1000 Dot to Dot books

The link

The 1000 dot to dot book: Cityscapes

What it is

“1000 Dot to Dot” is a series of books of very large ‘connect the dots’ drawings, with a theme for each book. Current themes include ‘art masterpieces’, ‘animals’, and ‘cityscapes’. Each drawing is printed on a separate page (with a blank flipside), and can be taken out for framing if you want.

What it means to me

I really like these books for two reasons:

1)      They’re playful. It’s often interesting to take something that ‘supposed to be’ for children and seeing how far you can push it, especially if you take the time and effort to do it right. I like that these books start at ‘really large connect the dots for adults would be neat’, but don’t stop there. Rather they move on to explore what kind of giant connects the dots pictures would make actual sense, and what people could use them for. Then, they actually delivered.

2)      These books encourage people to create. The back of the book says “…you will be rewarded with a genuine piece of art that you can remove and display”. I’m not entirely sure I agree with the ‘genuine piece of art’ part, but I applaud any effort to empower people to create things and hang them on their wall. Besides, after spending 30 minutes with a magnifying glass connecting a thousand dots, who’s to say there isn’t a bit of your soul poured into that paper?

I think the second reason resonates so much with me because I admire people who create and dare to put their creations ‘out there’, and because I myself often hesitate to do so. The “1000 Dot to Dot” book is a first step towards taking your own output seriously. It effectively tells you on the cover that the drawing you just spent a lot of time on really is good enough to hang on your wall. Hence, also, this blog: a small step towards being a net contributor to the world instead of just a consumer. 

We do expect artists to transcend following directions at some point, both in form and in spirit. At which point we can go back to reason 1, and draw huge connect the dots pictures because they’re cool.

Aaron Draplin

Aaron Draplin

The link

Aaron Draplin designs a logo (16 min)

Making it in the Little Leagues: Aaron Draplin at Ted x Portland (17 min)
The DDC 50 Point Plan to ruin Yer Career (51 min) 
Draplin Design Co. homepage

Videos may contain profanity.

(the official TED link for the second video is here . Unfortunately, I can’t get it to work.)

What it is

Aaron Draplin is a graphic designer, and the founder of the “Field Notes” pocket notebook company. The videos highlight his thoughts on graphic design, and on how to succeed as a creative professional.

What it means to me

Aaron Draplin inspires me on two levels: I like his stuff, and I like his attitude.

Aaron makes these big, simple logos that look good on anything. Same thing with the field notes books: they're as simple as possible, utilitarian, and then he makes them look good. And then makes limited edition series in nice color ranges, or with photography on them. You want to own them just to look at them, and they’re still good notebooks.

(Full disclaimer: I don’t actually own any. Yet.)

Part of what I love about the first video is how he refers to these old books, both for the graphical examples and for the context in which these logos are used. “This logo has to go on trucks. Big trucks, little trucks, sides of trucks, hoods of trucks.” I think it’s great to show a master craftsman who publicly states he’s still learning; it’s very refreshing.

I also admire Aaron Draplin’s attitude, which emphasizes doing what you like to do, and doing it well according to your own standards. If the notebook you want doesn’t exist, make it. When you do, you’ll find that other people may need it too.

His quote “Invent your life. Invent your clients” echoes the old “if you build it, they will come”. Which, unfortunately, isn’t always true. That’s why I have a lot of respect for those who do venture forth to make their mark on the world, in their way.

Last year, I quit my job. I didn’t have a new job lined up yet; I was so frustrated with my old job that I wanted out, and didn’t mind sending a strong signal about it. Effectively, I said “If this is how it is, I won’t work for you. I’ll find somebody else.”  (I did, in fact, find somebody else, and smoothly transitioned to my current consulting position). 

Draplin, as a self-employed designer, makes that statement very day. “This is how I work. If that interests you, I’ll work for you.” This kind of communication relies on equal part confidence and humility: confidence in your skills and your body of work, humility to truly listen to your client and to keep improving.

Over the past year, I’ve come to realize that, as a consultant, your growth path is similar. “Here’s what I do well. This is my reputation. Let’s do things together.” Part of ‘making it’ as a consultant is people calling you, and that only happens if you have something unique to offer, and if the world knows about it.

Seven Red Lines

Seven Red Lines

The link

Seven Red Lines

What it is

“The Expert”, also known as “Seven Red Lines” is a comedy sketch about the clash between client expectations, sales tactics, and one poor expert’s knowledge of the real world. All this takes place in a single intake/design meeting. Honestly, it 7:34 minutes. Just watch it.

What it means to me

First things first: this is funny. It’s well written, and pokes fun at all the stereotypical problems which ‘subject matter experts’ have to deal with. (It also mentions ‘kitten’, the favorite word of the entire internet). I’ve been in situations where people can't grasp that what they ask for is impossible, and it drives me up the wall. Bonus annoyance points if someone refers to Steve Jobs in attempt to motivate us all so much that we can ignore reality.

It’s easy to look at the video and emphasize with the expert. All the other people in the design meeting have overblown, unrealistic or poorly thought out expectations, which combine into something that’s impossible to deliver.

However.

We see a room with different people, with different agendas, who are each trying to get what they want and are making a mess of it. They each have very constrained outlooks on what the meeting is about, and they can’t communicate worth anything. That doesn’t mean that their problems aren’t real, or that their solution demands aren’t genuine. As mr. Hanlon put it: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity”.

If you want to actually solve this problem, you need to empathize with everyone in the room. They may not get what they want, but if you can figure out why they want it, you may be able to get them something suitable. Or, on occasion,  something even better. The only way to 'win' in this situation is not to follow what everyone is saying, but to find out what they want.

Last year switched from an internal position as a subject matter expert to a career in consulting. In trying to work out how the consulting business works, 'listen to everyone' is an attitude to live by.

G. Richard Shell – Bargaining for Advantage

G. Richard Shell – Bargaining for Advantage

The link

G. Richard Shell - Bargaining for Advantage

What it is

“Bargaining for Advantage” is a book on negotiation, with the sympathetic byline “negotiation strategies for reasonable people”. The book is popular enough that you can find it at any large enough local or online bookstore.

What it means to me

The main lesson that this book taught me is that negotiation is not an ‘underhanded’ process where each party is trying to get one over the other. “Win-win solution” is a term so popular it has almost become a cliche, but this book helped me realise that a "win-win" is often possible - if both parties put in the work to make it happen.

The most important principle? Know what you want, and ask for what you want. 

I’ve always found it hard to come forward and say “I want this”. Instead, I have relied on hints, reputation, and references to ‘standards’ to hopefully be given what wanted.  The problem with this tactic is that you completely depend on someone else to 1) pick up on your signals, and 2) interpret them the way you mean them to. 

The second part is especially relevant due to the fact that people tend to have vastly different worldviews. They naturally tend to project their worldview onto you, and interpret your actions in their context.

99% of the time, the best way to get what you want out of a negotiation is to make sure the other party knows what’s important to you, and why. The remaining 1% is best left to Mergers & Acquisitions bankers and poker movies, anyway.

Applying this principle has gotten me results (and even a job) I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. More importantly, it has made my life simpler. Going into a negotiation knowing what I want and why, and allowing myself to say so, removes a lot of the stress for me. Instead of ‘negotiating’, I can focus on being myself in a conversation.