1. Post what you know
   Showcase your knowledge. If you are an expert on a particular field (such as HTML5 or Drupal) display those skills in your blog. Give tutorials or useful links to resources. Just as you would list your skills in your CV you can do the same (but more elaborate) on your blog.
2. Post what you like
   Your CV includes a ‘Hobbies’ section in which you include generic things such as ‘music’ or ‘wachting movies’.  But on your blog you can expand on this. You can link to your favorite movies or music artists. Potential employers can get a feel about what kind of person you are, making it more likely to invite you for a job interview. Or not. Maybe your preferences are a total disconnect with the person screening you. But that’s even better, saving you the hassle for going to an interview for a job you will never get.

SIMPLE: Make your message simple. Lose the clutter (simple right?)
UNEXPECTED: When you don’t expect something your brain goes ‘huh’ making the just read text noticeable (just like the title of this post)
CONCRETE: Don’t try to fancy your message with expensive over complicated words. Make it concrete so people know what you are talking about.
CREDIBLE: Stick in some convincing stats or testimonials to make your point more trustworthy.
EMOTIONAL: Try to get the reader to imagine the point you are making so they can make an emotional connection with what you’re trying to tell.
STORY: Package your argument as a story. We humans are geared to stories. Movies, books, tv series, we like great stories. Actually… We love ANY story.

Try to follow as much of these above rules when creating a message and it’s more likely to be remembered by it’s receivers. Your message will be made to suck..ehh…stick!

• Learn PHP
• Write at least 24 blog posts
• Release an EP with at least 5 songs
• Make at least 24 cartoons/comics
• Write 5 short stories

I will reflect on these goals in 2012. Wish me luck!

According to Gladwell it comes down the the 10.000 hour rule.  If you practice something for 10.000 hours you’re bound to get good at it. Outliers: The Story of Succes is loaded with great examples which demonstrate this 10.000 hour rule.

How does this 10.000 hours of practice apply to a designer?
Dee Barizo made a blog post about how to practice as a designer. He gives some great pointers:

• Practice is not enough, you need to improve. Doing the same thing over and over again won’t help you unless you improve.
• Seek feedback. Without feedback it’s hard to determine if you improve.
• Don’t overdo it. Your brain can handle so much, straining it won’t do you any good.

So, stop reading this blog and start practicing!

P.S: Dee Barizo talks about another book Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin. I haven’t read it but it looks very similar to Outliers. Fascinating.

• “Our brochure has the logo on the bottom so it has to be the same on our website!”
• “Our corporate colours are green, brown, yellow, purple and red. Could you please put them in as a background?”
• “We want a 15 minute long flash animation in front of our website. No need for a skip button, people will love this animation!”

But don’t blame the client just because he or she is lacking the experience! You are the web designer so you have to warn your client. If you don’t mention it, because you think client is always king, you will end up with a dissatisfied client. The project turns out to be a disaster and nobody warned him or her. And guess who gets the blame.

Here are 5 things you can do when you happen to be in this situation:

1. Tell your client that you’ve designed hundreds of websites and that his idea is rather unusual and that your advice as a designer is to drop it.
2. Show your client studies which show that the idea he or she is having is not working in the world wide web. (I know he is an internet dinosaur but Jakob Nielsen has done some great studies which help convincing your client)
3. Go along and tell the client that the idea is unusual but would make for a great experiment. Make amends and tell them to test it at home with his or her friends and family to see if it works.
4. Be blunt and tell the client it’s a bad idea. You understand that the client is king but making these changes and putting it all back when it doesn’t work will cost them a lot of extra money.
5. If you are really against the idea you can always refuse to make the changes. Tell the client you don’t want to make the changes because in the end it will make your client and you unhappy. You give the client all the project files so he or she can go to another web designer and you keep the good relationship with the client.

Have you been in this situation and have another tip? Please share!

When someone is on a job interview and they are asked what there specialities are they will almost always answer: ‘I’m a perfectionist’. Trying to do your best is great. But being a perfectionist is a great disadvantage. Perfectionists have the tendency to miss deadlines because they want to deliver perfect work. You did good when you get your deadlines with OK work. You’re doing really bad when you miss every deadline with perfect work. That’s why I learned to love the deadline. It gives me the opportunity to stop worrying about the quality of my work. It doesn’t always get better when I have more time.

So stop being a perfectionist and start delivering.

And even when I have ‘completed’ the design it’s still a gamble if the client likes it. I’m never sure. Of course I do my best to follow the brief as closely as possible. But is it enough? Maybe I misunderstood the client? And then the moment comes. I have to present my design to the client. My heart is pounding, my hands are sweaty. I start talking and then… I show it. And the first look, that first facial expression of the client always makes me think that they hate it. But 99 out of 100 times they actually like it. It may need some tweaking or some copy is wrong but overall they are very pleased. I’m relieved, happy, high five my boss. And then it starts all over again… staring at that blank photoshop canvas, stressing out.