2011 BarCamp Saskatoon

One of the key components I see to inspire and motivate people who are getting things done is a support system of like-minded friends and peers. BarCamp creates this kind of environment for the technology industry, and the related fields of design and business, which is why I keep going back.

I attended Saskatoon’s 7th BarCamp on November 5th 2011. It was the 3rd one I’ve been to and the best one so far.

Read MorePublished November 21, 2011 in Business, Design and Usability, Events

How Handoffs Are Ruining the Design Industry

James examines how the growth and segmentation of the design industry is causing disconnects between specialized roles, where projects suffer and what industry professionals can do about it.

Read MorePublished November 4, 2011 in Design and Usability

Escaping the Creative Mousetrap

Traditional work environments and a 9 to 5 job can really squelch your creativity. Mike talks about how working at The Phuse, with their non-traditional hours and do-it-yourself approach have inspired his work habits.

Read MorePublished October 2, 2011 in Business, Design and Usability

Great UX Is About More Than Just Design

James talks about the field of UX and it’s growth away from the user’s experience with the business itself, and how as UX professionals we must teach our clients why we built experiences the way we did so that users can have a consistent experience across all forms of communication with the company.

Read MorePublished August 9, 2011 in Design and Usability

What I Learned from Startup Weekend

This past weekend, James had the opportunity to attend Startup Weekend Toronto 2011 where he met loads of amazing people with more amazing ideas and motivation to create them. In 54 hours, he worked with a team to go through two ideas, and a hell of a lot of tallboys. Here’s his side of the story!

Read MorePublished June 7, 2011 in Business, Design and Usability, Events

Clickable Table Rows with jQuery

A tutorial on how to build clickable table rows with jQuery, complete with code examples.

Read MorePublished May 31, 2011 in Design and Usability, Development

Iterative Design: The Quest for “Perfection”

As designers, we often fix a client’s budget and timeline, and we effortlessly work within deadlines to get them what we’ve told them they’d receive by the end of it. What ends up happening is the client doesn’t realize how their slew of requests eats away at their budget to the point that either the service provider is losing money, or the client is needing to go over-budget. Design and development are a lot more alike than we make them out to be, and if we take a moment to assess best their practices, we may be able to find better options in how we bill clients.

Read MorePublished May 5, 2011 in Design and Usability

Stop Designing Logos, Start Developing Brands

Yes, I said it. We focus way too much on the quality of a logo that we never spend enough time on the brand. In an article I posted on the DesignInformer a week ago I spoke about what a brand is – something people often get confused about. But it’s too often that we take brand and logo to be one in the same. Here’s my challenge: take the logo out of the mix, and focus on developing the brand properly.

Read MorePublished March 30, 2010 in Branding, Business, Design and Usability

Why “Throwing Something Up” Isn’t Worth It

We’ve all been in this situation before. We start working for that “perfect” client who seems to agree with you on everything. Everything is hunky-dory, and then they do something that pisses you off. Now, this is fine when that something comes later in the project when you don’t have to hold the grudge for too long, but what happens when it happens in the beginning? What happens when you put in that something extra they didn’t even pay for, and it ends up being a project in itself?

Read MorePublished March 23, 2010 in Business, Design and Usability