Posts Tagged ‘work’
Where I am at
As I have discussed before with my preparations to go freelance in about a month now, the world has suddenly got a whole lot more busier. I had assumed I was about as busy as I could be before what with the basic prepartions, then me being me ended up taking on more stuff and as a result this CSS Reboot I am now part of launching 4 websites. I am both excited and rushed off my feet about this all. If there is a prize for how many reboots and infact websites you can do in a month, I may be getting my first web prize!
What is in your support network?
Whether you are freelance, full time or even just learning; a support network is essential for anyone in web. I am not talking cables and data back up here, even the phone number for apple care. What I am talking about is those people who save you when you are about to commit design suicide, or when that pixel perfect CSS right float seems so far away. A support network in this sense can be friends, colleagues and online communities.
Doing it for yourself
I admit I have been slightly neglecting this blog and really my life as a whole this week. There is a reason I have dropped of the webdar temporarily. The reason is that I have had a rather monumental week, monumental in so much as I’ve handed in my notice at work. This means that as of a few months I am going to “shit rather than get off the potty”. As I have written before, these past few years have seen me juggling both freelance and also a full time job. The juggling got rather hectic when the only webby in my company bid it farewell, this was nearly an insane year ago now. Upshot is that I have been doing about 5 people’s jobs and getting paid about half a persons. So, really this scary decision for so many was just logical for me.
Paperwork mountain
I always find it rather humorous when any junior realises the amount of paperwork and boring admin being a web designer involves. This does vary in scale depending on where you work, with freelancing being top of the paperwork moutain. A little hint I always find (rather obvious one probably) is to reserve one day a week for admin. I do this on a Friday, mainly because my brain seems to go on creative holiday that day. I also find Monday is a useful mapping day for any websites. I am sure it isn’t just me that finds the middle days of the week far more productive, I also find Sunday is a good working day for me oddly enough.
Web savy is catching
There was a time you’d mention the word CMS to a client and they’d either say don’t you mean SMS or just give you the blank “nod at the techie person” look. Times seem to be changing though from what I am noticing. There used to be a “techie talk” banner that people wouldn’t wave at the mere mention of any net related words. Now though the amount clients are knowing is vastly increased. The days of being glared at for talking about anything bar the abc of web and the tweenie handbook to web design seem to really be over.
Whiteboard insight
Perhaps one of the most useful things that is in my office is my whiteboard. Maybe it is because I began in development and it is ingrained into me, or maybe it is just because it is damn useful. I find that especially where tables and databases are concerned, actually plotting them out on a whiteboard is a useful visualisation process. Of course you can do this on paper, for me the whiteboard is essential for this. I also find that for site maps a whiteboard is invaluable. My own mapping style is a mixture of UML (Universal Modelling Language), flow charts and thought maps. I think everyone ends up with their own style – mine comes from having to work with people who would not know a UML diagram if it bit them on the bum. Hence, I have created a water downed map more along the line of a flow chart.
