them to your website to download their own copy of the song while giving you permission to market to them in the future.
Slick
GAP

white jeans: tv

The Shape of Days and an interesting Post on Apple

This really is stealth marketing, and if it is as true as this post states, it will be a huge moment in PC users lives. I use OSX on a G5, 9xxx on my trusty G4, XP on all my PC's and Win2000 on my server... OSX really does kick ass (but my XP machines run pretty sweet as well.) ILife on my Laptop... oooooohhhhh.

The Shape of Days: "Think about it. Apple releases a developers-only preview release of Mac OS X for Intel. It’s a fully functional release of the operating system, not a beta or prerelease copy. It will work reliably, and it will run the vast majority of existing Mac applications unmodified via the Rosetta translation technology. But because this is a one-off developer release, it’s of very little value to computer owners. Future software updates, like the soon-to-be-released 10.4.2 update, won’t install. Existing Mac software will run, but it will run in translation, which means it will be frustratingly slow. But according to reports, Apple’s bundled iLife applications, major selling points for the Mac operating system, are already Intel-native and run at full speed."

Hat Tip... Steve D

Just take a moment to read this

...it's worth it.
A long shot in more ways than one brings a town to tears

Chris with her Skates

Chris with her Skates
Originally uploaded by Wizwow.

Off to shoot a fabulous assigmnet, so I thought I would post a shot that I like from my Flickr site. Enjoy.

First Sequel to Knock Knock... Free

At Seth's Blog: The first sequel to Knock Knock

If you haven't gotten your copy of this nifty little book (Knock Knock), you really should. Knock Knock will show you the value of well designed home pages. Making the home page invite your visitors instead of putting them off is vital. You can get that e-book here for $9 and it is instantly in your hands.

To Buy "Knock Knock" for only $9, use this nifty link!

Then get the free sequel: "Who's There" from Brandplay at Seth's blog.

Fryer's Blog in the Mountains

Another great link via Diva... She is right, so many great blogs. There are some fantastic blogs out there with information enough to blow away most traditional educational institutions

Fryer's Blog in the Mountains: "Forecasting Follies

Many times we need to bring a product into a new market and we try to guess the acceptance rate. It never seems to work out quite right. The trick here is to develop assumptions and monitor those assumptions closely. Be willing to discard those assumptions if they don't play out and exploit the ones that do. As you start to get a track record, the forecasts become a lot more accurate."

Marketing Legend Jay Abraham has a Blog

The top couple of posts are somewhat selfserving, but the guy is truly a legend... dig down a bit for some great ideas. And check it every once in a while for some great marketing tips and strategies.

The Jay Abraham Blog: "A foundational adage of business creation building is to “find a need and fill it”. It’s a simple concept that turns into more complex one as it relates to today’s super competitive, apathetic, ambivalent, over educated, consumer-oriented environment."

Hat Tip - the Fabulous Diva Marketing
Visit soon - visit often!

Right On NevOn

Here is a Podcast guy doing it right. Great content to listen to. This could really be an interesting medium in the near future... Like tomorrow.

NevOn: "The Hobson and Holtz Report: Podcast #40 - June 9, 2005"

Why You Need to Think It Through

I have been working with a photographer friend on getting him so more "buzz" and part of our strategy is getting him noticed on Google. We have noticed an odd situation: his site is showing few "backward links" indicating that sites are linked to him. Getting highly ranked sites to link to you is very powerful.

He mentioned that he is a member of two large associations that have sites for their members to be listed on. These sites have high page rankings and we were wondering why his link on those pages was not showing up in his ranking.

I investigate. I am appalled. The code for these sites was abysmal. On one site, the designer had decided to use Flash buttons for the link to the gallery lists. Google doesn't see the link in the Flash button and doesn't follow the link. Stupid mistake -- and for what? The sites also contained no metatag information. None. Page names were lame, code was just awful... no wonder.

The pages had high ranking, but I think that is because of the photographers typing the URL in Google and going to it. Wow... if you type the URL in Google you come up first... Yeah, and if I dial your phone number you answer... big deal.

So here is a large association, collecting dues and pointing to the website as a 'helpful' tool for the photographers when it actually, well - isn't. No photographer on either site is getting any help from the links to their site... cause Google can't see them.

These things can (must) be worked out in advance by using designers who understand what it is you are trying to do. You should know what you are trying to do as well. To have a site that does not meet the goals of itself is wasted energy and not helpful to the users, members or visitors.

BTW - I am not going to go into all of the silly things that were done on these sites, this was the focus of the investigation that we did.

How does your site rank?

Get this E-Book and Invite Your Visitors to Buy...

... whatever you're selling. If you haven't put your hands, on this fantastic little book, you need to do it soon. I have printed it out and written all over it. It helped us understand a few things about a site that hadn't been performing as we expected it to.

I feel that most of the effort in creating successful websites happen in the planning process. Wireframing, exploring navigation plots and delivering the information in the fastest practical form are so important these days. Seth talks about some significant user functions that are solid and practical. This is the best $9 you will spend on solid information today. You can click the link on the right side of my blog and get it instantly. Happy reading.

How to Act Like a Designer... Hmmmmm

Well, these are good ideas. I would add a digital camera, a digital voice recorder and a digital video camera. You could do all with one or two devices, but the ability to capture sound, motion, graphics and images can be very powerful to someone thinking, you know, like a designer.

How to Act Like a Designer

Dang, Brooks!!!

...I love that guitar!

Brooks Blog - a photographers blog

Check in with Say Leadership...

Lots of goodies to read and be inspired by. I needed this blog today.

Talking Story with Say Leadership Coaching: "When we were kids, we didn’t have to do the dishes or any chores on our birthday, and that was the very best thing about the day, no matter how extravagant (or plentiful) your other gifts might be. There was something deliciously wonderful about watching your brothers and sisters do those dishes instead of you."

When Small is Big

Seth's post got me thinking about photographers and thinking big while growing small.

A good friend of mine, and a terrific shooter, used to have a gig with a BIG magazine. At least one story per month, sometimes two. Editorial rates that weren't screaming, but they didn't suck either. Now BIG magazine isn't passing out any more assignments to photogs... they are out of money. So David has lost a steady, and very nice gig for at least a year or more. And that does suck.

What if David continued to shoot stories, then posted them on a well designed site? Not the whole story, just 4-6 images and a solid 5 paragraphs... for the rest of the story, and a downloadable screensaver maybe, make a payment of $4 or 5 to his Paypal. And if you are a magazine editor needing a story, what better way to get an idea of the great work that David does than to see this initial entry. An editor could login to David's Private area and see the entire shoot in gallery form and if interested, call David and buy the story. Of course the editor would have to create a login, and agree to let David send him his e-mail newsletter... get it?

David could, after having a significant amount of work there, start to license the stories to online travel magazines, get sponsors from Travel Agencies, provide stock images for travel writers, and even sell prints as wall art. With digital printing at an all time low cost, and no signs of going up, there could be tremendous profit there. He could even create his own book at some of the PrintOnDemand houses.

Add David's Travel Blog where he lets you know where he is and what he is shooting, he could have editors internationally calling him to "make sure you get these images" for a story they are working on, and designers seeing the images before they even get to the gallery area of his site. And sponsors paying to be featured in the BlogAds and AdSense programs.

Soon David could have his own travel magazine online, with an Amazon Affiliate program, Google AdSense, BlogAds on his Blog, sponsored stories and shoots, stock, print sales and, of course, assignments.

David is small... but thinking like this makes him big. Low overhead means larger profit margins. The web lets him grow to whatever size his ambition and skills can take him. Stay small, think big. I like it...

David, call me... we gotta talk.

Seth's Blog: "Big used to matter. Big meant economies of scale. (You never hear about “economies of tiny” do you?) People, usually guys, often ex-Marines, wanted to be CEO of a big company. The Fortune 500 is where people went to make… a fortune."

Go here and remember...

There was a photographer, designer and typesetter involved. Yep.

Mental Drippings

Fun Photography Friday

On Location With Rick Lee
Some fine shots of Roller Coasters

James...
I love Saguaros too.

Chromasia
Always knocks me out.

Walking around PA with a camera...
gives us great images to view.

Brooks always delivers
some fun images and insightful comments.

Sensitive Light
Mmmmmmm... smooth

Cattan
shows us some illustrations that are very cool

Just some distractions on a busy Friday morning.

Seth's Point is One of My Pet Peeves...

Seth's post today reminds me of my little journal I keep on customer service. Sorry, -- customer service? You remember customer service, don't you?

I do. I remember being treated well when I went to spend my hard earned money. I remember people actually wanting to help me when I had a problem. I remember when there was competition for my loyalty and my business. Every once in a while I am treated to that old-time service. Most of the time I am not. There are more reasons than I care to go into here, but the fabric of our society has some holes in it, and customer service is in one of the holes that needs repairing.

The Safeway store near where I live is one of the most friendly shopping places I have ever experienced. Great management. The Fry's store across the street - in contrast - is a miserable place with employees who prefer to stare into the void to engaging the customer.

And artists need to remember the customer experience is important as well. Some of the irritations that are easily avoided:

• Dull voice mail greetings
  I have heard some of the most dull and lifeless VM greetings in existance when calling photographers and designers to discuss consulting gigs or work.
  Make them lively. Let the caller know that you will call them back at a specific time, or if you are out for a short time, let them know. If you are on location in Montana shooting for a major annual report, put that in there as well if appropos to your situation.
• Really bad business forms
  Impersonal, dull, flat and difficult to read business papers shout that you don't care. You do care, don't you? I hope so... now show it. Brighten them up. Add images, art, easy to understand language... anything to say you care about your business and theirs.
• Horrible to worse web site
  I have seen sites with no contact information listed, entry pages inferring that I am a copyright infringing scumbag who they are reluctantly allowing to view their work, and by the way -- "they know who we are." Broken links, same news item that was there four months ago, same portfolio images as well, pages that say "coming soon", no idea as to what the photographer does, no "meet the photographer" info, bad writing and poor spelling... and the list goes on.
• Emails that go unanswered
  Email is instant communication. Understand that or don't use it. Telling me that you only check your email on the weekends tells me you don't care about my communications with you.

There are lots of things bigger and smaller in scope than those above, but in total they become your story, your brand, your total identity. Making things a little bit better on every front can make the experience of being in business more fun and make dealing with your business a delightful return to the time when people actually cared.

The point that he makes about pricing being cut to the bone and not caring about the business anymore is well taken in our industry, you know. So, in order to be noticed... to be the "Purple Cow", you do what everyone else isn't doing. Customer service is one of the easiest areas to shine in. You love what you do, so let everyone know that you love working with them.

Seth's Blog: "That said, my trip the other day set a new record. I chalk it up to the new 'We don't care, we don't have to' economy. In many segments, so much profit has been squeezed out that there's no room to hire and train great people. And there's not enough competition to harm the bad actors."

Permalink here.

Visual Quest has some Eye Candy for Y'all

One of the things I like best is finding site I hadn't been aware of and then just being knocked out by the imagery. I was looking at TypePad's blogging software for a client and found this treasure. Check it out.

Visual Quest: "Visual Quest

Exploring the visual medium through photography painting and crafts."

The hunted become the hunters...

Man, this is really a great post. You have to read it all.

The notion that large groups of people are being challenged by single entities who learn to do all aspects of production themselves. This has happened to lots of industries in the past, and now Media is in the crosshairs. Imagine: a free Blog, $400 still/video camera, free software for editing and voila... full service information outlet. Big outfits have cameraman, reporter, editors, sound people, producers and more. It is a model that has been around so long it is carved in stone. Too bad.

Stones have been known to crumble.

morph: TV stations must embrace personal media tools: "This is because institutionalized professionalism cannot tolerate the notion that if technology can eliminate one specialist, what's to keep it from eliminating everybody. It produces a defensive response, which is really is a dangerous place to be, because it induces occupational paralysis."

Hat Tip: Organized Individualists

So I'm it, eh...

I have been tagged by LaShawn and Kevin... here goes:

Number of Books I own.
Nearly 1000. We have boxes in storage and shelves over shelves of books. I love books. My kids have nearly 500 kid / young adult books. I have a real aversion to throwing away books.

Last Book I Bought:
"Call to Action" by Jeff and Bryan Eisenberg. It is an ecommerce book on user experience. Also bought Seth Godin's book "All Marketers are Liars" at the same time.

Last Read:
Just finished "The Autobiography of Igor Stravinsky". (Sadly out of Print)

Five Books that mean a lot to me:
1. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" - Robert Persig
2. "The Monkey Wrench Gang" - Edward Abbey
3. "Vision of the Annointed" - Thomas Sowell
4. "The Lord of the Rings" - Tolkien
5. "A Love Supreme - The Making of John Coltrane's Masterpiece" - Ashley Kahn

And there you have the list. If I had to do it over again tomorrow it would probably change... 'cept the Trane book.

Rick L - your'e "it" now.

La Shawn Barber’s Corner : Posting on Maney's Goofy Article

Thanks for the link LaShawn! Read this wonderfully crafted post on Blogging and MSM cluelessness. Beware to those who read Maney without reading Barber. If you are looking for an excuse to not Blog, Maney will give you some ammo. If you want to know the reality of Blogging, read Barber.

"Blogging is not the enemy. It’s one of the greatest things to happen to a people who already value freedom of speech.

Other bloggers: Don Giannatti, you’re it!"