Stuff I Love is sort of like Oprah’s Favorite Things without the freebies (sorry). This is part 1 in a multi-part series, we’ll post the next one when we have more stuff we love.
Freshbooks
I love Freshbooks because they took the mundane but necessary task of accounting and made it fun and simple. I tested a number of accounting/invoicing systems and before we decided on Freshbooks—I think they nailed it. Freshbooks provides the right amount of features for the right price. Xero was also a great system with a gorgeous GUI, but it was overkill when it came to the needs of our business.Ballpark and The Invoice Machine are elegant solutions, but a little overly simplistic for us. We wanted the ability to run a variety of reports and Freshbooks had a bunch of options. If you decide to try it out, use this sticker below so I get the credit!
Basecamp
Project Management is a major part of my daily work and it is critical that the entire team is on the same page, including the client. Over the years I tested many project management tools including ones that have to be installed on the server, however, nothing comes close to the simplicity and intuitiveness of Basecamp. In fact, I’ve been using Basecamp for over 4 years and are still just as happy with it as the day we signed up. And since it lives in the cloud, they are always making updates and enhancements to the service. If you’ve never used it, take it for a spin below and see what you think.
Website Grader
Have you ever wondered how well your website is doing or if it is search engine friendly? Website Grader from HubSpot offers a great tool that allows you to run a report on your website. It gives you key information regarding your page’s title tags, metadata, alt tags, and more. I ran this on our website a couple years ago and learned a lot about what we were doing wrong. I even use it to help our clients understand how they can make their websites more effective. Click here to try out the demo version.
I have many more things I love, however, I also love my work and must get back to my clients. Feel free to tell me about the things you love and I’ll check them out. Until next time…
I have always been impressed with the visual simplicity of necktie instructions. The illustrator always seems to provide just the right amount of detail and omit what isn’t necessary. These particular examples from Bows ‘N Ties offers simplicity and clarity. With these illustrations I learned how to tie a Double Windsor from my iPhone while driving in a car.
It made me think; what other complex things in life can be simplified with easy visual instructions like these?
A few years ago, the AIGA produced this simple PDF booklet that helps designers and their clients understand the value of design. I often find myself referring back to it as a reminder of the value I provide clients. In any case, it’s a great example of simple elegance providing a powerful message and progressing the notion that “less is more”.
For the last couple weeks I’ve been seeing the TV commercial from Intuit boasting their new website service called “Intuit Websites”. The first time I saw the commercial it really annoyed me, $4.99 per month for a complete website!? You can check out the commercial here:
Over the last few weeks I started thinking about this a bit more. What bothered me about the ad was the suggestion that your site should be built and ready instantly. This seems like another example of “I want it now and I want it cheap”. In one portion of the commercial they depict a professional photographer in his studio and he states, “I hired a someone to design my website…5 months ago!” Ouch! read more…
Today we have so many potential distractions like Facebook and Twitter, it’s easy to lose track of time and get caught up in reading posts or tweets. Even e-mail can be a “time suck” if it’s not used with discipline.
I decided to start a little experiment and track my entire day for two weeks in 15 minute blocks. This may seem granular, but what I want to find out is how much time all of those “little distractions” actually accumulate to. I have a suspicion that the sum total will be pretty high until I become more self aware of my tasks.
During the last two weeks of December I start my goal planning sessions preparing for 2010. I really look forward to this time of year as it allows me to focus on my business for a change. I’d like to share my process with you as well as some insight into goal planning. I don’t have a perfect system nor is it as comprehensive as some other methods out there, but for me it is sufficient.
Another reason for sharing this with you is to help me organize my process and document it. It’s as much as a journal of my thoughts as it is a guide for you.
I once read the saying that went something like this: “A plan is God’s idea of a practical joke”. While I agree that you cannot predict or plan everything, no plan is planning to fail. More importantly, planning helps set my expectations for the year and becomes a great analytical tool that I can review and tweak as I go. read more…
I’m reposting this here because I think it is a valuable tool for those who own or manage Facebook Fan Pages. Enjoy!
Did you know that your Facebook Fan page image can be up to 200px wide by 600px tall?! By having an image this size on your Fan Page you can add more detail and interest to your Fan Page.
We’ve provided a convenient Photoshop template for you to download and create your own supersized fan page image! Just click on the download button to the right and start customizing. Be sure to hide the guide layers before you save your image.
Everyone has a right to protect their intellectual property, but I was quite surprised and a bit puzzled when I saw a full-page ad for Little Trees Car-Freshner in the September issue of Graphic Design USA.
The ad displayed 5 Little Tree designs and contained the following copy:
“This is privately owned property. So is this, and this, and this, and this [each with an arrow pointing to a tree]…no matter how you use it.
The footer copy contained additional legal language explaining why using the images was a bad idea and to ask for permission first.
People buy into cultures, not brands yet, we focus so much of our efforts on building brands. Being in design, I see this nearly everyday. Normally, the client wants a brand image that satisfies their vision of the brand, not the customers. Can a brand stand on it’s own merits without a culture infused by it’s patrons?
Good or bad, intentionally or unintentionally, Starbucks has a culture around it’s brand image but they didn’t design it. The culture was designed by the customers, not Starbucks corporate (full disclosure: I’m drinking Starbucks coffee as I type this). Culture takes time and it is this “third place” culture which has propelled Starbucks from a small chain to grande in relatively short order. read more…
When I was in middle school, my science teacher (Mr. Miller, the best teacher ever) once gave the class the following analogy: “Rules are like ropes on a wooden plank bridge, without the ropes you have to walk slowly and carefully, maybe even crawl. There is no goofing around without ropes. With ropes, you can enjoy your walk, hang over the edge, spit, throw pennies at the alligators, etc…” What he was trying to say was that rules may seem burdensome at times, but they also allow you to be more flexible.