Category Archives: Thoughts

Designing an Alternative to the Hamburger Menu

Designing an Alternative to the Hamburger Menu

Ok, I’m sure you’re tired of reading articles and hearing conversations centered around the three small lines of the hamburger menu. Is it a bad UI pattern? Is it ok? Well, this isn’t a post about whether it’s good or bad. The fact is, I believe it’s a poor design decision, take it or leave it. But here’s the problem – the hamburger menu does have some strong advantages, especially when used in mobile design where pixel real estate is tight. So what can we do? Just accept the hamburger menu, despite its negative consequences, and move on? A lot of apps and websites seem content with that decision. I feel like we can do something better.

Before we get too far down the rabbit hole, I want to tell you what brought me to this opinion in the first place. Several months ago, I actually had no beef with the hamburger menu (see what I did there?). In fact, I viewed it as a progression in mobile navigation UI. Something that was bound to become a standard. Plenty of prominent sites and apps were adopting it, and if it was good enough for them, it was good enough for me.

Then two things happened that shook me out of my indifferent opinion. First, I came across this great article. If you haven’t read it yet, do yourself a favor and read it. Go ahead, I’ll wait for you to finish. It’s an article that really dives into the consequences of using a hamburger menu. Namely, sites that implement it see a significant loss in user engagement. Seeing hard data like this resonated with me and began to change my mind about the hamburger menu.

If someone this smart has a problem navigating it, what does that say about a typical user?

The next incident involved an interaction I had watching a colleague try to use a new webapp that happened to utilize a hamburger navigation menu. He was a developer and extremely familiar with the hamburger UI, but when it came down to using the app for what he needed, he actually said out loud “How do I get to that?” Keep in mind, this is one of the smartest people I know, and he didn’t even think to try the hamburger menu. If someone this smart, this familiar with that type of UI has a problem navigating it, what does that say about a typical user? My opinion had officially found a solid foundation.

Finding a Solution

So enough about why I don’t believe in using the hamburger menu – it’s time to talk about a solution. To do that, I looked at the specific benefits to using the hamburger menu:

  • Scalability: This is probably the biggest benefit and the reason so many sites and apps choose to use it. You can fit a lot of navigation when you tuck it behind a drawer.
  • Tidiness: This is related to scalability, but it’s not the same. There is a desire to keep designs neat and tidy and leave room for the main content of a design. Using a hamburger menu gives designs an overwhelming sense of visual simplicity that will be attractive to any designer.

And if there is going to be an alternative to the hamburger menu, it needs to somehow solve the problems associated with it:

  • Discoverability: Features and specific items in the navigation should be easy to find and discover for users, especially users that are using the product for the first time.
  • Engagement: The UI should provide hints and feedback to what a user can do within the product, and prompt them to use those features by surfacing them in the UI.
tabburger-menu

The Hard Part: Mobile

I decided to start with the hardest problem and see if a solution could come out of the mobile-first approach. After a lot of ideation, I came to terms that the iOS tab bar menu was actually one of the best solutions for mobile. Plenty of people have tried to make this work by making the tab bar scrollable (fitting more than five options in it) or by providing a “more” tab to tuck other miscellaneous options under. But a scrollable nav feels weird, and putting “more” in your nav is like a hoarder with a spare bedroom – eventually it will get filled with garbage. Also, both of those options still suffer from a lack of discoverability. So what can be done to the tab bar menu to make it scale past five items?

My solution came from imagining how the two UI patterns – hamburger and tab bar menus – could be combined into the same approach. The result is a tab bar control that brings up a drawer of options related to that menu item.

I’ve made up a fake team productivity app to illustrate how this could work. By using this approach, the user can still clearly see the main features and uses of the product. And rather than being bombarded with a full list of nav items in a hidden hamburger menu, they are only shown a handful of choices that are related to the tab they tapped on. This makes the navigation easy to consume, keeps it discoverable, and also allows the user to understand hierarchy within the app.

Another benefit to this type of design is the ability to keep contextual notifications. If you are trying to use notifications with a hamburger menu, you have one place and one place only to show those notifications. Keeping a tab bar layout allows you to prompt the user with notifications for any of the particular menu items.

notification

Of course, the biggest win to this UI is its scalability. Yes, it will still force smart decision making for the IA of the product or site, since you are limited to five categories, but that is a good thing. Honestly, I think just about any site can be fit into five categories if the designer is smart about it. But beyond that, each of these categories can have five to six sub navigation links. This allows an app to scale up to 30 navigation options without feeling overwhelming to the user or without destroying the screen real estate market.

Scaling Up to Tablets

Simply implementing this tab bar on a tablet felt a little weird. Tablets have a lot more width to work with, and using this exact UI felt like an awkward teenager that hadn’t quite grown into his clothes yet. So I took it another direction (literally, ha!). Instead of putting the tab bar on the bottom, I went with putting it along the side. This was a better way to utilize the screen, and felt really natural. As an added bonus, most people hold tablets on the sides, so this is prime real estate for thumbs that are just waiting to take action.

tabburger-ipad

What About Desktop?

Brace yourself… flyout menus. That’s right – scale this thing up to a desktop experience and you’re met with an undeniable reality: this UI isn’t anything new. Flyout menus have been used on the web for years, and just about any user (even your mom) knows how they work. That’s the real beauty of this UI – it really is nothing new.

tabburger-desktop

Full Disclosure

I don’t know what to call this thing. A tab drawer? The TABurger menu? the garden burger menu? Furthermore, I don’t know if anyone else has built or designed something like this before. With how simple it is, I can’t imagine that I’m the first. I know there are a few apps that use flyouts on some of their tab buttons (like Tweetbot, for example), but those are usually built as shortcuts for power-users rather than augmenting the navigation hierarchy. If there is an example like this out there, feel free to let me know, and I will happily append this post.

Whether this is something new or it’s something that’s been done before doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that there are better, more creative solutions to navigation than the hamburger menu. Stop telling yourself “well this super duper website is using it, so it must be ok,” or “Everyone is doing it so it will eventually catch on.” You know what else “everyone-is-doing-so-it-must-be-ok?” Mediocrity. And design deserves better than that.

UPDATES

Collin Eberhardt pointed out on Twitter that a similar UI is utilized in the Windows Phone. I’m actually a Windows Phone user myself (*gasp!*), and he is right. However, WP only uses this type of interaction for their “more” option in the tab bar.

James Perih passed along another example on Twitter where someone else has implemented a similar solution. Take a look at the AHTabBarController by Arthur Hemmer.

Manuel Rauber implemented a great version of this nav concept into a sample app and put the code on Github.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

The StarCraft Business Model

The StarCraft Business Model

No, this isn’t a post about logging into battle.net while you’re on the clock. Nor is it a post that outlines the strategies that will finally undermine those Koreans that you can’t seem to defeat. No, this is about what I believe much of corporate America is missing. It is why startups will always hold the underdog advantage over long established institutions of business. It is about pushing the envelope as a company and not getting comfortable. This is certainly nothing new, but it is easily forgotten — it is the Starcraft business model.

Let me set up a foundation for those of you that might not know the difference between Dark Templar and High Templar. Starcraft is a real time strategy game. Each player begins with a handful of units with the goal of conquering the competition through military prowess. Players are enabled to build structures, advance their technologies, and build stronger military units as the game progresses. In order to do this, however, the player must harvest resources (minerals and gas) and make decisions as to which advances to spend them on. The game can be extremely fast paced as players expand their bases to harvest additional resources and build up their armies.

The Secret is in the Resources

The truth is, there is a direct corellation between the speed a player spends their resources and his or her skill level in the game. It does nothing for you to ‘save your money’ in the game. If you aren’t using as many resources as you’re gathering, then you aren’t growing as fast as you could be. At the beginning of the game, this is easy. There are few units to manage and your enemies are still busy building up their own bases. As the game progresses, however, it is easy to become distracted as you launch attacks or work on establishing new territory. If you aren’t equally aggressive at building bigger and better military units, your resources will start to build up and give you a false sense of security.

When looking at corporate America, it is easy to see a number of parrelells between these concepts and the downfalls and successes of business strategies. A startup is a new player in the game. They are eager. They are hungry. They harvest every resource possible and optimize everything they can to make sure they survive. The pace is fast and focussed, and they make those handful of units quickly do exactly what they need. Why? Because if they don’t, they won’t survive. It’s as simple as that.

Compare that to the corporate giants of business. They have long since graduated from the startup phase. It is easy to get comfortable. To let those bank accounts get plenty of extra padding. To hire people that are ‘good enough’ rather than looking for exceptional talent. They are slow and unresponsive. They have reached a level of success that they find noteworthy, and let their guard down.

They’ve forgotten to spend their resources.

They have reached a level of success that they find noteworthy, and let their guard down.

There is no excuse for companies with vast growth and resources to fall from grace. It is a result of complacency and overconfidence. They have the resources at their disposal to create incredible innovation and change, but they either fail to see it or are convinced that they are invincible. They continue to manufacture reapers when they should be pumping out thors. And while their initial strategy is what gave them the edge over competition in the first place, if they don’t continue to spend resources aggressively and adapt their strategy, they will get overtaken.

This has happened to plenty of businesses. But there are a handful of corporate business that I’d like to look at specifically. In every case, they had the resources to dominate their industries and should still be leading their markets today. But because of a few missteps of complacency, they have become victim to younger and newer strategies.

Blockbuster

Blockbuster had everything they needed to beat Netflix and Redbox to the punch. They lost touch with their industry by putting too much emphasis on having a physical store to rent movies. They assumed customers would be ok with higher prices if they were allowed to keep the movie for a week. But really, who would watch GI Joe more than once?

I worked at blockbuster during my first year of college. I know first hand of their over confidence because I was there to see how they handled Netflix — they didn’t care. They were confident that no one would want to get their movies by mail. This was about the same time that TiVo began to be a more commonplace luxury. It was apparent that the industry was changing. And if that wasn’t enough evidence, Blockbuster’s problems were compounded with the introduction of Redbox. Why would I want to pay $4.50 to rent that copy of GI Joe for a week? I’m only going to watch it once. I don’t need a fancy store with racks to get lost in. Blockbuster failed to see this as a viable feeling of its customers. Because of these mistakes in judgement, I no longer use Blockbuster for anything. Instead, I stream Netflix on my iPad and Playstation, and I go to Redbox when I want to see the new releases. There is no reason that Blockbuster, with the physical inventory, the industry experience, the financial backing, and the brand name, couldn’t have been the service I still use today to watch a movie.

American Auto Makers

Remember the GMC Jimmy and the Chevy Blazer? Remember the Mercury Sable and the Ford Taurus? What about the Chrysler Town and Country and the Dodge Caravan? Guess what? Each of these pairs were the exact same model with a different logo. But this is nothing new. Ford, GM, and Chrysler have been doing this for years with several of their vehicle models. I have never seen a more blatant example of complacency and laziness in an industry. It is apparent that innovation was very low on American automaker’s list of priorities. Meanwhile, other brands like Honda and Toyota have become popular because they pushed for better and more reliable vehicles. Not to mention how Hyundai and even Kia have started to creep into the market as big hitters. The automobile was invented nearly a century ago. It still has 4 wheels, uses pedals, and uses a wheel to steer. Why? Does it have to stay that way? These are the questions American auto makers should be asking and using their resources to develop.

I have absolutely no sympathy for Ford and GM. Overconfidence doesn’t even begin to describe their problems. They have consciously tarnished their brand names in an effort to make more money. It should be no wonder to them why they are being destroyed by imported brands. While these American companies were busy slapping different logos on the exact same model, foreign companies were busy actually trying to innovate and provide vehicles with the features customers were looking for. Ford, GM, and Chrysler got lazy and stopped pushing themselves. Ten years ago I would never have considered buying a Hyundai or Kia. Now? I’d definitely buy a Hyundai, and I’d at least consider the Kia. How do companies like Ford and GM let that happen?

Newspapers

It is remarkable how slow the newspaper industry has been to adapt to technology. The Internet has devastated them. And what is worse, they continue to be the last ones to realize it. Newspapers still struggle to understand a media other than the printed page. Rather than investing in new resources by hiring new experts in interactive media, they believe they can figure it out themselves. Attention newspapers everywhere: hire digital media and user interface designers. It is time to swallow your pride and move forward.

Newspapers had the readership and the writers to create phenomenal content for the web and mobile world, and they also had the brands and credibility to be a go to source for information on the web. But just like Blockbuster, they are stuck in the physical realm and unwilling to take the risks necessary to get out of it. And now? It’s probably too late for them even if they embrace the change. If you’d like to see this first hand, check out Page One: Inside the New Your Times on Netflix.

What About You?

This is a great lesson to corporate America and businesses. If you don’t invest in R&D and continue to utilize your resources, you will get left behind. But what about on a personal level? I believe the same principle still applies. When was the last time you bought a book related to your career and actually studied it like you were in school? When was the last time you paid for a lynda.com subscription to learn a new skill? How many websites have you designed that looked more or less the same with a different logo? Don’t settle. The more resources you have, the more you should be spending. You must push yourself. You must invest in new sources of inspiration. You must learn new skills.

You must construct more pylons.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

My Design Journal

My Design Journal

Keeping a Record

If the inconsistency of this blog is any indication, I’ve always been bad at keeping a journal. I’ve never really felt passionate or excited about doing it. When Day One came along, a journal application built by Paul Mayne for Mac and iOS, I thought it was an awesome app. It made keeping a journal so easy and intuitive. But the problem remained — I still didn’t really care to keep one.

That was before Day One included the ability to upload photos to the post. When I heard this feature was coming to the app, I knew exactly what I wanted to use it for — a design journal. I spend day after day creating designs at home and at work. Some of it goes live, some of it doesn’t. But behind all of these designs, there is a story of rework, redesign, and growth. I’ve never been one for keeping old sketches or rough drafts of my designs. With Day One, that is no longer a problem. I can keep a record of what I work on each day. I can see how a design progresses. I can even see how my personal style and abilities improve over time.

It’s a shame that I don’t put more value into keeping a personal journal; I can admit that. But at the very least, I’m keeping an archive of everything that I have the opportunity to create and design each day. Design is incredibly important to me. Being able to see where I’ve come from and how I’ve developed as a designer is a priceless resource. Day One is an excellent app and the perfect tool to provide that record. Whether you’re like me, using it to keep a design archive, or you’re using it to keep a traditional journal, it is absolutely worth the investment.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

Mobile Email Campaigns

Mobile Email Campaigns

The world of web design has been changing for some time now. With the increasing use of smartphones and tablets, there is a need to provide content that adapts to devices other than desktop computers. “Responsive web design” and “mobile-first” are common phrases thanks to Ethan Marcotte and Luke Wroblewski. I believe that this movement is necessary, and that’s why I’ve made sure that my own site is responsive and optimized for mobile devices. But there seems to be an aspect of the web that has remained an oversight to the mobile-first perspective.

Long before we were surfing the web on mobile devices, we were enjoying one simple, fundemental feature on those same devices — email. Why is it that something enjoyed on smartphones long before this mobile movement still remains unchanged? Perhaps it is because there is no apparent glory in email design. I would argue with that point. Email design may still be stuck in the 90s as far as HTML markup is concerned, but there is plenty of room for innovation and excellent design. It’s time to change standards. Its time to rethink how we are doing it. Nobody uses web interfaces and desktop computers as their primary source for viewing emails so lets stop designing them at 600 pixels wide.

What’s Out There

Most HTML emails are completely oblivious to providing content that is optimized for a mobile device. Instead, they give you a complicated graphic that looks like a small landing page or website. You know exactly what I’m talking about. They show up in your phone’s inbox and aren’t even legible because of the allotted screen real estate for the message. Need a reminder? Here are a couple examples of emails from Guitar Center and Papa John’s. The text is tiny, links are grouped close together, and you struggle to make the email an ideal size. This is bad design, and it has to change. Some companies seem to be aware of the need for mobile treatment but are incredibly misguided. They will provide a link that says “Viewing from a mobile device?” which will link you to a text-only webpage that isn’t even optimized for a mobile device. How backwards is that?

MailChimp has been making some recent strides to provide tools for building mobile friendly email campaigns. I’m surprised how long it has taken for them to make this move, but better late than never. They have even built a free mobile app that allows you to preview your email on a mobile device without sending a test email. It’s actually quite helpful. If you’d like to know more, read their article here.

A Twitter Case Study

twitter logo

To illustrate my point, I put together a little case-study for a redesign of the twitter notification email template. Why Twitter isn’t already doing this, I don’t know. They don’t even have to go through the process of omitting content. The emails provide clear, upfront information. It is simply a matter of rethinking the form.

It starts by changing the standard email design size. We know that 600px isn’t going to cut it anymore. The virtual pixel size of the iPhone is 320px wide, while the portrait view of the iPad is 768px. We want our email to look good on both of these devices, so we are left with two options. Either we can start with the lowest common denominator – the iPhone – and design our email to fit within a 320px boundary, or we can do something much more interesting — make the design responsive.

To do this, the code is actually quite simple, especially if you are familiar with the principles of responsive web design. We start by designing the email for a maximum width. This is a restriction on the size that you want the email to display at. It won’t apply to a smaller device like the iPhone, but it will keep your email from being over-scaled on larger devices like the iPad. I prefer to keep this width somewhere around 400-500px. Set this parameter on your code by using a <div> with the css property of max-width:

<div style=”max-width:400px;” >

</div>

This is basically your wrap element for the design. Next, you will nest a <table> inside and set the width to 100%:

<div style=”max-width:400px;” >
    <table width=”100%”>
    </table>
</div>

Lastly, be sure to use percentages when declaring widths in your code. This is especially important on images, as it will allow them to scale to fit the appropriate areas. For example, if you have a header image that is spanning the entire table, set the width in css to 100%:

<div style=”max-width:400px;” >
    <table width=”100%”>
        <tr>
            <td>
                <img src=”header.png” style=”width:100%;” />
            </td>
        </tr>
    </table>
</div>

And that’s it! Make sure you stick to the other best practices for HTML email markup, and test your designs plenty. The results will be emails that look great across several devices as well as through web interfaces and desktop clients. On top of that, your users will be able to easily digest and interact with your content.

A Few Last Thoughts

Obviously, this article isn’t for everyone. The majority of the email campaigns that I design for are built around iOS app content. That alone narrows down the user base that I design for. It means that I am primarily concerned with how the emails will look on iDevices over other interfaces. While these emails should appear fairly correctly across other email clients, I haven’t done testing for some of the ones that I don’t care about (Hotmail, AOL, Outlook, etc.). If you are creating enterprise email templates or sending to a wide variety of users, this might not work for you. At least, not yet.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

A is for Apple, and V for Vendetta

A is for Apple, and V for Vendetta

The Attitude of a Brand

If you were to ask ten designers for the difference between branding and identity, you’d get ten different answers. Regardless, I’m going to give you my own definition. To me, it’s a simple distinction. Branding is the attitude of a company or product, while identity is the physical manifestations of that same attitude. You can agree or disagree with me, I really don’t care. That’s not the point of this post. The point is that successful branding is much deeper than a company logo or corporate stationery.

I’ve always thought that the movie V for Vendetta is an excellent crash course on the subject of branding. Much of the story centers around a man who goes by the name V. His aim is to spark a revolution in a not-so-distant future England. He is labeled as a terrorist by the government but is seen as a prolific leader by the people. However, the revolution isn’t about him. He wears a mask and goes by an alias because he claims to represent an idea rather than a man. A man can be caught, he can be killed, he can be imprisoned — but an idea, an idea is invincible. This is exactly what it means to brand something. To build it around a core set of ideas or an attitude, not around a logo, product, or any particular person.

Steve Jobs

The Legacy of Steve Jobs

Apple is viewed by many as the most valuable and strongest brand in the world. The question remains, will it continue that pattern? Or did that brand begin its decline with the passing of its leader, Steve Jobs? It’s true, much of Apple’s success is directly linked to one man and his personal insights. Even the keynotes and product announcements were centered around him. He was the hero. The master mind. The one who could see what others could not. And without him, it’s hard not to acknowledge a void in the company. So, is the strength of Apple’s brand centered on one man? Or did his leadership create something bigger than that?

[Spoiler alert] In the movie, you never learn the identity of V. In fact, he dies on the cusp of his long awaited revolution. When the police ask his accomplice about his true identity, she replies that V is everywhere. That he is in every single one of us. Not just one man. How can that be? V represented a specific set of ideas and, as the movie points out, ideas need not be exclusive to one person. Anyone can chose to believe in them and adopt them as their own. Although V started the revolution, as his ideas spread, the movement is carried by everyone else who chooses to believe in them.

Yes, Steve Jobs was one man. One man who caused an immense amount of change in the world — his very own revolution. And now, that man is gone. Will the same innovation continue? I believe it will. Because even though Steve was always at the heart of the movement, it was never about him. It wasn’t about the iPhone or the iPod. In fact, what Steve engrained in us has very little to do with any particular Apple product. Instead, it was his attitude and ideas that we are left with. An attitude of excellence and passion. A constant restlessness that meant never settling. A stop to complacency and idleness. Apple was the vehicle that he chose to embody these ideas, and by extension, they have become the soul of Apple’s identity. As long as that identity lives on, so will the success of Apple.

Steve is gone. We’ve lost a great man, but we have gained his vision. His revolution will continue to live on. It’s carried by each of us who have been inspired by his attitude and ideas that will continue to echo for years to come.

If that’s not a legacy, I don’t know what is.

Thanks, Steve.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

My Printing Vendors

My Printing Vendors

Recently, JD Skinner asked me on twitter what vendors I recommend for my print projects. I figured this is probably a good thing to share. I’ve had both good and bad experiences with printers, and it is always more useful to work from referrals rather than to try and find a good printer on your own. So, here is my list of printing companies in Salt Lake City (or online) that I use and what particular jobs I use each of them for.

Paragon Press

These guys are located in Salt Lake City, out west by I-215. If money isn’t an issue, and I want a high quality product, I go to these guys. Andy Wayman is my rep, and he does a great job at understanding the piece before putting it into production. I use this press for the highly custom, out-of-the-box printed pieces. They have a lot of capabilities with die cuts and finishing services that you can’t always find at a smaller press. Their quality is superb.

Note: Always ask for the four color press. If it is a smaller job, they might try to run it on their digital press. This will be cheaper, but the quality of your print will suffer greatly. Generally, you can expect about a two week turnaround time, depending on the complexity and size of your order.

Presto Print

If I need something to look good, but don’t have the budget or need the quantity to justify going through Paragon, I use Presto Print. These guys are located in downtown Salt Lake City. They are reasonably priced, extremely fast, and very friendly. The quality is definitely not on the same level as Paragon, and they are more limited in the options that they can offer. But because they are a smaller press, they are more willing to be flexible and offer alternate solutions. I usually use them for things like flyers and brochures, especially when I only have a few days to get them produced.

Note: Expect only two or three days for the turnaround on most jobs.

Alphagraphics

These guys aren’t great. In fact, there isn’t much good to say about them. They are simply my corporate chain printer that I go to if I need something fast on the weekend or it isn’t convenient to drive to one of my other vendors. I also use them for one-offs and very low quantity orders. They are great if you are printing a few different options of something and prototyping it for approval– after that, I take the production files to an actual press. They are basically my ‘rough draft’ printing option.

Note: Do NOT do any large format printing here or anything involving foam core. In fact, don’t do anything here that will cost you more than $10. The prices for the higher stuff are completely outrageous.

Got Print

If you follow me on twitter, you may have noticed a bit of a fiasco I had with these guys. It started here. You can read the whole correspondence if you’d like, they still haven’t deleted it from their twitter account. Got Print offers absolutely amazing prices on their printing services. They are an online press, and if I need something extremely conventional, (business cards, brochures, flyers, etc…) they can’t be beat. And their quality? It’s actually really good. I recommend these guys, especially for freelance work where you are required to do the print brokering. Out of the many times that I’ve printed with them, I have only had that one problem. And the reason there were so many problems was that there was a deadline and Got Print didn’t offer any easy solutions to still making that deadline.

Note: I recommend printing on their 16pt paper for almost everything. It is really thick, and a nice quality. On the downside, it will give you a turnaround time of about two weeks (including shipping time). I definitely recommend them for their prices and quality, just make sure that you aren’t under a heavy deadline. Always go somewhere in town for those jobs.

Places to Avoid

I’ve definitely had some bad experiences. Mistakes do happen unfortunately, and I am often willing to see past them. However, this is a list of places that have continued to cause more headaches and drama than they are worth.

Skyline Event Group
These guys ‘specialize’ in trade shows and exhibit booths. They are amateurs. Their production designers are clueless, they are over priced, they make TONS of mistakes, and they only work with CS3. CS3!
Kinkos
If you’ve ever gone to a Kinkos, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Not to mention the $$$

What About You?

Are you a designer? Is there a printing vendor that you would recommend? Any to specifically avoid? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll add them to the post.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

Cultivating Creativity

Cultivating Creativity

Creativity is a resource – you can buy it

You’re about to learn how much of a nerd I really am. I recently bought Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty. Most people forked out around $60 for this game – I spent $100 for the collectors edition. You might ask, ‘really Scott? An extra $40 for the exact same game? Was it worth it?’ and my response is this: it will be.

Why did I do it? Creativity. As a designer, I am constantly looking for deposits of creative and inspiring material. It’s my fuel. I doubt there’s an artist out there that would dare say that they don’t owe a large portion of their success to other creative influences. It’s quite simple: creativity fuels creativity. So the question is, do we invest in creative influences?

I bought the collectors edition because I knew it would be full of all kinds of eye candy, storyline, and beautiful illustrations. Whose to say that the extra $40 won’t lead to me making thousands more on a particular illustration? Whose to say it won’t make me hone my skills to a level that lands me my next job? The fact is, we can’t see what kind of impact these things will have on our future. At least not immediately. But I’m willing to bet that each of you can look back and pinpoint very significant sources of creativity that seemed insignificant or trivial at the time you were exposed to them.

Finding creative resources

So, what else do I do to expose myself to creativity? I make a point to see good movies in the theater and subscribe to netflix. I go to concerts and visit art exhibits. I read comic books and design publications. I pay extra for good packaging, and several other things that carry good graphic design.

I know what you’re thinking. You get this through your rss feeds and the websites you visit. You’re right, those are excellent sources of creative fuel. But don’t be afraid to step outside of the box. Go to a concert. Buy a few apps simply because they look pretty. Go buy a cd – not from iTunes – buy the hardcopy and enjoy the cover art, the layout, and the inserts that are designed with it. Buy an action figure to sit on your desk. There are plenty of examples out there, and what works for me might not work for you. So explore them. Don’t be afraid to shovel out some cash for them. Don’t be afraid to rearrange your schedule for them.

The point of this post isn’t to say that I’m doing it right and that you’re doing it wrong. It’s to encourage all of us to look for sources of creative inspiration in our lives. And once we find them, to make them a priority. They are not expenses – they are investments. I would have very little imagination if it wasn’t for the thousands of legos I had as a kid. Most people would call those toys. I call them tools.

Scott Jensen

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I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
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Banksy & the Visual Metaphor

Banksy & the Visual Metaphor

Visual Metaphors, at their finest, can be the most powerful forms of communication. They are made when a subject is portrayed in relation to another unrelated subject or context. These visual metaphors are all around us. They are found in the most memorable and witty advertising campaigns and political cartoons. In the case of Banksy, they are also very effective in street art.

Banksy Dove

Banksy is a graffiti artist that hails from Bristol, England. He often uses stencils to produce highly provocative imagery,usually regarding politics and capitalism. Over the last decade, he has become a sensation that has swept through contemporary culture. His work has been featured in galleries–and empty walls–around the world. However, only a select few actually know who he is. Despite his popularity, he has managed to maintain his anonymous identity. Little is known about his early history, but he has released some information through several select sources and interviews. According to his story, he began quite unsuccessfully. He was too slow at graffiti and would get caught or forced to abandon his work before it was finished. The idea of using stencils to produce detailed images efficiently came to him as he hid from the police under a train carriage and he noticed a stenciled serial number on the carraige.

He has come a long way from those humble beginnings. His work is now widely popular. He has expanded his mediums to also include sculpture and installation pieces, and several of his exhibitions have even featured animatronics. The artwork that finds its way to auctions usually walks away with a six figure price tag. He has also done artwork for several album covers and even published his own book entitled “Wall and Peace.”

Banksy Monalisa

How did this artist become so popular? Well, there are several factors that have played into his success. His anonymous identity has certainly had an effect. The fact that his work is usually only available for a short time because of censorship makes it rare; thus, people everywhere are desperate to grab any part of it they can. However, neither of these reasons give enough credit to Banksy’s ability as an artist. Anyone can become an anonymous graffiti artist. Cities everywhere are full of them. Banksy is more than a no name thug spray painting his name on park benches. Instead, he is an artist that has mastered the use of visual metaphors. That alone has pushed him above others in his field.

Visual Metaphors are powerful because they are images that are far from ordinary. They use two things that we normally don’t see in context of each other. Hence, they stand out in our minds. In fact, the more unrelated the subjects, the better the metaphor. But selecting two objects and putting them together is only the beginning. In order to create a lasting impression, it is important to select subjects that already carry strong meaning. For example, Banksy could have simply painted a dove on a wall in Palestine. It would have a strong message of peace. On the other hand, he could have simply painted armed guards on the wall to imply war or hate. Instead, he used both: a dove wearing a bullet proof vest. Suddenly, the image has deeper meaning. It’s no longer just about peace or war. It’s about peace under fire. It’s about peace being threatened by hate. Suddenly peace isn’t only an ideal, it’s a delicate object that can easily be killed unless we protect it.

These metaphors can be found throughout Banksy’s work. His ideas are clear and powerful. Artists and designers that learn from his example can create good visual communication. Communication that anyone can relate to. Communication that everyone will remember and be moved by.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

A Designer’s Credo

As a designer, I’ve noticed one fact that seems to encompass every area of design. It is simply this: “Graphic Designers are terribly misunderstood in business.” Talk to a designer and he will tell you the hardest part of the job is dealing with clients. To remedy this problem, at least between my clients and myself, I’ve written the following to articulate a designer’s point of view.

Before you hire me, you should know. . .

I am a designer. I am not a set of hands. I am not a tool. I am not someone who simply knows how to use graphic software or how to program a website. You are hiring me for my ability to send specific messages and communicate through visual media. How I do that and what I use are subordinate to that fact.

I may dress casual, but that does not mean I am unqualified or uneducated. Nor does it mean that my craft requires any less amount of discipline. When I read a book, I observe the margins, the leading, and the typeface selection to evaluate its readability. I stare at magazine advertisements for several minutes, understanding their form and hierarchy without reading a word about the product. I reverse engineer the best brands and advertising campaigns whenever I am exposed to them. While I pump my gas, I stare at the pump and decide what changes should be made to improve its user interface. You might leave work at five and be yourself for the rest of the night, but not me. Design is not a career path; it’s a way of life. I am a designer all day, everyday. Taking that out of my life would be comparable to stripping someone of their religion.

Yes, design is a big deal.

What I want

If you are looking for a one night stand, you’re in the wrong place. Design – good design – is not object oriented. It is not about making a ‘logo.’ Instead, it’s process oriented. It is about visually communicating the attitude of your business to a specific demographic of customers. Logos, brochures, websites – these are only physical manifestations of that process. So if you simply need a ‘logo’ and aren’t worried about any of the deeper process (which I’ll admit, sometimes that is the case) then don’t come to me. Go to a crowd sourcing company. They have plenty of designers working the corner that will get you the quick fix you’re looking for.

I’m here for the real thing. I want the relationship. I want to understand your brand, your business, and your consumers. That understanding will be the foundation for the correct and most effective graphic design.

We will disagree

If you’re looking for a graphic designer, chances are that you’re an owner or, at the very least, someone trusted to make important decisions in your company. It’s likely that you’re in that position because you are assertive and take control of situations. You are bound to disagree with some of my decisions, and your instinct will be to ask for revisions and to take control of the project. I challenge you to suppress those tendencies. Trust my knowledge and my experience.

“Your wife’s favorite color has nothing to do with your company’s corporate identity”

This doesn’t mean I’m opposed to change and revisions. All I ask is that those changes are grounded in solid and unbiased concerns. Your wife’s favorite color has nothing to do with your company’s corporate identity. If you want a change, you better have a good answer when I ask you ‘why?’ Likewise, you are entitled to ask me why I did something. A successful designer knows why he does everything.

Do your homework

I don’t like meetings. I don’t want to waste my time while you figure out exactly why you need a designer. Make sure you know those things before I get involved. Understand what your company is good at, why you need graphic design, what your goals are, and who your customers are. The more those things are articulated, the more effective the design will be.

Still interested?

If you’re thinking, ‘yeah, this makes sense,’ then we should talk. You are the client that I am looking for; a client that understands the importance of visual communications and of entrusting those decisions to a specialist. If you’re thinking ‘Who does this guy think he is? This is a load of bollocks,’ then I’m not your guy.

But we can still be friends 🙂

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»

Tom Turkey

tomturkey

Ah, the holidays. A time for giving. A time for friends and family. A time for jovial laughter and merry nights. As I have grown up in life, I have noticed something. We, as a society, through the hustle and bustle of the commercial world that we live in, tend to forget something. This something is poor, innocent Tom Turkey. Between Halloween and Christmas he just gets forgotten, and it just isn’t fair!

“How could this happen?” one might ask. Well, it’s simple. Around the beginning of October we start getting excited for Halloween. We see the little displays being put up in the supermarket, decorations go up on houses, and candy goes on sale. It’s the beginning of “The Holidays.” Before we know it, Halloween comes and goes. The day after Halloween, you go to the store and what do you see? You see Santa Claus! Red, green, and white! Banners in parking lots! Special packaging on products in an attempt to capitalize early on the Christmas holiday! Thanksgiving? What Thanksgiving? I don’t see any Thanksgiving! It must not exist, right?

Out of all the Holidays, Thanksgiving is one of the last that we should forget. Why is Thanksgiving so important? Well, there are all of those sappy answers like thanks, self reflection, and putting differences aside. However, this is about more than a harmonious day celebrating pilgrims and Indians. It is about on thing – the turkey, the mascot of Thanksgiving. Poor Tom is overlooked, where Santa Claus is the Tom Hanks of the Holiday World. Even the Easter Bunny is more popular than Tom. But both Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are sellouts. They don’t back up their holiday like Tom does. Tom believes in his holiday so much that he dies for it. That’s right, dies! He’s sacrificed! Decapitated! Just so that you can enjoy your holiday. Is that commitment, or what? I don’t see Sant up at the guillotine!

Santa steals November right out from under Tom’s nose, and who gets the fame and glory? Santa. He gets it from being some overweight, poorly groomed old guy, who works elves in sweat shops all year while he sits on his duff passing Judgment on poor children that don’t know any better. He works only one night during the whole year, in which he even has the luxury of using magic or something, and he breaks into every home on the planet. But Tom, he’s not like that. Not at all. He doesn’t have any cool magical powers to make life easy. He works all year to make himself just perfect for your table. He doesn’t have a pack of elves to help him either. No, he does it alone… a silent and thankless job.

One can’t help but notice the irony. That fact that he gives us a wonderful holiday to be thankful, only to get nothing in return. Not even a thank you. What comes from this selfless act? A loss of memory. We take the cooked, stuffed, juicy turkey sitting on our table for granted. That just isn’t right. Tom deserves more. A little recognition. A thank you. Maybe even the month of November back. Is that too much to ask? No, it’s not too much for me. I will ignore the Christmas propaganda for a month. I will savor the turkey on my table. I will enjoy my Thanksgiving break. I will properly celebrate Thanksgiving. And above all, I will say thank you.

Thanks, Tom.

Scott Jensen

Hi There!

I'm Scott, and I love writing things like this. But I spend most of my time working as a designer.
See my work»