Skyler Corbett » creative work

From Art To Artist

Skyler — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 16:18:41 +0000

This month I helped muralist and illustrator Chris Wilhelm generate a dynamic portfolio of his work. A mixture of WordPress themes, custom HTML and CSS coding, and professionally presented jQuery galleries presents Chris Wilhelm’s work in a new light.

A Snapshot of Today’s Work

Skyler — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:58:47 +0000

This past week I helped some Oregon State fashion students with a quick picture of a collage they put together. It’s pretty neat, check it out:

New Business Cards

Skyler — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 18:32:55 +0000

Man, it’s hard working on your own stuff. I spent a couple hours working on a new set of business cards for 2007. I think at one point I considered changing my name to make it easier to typeset. I like how simple the design is–next up, brochures, website, and portfolio.

My sister got me a new Motorola Razor for Christmas. Should be coming in the mail soon. Call me sometime.

Be Flexible

Skyler — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 11:51:53 +0000

A Small Orange has been my webhost for the past year and happily so. Their website and forum are the best I’ve seen from any webhost–everything is simplistic, there’s no unwarranted advertising, and the design sense they have is top notch.

I was surprised when I saw this promo on their website. I think it is very clever in the message it sends across:

First off this is the way that you sell technology: put people in the picture. There is a reason why the iPod silouette commercials were so popular. Everyone could see themselves in the people dancing, being active, and using the product. The shot of a man breakdancing is an excellent way to catch peoples attention in a fun, positive, way.

They also have a great two word slogan that not only does good for supporting the service they are promoting (PHP Interoperability) but for A Small Orange itself. Be Flexible really defines the services that A Small Orange has itself from small $5/mo plans to hosted servers, reseller plans, and lots in between. The placement of the copy is just right since it guides your eyes along the contours of the body of the dancer giving a sense of motion.

In my opinion the message that this ad transmits is that A Small Orange is friendly, fun, easygoing, skillful, and knowledgable. Just like the man in motion A Small Orange can accomplish things that others cannot. Which is true, because they just sold me on how they implement PHP 5. Which I needed to run my ActiveCollab groupware right next to the PHP 4 based WordPress cms. So this promo works on two levels customer wise: it informs current users and attracts future ones in a pleasant, non-technical way.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

The Pressure Is On

Skyler — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:45:42 +0000

We live in a time where seemingly quality results can be produced by people who own graphics software packages with little or no training. The well known companies that make these products do not discourage amateurs from using pro-grade products. In fact, they promote their ease of use to the average consumer as a way to increase their sales. Unfortunately the message these companies are sending in their marketing campaigns is that graphics work is ‘simple’ and ‘ordinary’. However, there are still distinctions that show the wide gulf between amateur production and professional results.

A professional graphic designer will never work on spec. ‘Spec work’ means work done on speculation and without contract or guaranteed income. Spec work often encompasses online contests, ‘percentages’ based on sales increases after work completed, or forcing a designer to do additional uncontracted work in order to receive payment for contracted work. Currently a campaign against speculative work is going on at www.no-spec.com

A professional graphic designer will not be afraid to challenge you. Many clients working on projects involving creative assets only hire based on getting exactly what they want and therefore they attract people who will give them just that. The end result might be a web page with poorly thought-out navigation, a brochure that doesn’t emphasize the right words, or a logo that says nothing about the company. All because the ‘designer’ hired was too afraid to stand up to the client or was only hired to follow orders.

Instead a professional will work within the limitations given and produce only the absolute best options available. They will constantly scrutinize how necessary any element of a project agreement is and champion any ideas they feel will complete the project more fully than realized at the start.

A professional graphic designer will give you the goods. You are paying for their time above all else. A professional designer will never be ‘too busy’ to finish a newsletter, will never feel ‘too pressured’ to deliver that poster, or (in the case of prodigious nephews in high school that mysteriously own expensive graphics tools) want ‘more love’ for the services they are providing.

In the end a contract is only as good as the people who sign it. Without a contract and fixed payment schedules there is no definite proof that a project will be finished well if it is finished at all. Without a contract with clearly defined goals the project can be delayed for any reason, the results may be incorrect, and any unaccepted progress invites poor communication or hostile exchanges.

When there is a contract involved it will guarantee the results that are put in the project agreement. Just like the certified public accountant hired to balance the books come tax time any graphic designer worth their weight in bold will make more than an effort to deliver the project on time and have those results be immediately usable.

The pressure is on the client to choose what results they want. Use any amateur or hobbyists that work on spec and do not be surprised if you are unsatisfied with the results. More importantly, if any client choses spec work as their means of acquiring design work for any project they should expect to be empty-handed when it comes time for that handout to be delivered.

The pressure is on. The choice is yours.