The pros and cons of being able to work anywhere

We've all faced the double-edge sword of being easily accessible, because that also means we are almost always accessible, but another situation has come to the forefront of late. Aside from feeling bombarded and overwhelmed by the pace and sheer mass of information flying at us, the ease of being able to collaborate with anyone anywhere means we are also grappling with different time zones, with information arriving at all hours of the day and night.

There's been no such thing as a 40 hour week for the self-employed for quite some time, as free-lancers are often hired precisely for their ability to pick up where employees left off at the end of the day/week. But more and more these days we are working on projects with people around the globe, and information and requests come in 24/7. I may be sleeping when someone else is having morning coffee, or making dinner when another is hitting their stride after lunch. When I am collaborating, either with a client or another team member, I try to respond as soon as possible, since I know the feeling of having my work flow interrupted waiting for an answer to a crucial question. So I am answering email as soon as my eyes can focus and even as they are ready to close for the day. But regardless, it beats having no work at all, right?

Put our knowledge and expertise to work for your business— visit our webpage and then contact Canzani Graphics today! All content ©2011Canzani Graphics

caveat emptor- RF images

The only good thing that comes out of bad experiences is often a helpful blog post that serves as a warning to others.

Today’s post is the result of a client choosing an image from one of the many inexpensive “royalty-free“ websites that are so popular now. I’ve had good experiences with some sites, but was unfamiliar with the site they chose. Despite my objection to clients driving the direction of a design to that extent, I designed their project around the image they chose.

The problem occurs because the preview images on websites are of such low resolution that you cannot see imperfections. I once bought an image of a large building only to discover a corner had netting over it due to renovations- you just couldn’t see it on the thumbnail low res version.

Since I do not purchase an image until the design is approved, asking for a refund and finding another image would require redesigning the entire project. It’s apparent these sites don’t scrutinize submitted images for potential problems, but I believe they should either (a) not accept images that have imperfections, (b) require the photographer to correct problem areas, or (c) alert buyers to problem spots before they purchase, either by pointing them out or by severely discounting such images.

I can, and did, retouch the image myself and am awaiting a printed proof while I write this. But even though the image was not as expensive as one purchased on say, corbis.com, I object to the surprise of paying for the rights to an image that isn’t in usable condition as is. This is the difference between paying a premium to a highly regarded site and “getting a good deal.” You may save money on the image only to find out you have to pay to have it retouched, or have the project redesigned in the end.

Put our knowledge and expertise to work for your business— visit our webpage and then contact Canzani Graphics today!
All content ©2011Canzani Graphics

social media part 2

Is social media the new, kinder, gentler advertising?

At its core, it is shared experience, but in practice, it is marketing masquerading as a group of friends discussing products, services and/or trends they've learned about. It is kind of creepy on some level, that companies we choose to do business with then use their knowledge of us for marketing. But perhaps that is preferable to every business bombarding us with all their advertising whether we're in their target demographic or not?

Directed marketing saves companies time and money by focusing their campaigns to interested users, rather than the "throw it at the wall and see what sticks" approach. Their social media efforts encourage them to impart information we might not ordinarily encounter and allows them to highlight expertise in their area. They may be reading trade publications we wouldn't come across, and can explain implications that affect us as consumers.

We can't all read everything researched and published on every subject- there just are not enough hours in a day. But if we read something of interest and post it, we expose our social network to what we've learned. This expands our horizons- but only if we want it to.

Put our knowledge and expertise to work for your business— visit our webpage and then contact Canzani Graphics today!
All content ©2011Canzani Graphics

jobs in social media

On reading the article "How Timeline Radically Changes Your Facebook Marketing Strategy"  this morning, I got to wondering— At what point does promoting your business on social media take so much time that you can no longer work at your business?


If small businesses need to post to their fb pages more often, it wil inevitably lead to many new full or part-time jobs for social media 'experts'. Are we expanding this new classification of job openings? Will all today's 'social media mad' tweens and teens be able to actually make a living posting to fb and twitter all day? Does it being a 'real job' that take all the fun out of it, or is it everyone's dream job? Maybe it will lead to whole new lines of bunny slippers and pjs that look like real clothes. A redefining of "business casual" can't be far behind…


Put our knowledge and expertise to work for your business— visit our webpage and then contact Canzani Graphics today!
All content ©2011Canzani Graphics

self-publishing

Publishing a book has been an interesting experience. The manuscript was given to me as a Microsoft Word document, which I then had to reformat, including assigning styles (see post of 8/21), because whenever I tried to import it into my layout software (InDesign) it would get only so far and then stop.

After formatting the manuscript for print, I went on to tackle ebooks, a new task for me. As it turns out, in order to get the ebooks to turn out just right, I had to copy everything from the layout, paste it back into Word (have I mentioned today how much I hate Word?), and then change all the text to Times Roman. The swash we used to separate sections of the book was pasted in as a gif; this is a tedious task in Word— in InDesign, it would have been a global find and replace. Once I had the file converted for the Amazon Kindle, I had to tweak it for Barnes & Noble's nook.

Now that both are done and for sale online, I am turning my attention back to the website while the author deals with Press Releases and reviewers. It's an awful lot of work, but in the end will be faster than going with a mainstream publisher.

You must be careful, though, as there are a LOT of websites more than happy to take your cash while returning dubious results. Of the 2400 outlets the author paid the publishing sie to send the Press Release to, most of them were either not appropriate (some were for kids, some for art, some dealt with animals) or no longer even in existence. Now we have the task of weeding out the bad and inappropriate outlets, a job we thought she had paid for.

It's a great book, and I believe it will do well. Perhaps when this is finished, I'll publish my own book on self-publishing. I'll call it "Caveat Emptor!"

Put our knowledge and expertise to work for your business— visit our webpage and then contact Canzani Graphics today! All content ©2011Canzani Graphics

Steve Jobs

I am immersed in a project, with no time for blog posting, but I felt compelled to comment on the passing of Steve Jobs. His vision has, in many ways, both inspired and defined my working and personal life since the mid-80s. It is a rare individual indeed who can have such an impact on so many of us. In his quest to blend mind and machine, he showed us that design is, and should always be, ever present in the devices we choose. Whether in regards to functionality or appearance, simplicity and style was foremost in his ideas and products, and our lives have all been enriched by his amazing mind.

Put our knowledge and expertise to work for your business— visit our webpage and then contact Canzani Graphics today! All content ©2011Canzani Graphics

Photoshop Elements

Adobe just released the newest version of Photoshop Elements, which at $99 is good solution that will allow you to retouch your photos without having to buy (and learn!) the full Photoshop program. There will be a trial available soon, so you can see if it works for you before you commit to purchasing. If you sign up they will notify you when it's available. See: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements.html

Put our knowledge and expertise to work for your business— visit our webpage and then contact Canzani Graphics today! All content ©2011Canzani Graphics