Our friends at Ascent Group have created a workshop with design and creative services firms in mind.
Access and engage practical business methods, tools & strategies in this 3-day Interactive Workshop that is guaranteed to give you leverage on your current resources, leadership, and potential.
Right or wrong, as owners, leaders and managers we are under constant pressure to not just meet expectations & responsibilities, but outperform them. And on top of that, many of us have witnessed the trend of creative value becoming commoditized, causing your profitability to shrink faster than ice cubes in the Sahara. There are ways can take control and do something about it.
In this unique hands-on workshop, designed specifically for Creative Services Studio principals, you’ll learn how to:
Engage your full creative and business potential as a studio.
Optimize your “organically grown” resources.
Leverage your five principal drivers of achievable success.
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The Ride to Conquer Cancer benefiting the BC Cancer Foundation is a history-making ride from Vancouver to Seattle that will take place on June 19-21, 2009. It’s not a race. It’s a 250 km ride over two days and one camp-out, which will take in some of Pacific Northwest’s most spectacular scenery. Whether you are a weekend rider or a seasoned cyclist, this epic journey is for you! All you need is motivation, a bike, and a helmet. The rest is history. Be part of something BIG in the fight against cancer. You’ll be fully supported from the time you register until you cross the finish line in downtown Seattle. Transportation back from Seattle is provided as is all of the logistical support (meals, medical, mechanical, security etc.) along the route.
Check out The Ride to Conquer Cancer website at www.conquercancer.ca
Thanks for your help!
After waiting for a long time, the results are finally here! The 2007/2008 RGD Ontario/Aquent National Survey of Graphic Design Salaries & Billing Practices is now available for download. This survey was conducted by RGD Ontario and its partner AQUENT, in cooperation with the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) and the Société des designers graphiques du Québec (SDGQ).
This is the fourth time a survey of this nature has been conducted in Canada by this Association and even though the results are not to be viewed as a nationally representative statistical sample of all graphic design professionals, it does provide a current reflection of what some in the design profession are currently earning.
Remember a while back when, with the full support of the GDC, Vancouver 2010 Olympic Committee (VANOC) put out an Request For Proposal (RFP) for Mascot Designs? Well the results are in. VANOC had a press conference to announce their 3 Mascots. First and foremost, congratulations go out to Vicki Wong and Michael Murphy, of Meomi Design for their design! Also, for those of you have been following the relationship between the BC/GDC and VANOC with regards to Spec Work, I have to give a lot of credit to the both parties who worked together to ensure that the RFP was done in accordance with GDC guidelines and had the full support and approval of the GDC.
As is the case with ALL public design (be it Communication Industrial or Architectural Design) reception to the results are mixed and blogs, list-serves and even TSN are starting to weigh in with opinions. The result may not be what YOU would have done, but they are an an expression of Canadian diversity with multiple stories and symbolism. They are simple, friendly and attempt to capture aspects of the Canadian spirit, culture, attitude, geography, athleticism, sports—even mythology—in a friendly way.
A hybrid of a bear and a whale? Why not. At least they tried to be clever. More aboriginal iconography? Certainly. It’s an attempt at being first-nations friendly without alienating other British Columbians. The best possible solution? Of course not. Is there ever one perfect solution with so many stakeholders?
Is it good design? Consider the audience and demographic before engaging in another bashing. Time will tell if it engages and communicates the message to a broad international audience—a predominantly younger audience—and brings the crowds to Vancouver.
Congrats to all involved!
We all hate spec work, but it’s surprising how often it rears it’s ugly head. Our friend Kat at Designers Who Blog found this open letter to Craigslist about spec work in their “Creative Gig Board”, which had been flagged for removal.
Kudos to whoever wrote the letter, but I can’t help but wonder what clients (worth having) or creative professionals seek work on Craigslist? It seems like an easy venue for cheap clients with no concept of the value of good design (or design relationships) to seek out designers willing to sacrifice their professional integrity for a few extra dollars and some extra work.
Looks like Craigslist deleted the post anyway.
Complete the National Graphic Design Salary Survey by June 22 for a chance to WIN.
Take five minutes to fill out the online salary survey by Friday, June 22, 2007 and be entered into a draw for a free conference registration for DesignThinkers 2007, Canada’s largest graphic design conference taking place in Toronto along with 3 nights hotel and a $100 gift certificate at Kalendar and one of ten 1-year subscriptions to Fast Company. Results of the survey will be made available in the fall.
The survey doesn’t take long to complete and can be accessed at:
http://www.researchdimensions.com/designsurvey
I had an epiphany years ago about what it means to “be productive.”
“Productivity” is defined in economic terms as the “amount of output created (in terms of goods produced or services rendered) per unit input used.” [1] Input, in the case of design, is a mixture of the physical materials involved in the creation of design artifacts, and the non tangible energy and ingenuity involved in the design process. In the case of my own design practice, I sincerely hope that the output I generate ultimately has value.
Saying that, of course, summons the incredibly complex, sprawling, and seemingly unanswerable debate about the nature of value itself. What is value? Who decides what has it and what does not? Do values evolve?
However unanswerable the debate may seem, it comforts me to know that there are a group of designers in Vancouver tackling the issue head on.
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From Design Edge Canada:
VANCOUVER - Small design firm Dossier Creative took on Staples Business Depot after the office supplies behemoth launched a new line of smaller stores in Montreal last year called Dossier.
Read the rest of the story at DesignEdgeCanada.com
NEW MEDIA BC EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT:
Work/Life Balance: Empty Promise or Key to Happiness?
Join New Media BC for a round-table discussion with top-notch service professionals from Vancouver as we dive into what “balance” means, share personal experiences, and explore the many sides of this issue. Whether you’re a design student, an employee struggling to balance a career and a family, or a seasoned pro, this is a critical issue for all new media professionals working within today’s highly competitive market.
DATE: November 23rd, 2006
LOCATION: Vancouver Film School (VFS) - 420 Homer Street
WHEN: 5:15 - 7:00PM (registration at 4:30)
COST: NMBC Members & Students: $10 / NON-MEMBERS: $20
REGISTER ONLINE: http://www.newmediabc.com/events.asp
Light refreshments will be provided.
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Page 27 of the October issue of BC Business Magazine features an article entitled “Designophobia: Why Is BC So Afraid Of Good Design?” by Trevor Boddy.
The article describes the writer’s recent visit to Quebec, on an invitation from Design Montreal, “the civic agency charged with promoting design in all its technical and artistic diversity”, and his admiration for Quebec design and the factors there that make good design possible, which according to him, are “design education infrastructure, its advocacy of design competitions, its promotion of designers through media products and junkets.”
He then proceeds to diss BC’s attitude towards good design, the “deep-seated fear of design that will sooner or later make us losers in the new global economy, where design is a primary engine”. So far, so good, I can swallow that. But then he states that MORE design competitions, not just for logos/graphic design, but also for buildings/architecture, such as for the Olympics, would be a good thing. “That hokey 2010 logo was the subject of a design competition - and that’s good news - but the competition was badly managed after first blowing a wad on an extravagant ‘Olympic Design Symposium.’ ” He should have questioned the competition concept itself, not the fact that VANOC actually gave a meagre public briefing to all would-be entrants, and even charged them $150 for the briefing. The only thing extravagant about that is the gauging of designers.
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From Robert Wurth of Freshly Squeezed Design:
So, what do you do when you’re an internationally recognized, successful band with millions of dollars in CD and concert ticket sales? If you’re the Barenaked Ladies, you slap an industry in the face by running an unethical, exploitive contest, that’s what.
Over at the web site DeviantART, a recent contest was posted for the development of a t-shirt design to promote a new Barenaked Ladies tour. The details of this contest are glaring examples of the problems this trend creates within the design community. The fact that it comes from a representative of the music industry, an industry very vocal in the protection of artist’s rights, makes it all the more disturbing.
Click here for the rest of Robert Wurth’s article.
Reminder to all about the change in GST rate you should be billing clients. Following is an excerpt from the most recent info sheet from CRA.
Generally, the new rates of tax apply to the supply of taxable (other than zero-rated) goods and services in the following circumstances:
- If the GST/HST becomes payable on or after July 1, 2006, without having been paid before that day, the rate of 6% GST or 14% HST will apply.
- If the GST/HST is paid on or after July 1, 2006, without having become payable before that day, the rate of 6% GST or 14% HST will apply.
- If the GST/HST becomes payable or is paid without having become payable before July 1, 2006, the rate of 7% GST or 15% HST will continue to apply.
Today I ran across this post via a link on Speak Up. Randy Hunt, an American, said “do everything within your power to lobby against this communist…err…bureaucratic centralization of the design profession.” The link is to a blog from Bucharest, where designer Christian Paul writes about the the communisation of design. What he’s talking about is a proposed system in Romania, that looks remarkably familiar. In fact, it looks like the RGD.
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And, like most things American, they do it big time.
Dick Lord said “Remember, you are defined by your clients.” Where do you draw the line when considering new clients or projects? We’d love to hear some stories about how you dealt with circumstances when you knew the project was just wrong and not something you wanted to be defined by. Have you read and follow the GDC Ethics guidelines?
