I think it’s save to say that I love stories.

Hell I’ve even tried my own hand at writing a couple of my own. I admit that they’re not Pulitzer-level or anything, but I like to think that someone out there will enjoy them. Regardless, I’ve recently decided that I’d like to be told more stories. Lots more stories. What’s more, I’d like others to have the same opportunity. There are other sites out there that do what I’ve decided to do, but I’ve opted to do something a little different…

My focus is on the story.

I’ve made Tell Me a Story to do one thing: tell stories. The only requirements to tell a story are a title, and the story itself. If you don’t want to leave your name, you don’t have to. If you don’t want people to contact you via email, you don’t have to leave it. Like I said, the focus is on the story. There’s no real limit on the kinds of stories that you can tell, short of crazy graphic porn/slashfic (there are places for that), so I implore you to tell me your stories.

The stories do go through a review process to help strain out spam, stories that don’t match the rather liberal criteria, and blatant mis-use. I don’t expect a lot of stories to be rejected, as I’m pretty open to almost every kind of story telling.

So if you’ve got a story, tell it.

Support the cause

If you feel like supporting Tell Me a Story, you can link to it, twitter it, facebook it, or use this handy badge and link to the site:

So that’s Tell Me a Story.

Thank you.

I’m still having a couple issues of course, that I’m trying to figure out (mystery htaccess file issues, CSS tweaks, ) but I’m sure I can get these figured out in the next little while. Anyways, on to things that are important to people other than me.

So I’ve finished my first year at Mohawk College, something I mentioned before that I had gotten into. Overall it’s been a good experience, with a couple colourful exceptions. I’m learning a lot, but I maitain that doing additional reading on the subject of graphic design has been a momentous help.

One part of the course that I am unimpressed with was the web coure(s). Having been on the Internet for as long as I have (10 years, at least) I’ve gained a certain amount of knowledge when it comes to web development. Heck, my resume happens to say that I was paid to do just that. As a result when I heard we were doing web design courses, I was ecstatic. Then I sat in on the first web course and had one of those “oh bugger” moments.

Now I mean no disrespect to the teacher, but I outstrip him in knowledge hands down. As a result I ended up becoming a peer tutor on the subject. I was the only first year peer tutor, may I add (ego stroke ahoy!).This saddens me a great deal, because as my aim is to go into web design when I get out of school, it’s a little upsetting to know that that part of my education is going to have to supplemented almost exclusively by the Internet. That’s never something you want to utter out loud. Trust me, it sounds scarier.

Who knows, maybe after I graduate and see the world somewhat, I’ll come back and offer to teach the course. I’m sure I’d at least get an interview.

The only other thing that’s been irritating me was the photography course. Photography is not an area I know much about. I understand some of the very basics, but I can’t tell you what anything on a DSLR does. As a result I was really looking forward to the class. What I was given was a crash course that left me with nothing to show. I am unimpressed to say the least.

Everything else was pretty much golden. I’ve come out two bursaries richer, and am sitting with a 94% average. This is basically unheard of for me. I was a man who was happy to get a 70, and was okay with having a 60. I never really aimed all that high when I was younger. Now? I don’t know what happened, probably the fact that I’m older, far more jaded, and paying for it all myself. I’m not bragging or anything, believe me when I say that it’s as shocking to me as it is to others who know me.

Also, watching TV while trying to write something is a sure-fire way to sound like your rambling. As punishment to myself, I’m going to leave it as is, just so I can know how terrible I am at things when the TV is actually turned on.

Honestly I never watch the thing, so the fact that it effects me so deeply should be understandable.

ANYWAYS, I’m off to alter my layout some more, play some Super Princess Peach (I hate this game, but I must finish) and My World, My Way (which borders on utterly fantastic).

Now you worried about your faith,
kneel down and obey.
You’re happy you’re in love,
you need someone to hate.
An ordinary girl, an ordinary waist
but ordinary’s just not good enough today.

Superman’s Dead – Our Lady Peace

In my case this revolves around:

• My portfolio
• Posts with real content
• Reading books
• Spending time with Theresa while she is down from that god-forsaken place North Bay.
• Aimlessly trying to catch up on my games

Now since only a couple of those are actually proactive (I’ll leave you to decide which) I have to pick and choose what and when I do these things. What is the result? Well to give you a glimpse, it’s almost 2 AM as of the start of this post. This is after I applied to many, many bursaries through my school. Who knew that working two jobs wouldn’t be enough to actually stay out of debt? Guess I’ll have to get some more!

My financial woes are not what I plan to talk about today though. I plan to talk about what I can take away from my first semester.

Okay, technically this would be my seventh semester if you are counting the six from the last time I was in school. That is also part of this so read on!

1. Being lazy sucks

This may come as a shock to some of you, but I was not always a star pupil. Oh no, in fact I used to revel in my ability to half-ass almost any project and end up with a 65-70 (that’s a C to a B- to the rest of the world) on any given assignment or project. If I didn’t like the course, I would try even less and be happy with a 55-58 (D to D+). My parents browbeat me, my teachers clucked their tongues and shook their heads, but I just breezed though my University-level (that’s Canadian fancy-talk for advanced) courses. By doing the University-level courses and applying to College, my average was bumped up considerably, and I got into College.

So you would think that since my parents were paying, and I had just managed to squeak by, that I would learn the error of my ways, straighten-up and fly right.

You would think wrong, of course.

By the end of my college stint, with the exception of a couple of classes (Web Development 1,2 and 3 pretty much) I was still hovering around that 70. The only thing that landed me the job that I got was through determination, charisma, and steaming piles of luck.

This kind of thing only works so well and for so long.

Working this job changed a lot of things. First, I learned how to stay up for long periods of time. Second, I learned to hate take-out food (don’t worry I’m getting better now). Third, it beat the lazy out of me with the Crowbar of Client Dead-lines. I learned that being lazy when people are paying you is a very good way to get your ass fired. I wasn’t fired, but believe me that there was no alternative to hard work. In many ways I am thankful for this.

When the opportunity came along for me to go back to school for something that interests me way more than keyboard-jockeying, I took it. With that decision came many things in quick succession:

1. Getting a second job
2. Saving like a bastard
3. Tuition, books, and other school bills
4. Losing my full-time, nicely-waged job
5. Homework
6. More goddamned bills
7. Tests, presentations, and apparently a video

If this had happened the first time I went through school, I probably would have killed myself, my family, or everyone I know in a murderous rage by now. Thankfully, through my on-the-job experience, I had learned how to organize my work, get it done, and still manage to find time to sleep.

I’d like to point out that because if this skill, I have managed to work two jobs while maintaining an average of 90% + overall so far. I don’t know how to explain this any better than I already have: being lazy sucks. If you have issues with being lazy, procrastinating, or otherwise messing-about, believe me that you have to work constantly against those urges. I have to all the time, but in the end you only screw yourself if you get lazy.

2. Keep your stuff safe

Dropbox. I love Dropbox. I could sing praises for this system for hours. Well okay, probably more like 15 minutes max, but that’s not the point here. Dropbox allows you to synchronize files within a certain directory (the Dropbox folder, shockingly) to their web servers. What does this mean? It means that everything in that folder can be accessed through their online web interface. and what does that mean? It means that if your are ever separated from your computer, your computer explodes, or anything in between you can still get to the files stored on their servers. You can also hook multiple computers into the same account, and it will sync the files between them as well. This allows you to share files between computers that may not be anywhere near the same network.

I’m not trying to sell you anything (it’s actually a free for the basic level), but it does assist in my point. Keeping your stuff safe is as important when it comes to school as it does ot your home. Thankfully, I didn’t have any horrible experiences with exploding computers or file separation, but it was still a good practice. By using this system, I safeguard myself against very bad situations. Colleges and Universities really don’t care all that much of your personal plights. In fact many teachers I’ve had I’ve overheard them say “well that sucks, too bad.”

You can’t stop every bad thing from happening, but you can take preventative measures.

3. Organization actually works.

I hate organizers. I still do! With their paper and their spiral binding, bah! Thankfully, I found alternatives that work. As it happens, I use Thunderbird. The nice thing about Thunderbird, much like Firefox, is the ability to use add-ons. Lightning (an add-on version of Sunbird) and a Provider for Google Calendars have allowed me to get my shit together without the use of those silly paper-based organizers.

Please note that I have met many people who prefer the paper-based organizers: I was basically born with a mouse in my hand, so I’m inclined to use technology whenever possible. It’s a failing I live with.

In any case, Lightning allows you to have a calendar built into Thunderbird. It also provides an interface to create tasks as well, though I don’t use those. The Google Calendar plugin allows you to use Lightning with Google Calendars. This means that much like the Dropbox argument, you can still access your calendars if your computer explodes. I have made a personal, work, homework/assignment, and school schedule calendars. For the first time, I actually know what things are due when, and how to schedule my time around work and other things. It’s silly to think that it took me this long to figure out that organizing things actually helps get things done faster.

If you don’t use Thunderbird, Google Calendars, or computers in general, you can still work to get yourself organized. I can honestly say that once I introduced the organizer strategy,

4.Go that extra mile

I spent five hours working  on a typography exercise that involved me making an apple. Five hours of tweezers, 12 point font, and rubber cement. Sounds insane, doesn’t it? Well, it probably does but it also shows a determination to really put out something that is more than “alright.”

This one comes with at least some backup facts. I’ve only got three of my marks back (out of six), but everything has been above a 90. I’ve been known to spend hours and hours on things that others have put together in one or two. Does that mean I’m overdoing it? Very probably, I have no illusions that I may be going well beyond the call of duty here. That is also my point though: Spending that extra time can (in most cases) result in a more polished product.

This is something I’ve learned over time. Back when I was lazy, I was the master of doing everything last-minute. This wasn’t a lack of organization or anything, I chose to do everything at the last minute because part of me felt that I operated best under the pressure. As it turns out, I do alright under pressure and there is nothing wrong with that. But I do amazingly well, as it turns out, when I have the extra time to self-critique, improve, revise, and even experiment.

Is there anything wrong with only spending two hours on something and getting a 75% (B) on what you did? Not at all, if what you’re looking for is a 75%. Since that’s no where near what I want out of the education I am paying for (and it’s not cheap, though I’m sure there are some angry University students that would love to talk to me), I have to put in the extra time myself. I want to be the best I can, and school only gives you the tools in which to do that; it’s up to you to use them to the best of your ability.

5. Don’t be a Dick

Note: I am so sorry for the amount of times ‘dick’ comes up in this section. This is going to play havoc with my SEO.

This sounds simple, but it’s actually harder than one would think. The issue is that it goes two ways, and it’s easy to act like a dick when you don’t even realize:

Being the Dick

This is pretty simple. If you act like a dick, you are being the dick. Acting like a dick can be, but is not limited to the following:

• Boasting about any/everything you do.
• Trying to out-boast anyone else (they may be dicks, but you’re a bigger one).
• Rubbing marks in peoples face.
• Saying how awesome you are at something, and then criticizing the teacher (publicly).
• Being snooty, arrogant, or otherwise acting “better” than others.
• Making fun of people (grow the fuck up kthnx).
• Picking fights, either physical or mental.

When you do things like this, it may make you feel better. It may make you feel confident and self-assured. It will make everyone around you loathe whenever you open your word hole. Friends that you have will come to resent you, and you will end up with fewer contacts coming out of school, and less leway with people when it’s needed.

Returning the Dickness

This is the one people don’t realize. you may think that “an eye for an eye” is a good mandate to follow, but when other people want to start gouging your eyes out, there’s an issue. Here are easy ways to return the dickness without realizing it:

• Trying to shut up a dick by attacking their person, ability, etc.
• Trying to out boast someone to shut them up/put them in their place (once again, you are the bigger dick).
• Faux modesty (you’re not fooling anyone).
• Following suit with a dick (joining in with mocking, criticizing etc.).
• Being a dick to a dick because their a dick.

Some of those are fairly obvious, but a couple are less obvious.

Trying to act modest just annoys people. You’re really not fooling anyone. When someone gives you a compliment, take it, and return something in kind. Don’t elaborate on your greatness, nor say that you suck and don’t know how you got the mark you did. That will make them feel even worse, they’ll think you’re a liar, and you may even start to believe it yourself. Undermining your own self-confidence doesn’t help anyone.

When being a dick towards a dick, you may think you are giving them a taste (heh) of their own medicine. You may know what you’re doing, but those around you may not perceive it the same way; they may just see two dicks trying to out-dick one another. On top of that, the dick you are being a dick to may not even realize you are being a dick towards them. The result of this is that you look like a dick, but got none of the supposed revenge.

Not being the Dick

This should be fairly apparent, but for the sake of completeness, I will include a list for this anyways. I’m always a fan of things being full-circle. Anyways, how to not be a dick:

• Be helpful. When people ask for help, help them if you can.
• Give constructive criticism. “That sucks” isn’t doing anyone any good. “You could try doing this for this reason” will glean a much better reception.
• Be kind. Don’t rip on people when something isn’t good. You can be kind with constructive criticism as much as you can with compliments.
• Accept compliments, and return in kind.
• Don’t single people out to rip on them. It doesn’t help anyone.
• Be courteous. There’s nothing wrong with “please” and “thank you”.

Generally to avoid being a dick, you have to be a generally good and nice person. I’m not saying I exhibit all of these traits (far from, really); what I’m saying is that you should try to exhibit as many as you can. It’s a process of continuous improvement.

6. Do your work

This doesn’t even need a large section, and by all accounts it shouldn’t really have to be on here. Make time to do your work, and for crap sake, do your work. I can’t tell you how many people I know in my section that lost marks simply because they didn’t do assignment. Generally speaking, you cannot lose marks for trying. If you don’t hand something in, you get a zero. If you hand in crap, you can get a one. One is infinitely better than zero (quiet, math nerds), and handing assignments in can only help your cause.

It is this point that probably caused most of my lost marks. Many assignments in my last stint in College went completely undone; ignored for the sake of ignoring them. I can’t honestly say that I even had better things to do because I was just lazy back then. Teachers even told me that if I just handed something in, it would help my marks, but I scoffed at their wisdom, and ended up (in some cases) with a 58%. I have no defense for it, and now I understand what they were saying.

7. Figure out how to study

This one was probably the hardest for me, and of course it is also the point that gave me the most. It was by a freak accident that I found out how to study effectively. I was in the school lounge one day when someone asked me if I had studied for the test. “What test?” I responded (this is before the organizer thing). I then had two hours to learn 1/3rd of my textbook. It may sound insane, but I figured out a process of reading and constant quizzing is actually how I learned best. I’ve refined it a bit since then, and it now involves me writing the points down, highlighting them, force memorizing them, and having people quiz me on things in random order. By the end of the session I will have forgotten my name, my address, and how to drive, but God damn do I know the course material.

I never used to be this way. I used to depend entirely on my ability to recall from memory. As it turns out that works, but it’s not 100% for me. By combining my passive ability with active studying, I can make sure I know what I need to.

I’m not saying that this will work for you. Hell, some people would look at my method and crap themselves. Others would look at this (my girlfriend comes to mind) and say that it’s not nearly enough. I’m not here to sell my method, though if it works for you go nuts, I’m simply saying that studying is worth it in the end.  Find the best way for you to study, and go for it. It might take a couple takes to get it right, but there’s a way for everyone.

8. Take time to relax

At first glance, you would think that this point would directly contrast others that I have made. You would be wrong, but I can totally understand how you would do that. Let me explain:

Taking time for yourself is not being lazy, it is not skipping out on work, and it is not aiming for the average. It can be if your relaxation time is way too large, and causes those points to happen. It all comes down to balance with relaxation time. All work and no play make jack a dull boy. It’s very true, you know. When you don’t take time for yourself, you will eventually become frustrated, irritable, and probably end up shooting the mailman.

Taking time to relax and recharge has benefits that I don’t need to voice. I’m sure a brief search on the Internet will tell you more than I ever could. It makes you feel better, which will help you work better. It also takes your mind off of things, which can result in you having a flash of brilliance on a problem you were having. I’ve always found that taking an hour for a bath and a book (shut up, I don’t need to hear what a wuss I sound like) leaves me feeling way better.

I’m sure I’m missing many points that I could probably rig up, but after 3000 words, I’m running out of brain and witty banter. I hope that my points on my education can help, maybe even educate, some others. If you have your own points to add, feel free to comment with them.

They won’t let me leave

well that’s not entirely true…

They are making it impressively inconvenient for me leave

Brilliant strategy of you’ve got someone by the credit card, but it’s a horrible move. Try to follow my logic on this one, and feel free to comment on whether I’m an invalid or not.

When I signed up, I wasn’t pressured

They showed me around, answered all my questions, and then told me I could come back anytime if I was interested in signing up. I ended up signing up that day, as I liked what I saw and liked the staff. It far surpassed any of the other gyms I had looked at, and I was happy to join with them.

I signed some papers, wrote off my soul, etc. etc.. Everything was par for the course.

I used the facilities, and I liked them

Things were clean and maintained. The patrons were nice, followed the rules, and generally got along. I never had a complaint, though I did overhear one of a lady being upset that another lady was wearing a belly top of sorts (this was against the dress code.)

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that they had a respectable dress code. No scantily clad women or men. This was a place for working out, not gawking.

I got lazy, and stopped going

Yup, all me. I got lazy, fell out of practice, and eventually stopped going. I was still paying for the gym though, despite my never going. That’s no ones fault but my own. I was under a contract with them and I had to wait a while before I could quit.

I finally got around to quitting, or so I thought

I walked into the gym that faithful day, and told them that I wanted to cancel my membership. “No problem,” said the helpful desk girl, “Just mail this paper with your email on it to the head office. They will then send you an email confirmation and you can cancel.”

Wait, what? Mail? You mean that thing with the paper and the stamps and the envelopes? That thing you do with Santa? Seriously?

Seriously.

Well, that’s ridiculous. I’m sure I can just go online or something to do this. They had a way to sign up for an account, so there should be a way to cancel it in the same area right?

Wrong.

This is where things went down hill for me. I created an account (which required a phone call as some of my internal data was missing, causing the validation to fail), and looked around for a ‘Stop Payment’ or ‘Cancel Account’ or something. There was no link to be clicked, no button to be pressed, no email to be sent. The only way to cancel your account was to mail in a paper, which you could print from the website, to their home office on California.

What’s wrong with this picture?

They did such a good job of nabbing me, of keeping me happy and content, of making sure my opinion of them was that of ‘sunshine from the butt’ proportions. Why would they drop me on my ass when I want to leave? Now all the good things they did for me are forgotten, and all I can say is what a bitch it is to cancel my membership.

Lesson: don’t burn bridges

They have, whether intentionally or not, burned a bridge with me. Not only do I want to cancel my account with them (I’m working on it, I promise) but now I want to tell everyone about how much of an ordeal it is to cancel said account. I’m not going to say how wonderful their places are, or how considerate their staff may be; I’m going to remember the freshest experience first: dropped on my ass.

If you’re going to try and screw people out of money, fine. I can’t stop you, because that’s just how a lot of businesses operate and I’m not one to comment on that. I’ll leave the business commentary to those who know what they’re talking about. What I’m trying to get across is a simple usability exercise: If you make everything from start to finish as simple and easy as possible, that’s what I will tell people.

Had the gym made it simple to cancel my account, they may have lost out on my 40 dollars a month. They would have also gained a person who would spout out their greatness to anyone willing to listen. I liked that gym, but I will no longer recommend them for this reason.

To summarize: Be nice from start to finish. Even when people are leaving you, wave them goodbye, don’t slam the door on their ass on the way out. Those people have mouths.

Bonus Lesson: Have a point of contact

If you visit their website, you’ll find that the only way to contact them is via a non-800 phone number, within set hours. No email, no contact form. What’s the point of a website with online user registration, when you can’t even email the company?

As I’ve voiced my opinion over and over (and over), applied my own twist to things, and finally catching the ear of the designer at my current job, I’ve finally got my foot in the door for doing some graphic design work. Together, the designer and I were really going to blow away the old designs with a fresh look, new design rules to apply, and a good application of experience.

I was going to finally get my chance to do what I’ve been asking to do for almost two years! So why did I give it up?

The Paper

First and foremost, unless you’re a prodigy of design, the messiah of the layout, and the master of typography, people aren’t going to pay much attention to your opinion unless you’ve got some documentation backing you. It’s the sad truth, and it’s one of the driving forces behind my decision. You can be as good as you possibly can, but without that little “G.D” title under your list of can-dos, you have to work that much harder just to prove that your the designer for the job.

Once I complete my stint at Mohawk College, I’ll probably upgrade via a distance course so that I can work in the field and gain experience while upgrading my educational status. That part’s going to suck socially, economically, physically, and mentally but I’ll manage. I just remind myself that perpetual learning is the most important thing in life you can do for yourself and your community.

The Experience

I want to learn about design in a structured environment. I know I’ve been reading like a fiend since I started on this road, but reading books only gets you so far without proper application of knowledge. I’m hoping and somewhat expecting to get this foundation from school. I don’t want to be just another designer; I want to be a bloody-good designer. I want people to look at my work and say something akin to “Fuck. Yes.”

I know I won’t be able to do that without a strong foundation and understanding of the rules of design. School can help me with this.

The Direction

My work’s been rewarding. Sure I’ve worked 40 hour-per-day shifts, been sat behind the eight ball more times than I’m willing to count, and I’m sure I’ve lost hair from the whole ordeal. I’ve also been taught some rather good habits about how to work under pressure, know just what my abilities are and how to push them, and I know just how much I enjoy my work.

Having said that, being a code-jockey for the rest of my life is not what I have planned. I enjoy coding, and I like it being a part of what I do. I do not want it to be the main focus of my work because over the last two years I’ve come to the conclusion that I like design work more. It appeals to me, and I appeal to it. I would be short-changing myself if I waited too long before getting my formal education in the field.

As it turns out, my place of employment have actually offered me a part time job where I set my hours weekly. If I can’t work, it’s no big deal. They’re also willing to pay me my current rate of pay in an hourly format. That’s.. roughly 30 dollars an hour in a part time job. I admit that it’s tempting, and I’ve got to give that some thought.

The Drive

I want to do this. I want to become a designer and there’s nothing anyone can really say to dissuade me. I know becoming a designer will require a pay cut, at least at the beginning. I know that it’s a flooded field at the moment since everyone and their mother thinks that they can design. I know that it’ll be hard for me to stand out, but I will.

I will do this.

I will complete my schooling.

I will distinguish myself.

I will be a designer.

I will be proud of my work.

As for some technical things, I made this design using a grid, 980 to be precise. the design itself is actually, 940 pixels wide, though that’s because my fireworks file has a 20 pixel gutter on the sides, which you can’t really notice in this design.

I only use one font throughout the entire site (Arial). This is usually a bit of a no-no but I went with it, and made sure that all my headings were differentiated from the content. I also made sure my line-spacing was tall enough so that the body text didn’t become hard to read.

I’ve moved most of my former pages into lists found in the footer. I decided that this website was about what I write, and so having those extra pages wasn’t worth it, nor are they main focus of this site.

The left bar is widget-driven, with the exception of the calendar which is always there.

The top four panels will change the site’s colours using jQuery.

Now for things that I know are messed up:

1. PNGImages seem to be resizing weird in ie6. Seems to have something to do with the pngFix jQuery library I’m using. I will be looking into this.
2. The Left nav can over-lap the footer on ie6. I’m not fixing this because I’m sick of ie6, and I had to make enough concessions in my design just to make it work. As far as I’m concerned it’s a hit I’m willing to take. Upgrade people.
3. The resume and portfolio links go to a coming soon page (my next projects)
4. Old posts have some content repeated. This is due to my taking advantage of the Excerpt in this design more than the old one. I’ve got to go back through the old posts and update them. Not looking forward to it.
5. Some posts contain images that mess the layout up. Once again I’ve got to go through those posts and update the sizes. As I’m using a smaller content column, I’ve got to update all those posts. Also not looking forward to that.
6. I’ve still got to test it, but I think there could be a bug with the OpenID plugin with this layout. (comment section)
7. When logged in ie7 (only) the Submit button for comments is behind the text box.

And with this out of the way, we’ll see how my schedule adjusts.

• Read Everything
• Grains of Salt are Heavy. And Salty.
• Hear Typeface, and Read Audiocasts
• Keeping an Open Mind is the Key to [insert something prophetic here]
• My personal Stash

Read Everything

This has been my life for the last several months. I’ve read more design articles then I can honestly count at this point, and I’ve only just begun. I’ve started subscribing to Podcasts so that while I’m at work I can listen to them. Yes, I can listen to Podcasts and work because I’m just that good (not actually that good). My Google Reader is growing, my participation in social networks is slowly expanding, I’m starting to look beyond what’s cool to try and understand the why behind it. This is progress, and this is what I want to share today.

Back to top

Grains of Salt are Heavy. And Salty.

In part one I talked about reading everything with an open mind and with an understanding that the authors of the articles you’ll read probably know more than you. After five months I still feel that way, and I’m glad for it. It proves that I know nothing in comparison to those living and breathing the field. Does that mean I’m stupid? No, at least I don’t think so. What it means is that there are people out there better than me, simple as that. It’s only a bad thing if you turn your nose up at them and decide not to learn from them.

A trend I have noticed amongst the Web, which is one I’ve noticed starting to bleed into real life, is the idea of collaboration; sharing information, tips, helpful tidbits, resources, etc. Instead of clinging to intellectual property and waving a searing iron of distrust at others, people are actually sharing their ideas. Though many business people will cringe at the idea, that’s the way things are headed and there’s nothing to be done about it. What does that mean for those deciding to learn? You are now being presented with a plethora of free information that is actually useful. To ignore this information (willingly or unwittingly) is an outright sin.

The problem with this flood of information is the fact that anyone and everyone (myself included) is writing it! All information is suspect at this point. Unless what you’re reading is coming from a known expert, you can never be sure if the article you are reading is legit. This is where the grain(s) of salt comes in. I implore you to read as much as you can about as many facets of design as possible, because information is power. I also implore you to take everything with a grain of salt. If you find something suspect or interesting: look it up, and find more on the subject. You can clear things up pretty quickly with one or two Google searches.

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Hear Typeface, and Read Audiocasts

Expand your media. I started off reading RSS feeds from random locations. Since then I have actively tried to find affiliates to those blogs to read new aspects on different subjects. I’ve started listening to Podcasts to expand my learning even further. Hell I’ve even watched a video or three about design topics. What I’m saying is that the Internet is full of different mediums, and I’d suggest checking out more then the three design sites you may be subscribed to.

When you do find yourself overwhelmed with your intake of information (everyone suffers from information overload) start to prioritize your inputs. If you know 5 sites, and a podcast always bring you the most consistent, well-formed ideas and articles, make the effort to read and hear and see those first. Don’t forget about the others, but when you only have so many hours in a day, It’s beneficial to yourself to keep your eyes on the prize.

So what happens to those neglected feeds? Read them when you have the time. Don’t let them interfere with your day to day life (some of us have jobs that consume their free time) and you can’t let yourself get side-tracked with a 40 minute podcast that ends up being rambling.

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Keeping an Open Mind is the Key to [insert something prophetic here]

I couldn’t think of a cool way to end the header, but the first part is golden. Keep an open mind about what you read. You will, in your travels, come across people who you disagree with. Maybe you have sound reason behind it, maybe you just don’t like the look of their display picture. Try and stay objective about it all.

If you disagree with something, figure out what it is you disagree with, and read up on it. It could be that the article is right on the money and it’s your perception that’s incorrect. The article could also be a total crock, in which case you were right to double-check things. If you feel strongly enough about the topic, I invite you to open discussion with the article writer(s) (if possible) and debate on the subject. Remember not to make personal attacks during these debates, because that just runs a good conversation/opportunity to learn right into the ground.

What I’m getting at here is that you shouldn’t shoot ideas down for pretty much any reason. Even the really, really silly-sounding ones should at least be discussed. Remember that people don’t always talk completely out of their ass. Sometimes, but not always. Discussions and debates allow for an expansion on the topic(s) at hand and everyone – or at the very least you – can walk away with even more knowledge then you would have had by simply reading the original post.

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My personal Stash

And I’m ending this article off with a list of every website I subscribe to, participate in, or otherwise know about. I assume that many of these will be common knowledge, but I hope that someone out there will be able to use at least one of these. Without further ado, the list:

Note: For the record these are not in order of preference.

• A List Apart
• Andy Rutledge: Design View
• Boagworld Web Design Podcast
• Design By Grid
• Digital Photography School
• Firetuts
• Hell Yeah Dude
• i love typography
• ideasonideas
• jQuery Blog
• markboulton.co.uk – Journal
• NETTUTS
• PSDTUTS
• Smashing Magazine
• Subtraction
• The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web
• The GoMediaZine
• TNTpixel
• Tutorial Dog
• Web Design Blog
• Young Go Getter

As for sites that I’m a part of, I’d like to state that though I am a member of some of these, I am not using them to their full potential. I’m working on it.

• Mixx
• Digg
• Design Float
• Chawlk
• 9rules
• design:related
• Behance Network

I would actually love anyone and everyone willing to contribute to comment on this post with their favorite Feeds, Blogs, Social sites, and/or other resources that you use to gain insight into the world of design.

This is the seventh and final part in an ongoing series of articles that depicts my process to becoming a graphic designer. I hope that anyone who followed along with this series can come away with something from it. I thank you for taking the time to read the ramblings of someone who happens to love design, despite having the official documentation to back it up.

Have fun, and keep learning.

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• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four
• Part Five
• Part Six
• Part Seven (Currently Reading)

What happened?

First of all, they went through a drastic re-design which I am, for the most part, a fan of. The problem with this is that they changed it all so much I was utterly lost as to where to go. A better Idea could have been to have a transitional layout to let people get used to things before making a final switch. Not a requirement, and it’s possible that they did indeed do this. Like I said, it had been a while since the last time I went.

The second part was that I couldn’t figure out how to access my zone. All that hard work of mine, and I couldn’t access it. I still can’t figure out how the heck to get to it from the 9rules site. The amount of user info that’s left on 9rules is my username, email, and password; none of which can be changed from the 9rules website.

As it turns out, the entire “community” portion of 9rules has been completely removed. If you want to change your information, whore your wares, or do anything the old 9rules did, you now have to go to Chawlk.com. That is, in essence, where most of 9rules went. It’s still in a transitional stage, so the site isn’t totally finished, but it has everything the older 9rules had, with an updated look.

All of the user-submitted content, voting, friending, point-usage, and anything else that they used to offer has been moved off site, leaving only approved posters rolling up to 9rules.

So where’s the rule-breaking?

I had no idea any of this had happened. Granted, I’m not a regular member, so I had no idea this was coming. That shouldn’t of happened though. At the very least some sort of press release, newsletter, or cursory email should have been sent out telling everyone that they were going through a complete site reformation. I, as a member – and on some level a customer/consumer – should have been notified that these changes were occurring.

On a side-note, they also break a couple design rules by forcing me to go to another website to change my information. This wouldn’t be so bad (OpenID floats to mind) except for the fact that there is absolutely no mention of this other site, and I had to go digging around to get the link. My old bookmark to my profile actually redirects me to the new site, which in and of itself is a jarring experience. Redirecting people without telling them is a no-no!

So what do I think about it all?

So what do I have to say about the new 9rules, even after all my pseudo-bitching? I like it. I like that 9rules now features premium content, complete with posted site submission dates and a review process. Sure that screws me from posting my little posts on their site (Chawlk still allows it though, so all is not lost) but I’m glad that I can’t. At least now I know that 9rules will feed me with information from reliable sources. I’ve already found a couple of contributors that I want to add to my ever-growing RSS store on Google Reader.

Chawlk on the other hand needs a little work. I’m aware that It’s in a transition stage, so anything I say now may not apply in a month. First off, I love the “Chawlk is…” at the top of the page, though the refresh button really isn’t needed for that. The User page is the same as it was on the old 9rules, which makes me a little sad. Sure it’s neat that they have a Twitter, Last.fm, website RSS, and Flickr feed hookup, but it makes for a rather convoluted looking page.

Have a look at mine: It’s just too busy. Everything is so big, that once you start pumping in content it gets bulky and too much for me to bother looking through. A possible option for them could be to separate the last.fm and website rss combination. put the last.fm on the left beneath the Twitter box, and possibly move the Flickr over to the side as well. I don’t know what the Flickr section looks like because I haven’t really used Flickr, not have I tied Chawlk to my Flickr account. The end result is an empty section that never finishes loading.

I’d also suggest making things a little smaller. You don’t need each RSS entry to be an inch tall. That’s just a waste of space, and actually helps detract from clarity. It’d be nice if they allowed you the ability to hook into other social networks such as FriendFeed and Pownce.

Ending thoughts

The new 9rules is a great improvement, as far as I’m concerned. Stripped out all of the crap and just left the lean, delicious high-quality content. Accessing your user info is a bitch, and a friendly link in the user window would be a great asset.

The newly-formed Chawlk needs some work. As it is everything that 9rules discarded, I can’t help but feel that that’s exactly what it is: discarded. It feels lower on the quality scale, and I hope it doesn’t continue that way, otherwise the whole thing will probably go belly-up. I’m reserving saying to much about it as it’s still being worked on at this point. It needs work, I’ll leave it at that

Know your time lines and stick to them

This is pretty straightforward people. Know when you need to deliver things by (milestones, project builds, documents, etc) and make sure they’re delivered by that date/time. When things start slipping from the timeline, then it just compounds as one section runs into another. Believe me when I say that there is only so much overlap you can orchestrate before something breaks. Think Jenga.

On that same note, make sure that your time requirements are accurate. I cannot stress that enough. If you think something should only take you an hour, give yourself 2. If you end up ahead of schedule, great! You’ve just created buffer time for when something goes wrong. I’m not advocating giving yourself a week to do a day-long job, but be realistic with your time lines, not optimistic.

Don’t bother getting mad, you’ll only give yourself a hernia

I learned this about half way through the project, which is depressing because had I learned sooner I wouldn’t be as sick as I have been. Stressing out and getting upset by every mishap isn’t worth the energy expended to do so. The phrase “No use crying over spilled milk” has never wrung so true as it has for me during this time.

I realized that getting upset doesn’t do anyone any good, and only serves to fray already shot nerves. Realize that thing’s aren’t going according to plan, and plot out a logical course of action. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t care that your project is 1 hour before a presentation to 100 important people and not working. Far from, actually. What I’m saying is that muttering your last rights in the corner as you rock back and forth in a fetal position isn’t going to do anyone any good.

Don’t play the blame game, but don’t let things slide either

This was a big one for me. Throughout the entire project, my mantra has been (and probably will always be for projects): “I don’t care why it was broken, so long as it’s fixed now.” What This means is that I don’t care who’s fault it may or may not be. I care that the project is continuing to move toward its goal now that the problem has been overcome.

If someone’s not pulling their weight, fix it. If someone made a mistake, tell them. People are responsible for their action or lack there of. That doesn’t mean you should go pinning the blame on people when something goes haywire. Explain the problem like an adult, and approach it like an adult. Saying “You didn’t do X so fix it now” isn’t going to get you the warm reception you’re expecting. People get defensive when you attack them head on, and this is how arguments over stupid topics start.

Think before you open your damned mouth

This one was/is hard for me. I have a habit of shooting my mouth off when I shouldn’t and I know it. This translates directly into how I work with others, and I have to make a conscious effort to think about what I’m saying and how I’m saying it. I’ve noted a couple times during this project that I’ve sounded like a complete dick. I don’t mean to, but because I worded things badly it makes me look like a jerkhole.

Before you click the send button, open your mouth, or pick up the pen, think. Figure out what you want to say and how you want to say it. Try and make sure you’re not being out-right offensive (unless that’s your goal) and be concise. Taking the extra five seconds can make the resulting exchange that much easier.

Write it down

There were so many times when steps in installation, documentation, development, and God knows where else were overlooked, ignored, or outright forgotten. If you happen to have the goldfish memory that I do, you will benefit from this. Writing things down at least gives you a paper-trail to work with. If you find yourself taking a lot of notes, give them a time stamp. Use different colours of pens and/r highlighters to signify different sections or notation types.

I’ve found that by the time I’ve taken to write down what I want to remember, it’s already locked in my head. The simple act of writing it down seems to solidify the memory so that the note I just took is now no longer required, as my brain has done its job.

Writing things down has the added bonus of allowing others to know what you know. If you’re not going to be around for a while, at least others have your notes to work from. Sure they could be utterly insane to anyone that isn’t you, but at least it’s something.

P.S. The same goes for commenting code.

Pay attention

Try and keep tabs on where everyone is in their time lines. If you need something from someone, make sure that when you need it, they haven’t swanned off to a meeting or vacation. There’s nothing worse then being ahead of the game, only to be brought back down or even pulled behind on your deliverables because Adam McMoron has decided to try and get Finance Girls number.

If you’re in charge of people, make sure that they aren’t playing minesweeper or Facebooking their best friend thrice-removed. I know it sounds stupid, but if you give people a week to do something, they’ll find a way to make it last a week. I’m not saying you need to have armed guards holding their families hostage to make sure they’re working efficiently, but make sure you know what’s going on. Schedule end-of-day meetings, or set up mandatory emails stating what they’ve been doing. If you want to get really stingy, find a time-logging program that you and your underlings can use.

Despite popular belief, assuming only makes an ass of you

It’s not their fault when you assumed something. Assumptions are guesses based on half-information and the ethers. If you have to assume something, there hasn’t been enough communication. If you find yourself saying things like “He’s supposed to be doing it” or “It should be here monday” you are assuming. Words like ‘should’ and ‘supposed’ are bad news.

You can avoid assuming by simply confirming what you think. If you think the package will be here on Monday, call the postal service. If you think that someone is supposed to be doing a job, ask them. The bottom line here is that assuming will end up biting you in the ass. Sometimes you assume right, but I assure you that most of the time you will assume very wrong.

Learn from your mistakes, lest you repeat them

During this project, there was a night that I was at work for 40 hours. Why? simply put: the shit got fucked up. I cannot and will not go into the details as to what happened or why, but suffice it to say that bad time-management, assumptions and flat out bad luck found most of the team working well into the next day. It sucked but we managed.

One month later, it happened again.

What the hell happened? Different problems, but many of the same root causes. Assumptions were made, time was mis-managed, and we weren’t paying attention where we should have. As a result the work that was scheduled for 9 AM didn’t begin until 9 PM. There’s no excuse for this, and I won’t make one. I know where the flaws are now, and I’ll be Goddamned if I’m going to let it happen again.

That’s all for now. I’m sure when the project is totally finished, I’ll do a postmortem and regale you with even more fun tidbits that you can use (or ignore, though that would be silly.)

Photo credit: Stock.xchng – Jonathan Natiuk

I would love for the simple answer to be to say “No.” To stand up for your project plan and combat the forces of evil that are working tirelessly to ruin your brain-child. Unfortunately saying no generally lands you in the dog house with your superior, or fired and replaced with someone who may or may not be your better.

Many of us know that taking the direct approach will generally land us in the unemployment line, and so people generally tend to do nothing. I’m not saying it doesn’t work, but I can say that you have to be on very good terms with whoever you are dealing with if you want to pull a stunt like this. For the record: clients like this even less than bosses, so you can easily swap the two. If the client drops you because of your nay nay attitude, you could still end up in the unemployment line making my visual just as real.

So what can you do?

Talk it through

You can always try and talk them out of it, or at the very least discuss the validity of adding their new bauble to the project at all, let alone so late into it. This option is usually attempted in the “last-ditch” phase of everything, which is a shame because that is when it is least useful. Try this tactic first if only for the fact that it poses the least amount of backlash. The ensuing discussion could actually lead to different approaches or insights that may actually help you with the newest addition, or even another part of your project. You may end up doing it, but at least everyone knows where they stand.

Bargain.

This doesn’t always work, but it is generally worth a shot. The most painless and the easiest to approach, try bargaining with your client/boss to see if you can avoid their addition, or add it to a later release. I suggest the latter because if the suggestion isn’t utterly retarded, then you have a goal for the next release which will make everyone happy. If, however, it is bat-shit insane to add then try and talk them down from their idea.

Make sure the request isn’t documented anywhere, and other devious things

This way you can “forget” either willingly or by taking advantage of your piss-poor memory. I don’t personally suggest this because unless your cliboss (made it up, and I’m going with it) shares your goldfish memory, they’ll probably neglect to mention it until you think you’ve gotten away with your scheme, and now you’re stuck doing the late shift. This will also probably make you look like an idiot, and send you down on the foodchain. From what I have seen, experienced, and otherwise know, I can honestly say that subterfuge works the least in almost any professional situation.Unless you’re a professional con-man, you’re probably going to be seen right through. Save yourself the agony and try a more legitimate approach.

Suck it up buttercup

You could of course do the work. This is an option, and one that many people are stuck doing. Sometimes you can’t get out of it, and it will hurt you inside every time. This is doubly so if it is legitimately your fault. If you missed something in your analysis phase, it makes you feel more like a moron when you’re burning that midnight oil to meet your cliboss’ (still using it) expectations. An easy way to help avoid this is to make sure you do a solid and thorough job on your information gathering and analysis. Make sure you involve the required parties to actually cover the angles needed. This won’t stop scope creep every time, but at the very least you can be safe and sure that it is not of your doing. Bitterness is better when it’s not directed at yourself.

Stick with “No”

If none of those work, you can still say no. The only way this can work is to back up your negativity with solid proof that by including feature X into your doodad, you will not be able to hit the deadline. You’ll generally need to back this up with graphs, numbers, and strong reasons as to why it can’t be done. You’ll still get the skunk eye, but at least you can feel better knowing that you can back up your stance with information to support you. This also has the added bonus of making sure that someone in charge is informed, which takes much of the responsibility out of your hands. Granted this may not add up to doing anything more than wasting time, because some times the addition just has to be in there. It sucks, but sometimes you’re boned either way.

Sometimes you’ll end up getting screwed over and end up working late or whatever you need to do to get the job done. It’s not really avoidable in ever scenario. You can limit how often it happens though. The best way is to make sure you’ve covered your bases throughout the entire process with sign-offs and cliboss interaction. The more they are involved from the start the more personal responsibility they will feel, and the more information you can work with from the get go.