Mark Poppen

Lately I’ve been re-evaluating why I’m designing. Is it just to make money, is it to impress someone, like a client or fellow designer, or is it for myself?

To make money?

If I did that, I’d create illusions for myself. Only the really great designers make good money off designing (I’m not talking blogging, just designing). Sure, I think I’m creating nice designs, but I’m not fooling myself by saying I’m great.

My boss?

Good thing I don’t have one. The reason why, is because I don’t want to be a pixel pusher, working for someone who tells me what to do, even though I know it’s wrong. I rather sell electronics during the day, and design websites for MY clients in my spare time (I used to do this).

Impressing someone?

Sure, I love hearing clients go: “Oh, that’s perfect”, but I know they don’t have a clue how much effort I put into that tiny little detail on the left they never noticed. Creating a web site for a client is filling their need for a good looking website, but even if you skip insane details only other designers would recognize, you’ll still impress them.
Speaking of other designers; I’m not convinced that I’m the designer other people look up to, and sure, I probably created something other designers can pull inspiration from, but impressing them? Nah, there are tonnes of designers out there that are truly inspiring to others. I’m just another web designer looking forward to create another new design, which brings me to my final statement.

For myself?

Yes, I’m designing for me and only myself. This might sound egocentric, but it’s true. I got into this business well over 10 years ago because I was intrigued by designing stuff on my computer. I started off designing ASCii-art. The stuff you see on Twitter now is not even getting close to the awesomeness we created at the end of the 90′s. We formed groups that would “release” ASCii-packs to show to the world through BBS.
Then came the internet available at my parent’s place. A whole new world opened up and I started fiddling around with web design. You know, with tables in Frontpage. I got degrees, recognitions and pads on the shoulder for finding something I really liked doing, and I kept pushing forward into making my career out of it.
Now, about 10 years later, I’m still planning big things for my company, but I will always be designing. Either for web or for the next generation of the web (whatever that may be). I just enjoy doing what I do.

What about you? Who are you designing for?

Happy Camper

Recently I had a conversation with a young designer who told me something like “When my client approves my design, I’m happy, even when I know it can be better”. This inspired me to write this post, because I think he’s wrong. (more…)

In the designer community, there’s a discussion about spec work. I was just listening to a podcast about it that was going on at SXSW 2009. Although a few guys from the audience are just be butt wipes trying to make a point, the initial discussion is pretty interesting.

Now, I can start a whole lentghy blog post dissecting sites like Crowdspring or 99designs, but I won’t. I’m just going to say why I don’t do spec work as a designer. I respect the people that do as well as the clients that create competitions on sites like these to get their work done.

Here’s why

I don’t do spec work because, in short, my time is too valuable, and it adds no value to my learning curve. Popping (no pun intended) out designs for a project that I might not even get to work on is not my idea on learning more about design, clients and skills. I design sites because I understand my client’s business.

Learning curve

“Throwing it against the wall and see if it sticks” doesn’t teach me anything. Sure, I can create web templates and post them on one of the sites mentioned earlier, but if I don’t win with that design, who will tell me the reason why it didn’t win?
That’s why I like The Web Squeeze. It’s a group of really talented people who are willing to help each other and really pointing out strong and weak points on designs. I’d rather design a template without a client (and no pay) and show these guys getting some constructive criticism than “trowing my designs against a wall” without feedback.

Value

Time is money, and although I value experience more than money, I have to make a living. Creating spec designs, hoping someone will “bite” is a waste of time to me. Ok, if I win every top-dollar competition on Crowdspring, it will bring in money, but it will not make me a better designer and it’s very unlikely to happen.

Clients are stupid

Before you say “Mark is an ass”, I’d like to say that I’ve heard this one time and time again, and I DON’T agree with it. Clients aren’t stupid at all (ok, some are, but those are exceptions). They probably, and hopefully, know more about their industry than you do, that doesn’t make you stupid, does it?
Why do I address this? Because most clients that use sites like Crowdspring or 99designs simply don’t know how to find a good designer, and assume they are getting their money’s worth by using one of these sites. Here’s where your marketing comes in. I could focus all my attention online, and trying to get clients online, but instead, I’m focusing on my local market. I’m trying to create a buzz locally, so I don’t have to use spec work. So far, all (except one) my clients are local and I got them through word of mouth. I was able to talk to them in person and really sit down with them to get the same vision as they have as for where they want their business to go. Because of that, I have happy clients who are willing to pay an extra buck or two for me to get their job done.

Your turn

How about you? Do you do spec work? Tell me why, or why not.

When I’m online (that’s about 50% of a whole day), I scour a lot of blogs, and some of them amaze me how the authors come up with the topics they write about. I recently read iBouaghtamac.com, which is a great resource for Mac related tips. I noticed Brent had one of those little tabs on the side of his website with the title “Suggestions?”. When I clicked it, it opened a nice overlay, powered by Skribit, where I could dump my suggestions for the site. Not layout or design-wise, but “what should Brent write about”.

I thought that was a great idea, and I started investigating if I could get Skribit on my site. Turns out the service is free! (well, unless you want pro-features like modify your own theme and moderation).

So, please, if you like reading my blog, and have suggestions for me, for let’s say a tutorial, review or any other kind of article, let me know through that little tab on the right side of the site. Thanks.

All I can say for this one is: “holy crap!” Let me explain why. The tutorial is awesome, when you have some experience in Photoshop. I advise all beginners not even to try this tutorial, since there are quite a few steps that need your own insight and knowledge of Photoshop. I sometimes had the feeling there were steps missing, like in step 8. Frederico (the author) forgets to mention that you have to select “Fill pixels” from the shapes toolbar. Because of that, it took me a lot longer than I expected.

Overall I had a lot of fun doing this, and the final result didn’t disappoint me at all..

What I’ve learned: More pen tool and how paths work in Photoshop.

The final result:

Sources:
The tutorial: Tutorial9

I followed another tutorial by Collis. I was intrigued by the glowy effects you see around the web lately, and I wanted to make something like it.

What I learned from this tutorial: how to master the pen-tool in Photoshop, and how to apply blending modes to textures.

Here’s the result, a 1680 x 1050 wallpaper for The Web Squeeze:

Sources used:
Tutorial: PSDTuts

I want to push my own limits some more. I want to be better, and I want to be able to deliver top-notch work to my clients. I want to be the best at what I do… But how?

I’ve decided that I should push harder, learn more, invest more time in learning. So that’s what I’m going to do. My goal is to pick a tutorial every day (business-days, that is) and follow the tutorial, top to bottom. I will show you all the things I’ve made, and all the resources I’ve used, so hopefully you learn something from me too.
The end-results may not be perfect, as I’m learning new stuff all the time.

Yesterday I came across this tutorial about making a professional looking ad for a laptop. This is the final result. Click to enlarge. All the resources are at the bottom of this post.

Sources used:
Tutorial: PSDFan
Laptop: Sxc.hu
Image on laptop: Sxc.hu
Texture: Sxc.hu

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