The success of any project hinges upon your ability to extract information from people. I’m not talking about summary-level information, I’m talking about the microscopic stuff. It’s harder than you might think.
The reason for this may be best identified by a Hungarian–British polymath named Michael Polanyi who wrote a book called “The Tacit Dimension” in 1967. It is an overview of something he called “tacit knowledge,” which is the belief that creative acts (especially acts of discovery) are charged with strong personal feelings and commitments.
At the age of three I decided that three was the best number. This was based on sound science: my toddler-brain resolved that being 3 was the best age. This infatuation has stuck around for years, and now taken root in my design methodology. Ever since my first creative director demanded three different concepts, I’ve always subscribed to the Rule of Three (3): it’s my de facto way to structure process and unveil work to clients. Want Happy Cog to design your website? You’ll probably get three different solutions to choose from.
re: Not Red Dawn but Almost
All: It’s 4:00 AM and I am both wide awake and completely exhausted at the same time.
First, I want to say that last week’s Halo game was inspiring, informative, and productive.
Laying the groundwork to earn a respectable wage in any service business can be a cat-and-mouse game. I’d like to share a few tactics I’ve picked up over the years that have helped us root out the answer to the queen mother of all biz dev questions: “What’s your budget?”
They laughed when I sat down at the HTML editor. But they cried when I began to make web pages. That was 1995. This is 2010, and we’re still doing it. Web design is no longer an occult activity for a small circle of initiates, and we’ve gotten a bit better at it over the years. The technology has changed (you’re welcome!) but the basics are still good design, great content, and an interface that makes reading or shopping or sharing a pleasure.