Ever since I started thinking of going solo (even before putting it down in writing), I was collecting various ideas for effective integration of my design business with my blog. To give you an update, in less than two months I’ll be running my small design studio full time, so I need to be thoroughly prepared for that.

There are many designers who managed to successfully establish an online business presence and gain authority and clients from all over the world. And what is a better way to learn than from the pros? I’ve interviewed six prominent designers to get the insider info on how to effectively blend blogging with business.

Essential puzzle pieces for business promotion online

Choosing the right name for the business is probably one of the hardest decisions we have to make. Do we use our own name for the business and blog or come up with a different one? And what if we already have a blog, but only later decide to promote our services online – do we just add our portfolio to the existing blog, or start a new one?

Aaron Russel recently launched a new blog/site to promote his freelance work rather than using his existing blog. “miLienzo.com was never intended as a platform from which build my freelance activities — it was only ever intended as my geeky experiment into the world of blogging”, explains Aaron. “Whilst miLienzo.com has become a successful blog in its own right, it kind of serves no purpose and a lot of my posts tend to be a bit random or personal — it’s certainly not optimised as a ’selling’ blog. With the new site, rather than just opening up and writing what I feel, I think to myself ‘what do I want to achieve?’ and I construct posts based on that objective. It’s all just a bit more strategic and serious.”

Of course, the most important piece that every designer needs to add to his site is Portfolio. Prospective clients must know what are we capable of. However, there are a few other things that should be taken into a consideration as well when constructing your business presence online.

“Feature selected work in blog posts, talking about different aspects and challenges of the project. Add testimonials to the sidebar. Thumbnails of recent work in the sidebar are a nice idea too”, suggests Randa Clay, who successfully juggles her design career with blogging and motherhood.

David Airey, the blogger whose name is quickly becoming synonymous with Logo Designer, cleverly included Hire Me and Testimonials pages to his blog. “Portfolios are great for showing the work you’ve done in the past, but for future projects, establishing trust and gathering project details are of great importance”, cautions David. “My ‘hire’ page includes a logo design questionnaire that starts every new project on the right foot. My ‘testimonials’ page puts a public face on those client quotes that are all too often fake in appearance.”

Many businesses started to recognize a great potential in blogs that allow them to add something very important to their web sites that was lacking before. Tara from a popular Graphicdesignblog quickly noticed that and advises others to follow her steps: “What is useful about a blog, for prospective clients, is that not only do they get to see your work but they get to see a slice of your personality — from both how you write and how you respond to comments. I like to show my design case studies now and then as this shows my thinking process to clients. By showing how I work from my own initial sketches (generally not shown to the client) to concepts, to final design prospective clients can get a feel for how their design project would progress. This is especially useful for clients who don’t generally commission design”.

Another useful tip that designers who blog can adopt is to have a business “frontpage” for their site as a starting point instead of the recent blog post. Check out Aaron’s new site as a great example of this approach, who calls his homepage a ’shop window’:”I’ve dedicated the homepage to selling my services. The design tries to funnel visitors through a path of targeted content and ultimately to my client questionnaire contact form. Blogs are great for slowly building an ‘authority’ and positioning yourself as an expert, but ultimately if someone who has never heard of you is searching for your services and lands on your site through an organic search result, they will want to land on a page outlining what you do and why they should hire you, not your latest blog post.”

Blogging is perfect not only for established designers but for students as well. It is probably the quickest and least risky way to try out some freelancing on a side while you’re still studying your craft. Jacob Cass from Just Creative Design can serve as a role model here. In just a few months this design student from Australia has already built a name for himself not only as a creative young designer but also a prolific blogger with a high traffic blog and over a dozen of memorable guest blogging appearances on several prominent blogs.

“I blog about my design process and teach others what I have learnt”, shares Jacob, “I also have a hire me and portfolio pages. I recently added a testimonials page to show what others think about working with me, which is another great way to gain trust in your new potential clients. To narrow it down to just one point: you should practice what you preach.” On the other hand Jacob admits that “there are so many different ways to promote yourself and each does it in their own different ways so what may work for me may not work for someone else.”

Jon Tan, a respected designer who is well-known for his superb eye for Typography and as an avid supporter of web standards, gives an excellent summary of what are the better ways of promoting one’s design services via his/her blog: “I think it depends on context, audience persona, and business objectives but in a nutshell: Share your knowledge to be employed to implement it.”

How to build a skillful and imposing portfolio

Having an impressive portfolio will definitely boost your credibility and demand as a designer, but what if we were too busy working or studying full time and haven’t had a chance to score that many interesting projects that we could proudly display in our portfolio section?

“Do some pro-bono work, or just make up some dummy companies and design for them and put those items in your portfolio”, recommends Randa Clay, “Title the portfolio that is available something like ‘Samples of My Work’, even if it’s everything you’ve ever done. This is not meant to be a deceptive step, but there’s no reason to advertise the fact that you have a limited body of work.”

David Airey is another supporter of pro-bono work: “Patience is key, and I’d highly recommend pro-bono work for those with ‘thin’ portfolios. Contacting local non-profit organisations and offering your services is great for a number of reasons. It builds confidence, creates local business contacts, offers real-world experience (including valuable feedback), and should also be for a worthy cause.”

Students-designers should definitely check out Jacob’s portfolio to see how he integrated his personal works with the real-world examples. “You should always try to build up your portfolio”, encourages Jacob, though he recognizes that “there are a number of problems behind doing this (i.e. no computer skills, cash problems, etc.)”, so he wrote an article on where to get paid design work for students.

How to differentiate feasible clients from impractical ones?

The first question that comes to mind when getting a business inquiry is how do you decide whether someone who approaches you with a potential design work is a viable and committed client. Everyone has his/her own tactics in spotting when something or someone is too good to be true. Often it’s only a matter of time and experience when we learn how to turn down an offer that we don’t feel too good about.

You might follow Jacob’s advise: “You never know for sure so you should treat all clients with the same respect and then you will start to build a relationship up with them. Ever heard of the 80/20 rule? 80% of your work will come from 20% of your clients.”

For David it’s a simple matter of clients doing their research before contacting him: “Addressing me by my name is a great start. You’d be surprised how many emails I receive that sound cold and abrasive. It’s a common courtesy to start an email with ‘Hello David’ (or something similar). It’s not like my name is hidden away. It’s easy to differentiate a hastily written email from a professional one, and if someone rushes through what they’re saying, chances are good they want a cheap and fast identity design.”

First impression can definitely predict the outcome of an inquiry, as well as the transparency of those who request a quote on a project that we’ve never heard about before.

“It’s easy to get frustrated and bogged down trying to work with people who are not good clients. I rely heavily on the way that they first communicate with me, as well as who referred them to me”, observes Randa, “For example, when I get an e-mail from someone calling themselves ‘Slider’ simply saying, ‘I need a blog design- what do you charge?’, it does not give me the impression they will be a good client to work with. Someone who is likely to be a good client will have a ‘real’ name, communicate their needs well, and have at least a general idea of what they’re looking for in a design. A good client will also not balk at the idea of paying a percentage of the design fee up front. This demonstrates that they are committed to me as a designer and that they understand the value of a designer’s time.”

So looks like we’ve established the two key components that every client should have: they should know our real name, and they ought to sign the email with their own real name, as well as the name and the nature of their business. What else?

Tara takes the initial communication one step further: “When I get asked to quote a design job via my blog I generally send back a list of a few questions about their requirements. Some people don’t bother responding to the questions. If they aren’t prepared to spend the time answering a few questions it’s not worth pursuing. I will sometimes also ask if they have a budget to try and cut out people who want a $50 logo. Once I have the information I need I send a quote to the potential client and have been lucky that the new clients I have made from my blog have been good to work with and pay on time.”

Having a ready to be sent client questionnaire on your site is a quicker alternative to speed up the process of filtering the clients and getting the right and complete list of project requirements in the first place. This is an approach that makes Aaron’s life of a designer much easier: “By asking potential clients to complete a questionnaire form you will automatically filter a fair amount of these less committed clients, but other than that it’s down to intuition. To be honest I think it’s fairly easy to spot the genuine enquiries, but what is less easy is to act on your gut instinct and say ‘thanks but no thanks’ – especially so if you are going through a baron patch when the temptation to take on any work is strong.”

#1 tip for the efficient integration of blogging with business?

I’ve asked my interviewees to give their best tips on effective blogging with business in mind. “Practice what you preach”, eloquently put Jacob.

Once you decided on using your blog as another marketing tool for your business, try not to neglect it and update as much as possible. “The benefit of this is that Google loves Wordpress blogs and your site will come out higher in searches”, discloses Tara, “My blog is currently number 2 for Google UK for the term ‘graphic design’ which is something I would never have achieved with a basic website.” Now this is definitely something to be proud about, isn’t it?

“Blogging does consume huge amounts of time”, admits Aaron, “No matter how organised you are, by committing to write a blog you are committing to many hours of work a week. When you add it up this can amount to half a working day to even an entire working day. However, blogging can be a very powerful marketing/publicity tool and best of all it doesn’t really cost anything. Therefore as busy freelancers juggling several projects at once, we need to accept the value of blogging and with that accept the time commitments. Put time aside to strategically think about what your next week’s posts will be, dedicate time to write and proof your articles, and publish them to a schedule.”

Giving a “face” to your business is a strategy that proved to be successful for many designers. “People like to work with people they feel they know and like”, reveals Randa, “Put your picture on your blog, either on your front page or ‘about me’ page. Be personable and likable in your post writing. Use your blog to network with and get to know other designers and potential clients.”

It can never be stressed enough that networking to business is like water to fish — your business can’t survive without networking.

On the other hand, don’t make your business blog too personal. “Keep it relevant”, cautions David, “That’s not to say you shouldn’t add some personality to your blog, but if your business is design, don’t write articles about the local council’s new sewage policy (unless they’ve created a swanky new logo).” From myself I would add that having a good sense of humour can never hurt your business, but only enhance it.

An important concept in any business is to adopt whatever works for you the best. Sometimes narrowing down and focusing on specific services will make you stand out in the competitive world of designers. At first David Airey was offering a broad range of services, but then decided to focus on “logo / identity design”, and that’s when he became a sought after graphic designer. When I asked him whether or not he would advise others to follow his path, he gave an honest answer: “The truth is, logo design is what I enjoy most, so it makes sense to narrow my focus. Advice for others? Do what you love, and put all your effort into it. Spreading yourself thin can lead to project outcomes that undersell your true skills.”

For students-designers Jacob gives this advice: “I know a few student design bloggers, however they post more of just their work, which really doesn’t provide anything for the person reading it, it is mere an eye candy. If you provide your readers with more, such as your design process or some tips or how you went about doing things, then this provides them with something they can learn from.” To see his advice in action check out Jacob’s post on Font Flags Specimen Sheets. By turning this article into a resource, he got it ranked #1 on Google for “font specimen sheet” keywords.

Designer challenges

As in every profession designers face lots of challenges. The best thing that can happen is we learn from our mistakes (and hopefully others as well), the worse case scenario is we keep doing them over and over again until one day we get wiser.

For Jon Tan the most challenging things in design & blogging are “Time, learning and the last 10%: Our business moves so quickly, and covers such broad and deep areas of expertise; Finding time to research and write in depth, as opposed to a quick skim of the blogosphere and a bookmark or two, is a problem. I often read material that is not well researched, but audience-hunting or link bait. Properly researched material is a joy, but takes time to absorb, and publish. Our business is 80% science and 20% art. There are a lot of articles published that concentrate on the art, but I’d love to have more time to study the science, and add to it myself. The last 10% refers to polish. In combination with time spent researching and prototyping where the best ideas are born, the last 10% is where they truly come to life. That, and the final 10% is the art, and require more time and serenity of thought than is often available.”

“Trying to get an accurate brief from a client” is one of the most challenging tasks for Tara. “Some clients are great and provide lots of information, others are incredibly vague (even if you send them a questionnaire) and give you very little idea what they want.” Another hard decision to make for Tara, as well as many other designers, including myself, is providing the right quote: “sometimes it’s really hard to judge how long creative work will take, you don’t want to charge too much but also don’t want to undersell yourself.”

It almost became a common problem for every designer: we’re so busy working on client projects and dealing with various business-related tasks on a daily basis, that we hardly find time for our own sites and projects. So many times I’ve witnessed the fact that a successful designer has scrambled to find time only for his/her own web site to have only one page with coming-soon-here-are-my-contact-details info.

“Finding time to work on my own projects” is a challenge for David as well. “I enjoy working with clients, but I don’t intend to do it forever. Ultimately I want to set up some projects that bring in passive income, but I have a way to go yet. Sometimes I just have to tell prospective clients I’m too busy, in which case I’d refer them to another designer.”

Aaron confesses that “new challenges present themselves all the time”. “From a freelancer point of view, one month the challenge might be finding where the next piece of work is going to come from, whereas the next month the challenge is organising your workload due to the sheer volume of work. Then from a designer point of view there are practical challenges like learning new applications, technologies and skills, or often the challenge is wondering where your inspiration has gone and combating self doubt.”

So how should we overcome those difficulties on a daily basis? “All these challenges are dealt with by being adaptable and believing in yourself”, convinced Aaron. “Being a freelance designer requires the wearing of many hats, and to be successful at whatever you do for a living requires a confident and assured approach to your work.”

Over to you, my readers, now – what tips do you have for others about some of the ways that you personally found working in building your online business presence?

Some people seems to have it all – the looks, the luck, the recognition, the respect from their peers and admiration from their fans. But behind the mask of effortlessness hides a naked truth about the long hours of hard work and the tenacious perseverance in following their dreams and achieving the goals.

David Airey, an Irish born graphic designer from Edinburgh, Scotland, is one of such people. To celebrate a successful one year anniversary in blogging, David is throwing a big giveway party with $4000 in prizes sponsored by half of blogiverse, a very prominent half. There are prizes for everyone’s tastes and needs:
- Signed copy of Blogging Tips by Lorelle on Wordpress
- $60 of books from Amazon courtesy of Darren Rowse of ProBlogger
- One year’s hosting and blog setup from John Boardley of iLT
- One hour blog optimization consultation with Daniel from DBT.
- Personal marketing / advertising plan from Maki of Dosh Dosh
- Revolution Premium WordPress theme package from Brian Gardner
- Logo design from Tara Roskell of Graphic Design Blog
- Website critique from Randa Clay
- Blog writing consultation with Ben Yoskovitz of Instigator Blog
- Behringer Podcastudio USB Podcasting Kit, donated by Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Blog

There are only two days left to participate in his contest, so if you haven’t done that yet, head to David’s blog, check out the other prizes and enter the game. But before you leave this blog, make sure to find out the naked truth about an amazing blogger who likes to relax in nude by looking at the sunrise in Thailand (see the photo above).

1. Why and how did you chose to become a designer?

Why? I reckon I’d exhausted all other possibilities. First I wanted to be in the police force, then a firefighter, soldier, footballer, electrician, architect and so on, until, at the age of 15, my school wouldn’t let me back in due to poor results. So I started on an ‘art and design’ course in my local technical college, first for two years, then with a two year extension. Those four years opened my eyes to design, and how enjoyable it was working in the field.

It’s funny, looking back, I never really considered myself designing for a living. I suppose I thought it seemed too easy (sketching, sitting at a computer). I paid my way through education as a tire-fitter (fixing car punctures, changing exhausts, wheel alignments, and so on. the end of a busy day fitting tires, you know you’ve been working.

In saying that, I guess I didn’t realise the stress you can be put under, working to deadlines, dealing with clients, sorting out your own accounts, etc. Still, I know I’m very fortunate to be able to make a living doing what I enjoy. Not many people can say that, and I’m extremely grateful for the start in life that my parents gave me.

2. You’re a graphic designer, who specializes in a Logo design. What made you to narrow it down and actively promote this particular field of design?

It has only been recently, within the past couple of months, that I’ve focused on promoting my logo design skills. The reason for this change is because I enjoy creating logos more than any other aspect of graphic design. I love the sketching process, and how it allows me to step away from the computer. I can go anywhere and sketch, because all you need is a pencil / pen and some paper. Most of my working hours are spent in front of a computer / laptop, and the more time I can spend ‘unplugged’, the better.

3. How and why did you decide to get into blogging?

Oddly enough, I first heard about WordPress on the MySpace forum for graphic design. It’s quite an active forum, and despite the millions of idiots on MySpace, there are some very intelligent designers / programmers using it. I still stop by from time to time, and I’ve been helped out of quite a few fixes after posting my calls for help.

I didn’t really know the value of blogging, but heard great things about WordPress, and was curious. I wanted to develop my 5 page static portfolio site into something bigger, more useful, so headed to WordPress.com , and set-up one of their WP-hosted blogs.

4. Does blogging bring you more business? What advice would you give to other freelancers who want to build their clientèle with the help from their blogs?

Blogging brings me more business than I thought I’d be getting at this stage of self-employment. It was just two years back when I decided to ‘go it alone’, and I wasn’t sure if I’d make it past the first year. If you like the idea of working for yourself, you’ve just got to do it. All the planning in the world won’t educate you as fast as personal experience, and I’ve learnt a lot these past years.

As for any advice I’d give to freelancers who author blogs, hmmmm, first-off, I’d say to question why you call yourself a freelancer. I’ve stopped calling myself one, preferring to trade as a graphic designer / design consultant. I think that a lot of people out there have this idea that freelancers are hired to do what they’re told, and that’s not what I want. The impression I’m aiming to give, is that I work ‘ with’ my clients, and not ‘for’ them – that I’m knowledgeable about what I do. I know enough to tell my client what works, and what doesn’t.

If, whilst reading this, you think I sound big-headed, feel free to give me a cyber-slap. I still have tons to learn about graphic design, and never want to appear as if I know it all.

5. The blogger-reader interaction on your blog is awe-inspiring. How did you manage to build such a loyal readership?

You think so? Thanks! This is a question for you / my readers to answer, because you’re the ones that make my blog the enjoyable place it is to spend one or two of my hours every day.

One thing I do my best to keep up with, is responding to each commenter individually. Some times I’m just too swamped with client work to do so, and on those occasions I leave a comment, apologising for not responding. I just think to myself, that someone has taken the time out of their busy schedule to tell me what they’re thinking, in response to what I’ve published. Keeping that in mind, how can I just ignore them?

As I continue to become more busy, it’ll be harder to respond to everyone as I do. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

6. You’ve got a very impressive list of sponsors for your $4,000 anniversary giveaway. What did you do to get so many influential and prominent bloggers to not only be interested in your blog, but even sponsor it?

It took me by surprise how many people offered prizes! I think it’s important to mention that I’ve known everyone I contacted through their blogs. I’ve joined in the discussion they generate, leaving comments and giving my thoughts etc. There might’ve been one or two people offering prizes who I wasn’t familiar with, and they kindly responded to my call for sponsors (the blog post I published in the run-up to the prize draw launch).

7. How would you categorize blogging – is it your hobby, business or simply a time killer? What is your favourite pastime?

It’s certainly not a time-killer. Well, it does eat away at my time, but time-killer sounds negative, and I wouldn’t put blogging in that bracket. Blogging is now part of my business. It’s a marketing tool that shows what I’m capable of creating. More than that, though, it’s perhaps the best networking device I’ve ever come across. I’ve met so many fantastic people ‘online’ through my blog, and learned a lot from all of them.

I can say for sure, that if I was employed by someone, with a guaranteed pay cheque coming in each month, I’d still document my thoughts and interact with others through my blog. I’ve previously read that if you’re blogging for business, you should keep it business-like, and not add personal thoughts / comments. I don’t agree. People deal with people, not businesses, and it’s that personality that helps build lasting relationships, whether they’re related to work or not.

My favourite past-time? There are a few things, so I’ll touch on them briefly. I love playing football (soccer to the un-informed), and even though my shins take a battering, it’s great putting the ball in the back of the net. I love movies. Not your cheesy Hollywood blockbuster types, but films that make you think. Life stories, like Motorcycle Diaries, Dirty Pretty Things, or fantasy types like Spirited Away, LOTR and Big Fish. Lots of others, and I’ll not bore you with a list. Last, but most certainly not least, I love spending time with my girlfriend. We’ve been together for a couple of years (almost) – still short enough in duration to have conversations together, and for me to put ‘love’ in the same sentence when talking about her. ;)

8. What were some memorable moments from your one year of blogging?

The most memorable moment, without doubt, was when I stumbled upon InspirationBit. Vivien, you’re doing a great job with your blog, and it’s an honour to have you feature me (I just heard someone say, “Get a room”).

Seriously though, one moment would’ve been when someone popped my comment cherry. I can’t actually remember who it was, but I remember thinking, “Who’s this typing on my website?” and I became more and more curious about the interaction I could generate.

I’ve been celebrating my blog milestones, which I think is a good idea for everyone, and one memorable moment was reaching 1,000 RSS subscribers. Who’d have thought I’d pass 2,000 before the first year was out!

Picking up new clients, purely through my blog, has been fantastic, and I’ve spent a lot less on offline marketing than I’d ever have anticipated. That’s memorable!

And what are your thoughts on….

Before I could ask David another question, he was off to “cook up a storm in the kitchen”, getting ready to watch his favourite Ireland playing France in the rugby world cup.

August 6, 2007: John Boardley launches new blog iLoveTypography.com and starts a “Type Revolution”. In one month his RSS feed count gained 2160 subscribers, with each day that number grows by another hundred. That’s an amazing achievement, especially taking into consideration that John didn’t promote his new blog anywhere but his other site Redsil, a blog dedicated to Graphic Design. However the clean and meticulously designed RedsilWP theme for the blog has been featured on various CSS galleries and Smashing Magazine.

Another incredible thing about iLT (iLoveTypography) is the quality and content of the readers’ comments. It’s obvious that John managed to fill the void in the world of Typography and feeds the hungry readers with his outstanding articles about “all things type”, sprinkled with that rare kind of humour that makes you to crave for MORE stories like “Who Shot the Serif? Typography Terms”, “The Return of the Serif. Type Terminology” and “Typenuts, The Funny Side of Typography”

Well, before John Boardley becomes too famous to talk to I’ve decided to grab his attention and steal a couple hours of his super busy schedule, and arranged an interview with Mr. Typography himself.

Vivien: How did you end up working as a graphic designer? Where and how did you learn all that design craft?

John: After senior school (high school), I went to college to study design and technical illustration. I then worked as an architectural illustrator and found myself being asked to do non-architectural stuff.

V. When did you get into drawing? Did you take any lessons?

J. I drew as soon as I could hold a pencil – anything and everything. No, not really, a few life drawing classes in college and copying Rembrandt’s etchings hundreds of times to learn technique. The architectural illustration has been very useful to me.

V. So after high school you worked, then studied architecture for 2 years and worked again?

J. Yes, I worked again for a number of years – a mix of architectural illustration and graphic design. Then I suddenly thought, “Oops, I almost forgot university”, so I got saving. I signed up for a degree in Chinese. Just thought it would be a challenge and something completely different. However, on the first day of university they said, “You didn’t receive the letter?” I replied, “What letter?” To cut a long story short: the course had been canceled and they’d sent a letter notifying me of this to the wrong address. So there I was on the first day of university… courseless. They apologized and said that I could choose any degree. I thought Philosophy or Economics, but couldn’t decide. So I flipped a coin, and the coin chose Economics (with econometrics) and I loved it.

V. Why didn’t you chose Architecture or Design?

J. I needed some more intellectual stimulation (hope that doesn’t sound pompous) and I’ve always loved philosophy. I chose economics because I knew nothing about the subject and was terrible at math.
My dissertation was published in a journal, so they asked me to stay on and do some research, preferably a PhD. Sadly, I couldn’t afford it at the time, so I went to work in London (for lots of money). However, I did co-author one more paper (“An Econometric Study of the Behaviour of Real Wages”)
In London I worked as a Junior Economist, analysing markets.

V. How long did you work as a Junior Economist, and what did you do after that?

J. I worked there less than a year. After that I worked as a Media Planner for an advertising agency and it’s at that company that I got into web design accidentally. But then later I had a huge bust up with the boss and left. After the bust up, I thought oops, I’m unemployed, I should have thought that quitting job = unemployment. However, I soon found another job: I saw a web development manager job in the newspaper. All this time throughout the other jobs, I was doing Graphic Design too. So, I applied for the job, and somehow they gave it to me.

V. So you’ve worked there for three years and then you decided to freelance?

J. Well, freelance, then setup a company. However, company sounds odd because it was just me, so although I officially have a company, I still prefer to think of myself as freelance. Although I’m thinking of starting another company in Japan. I freelance from home, but most of my clients are in Europe and I’d like more Japanese clients.

V. Why did you move to Japan?

J. That’s a difficult one… To be honest, I have almost no idea. I came here on holiday and I just thought, “This is home”, no idea why, just felt right. So I sold my apartment and moved… 5 years ago.

V. Wow. Ok, can you please, describe your typical day?

J. My typical day… first thing is make some fresh coffee, before anything else, then check my mail, then I look at my list of things to do and think, “oh dear”, then I get to work.

V. When do you write that list of things to do?

J. Well, I always carry a notepad with me – always. So ideas and things to do go in there, then the things to do are transferred to my computer prioritised. I will often work on 4 or 5 projects on any given day. That way of working is not out of choice, really – my ideal way of working would be to work on a single project. But of course every client thinks s/he’s the only one, though I have one big client that always comes before any other work, even if it means having to turn down other projects, it’s a very loyal client.

V. When did you get into blogging?

J. Relatively recently, in fact – I guess about a year ago, just before starting Redsil launched personal blog Mykagawa. It’s amazing really, as I’ve been developing web sites for ages. David Airey’s was one of the first blogs I read.

V. How long did it take you to design the theme for iLT?

J. One night. But always tweaking it. I made a sketch in the cafe in the evening. I took ages designing Redsil, and that was with an existing theme! iLT just came naturally, must have been a good day.

V. Wow! I guess then we can say that iLT was born under a lucky star?

J. I guess it was. Conceived in a night.

V. Any idea how did you get all those RSS subscribers overnight?

J. Good question. I’d love to tell you I cleverly did x,y and z… however, to be honest, I have no idea. I’m baffled by it actually. I think it just got picked up by a couple of bigger sites.

V. How did you come up with the domain name?

J. I came up with the domain name (and others) in the cafe that same night. Most of the names had already been registered, even some quite obscure ones.

V. What have you been drinking that night in your cafe, some elixir of inspiration?

J. My cafe is my thinking place. I can fill 20 pages an evening with ideas in that place. It’s wonderful – Umie is the best. Must have something to do with the owner be a Graphic Designer.

V. What did you use to design iLT header – Illustrator or Photoshop?

J. Photoshop. I’m a huge fan of Photoshop, and often use it when I should be using Illustrator.

V. In your freelance work, what do you do more – web design or graphic design? What would be your preference?

J. These days, web design, but that will change next year. I prefer graphic design – it’s more creative. Web sites are about design (sometimes versus) code. With graphic design there’s no backend to think about. I don’t need to worry about making a magazine ad safe from hackers.

V. What do you find most challenging in Web design, and what in Graphic design?

J. In web design, the biggest challenge is keeping up: all the new JavaScript libraries, AJAX, PHP4 to PHP5, browsers, IE6 ahhhhhh…. In Graphic design the biggest challenge is… the white paper. What I mean is with the web, we build within quite a restrictive framework, dictated by pixels and by landscape oriented monitors, there are fewer choices. Graphic design has fewer imposed “rules”, more freedom and with freedom comes… well, not so much responsibility but more room for disaster. There’s really not that much variation on the web. Look around and what do we see? 3 columns, header, footer. So in web design, we never truly begin with a blank canvas.

V. What do you love the most about blogging and blogiverse and what do you hate the most about them?

J. I love most the comments and the community. I am overawed by some of the comments. I just read some of the comments on iLT recently; some of the comments are mini-articles. It’s amazing that someone would take the time to write it. If I were the teary type it would bring tears to my eyes. And when someone says they’ve learned something, that’s wonderful.
I hate… well, there’s not much in life that I hate, but I think it’s just not having as much time to blog as I’d like. If I had a choice, I’d spend half my week on iLT, but that won’t pay the bills. I’m not a great fan of things like Digg: they’re too big to be of any use, and people become obsessed with it and page rank, huge, pointless ranking system. I can understand it’s value when one is monetizing a blog.

V. You said that Emigre is your most favourite design magazine, what is your most favourite design book?

J. Actually, it’s a very recent one: Design is Attitude, by Helmut Schmid.

V. What was the very first Typography book you read that made you fall in love with Type?

J. Typographie, by the god of type, Emil Ruder (Schmid’s mentor).

V. What are your 8 all time favourite Types?

J. Oh, boy. Can I choose best 100?

1. Template Gothic
2. Helvetica ( it’s almost a cliche, but it’s popularity is deserved)
3. Univers
4. Le Monde
5. Sabon
6. Frutiger
7. Caslon
8. one of Zuzana Licko’s typefaces, maybe… Matrix

I could’ve talked more to John and asked him a couple hundred other questions, but it was getting too late for even John The Night Owl, who goes to sleep around 5am and gets up before 9am.
If you haven’t discovered his blog yet, I highly recommend to check it out. I can’t promise that you will become as obsessed with Typography as John, but I can guarantee that you will find Typography more attractive (even charming) and less intimidating, especially after reading John’s interview with the Serif family.

But even outside of work I encounter the same dilemma: either our phone is silent for days or ringing off the hook all day; either nobody is visiting us for weeks or our doors don’t close from everyday guests.

I’ve been interviewed only once before for a group interview in IT Manager’s journal on FOSS consulting. When all of sudden last week I was interviewed twice for two different blogs.

Another side of Universe

First I was approached by Jen Duguay, the founder of Tazzu – a very popular Vancouver Business, Technology, and Research Networking Community Forum – to be featured in Tazzu blog’s Member’s Spotlight. So if you want to find out a little bit more about me, my work, my family and finally see a bigger picture of me than the one on my about page, head over to VG Universe – Vivien’s world! article on Tazzu blog.

Amazing Bit

When I read David Peralty’s call over at Blogging Pro for unknown Amazing Bloggers, I sent an email to him more out of curiosity to see whether my blog gets any notice. To my surprise I got an email back from David, notifying that he’ll be profiling me in his series and asked me a few interview questions. Today I was astonished to learn that I’m his first feature on Amazing Blogger: Vivien of Inspiration Bit.

So here you go – two more peaks behind the scenes of Inspiration Bit :-)

Daniel from DailyBlogTips has promised to participate in my Group Writing Project. But we all know how busy he is (admiring his stat numbers, counting the revenue generated by his insanely popular blog, and writing daily tips). So after my several gentle reminders on MSN that he was unintentionally forgetting about, we’ve decided to set up a mini interview. Daniel has kindly agreed for a quick IM interview, so here I present you with fresh, out of the oven, inspiration sources “straight from the horse’s mouth”.

Every time an idea pops into my head I write it down. If I am browsing around the Internet, and a certain website calls my attention, I write it down. If I am reading a magazine, and a certain article gives me an insight, I write it down.

Basically, I think we have sources of inspiration all around us. The hard part is to be able to identify and leverage them.

V: How do you personally identify and leverage those sources?
D: No structured processes to follow, I just make sure that when they (the inspiration sources) pop I am “ready” to grasp them.

V: How do you sort through them? How do you decide which one is worth pursuing further?
D: Regarding which one to pursue, I think it is about feeling. But going back to your previous questions, I do think there are some practical tips you can use to “get” inspired. For instance, you can turn to things outside your field or normal activities: if you are a designer, read some books or magazines about management, and vice-versa. Travel to another country, or go to a bar you never would, or talk to someone you never would.

V: Do you have one reliable source of inspiration that you can always turn to when you feel stuck?
D: Books, to a certain extent. Reading over the Internet is useful (and I spend a great part of my day doing it), but books are different. They are more structured, and this might help you to organize your thoughts and honey ideas. Bear in mind I am talking about “top notch” books.

V: What are some of your favourite “top notch” books?
D: The Innovators Dilemma, by Clayton Christensen. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey. How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie. The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman. The Art of War, by Sun Tzu. Those are “bibles” for me.

V: How do you pick which books to read? Where did you first find out about those books?
D: I have always been an avid reader (my mom used to force me to read, which I am glad for now). Basically, I am always wandering through “Best of” lists. But then I also think people should read the classic literature: Hemingway, Dickens, Goethe, Stendhal, etc.

V: What was the most unexpected source of inspiration for you?
D: Well, I think I can give you a concrete example here. Some 5 years ago when I was still living in Italy I used to watch a television program called “Le Iene” where they would feature a double interview with famous people. Guess what, one day I was writing for my blog and “bang!” – I thought that I could use the same format to pitch two famous bloggers on the same interview. And that was the first “Bloggers Face-Off”, which became a corner-stone of my blog.

V: What advice can you give to someone who feels so stressed out by everything and everyone in life and work that nothing and nobody can inspire and motivate that person?
D: Stop running, sit down, and think. Things change really fast in our “information based” society. Sometimes we start running just because other people are running as well. But we are not sure where we are running to. Even worse, we are not sure why we are running at all. If you are in that situation slow down, maybe even stop altogether. Then think about where do you want to go. Once you have a clear answer, speed up again! You can’t get inspired if you don’t know what you are trying to accomplish.

There is one more day left to participate in this Group Writing project. If you too would rather have me interview you for this project to find out about your sources information, please, feel free to contact me with your IM details (Skype, MSN, AIM, ICQ, etc.). Otherwise, just send me an email with a permalink to your post or simply send your sources of inspiration. But hurry up, the deadline is approaching very soon – Thursday, May 24^th, 2007.

Please, post your questions here by March 29 and I’ll pick 3-4 best ones and include in my interview. I will even mention your name with a link to your site. Consider it being an early prize from Inspiration Bit :-)

Thanks. Look forward to getting your questions.

Update: unfortunately despite his initial agreement Matt Mullenweg never sent me his answers to my interview questions.