Changing Consistency 10:30 AM

To all my school friends, I was 'the hockey player.'

My atypical youth experience consisted of an incredible amount traveling to practices, games or even weekend tournaments. Needless to say, an investment of time and effort at this level greatly dictates one's entire identity.

10 years later, after a garage spring cleaning and seeing the giant bag of equipment gathering it's typical dust in it's typical place, I began to realize that it was no longer part of my identity. My needs, hobbies, and priorities have all changed, and that equipment is no longer of the value to me it once was. The only thing that was keeping that hockey equipment in my possession was the nostalgia of a former hockey career and the one time every 3 years I pull it down for a session of drop-in hockey.

I've long desired the mobility and freedom of a macbook pro as my daily-use computer (Read #7 for yourself) But, we've always been hindered by that high sticker price.

So, after much of my own ado, I posted the gear on the craigslist chopping block. Hopefully off to someone else whose identity it will aid. Next step, aiding my own identity of 'mobile graphic designer.'

So, how does this identity change apply to branding? The main purpose of branding is to create a consistent look, conveying dependability to your audience, right? Well, yes, and no.

If you've kept a specific logo and business voice for the sole purpose of consistency, you may need to step back and evaluate if that logo or business voice still appropriately represents your business. If your business grows and adapts, so should your branding. Brand consistency is not just about your customers recognizing your product, but also about your identity being consistent with your services.

If you're holding on to a certain look because it's what you've always used, you're ignoring the greatest branding principle of all: Appeal to your market. Even if your business hasn't changed, your market probably has. Maybe not in their need for you, but in their overall lifestyles, priorities, and integration of resources like the internet or mobile devices (In short, a present-day man is looking for different things out of a car than he was 30 years ago, and is shopping for a car in a different way as well.).

What's driving you to hold on to that logo your buddy put together for you in the 80s? Or that FrontPage website you pieced together when you first started your business? Maybe it's time to let go of your dusty bag of equipment and upgrade to something that better fits your needs.

Let's grab a cup of coffee and talk it over. I might even bring along a shiny new laptop!

Success in the face of failure 10:07 PM

I'm embarrassed to even look at the timepost of my last entry...Nearly a month. Ugh. 

Nonetheless, I am back with a couple new topics. One today, one tomorrow. I gotta space out my content or I got for a month without anything new!

Over the past few months, Nashville's unofficial design community e-mail list, the615, has been run rampant with talk of layoffs, lack of work and company closings. Many talented designers are either struggling to find design work or are being forced to look outside the industry to make ends meet. By God's Grace, I have been (more or less) protected from any drastic effects on income and quantity of work.  Nevertheless, it's clear that our limping economy has had an effect on the design community as a whole. 

So, how do the small survive? How do we turn this ominous roadblock into opportunity? We adapt. 

Seek the weak or the strong.

It has refocused my new business pursuits to companies that are either in great need of cutting their cost, or those that aren't being affected.

Cut Cost

Obviously, the first thing we all think about is changing our current spending. That's what all these corporations are doing when laying off their workforce. The problem is, this is a passive action with no vision. What we need to be doing is making an active response to cut costs with the hope that it will redirect vision and focus for long-term growth. Sure, it sounds great. But what does it look like?

Like this...

Instead of cutting out your morning trip to Starbucks to save the $3 on your wonderfully smooth and delicious Tall, extra hot Mocha coffee of choice, make the trip (don't get the coffee) with the intention of making one new contact while you're there. Find a central table and I guarantee that within 15 minutes of your visit you will know the business of at least one other patron. Small talk at Starbucks is more effective that cold-calling any day.

Expand Horizontally

So, you're great at what you do. You are passionate about your work, you know what it takes to be successful, you know your business like the back of your hand. Can what you know be applied to another venture or industry? For instance...

I am a designer. I know my design process and I know how to plan my work in order to be efficient and organized. So, I take that knowledge and develop a project management application for other designers. It's not a design project, but a design industry project that appeals to the demographic that I am an expert on.

another one...

UD+M recently went under a rebrand that is transferring my online presence to uberdm.com. My old site, uberclothing.com, gets regular traffic from visitors searching for clothing. If the market is already there, shouldn't I appeal to them? (You'll have to stay tuned to see how this one pans out) 

NOTE: It's important not to spread yourself too thin. It's alway better to be a master of one trade than a jack of all (Raechel has to reel me in with this when my hair-brained ideas are too much)

Those who can't do, teach.

David Bean, an incredible photographer, wonderful businessman, and one of my business mentors (he doesn't know it!) has felt the effect of the economy. His regular clients in the entertainment industry substantially cut back on shoots. His response? Light and Commerce: An intense photography workshop that David will be teaching at venues across the country. 

I have had the wonderful opportunity of teaching at O'More College of Design here in Franklin, TN. Besides it being a tremendous experience from a relational and industrial perspective, it does bring in a little extra cash that comes in incredibly handy.

What is it that you know? What are you an expert on? Consider spreading the wealth and getting paid while you do it.

A bad economy will affect you. Whether it defeats you or spurns you to succeed is on your head. '

Creativity and new ideas are the only things that will win out in this new economy. Those who cling to mediocrity will sink to the bottom and be run out of business.' -David Bean