Freshen up

Does this economy have you down? Are there less emails flowing through your inbox these days? Is the winter weather giving you cabin fever? Do you, as a freelancer feel like you're ready to hang yourself?

Sometimes working from home as a graphic designer can be the most rewarding job imaginable but other times it can be lonely and a little depressing. There aren't other coworkers pushing you along. It's just you, all day every day and sometimes that just isn't enough to keep you motivated.

I'm the same, of course. But Jaden over at Freelance Switch has some great tips on how to keep you, the freelancer, chugging along. Things like, "Don’t let the naysayers weigh you down," and, "Eat healthy." She also wisely advises you to watch less television and have more sex, both will get your brain working again.

Good luck and get back on the wagon!

Studio: Reborn

I am embarrassed to reveal this image but this is what my studio looked like 3 weeks ago. It had become a dumping ground for all miscellaneous home stuff. I regularly referred to it as "The Shit Pit." It sounds like a harsh name but it's really satisfying to say, try it some time.

Studio: before - aka The Shit Pit.

Phew. That's over. My mother-in-law came to visit last week and first on the agenda was to clean this room. See that sofa thing with all the boxes piled on top? That pulls out making the guest bed. That means I not only had to clear off the bed but also make space on the floor.

Enter Giant Trashcan. I filled an entire curb-side trashcan with paper waste. Everything from magazines to paper scraps, used wrapping paper to stickers got stuffed into the can. With all that paper cleared away it gave me space to start organizing the yarn, paint and design supplies that previously littered my desk and cubbies. I rearranged nearly everything in the room and systematically put it back in more useful locations grouping similar items.

Studio: after - The Happiest Room in the House

I organized all my design supplies like pencil sharpeners, erasers and x-acto blades in a vintage green bowl that can be easily brought to my desk when I need to use it. I also have an inspiration bookshelf with a series of art and design books.

I had been struggling to get my yarn and knitting supplies organized but I finally have it all arranged with straight needles in a basket, notions all together in one place and a couple of cubbies filled some of my favorite yarns.

Lastly, I made a special corner with my easel.

It feels really great to have my office simplified. It had been such a disaster I didn't even set foot in the room for days at a time. I really love having everything organized and easy to access it helps me get inspired to do great work.

Have you simplified or organized any overwhelming project recently?

Samples from my portfolio

I sort of stumbled in to the wide world of patent drafting and illustrating. I think I'll stay for a while, I like it over here. I find the patent illustrations fun and cathartic. Every page of every case is different and has to be fit in to very specific parameters set by the Patent and Trademark Office. The USPTO requires that the drawings be only black and white and have reference numbers that correlate with the written text of the patent. If the drawings are not suitable the patent office may reject the entire patent. All those boundaries help keep me in line! (pun intended!)

Think things through

Logo usage hint: If you're going to call yourselves "Europe Without Barriers" please don't put your logo ON barriers.

From Prague, Czech Republic via Neatorama.

Time Management

I have never been good at recording my time for projects. I would look at the clock and think, "Yeah, I've probably been working on this flyer for about two and a half hours." Then I would scribble it down on a little scrap of paper which would then get lost on my desk and I would try to dig it up whenever I remembered to bill my client.

This is not efficient. This is also not effective. This is also very poor time management.

As my client list began to grow I started thinking I really needed to get this mess under control and act like I run a real business. There's nothing more valuable to a designer than time. It takes time to do everything, doing sketches, sending pdfs, scheduling print runs, and so the list continues. If you're not keeping good track of your time then how can you put a value on your work?

I've spent the last month sorting out the mess of tiny scraps of paper and sampled three different time management applications.

1. Live Timer
Type: web application - www.livetimer.com
Price: $5 per user per month
Free Trial: 1 month, no credit card required to start
First Impression: The page looks busy and a little complicated but after further inspection I figure out how to add a new project, start the timer and get to work. Adding project times from previous days is easy and can be entered either by duration or by time of day. Live Timer has a nice iPhone-ready webpage.
Overall Impression: Live Timer is a great value for the independent designer but it is more powerful than what I need. It can integrate with multiple users on different projects.

2. Less Time Spent
Type: web application - www.lesstimespent.com
Price: $7.95 per user per month
Free Trial: 1 month, no credit card required to start
First Impression: Easy to get started. A very striped down interface makes it not only easy to use but fast. I click the only button available to create a new project, I enter the project name and immediately the timer starts running. It seems easy to review the time spent on projects and add in any related expenses.
Overall Impression: Time Less Spent is fast and efficient. It's not the most beautiful interface but its lack of fuss makes it easy to understand. Projects can be archived and brought back to life at any time and collaboration is easy with other users.

3. Let's Freckle
Type: web application - www.letsfreckle.com
Price: $12 per month for 1 user and up to 10 projects
Free Trial: 1 month, credit card required to start
First Impression: This looks fun! The friendly user interface lets me get right to work. It's easy to enter times and project names. It also has a tags field, something I didn't realize I was missing but that I really find useful. There's no timer so I need to use a separate application to count my time then manually add it each project.
Overall Impression: Let's Freckle has a very unique take on what it means to make a useable web application. The site is very thought out and has really simple but beautiful features. It's easy to use and fast.

Decision: I chose Let's Freckle. It was a hard decision between Less Time Spent and Let's Freckle mainly because Let's Freckle doesn't have an integrated timer. I did some research and Freckle has plans to add a timer in the near future. Even though it is the most expensive for a single user the interface is so modern and fresh. It's created by a group of developers that develop solutions that even Thomas deems "clever." As Freckles says in its manifesto:

Our manifesto can be summed up as software doesn’t have to hurt.

Or, if you’re a glass-half-full kind of person (and we are), good software is cheerful software: it behaves cheerfully, and it leaves you cheerful, too.

Who doesn't want to have something cheerful to deal with everyday?