Let me make this perfectly clear. You are exactly what you practice. You are only what you’re doing right now. Not what you dream to be doing, not what you think you will become, you’re this… Right now. Every platitude and excuse you give, every lie you tell to me about your hopes, dreams and aspirations is a myth you’ve concocted in order to deal with the fact that you’re no closer to obtaining them today than you were the first time you uttered the worlds to yourself.
— http://leongersing.tumblr.com/post/23467076762/permission-granted
Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.
— Steve Jobs, 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech
Each one of us gets one lifetime: no more, no less. It can be spent in a multitude of ways, but it would seem foolish to squander it. Sadly, many of us learn that we have.
At our worst, we are fatigued, dissatisfied, and unhappy. We chase things we’re supposed to want, and race past what really matters. What if it isn’t about things or achievement? Should we instead focus on personal exploration and fostering meaningful connections?
— http://www.deliberatism.com/blog/what-deliberatism-is/
Designers are, by definition, problem-solvers. And the world has never been so blessedly full of problems. Our infrastructure is rotting, the economy is crap, Wall Street is awash with criminals and millions of people can’t get basic medical care, food and water. We don’t need another app to rate your sandwich. We don’t need to know when we go to sleep and get up. We do not need digital farms. We need real ones. We need fresh water. We need solutions for the apocalypse.
— Mike Monteiro - http://www.netmagazine.com/features/10-new-year-s-resolutions-designers
December 7, 2011 at 9:37am
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You can’t improve a design when you’re emotionally attached to previous decisions. Improvements come from flexibility and openness.
— Ryan Singer - http://twitter.com/#!/rjs/status/636760371503104
if you understand that your client’s lousy design suggestion is really the mirror image of a problem he’s trying to diagnose, all you have to do is find the twin sumo. Take the proposed solution and turn it into the problem you think it was designed to solve. Then shoot it back at your client. Hmmmm…bigger logo…what could he be talking about?
[…]
Now you can work to refine your understanding of the problem the client is trying to diagnose. And your client? Not an idiot. Not a deadbeat. Just a guy with a brain trying to tell you something’s wrong. So listen up. You just might learn something.
— Angel David Lindes - http://northtemple.com/2011/10/14/find-the-twin-sumo-or-n
November 20, 2011 at 12:31pm
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It seems to me that people often confuse caring with being difficult. A number of people I’ve worked with (and for) would lump my actions into the latter category. The perverse aspect of this is found in how inaccurate such beliefs are. Those who “give a shit” are willing to make things uncomfortable, in order to help others recognize the points that matter and, subsequently, learn from them.
— Eric Karjaluoto - http://www.ideasonideas.com/2011/09/difficult-people/
November 18, 2011 at 3:24pm
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No, we don’t take clients like that.
No, that’s not part of what we offer.
No, that market is too hard for us to service properly.
No, I won’t bend on this principle.
No, I’m sorry, I won’t be able to have lunch with you.
No, that’s not good enough. Will you please do it again?
No, I’m not willing to lose my focus, and no, I’m not willing to compromise.
— http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/11/no.html
Designers: never, ever be a pair of hands. If a client says ‘just do it this way’. It’s your duty to ask why. If no response, then walk away.
— http://twitter.com/#!/markboulton/status/103792001975193600
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