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Site Launch: SalmonSkolnick.com

January 2, 2013 11:09 AM | filed in: ,

Specializing in corporate and transactional law, litigation and dispute resolution, and intellectual property (IP), SalmonSkolnick is a boutique law firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, and Florida. The partners of SalmonSkolnick have extensive experience counseling startups, venture capitalists, and family-owned small businesses in all matters of corporate law. Take it from me (and a couple of bad experiences that I will cover soon): If you are starting a new business, bringing on a partner, or finding yourself overwhelmed by other legal issues, it is easier, faster, and more effective to consult with lawyers like Martin, Michael, and Sarah...

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Outing Forever 21's Sins on Fashion's Night Out

September 6, 2012 3:04 PM | filed in: , ,

September 6 is Fashion's Night Out, the industry's global initiative to "restore consumer confidence" and "bring the fun back to shopping." Fashion is a tricky thing: We all want it, but we can't all afford it. When I hear people talk about how expensive clothes are or how they get all of their wardrobe at Ross, I think of two films: First, I am reminded of The Devil Wears Prada. When Andy ignorantly scoffs as the magazine staff debates which of two similar turquoise belts to use in a shoot, Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestly delivers a great speech to explain...

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3 Great Things

September 5, 2012 9:55 PM | filed in: ,

Tomorrow, I will write about some not-so-great things -- allegations of questionable practices within the design department of a well-known major brand -- but today am focusing on great things. Six weeks ago, I gave birth (to a boy), and I was lucky enough to have all of this time free, just to get used to him and concentrate on family and home stuff. I did manage to do a bit of work too, but only for an hour or two here and there. I'm only just getting back into the swing of a normal-ish schedule, which includes regular work...

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Piece of the Fame

July 14, 2012 11:05 AM | filed in: ,

Jaunique Sealey is a former digital and social media marketing executive and the author of Piece of the Fame: Rockstar Social Media Marketing for Everyone. We have been working together for years on various projects, and I was thrilled to collaborate with her once again on the POTF book and related materials. Jaunique is full of great ideas and a total pleasure to work with. Piece of the Fame covers general information about how to get started with social-media marketing. It also includes case studies and interviews with experts in web development, social media, and online distribution (including yours truly...

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Spring is in the Air...

February 1, 2012 12:06 PM | filed in: ,

Even though we have a couple of months of winter left, the weather has made it feel like spring in these parts. Each year around this time (weather permitting), I get the itch to do spring cleaning, organize, and tidy up every part of my life and business to make way for a lazy, lounge-y summer. The past few months have been filled with so many great experiences and new beginnings: I have started a couple of side ventures, gone on a few trips with family and with friends, and worked on some fun projects with existing and new clients...

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Updates

October 20, 2011 5:18 PM | filed in:

I've been working on some exciting projects, both for clients and for myself. I am particularly jazzed about a new partnership with a couple of talented people, and I look forward to sharing more about that in the coming weeks and months as it develops. Before you decide that I'm pathetic for not having written in about five weeks, I'll have you know that any (tiny bit of) writing energy has been going into some private projects--personal blogs, stories, and even some music, which I haven't done in ages. I am grateful for the energy and inspiration I have right...

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Zipments LA

September 2, 2011 2:35 PM | filed in: ,

Last night, I attended the launch event for Zipments LA. The Grand Rapids-based company has create a system for connecting freelance couriers with local businesses who need deliveries made around town. This enables individual users to look for jobs near them, while businesses without built-in delivery can widen their reach.The CEO of Zipments cited a few core principles for the company, but the most interesting was a personal mission to make healthful food accessible to all areas. With Zipments, food from any location can be delivered anywhere else in the city... the implication being that there's no excuse for relying...

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Is Good Design Good Business?

June 4, 2011 7:40 PM | filed in: ,

Sometimes it's hard to convince a decision-maker that design is a good investment. For some, "adequate" is enough. This weekend, while in Las Vegas, I saw a couple of examples that may illustrate the difference good design makes on a product's perceived value. We started our evening at a smaller casino with mediocre design... from interior decorating to the restaurant logos, this place could definitely be described as adequate. The main lobby was akin to a Midwest hotel lounge, and the chairs were sturdy but not particularly attractive. There was no music.Later, we found ourselves hanging out in the brand-new...

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The Worst Tagline of All Time

May 4, 2011 11:41 AM | filed in: ,

I guess one could argue that the title of this post is The Worst Blog Title of All Time, but I thought something flimsy and superlative was appropriate to the content. A common obstacle small-business owners encounter is a desire to serve more than just a target audience, in the name of diversification (or, in stronger terms, "throwing a bunch of shit at the wall to see what sticks"). I think it's often considered a protection--if business wanes in one avenue, hey, you can always sell t-shirts!--and also sometimes an indicator of head-too-big syndrome or pure greed. "We're a plumbing...

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My Email is Down and Other Non-Emergencies

September 28, 2010 4:29 AM | filed in:

I have some exciting things in the works. An official announcement will come soon, but the gist is: Sugarsock is expanding, and the new team (yes, "we") will provide a broader range of services. To prepare for the change, I am transitioning from a basic ol' email server to the infinitely scalable and totally familiar Google mail--and with my hosting company, it's not a seamless process. My normally bursting-at-the-seams inbox has been a sad, lonely place for the past 8 hours (was that a tumbleweed?) while Google makes me run through some bureaucracy to finalize the change. Once in a...

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Consistency and Carrying a Theme

August 21, 2010 11:27 AM | filed in: ,

One pillar of effective marketing is consistency. Presenting a business or product in the same way serves two purposes: First, it repeats the image made on the viewer to increase brand recognition; secondly, it provides an impression that the business is established.  How often have you seen a business card that doesn't match the corresponding website... or office signage... or ad content? This is a common problem when a business doesn't establish its image goals upfront, and/or when it grows too quickly and needs to fulfill media requirements without adequate support to do it right. On the other hand, can...

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In the Works...

May 5, 2010 10:25 PM | filed in: ,

What a weekend! I just got back from a short trip to Chicago, which was well worth the effort to get there. It was a whirlwind excursion, but I was immersed in lots of great art (and art-scene characters) and simultaneously got to catch up with my friend, Didi Menendez, who I hadn't seen in around five years. Didi publishes Poets & Artists, and she was invited by Howard Tullman to view his renowned contemporary art collection. (Didi and Howard both are great supporters of the arts.) I'm grateful that she asked me to accompany her: I served as staff...

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Record-Keeping for Minimalists

April 5, 2010 6:11 PM | filed in:

I don't like clutter. Junk mail and empty envelopes are my least favorite form, and rubber bands, paper clips, and other idle office supplies are a close second. (Third: Recycling build-up. Fourth: Disorganized/outdated browser bookmarks.) There's a certain amount of clutter that comes with an artist husband--illustration board scraps, pencils, smudge stumps, pots of paint, masking tape--and fortunately, we have an office dedicated to that work, so we can close it off and live relatively clutter-free in the rest of the house. I find a lot of reasons to take notes (which can create clutter): • When a business or...

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Tips to Improve Typing Speed

March 21, 2010 6:57 PM | filed in: ,

I am always trying to do everything work-related faster, and somehow over the years, I've become a pretty fast typist. Every once in a while, I'll get a little obsessed about my typing, wondering how fast I am and whether it's pretty accurate. There are tons of testing sites around the web that assess you based on raw words within a minute, the completion of an essay excerpt, or a block of text within a certain block of time. You may find that you're better at one than the other: Succeeding at a raw-word method or flailing on an essay...

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Better Google Rank: Tip #1

March 10, 2010 10:22 AM | filed in: ,

A lot of people have built themselves websites for personal or small-business use, but they don't understand how to get users there.Have you ever Googled yourself and tried to figure out why some old webpage shows up high in the search results? Are search engines a mystery to you?(Side note: I am concentrating on Google, but the same principles apply to other major search engines. Although people do use Yahoo, Bing, AOL, Ask, and ISP search tools, Google covers the overwhelming share of online searches. Bing is moving up a little, and sadly, Yahoo is dwindling away. I say "sadly...

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The Importance of Brand, by Mazda

February 23, 2010 11:19 AM | filed in: ,

Automaker Mazda's website has a good article about rebuilding their brand and making it globally consistent. In addition to addressing their own company's efforts, the piece offers solid general information about the importance of branding and what it can mean to your business. Namely, personality and emotional connection with consumers (through the je ne sais quoi of strong branding) distinguishes one competitor from another, even when their products and services are identical. Mazda is a gigantic corporation, but this is a good perspective for individuals and small businesses who otherwise might find themselves awash in a sea of similar providers...

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Cleaning Up to Up Productivity

February 22, 2010 10:42 AM | filed in: , ,

When I sit down to work, I need a clean desktop: The physical desk where I'm sitting should be uncluttered, and the virtual desktop of my computer should be neat and organized. Clutter in all its forms paralyzes me, so when it accumulates, I find that taking a few minutes to purge it makes for faster, easier work. One form of clutter I've been neglecting for months is this website. While I make my living by organizing and presenting web content for others, I always kind of slapped something on this domain as a Band-Aid instead of treating myself like...

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Summary of Lighting Seminar

November 15, 2009 11:07 AM | filed in: ,

So, yesterday, I went to a lighting seminar presented by Holly Randall. She's an adult photographer--which I am not interested in being, though I'm not a prude--but since she takes photos of people on a full-time basis, her knowledge of lighting (models) is applicable to the fashion and portrait photography I like to do. This seminar was presented as part of Glamourcon, a small convention that takes place twice a year in Chicago and Los Angeles. Based on the descriptions provided on the website, I thought it would be a mix of bikini models, classic pin-ups, and Playboy types, an...

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Are You a Label-Lover?

October 28, 2009 7:36 AM | filed in:

I recently mentioned having watched Schmatta: Rags to Riches, a documentary about NYC's Garment District. One segment of the movie focused on high-end designers who shot to fame in the '80s--namely, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren--and created a consumer frenzy for any products labeled with their brands. Through advertising, while Ralph Lauren drove his New England fantasyland down the throats of buyers, Hilfiger relied on his red-white-and-blue graphics to make his mark. (And geez, who doesn't remember when Hilfiger was everywhere... until it saturated the market and became a cheaper brand?)Anyway, AIGA has an interesting--albeit poorly titled--web article ("Naming Names...

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A Good Way to Get Traffic

October 22, 2009 4:07 PM | filed in: , , , ,

So, for probably about a year, I've been seeing people using post images they created with the "Mad Men Yourself" feature at AE.com. Since its inception, the avatar generator has been improved with added features, and some of the most recent images I've seen include new backgrounds and larger sizes. I thought I'd check it out--and I'm not even a Mad Men-watcher. I've never even seen the show, but I have heard from many people that it's a great one.A+E has made a good decision in developing this lightweight app, because it's fun and allows people to easily make something...

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Five Signs a Client May Be Driving Your Project Down the Toilet

October 21, 2009 6:58 AM | filed in: , ,

Designers and other creatives are often stereotyped as lazy slackers with diva attitudes .There's a new commercial (for Intuit's build-your-own-website service) that shows one dissatisfied customer saying, "I hired a designer to build my website... five months ago..." with a been-there-I-can-relate overtone. Strangely, though, it's been my experience that many times, clients have a hard time doing their part to finish the project. I don't know if it's a mental block, laziness, or lack of real need to complete the work (underlying satisfaction/familiarity with the status quo), but it's clear that some clients are driven to complete a project with...

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Adjusting to Market Changes

October 20, 2009 3:19 PM | filed in: ,

We all know that change is the only constant. This law applies to our relationships, bodies, and business lives: Friendships (and loveships) wax and wane, our health fluctuates, and industries come and go. We can keep relationships happy by improving our communication skills and working to establish friendship "rules" and try to satisfy the needs of others. We can learn more about our physical selves to keep our bodies strong and vibrant, and in times of illness, outside influences (doctors, medicines) can help fix things. In the same way, we can evolve to survive tight financial markets, downsizing, and the extinction...

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Have a Question about Design? Call for Submissions

October 18, 2009 8:57 PM | filed in: ,

I am about to spruce up my blog with some video segments I've been working on for awhile. So far, I have some that provide tips for working with a creative supplier... and some that discuss what drives designers crazy--in an effort to make communications between clients and service providers smoother (and not as a blowing-steam therapy session, I swear!). If you have any questions about working with a freelancer, design firm, or in-house team, let me know. (Or, if you're a fellow designer, illustrator, or web developer, send your questions too!) Maybe you're wondering: - How a project works...

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Considering Spec Work? Do This Exercise

October 16, 2009 10:05 AM | filed in: ,

If you're tempted by the prospect of requesting free work from someone or participating in a spec relationship, take a moment to fill in the blanks of this paragraph and read it back to yourself. _________ is a gifted _________. He/She is good at what he/she does, so skilled at the work it seems effortless. His/her work improves _________, but it comes to him/her so easily. Why should he/she be compensated for this natural or learned talent?Here are some examples. (For best results, mix famous with non-famous and creative with non-creative combinations.)Business owner: Meryl Streep is a gifted actress. She...

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The Problem with Spec Work... Again, for Those Who Didn't Hear

October 16, 2009 7:59 AM | filed in: , , ,

What is "spec work" and why is it bad? "Spec" stands for "speculative." Spec work is "work done prior to engagement with a client in anticipation of [possibly] being paid," according to AIGA. (Boiled down: Spec is knowingly working without a guarantee of compensation.) Spec work can be disguised as: • Pro bono/volunteer work - This is work usually performed for not-for-profit or struggling organizations. Companies tout the good feelings associated with voluntarism.• Contests - People submit their designs to a judging panel on the chance of winning a (usually small) prize. Even large companies pull this one. We've all...

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10 Great Logos (and an Exercise for Yours)

October 13, 2009 8:23 PM | filed in: ,

What makes a great logo? It's hard to say, since there's such variety to successful logos. Nike's swoop is recognized worldwide, but it doesn't exactly represent the name--and the glut of logos that have used a nondescript "swoosh" since are fodder for mockery among designers. Some companies use an icon most of the time, and others exclusively stick with unadorned text. (Either can be striking.) Still others include emblems or detailed illustrations... so it's fair to say that there is no magic "formula" for a successful logo design. However, you can judge logos for some common traps--weak typefaces, too much...

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Career Advancement Through Lying: OK or Not?

October 12, 2009 12:47 PM | filed in:

CNN has a story today about a man who, since 2001, has been falsely claiming to have survived the 9/11 Pentagon attack and a couple of tours in Iraq as a Marine. Before being caught, Richard Strandlof formed the Colorado Veterans Alliance to bolster his lies. He also toured as a motivational speaker and spoke on behalf of veterans at the Colorado Capitol.In 1998, Riley Weston (née Kimberlee Kramer) made headlines when it was revealed that she was 33 years old, not the 19 she claimed--making her one-episode stint as a writer on Felicity and subsequent big-money deal with Disney...

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Crazy Bad Photoshop

October 10, 2009 1:03 PM | filed in: , ,

I just saw the new issue of In Style at the grocery: It immediately looked weird to me, but I asked Dan, and he didn't see the strangeness of the image. So I quickly roughed in what SHOULD show for comparison: Someone hacked off half of poor Drew's body! Help.

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How Long Should We Archive Things?

October 10, 2009 11:53 AM | filed in: ,

I am currently working on a project that uses tons of huge images... the raw source files alone take up about 40GB of hard drive space. I plan to purge the files immediately after finishing the project, which is out of line with my usual practice: Generally, I keep everything--all versions of drafts, all source files, correspondence--and keep it forever. This latest job got me thinking: How long should a designer (or any project manager) keep things, and should extended archiving be a (billable) service to clients?It's not exactly easy to keep everything. For instance, even years after being finished...

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Balancing Gratitude with Horse Sense

October 9, 2009 11:32 AM | filed in:

A friend of mine is having a problem at work. In the past few months, he has helped his firm secure a new client and has worked directly with the client on a few successful projects. In fact, the success of this ongoing work has created the opportunity for his firm to secure more prestigious work and receive a monetary bonus. Through the office grapevine, my friend found out that his colleague not only plans to publicly take credit for the work (nothing new there), but also attribute the success to another creative team and divert the monetary gain to...

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Me on LetterCult...

October 29, 2008 10:36 PM | filed in: , ,

Someone added me to featured "Letter Makers" on LetterCult.com, a site devoted to custom-lettering. Nice!

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Live from My Living Room

September 12, 2008 10:33 PM | filed in: ,

No, really. I have Internet access (kind of). It only took two months. IOU one email. :)

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In the Works...

May 4, 2008 10:08 PM | filed in: , ,

...so much! I will give updates soon. I was sick on Friday and spent the whole day in bed or on the sofa. Yesterday we ran around a lot -- meeting with friends to discuss plans about a top-secret project, flying to Dan's art opening downtown (he sold 13 pieces last night!), and attending a closing party for a show he was part of in Costa Mesa. Today is all about catching up on work and relaxing in pjs. Back to work...

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So Much to Do, So Little Time...

February 7, 2008 9:29 PM | filed in: , ,

What a week. Actually, what a month. Things have been hecticker than hectic here... and that's how I like it. Sort of. Nothing is worse than sitting around with nothing to do. (Of course, I haven't had nothing to do for many, many years.) Having too much to do is a little stressful, and I often feel like my overall productivity decreases if there's too much on my plate... like my brain thinks about all there is to do and has trouble focusing that energy on actually doing that all.Anyway:How about Super Tuesday?I have a confession to make so I...

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