June 22nd, 2010 by Kris
So, I’ve recently been faced with an interesting challenge. It seems that many photographers, specifically in my price range and geographic location are missing a key element in their business model; Attention to Detail. So people are hiring me to re-shoot images from folks that simply lacked the attention to detail to make a successful image. Technically there’s nothing wrong with several of the images, but we all know that just because something’s technically correct, does not mean it’s art. Right?
There are several websites out there that outline how to have better ATD, but those mostly deal with “self-help” or corporate training. Here are my 3 steps for creatives to up your attention to detail.
- Think about your audience. Take a minute and do an old fashioned strategy session in your own head, who’s looking at this, what’s the MOST important element, what really not that important, but needs to be there because of specific requirements.
- Slow down and look. Trust me, I know this is difficult to do when the client is gazing over your shoulder and the clock is ticking down, but the difference will be marked. Look at your elements and make creative decisions about form.
- Be self-aware. At the risk of sounding too self-help-ish, it has always helped me to take a breath and say, “This is just a picture, how can I make the best image possible.” You know your clients, your end users, you have a handle on what they’ll respond to and what they’ll glaze over. I guess I’m just saying use your time wisely.
That’s it for this time. Be well and go make something amazing.
KD
June 13th, 2010 by Kris
So, as many of you know, I’ve been pretty busy over the last 3 weeks. We’ve had several projects that crossed and blurred the lines between traditional ads, viral marketing and cutting edge public relations messaging. It’s gotten me thinking about that age old question that all artists deal with when working in the marketing and advertising world, “What do I do?” Read the rest of this entry »
June 8th, 2010 by Kris
So, here is the great irony of time management. I was supposed to put this post up last week and because of my poor time management, I missed my own deadline. Funny that!
So, without soaking up too much of your very valuable time I wanted to touch on some of the tools different people use to keep themselves on schedule.
Personally I use Google’s Calendar and Tada List by 37 Signals.
We’ve all seen Google Calendar and it’s pretty straightforward to use, I did download a little thing to keep iCal and Google sync’d up and then I read this help article. It seems to keep most things sync’d up between my phone and the online version.
For those of you who DON’T know about 37Signals and basecamp, you really should get to know them. They are an old web design shop that went the way of product design and wow, they do some amazing stuff. Do Tada List is pretty simple it’s an online to do list that you can share with whoever. For me, I use it when I’m in over my head. I jot down from the most important to the least important things to do that week and share it with my key personnel (aka my wife and sometimes my sister). Anyway, it’s definitely worth checking out.
So, some of the other suggestions I’ve received are TeuxDeux, from Freyanator. It’s another web based to do list that’s laid out in a day by day system. Very cool stuff. The ladies over at Dandy Lion Events also turned me on to Time Management Ninja. It’s a blog with sections dedicated to how to be more efficient with your email, your blog, your technology, etc. Definitely worth adding to the regular reads in your RSS feeder. That’s all for now! Have a great week and we’ll talk to you very soon!
KD
