David Airey

Author: David Airey

  • On unpaid internships

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    David Airey
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    Quoting Alix Land from For free or not for free? “Is it immoral for a young designer to accept an internship or offer of work that is unpaid? Or is that passing up an opportunity too good to miss?” Some consider unpaid internships as similar to free pitching or spec work, but if you get…

  • Be brilliant at the basics

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    David Airey
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    Business tips from the mini-book Brilliant At The Basics of Business 100, by designer and teacher Nicholas Bate of Oxford-based Strategic Edge. Image via Thinkstock. Don’t try to accommodate every customer. The more you do, the more you can potentially dilute your initial strength that people loved you for. Sure, it’s a balance; just keep…

  • Amazon Associates: helping designers look sharp

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    David Airey
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    It’s hard to imagine someone clicking an Amazon link for a design book, then thinking to themselves, “Mmmm, peanut butter.” But it happens ($1.76 commission).

  • iMac buying tips

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    David Airey
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    I just bought a 27-inch iMac. Here are a few tips if you’re thinking of buying one, too. Before deciding to buy, check the product cycle on the MacRumors Buyer’s Guide. There might be an update about to launch (happens once or twice each year). If you’re self-employed or if you’ll use your iMac for…

  • Colour in branding

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    David Airey
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    Colour plays an important role in recognition rates. To illustrate, you know what worldwide brands these palettes represent, don’t you? (Answers in the links beneath each.) Brand name Brand name Brand name Of course each of the above brands has a huge marketing budget, helping ingrain the product or service into our subconscious whether we…

  • Quality vs quantity

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    David Airey
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    I’d make a lot more money if I accepted every project on the table. But there’d be consequences. Pantone leaves by Chris Glass Each project would get less of my attention. The quality of my work would suffer. Clients would be less satisfied. I wouldn’t get as many future offers. So it’d be a short-term…

  • Responding to spec work requests

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    David Airey
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    I rarely reply to the weekly email requests that ask for spec work. For whatever reason, today I did. Here was the pitch. Hello, I’m reaching out to you to let you know about this unique project to work with DJ Rusko. Talenthouse has partnered with KarmaloopTV and top English DJ and producer, DJ Rusko,…

  • Design blogs I subscribe to

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    David Airey
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    Every few days I’ll drop by Google Reader Feedly to see what’s new on good blogs. Photo via Thinkstock @Issue Journal of Business & Design A List Apart Ace Jet 170 Ad Contrarian AisleOne Anagrama Beast Pieces Brand New Colossal Container List Creative Review Daniel Gray davidthedesigner design work life Frere-Jones FormFiftyFive Graphic Journey Hicksdesign…

  • The Win Without Pitching Manifesto

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    David Airey
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    Blair Enns’ Win Without Pitching Manifesto gives advice for designers who deal directly with clients. In Blair’s words, “Only we present our work. Whenever our diagnostic findings, strategic recommendations, or creative solutions are presented to anyone in our client companies, it will be personnel from our firm that does so.” I’ve worked on projects where…

  • Showing sketches to clients

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    David Airey
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    “Can I see sketches?” Design clients might ask, expecting to see a greater variety of ideas before choosing one. Fair enough? Well, no. Sketches from Nancy Wu’s Offsetters identity If, like me, you’ll sketch anything that comes to mind, from the most obvious to the most abstract, it’s only after sketching when we can separate…