O' What a Creative Blog!

Look in the mirror and say hello to the nightmare of all clients—Yourself. Why is it so hard for graphic designers to design for ourselves? In my latest article for HOW Magazine, I offer tips for taming the fire-breathing client within yourself while working on your brand’s website and other promotional materials. Read the full article HERE.

The February 2010 issue of HOW magazine is currently on newstands and in bookstores all across the country. The article I wrote, “Turn Downtime into Playtime” features the awesome work by design firms Flywheel Design, Brand Engine, and graphic designer France Liddell.

DOWNLOAD & READ STEPHANIE ORMA’S ARTICLE (the PDF is 8.9mb so download time is a little slow – but SO worth it!)

You’re in a fabulous mood, the weather is gorgeous, the sun is shining but as you stroll down any U.S. city street not even the Prozac-free among us can avoid the depressing vision of vacant storefronts; a constant reminder of one of the ugliest economic times in our nation’s history. So what’s a city to do?

The San Francisco Art in Storefronts project (an effort by The San Francisco Arts Commission, in collaboration with the Mayor’s office of Economic and Workforce Development and Triple Base Gallery) will launch a unique initiative on October 23rd to revitalize local neighborhoods hardest hit by the economic downturn. At this inaugural event, San Francisco-based artists and designers will temporarily place original art installations into 10 vacant storefront windows transforming them into inspiring works of art.

Among the initial storefronts to be unveiled is a thought-provoking piece by the San Francisco design firm MINE™. In a darkened storefront a neon sign proclaiming, “Everything is OK” will hover above rows of canned “products” that promise instant “OK-ness.” According to Mine’s founder and creative director Christopher Simmons, “The installation is designed as a provocation through which passersby are challenged to explore their relationship to the status quo and the term ‘OK.’ Does ‘OK’ signify ‘good’ or merely mediocre? If everything is mediocre, is that what we’re being asked to accept?”

This installation could not be more appropriate as the world sits with bated breath wondering, “Is the economy improving? Is everything OK?” With innovative economic revitalization efforts like this one, I don’t know about you, but my little black Magic 8-Ball reads “outlook good.”  So let’s go shopping…window-shopping that is! And hey, more good news, it won’t cost a dime.

WHEN:
Friday, October 23, 2009, 5-7PM
Formal Remarks at 5:30, followed by an unveiling of the the window installations, live music, and an art walk with the artists.

WHERE:
Storefronts located along Market Street between 5th and 8th Streets.
Reception and remarks at 989 Market Street at 6th Street
(originally appeared in SF Examiner  9/23/09)

If you’re an entrepreneur (or ever had daydreams during death-by-boredom conference meetings of becoming one) you’re familiar with the process of trying to come up with “the big idea.” It ain’t easy, to say the least: researching, brainstorming, sleepless nights, feeling like your banging your head against a brick wall, headaches (from actually banging your head against a brick wall), more sleepless nights (from uncomfortable bandages wrapped around now bruised head). Then, finally, at 4:23am as you lay in bed ready to strangle the 1,099th sheep you’ve counted – the idea finally comes!

Understanding this crazy, difficult process, I’m ever more appreciative of creative, original, inspired new business and product ideas. Thus, the moment I heard about ARTCRANK, the bike-themed poster art show (coming to San Francisco on October 24 at 580 4th Street), I had to know – who the heck thought of such a brilliantly simple concept of combining bikes and art??

Now before you go banging your head against a wall (again) in a “why didn’t I think of that” frenzy, check out this insightful interview with the clever brains behind ARTCRANK, Director/Curator Charles Youel. And then go check out an art show like you have never experienced before. READ FULL ARTICLE: SF EXAMINER

I have a love/hate relationship with typography. Love in the sense that I am so passionate about the craft, I’ll stay up night upon night tweaking the type in a design so it’s just right. Hours will fly by, darkness will turn to dawn, but I won’t have cared or noticed because the type is all I see. Love in the sense that when I spot gorgeous typography, I simply cannot stop staring at the awe inspiring, drool-worthy brilliance. But typography is also my chief nemesis. It’s not a skill that comes naturally to me. And some days it feels like a constant uphill battle. It’s frustrating, it’s maddening, and probably even more so because of my fervent passion for the craft.

Typography is arguably the single most challenging element in graphic design to master, and likewise, the most crucial. The designers I have interviewed today are champions of typography and frankly, my personal design heroes. Their mastery of working with type is nothing short of downright enviable: Aya Akazawa, senior designer of Chronicle Books and sole designer of Souffle by Le Petit Graphiste; Todd Hedgpeth principal and creative director of Tawd Design and graphic design instructor at Academy of Art University; John Barretto art director and senior designer of Tolleson Design; Max Spector, art director and senior design of Chen Design; and Josh Chen, principal and creative director of Chen Design. Moderated by San Francisco graphic designer and copywriter Stephanie Orma of Orma Design and She’s SO Creative, the five acclaimed designers talk good type / bad type and share insightful tips for newbie designers to seasoned professional alike seeking to master the art of typography.

READ FULL ARTICLE: SF EXAMINER

For the creative industry, in which 99.9% of the time is spent interacting with a computer, it seems ironic that the success of the business itself is so vitally dependent upon the real and meaningful interactions with people and NOT computers. What does this mean exactly? It means we (graphic designers, copywriters, creatives, etc.) have to actually venture out beyond the glow of the computer monitor to obtain clients. But don’t take it from me.

I picked the brains of three stellar creative firms who know a thing or two about getting clients and building successful businesses: Jennifer Bostic, owner and creative director of Paper Plane Studio; Lanny Udell, owner and chief writer of Copywhiz; and Eric Heiman and Adam Brodsley partners and co-founders of Volume Inc. Moderated by San Francisco graphic designer and copywriter Stephanie Orma of Orma Design and She’s SO Creative, the three studios share their personal experiences, insights, and advice on the best means of landing graphic design and copywriting clients.

READ FULL ARTICLE: SF EXAMINER

The newbie designer trap goes something like this: You go to graphic design school. You study all the “famous” designers that your teachers tell you are great. Then you head straight into the workforce designing to please your boss and your clients. And through it all, you somehow forget yourself in the process. You forget to ask yourself, “What do I think? What kind of designs do I like? What kind of designer do I want to become?”

And that’s exactly what happened to me. By the time I left my first graphic design job, I had lost all sense of myself as a designer. I had been so completely in the mindset of working to please others that I had left myself entirely out of the equation. Unsure of my next steps or how to proceed with my future career, I decided to attend the AIGA SF Portfolio Day (a.k.a. one-on-one feedback with experienced, talented designers, creative directors and principles of some of the best design firms in the country) held at California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco. I was hoping their feedback would help bring some clarity to my situation (I also secretly fantasized I would score interviews with my dream design agencies, they would love my work, and hire me right there and then).

READ FULL ARTICLE: at AIGA SF

With 13,297 Twitter followers combined, the following graphic designers know a thing or two about using Twitter to effectively promote their design businesses: Lawrence Anderson(twitter.com/hellolawrence), a San Francisco graphic designer at Designed By Anderson; Jacob Cass(twitter.com/justcreative), an Australian freelance graphic, web, and logo designer at Just Creative Design; and Grace Smith (twitter.com/gracesmith), a United Kingdom freelance web and blog designer at Postscript5. Moderated by San Francisco copywriter and graphic designer Stephanie Orma (twitter.com/stephanieorma) of Orma Design, the three designers share their personal Twitter experience, tips, and advice including how to get Twitter followers and land design jobs.

READ FULL ARTICLE: SF EXAMINER

In the beginning of my career, when I first started seeking graphic design jobs, I had a little paragraph on the top of my resume that talked about how passionate I was about graphic design. Likewise, if you look at the resumes and websites of many fresh graphic design grads today, they do the exact same thing. But as I got on in my career, I started questioning if it made any difference at all to my future employers whether I was passionate about graphic design or not.

Above: A greeting card created from my passion for creative words, images and ideas. Photo Courtesy Stephanie Orma / She's SO Creative

It seemed that when I went on interviews all they cared about was what my portfolio looked like and what software programs I knew. So eventually I removed the paragraph about passion and made the resume strictly about my work experience. I used to think that if an employer knew I was sincerely passionate about what I did, it would give me a slight edge over my competition because it somehow meant I was a better graphic designer.

But how could that be? Does having passion mean you’re better at what you do than an unimpassioned person doing the exact same thing?

All things being equal, I believe the answer is a resounding, yes, it absolutely does.

In fact, I think all businesses should seriously care whether the candidates they are hiring are passionate or not. A passionate employee will always go the extra mile. The graphic designer will pay more attention to the details, spend a little more time perfecting the letter spacing between the words, think longer about creative concepts, massage the layouts, stay up late, pull all-nighters, on their own dime, just because they truly care about the quality of work they produce. Thus, the passionate person creates better work than the unimpassioned person who does none of the above.

Of course, in business it’s not always that easy to put in that extra time because time means money. As the owner of a brand communications firm, I constantly have to keep a watchful eye on how many hours I dedicate to a project. But truth be told, I thoroughly enjoy graphic design and will always go above and beyond to make my work as good as possible.

Even when I worked at a marketing firm in the account management position, I spent my free, unpaid weekend hours brainstorming and coming up with successful taglines and slogans for our firm’s fortune 500 accounts. Although this was not at all part of my job description or responsibilities, I love words and thinking creatively. It didn’t even feel like work to me. Then it was just the biggest kick seeing my work presented to the clients. The client was happy, the marketing firm benefited by hiring a solid account manager that went above and beyond her primary functions to produce excellent work, and all this affects the bottom line.

I’ve also worked with unimpassioned people in my career. The people who have the “I don’t care attitude.” Of course they never show that face to the client, but try as they might to cover it up, it always shows through in the quality of work they produce and present.

But don’t take it from me. Here’s what Steve Jobs, a man equally notorious for his passion as he is for producing great work, had to say about it in his 2005 commencement speech to the graduates of Stanford University, “…Your work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work and the only way to do great work is to love what you do…”

(originally appeared in SF Examiner  3/24/09)

With the economy run amuck, there’s a huge imbalance of job-seeking graphic designers to available graphic design jobs. Thus, hiring firms are in the incredibly challenging position of sifting through a plethora of prospective talent. Add to the fact that the San Francisco graphic design scene is bursting at the seams with a slew of graphic design firms, freelance graphic designers, and two top tier graphic design schools, California College of the Arts and the Academy of Art University, the challenge to choose the right candidate can be downright overwhelming for San Francisco businesses.

To help facilitate the screening process, here are 2 crucial must-have skills to look for when reviewing designers’ portfolios:

1. TYPOGRAPHY
   Typography (selecting typefaces and arranging them on the page) is the hardest skill for a graphic designer to master. It’s literally what separates the men from the boys (or the good designers from the so-so ones). Typography can make or break a design piece – it’s that crucial. But choose a candidate with a solid grasp of how to work and communicate with type, and your business will reap the rewards all the way down to the bottom line.
2. CONCEPTUAL SKILLS
   There are three types of designers: (1) the ones that make things look pretty, but are not idea generators, (2) the ones that have great ideas but can’t execute, and (3) the ones that are equally adept at both aesthetics and conceptual thinking. Any candidate that has the ability to generate and execute solid, fresh, creative, relevant ideas will be invaluable to your company. Why? Because you’re getting more than just a designer, you’re getting visionary who can help take your business to the next level. And that’s priceless…or at the least, well-worth the designer’s fees.

(originally appeared in SF Examiner  3/19/09)