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It is an art collective with a progressive agenda.  And it is one of the most exciting things about life in Topeka right now.

http://www.chordsandoil.org/

Saturday was our public debut.  Three weeks of intensive planning and collaboration led to a fantastic success.

More than 250 people experienced original visual art, poetry, film and music at the Upstage Gallery.

But what is Chords & Oil?

It started in Chad’s basement.  Or maybe it started in Sam and Michelle’s living room. I’m not really sure.  We realized that instead of hanging out and complaining about the city’s lack of things to do, we could collaborate and create things to do.  So we put on an art/music show at Tavio’s house in January. We had a dance night at Bosco’s. We had a pot-luck dinner meeting at Chad’s house. And then we had a founding meeting to elect officers. I’m Promotions and Communications Chair, or Proms & Comms for short.

We want to do public art. We want to do illicit art. We want to change and challenge public perception of art. We want to move beyond art into the realm of education. We want to grow and cultivate the community to share ideas and communicate better.

Heartland Visioning has been very supportive. They are thrilled that we’re young and active in this city. Most of us are young professionals or students, and I feel like we’ve suddenly all realized that there is no point in working or creating if you’re not contributing to something bigger.

One of the hardest things to remember to do at a busy time in your life is self-promotion. But in fact, it is one of the most basic, as it is also self-preservation.

I don’t have any tips for self-motivation, because my motivation comes and goes.  Sometimes, I don’t follow this list very well.

I’ve compiled a list, but it could be summed up by “luck favors the prepared” – when you’re ready for opportunities, they come to you.

But here are things that are necessary:

• Update your resume when your information changes.  You may need it instantly!
• Keep blogs and URLs current, with relevant information. (especially your business)
• Use twitter.
• Continue to make new contacts.  Meet new people.  Every new person you meet has a network of their own that is entirely unique.
• Keep up with old contacts.  Even if it’s as brief as a Facebook message or wall post, it’s important.
• Keep creating.

Just a few things I’ve learned as an entrepreneur!

When starting on design projects, I like to take my time.  I like to know my target, start with a few sketches or scribbles on paper, and eventually get around to digitizing a few elements of the design.

But the idea of competing on a single project makes me very uncomfortable.  I secure freelance work because my clients see work I’ve done and know it’s good. They trust that I’ll do good work for them.  And if they don’t like my first draft, it’s agreed that we’ll work together until I create something they appreciate.  I don’t even like collaborating with other designers, because I feel like I always compromise quality.  If it’s not my design, I don’t believe in it.

That’s why I’m not a fan of CrowdSpring.  I came across The Creativity of Crowds on Forbes.com, and the positivity in the story and comments irked me as being insincere.

If you’re a designer, design is its own reward.  Taking a few elements – be they information or ideas or graphics or words – and putting them into a design that makes sense is a fantastic feeling.  It is an art.  To some extent, a designer is an artist.

But art competitions bother me.  Completely public design competitions are the worst.  Look at this CrowdSpring project for a logo for Medical Careers.  Look through a few of the designs, and scroll to the bottom.

Now, think of the logo you might make for Medical Careers Online.  What colors would you use?  A light blue and a dark blue combination?  That’s all I can think to use, because that’s all I’ve seen.  And I’d probably use a sans-serif typeface.

The gallery has already killed my creativity.  And I know I’d make mistakes in my design for Medical Careers Online, because I’ve already made subconscious assumptions about what they want in a logo.

I’m not usually a logo designer.  I don’t sketch logos all day.  And I feel like a logo should follow the concept of the product or company.  It shouldn’t come from a file called “logo designs” and get words plugged into it.  The winning designs on CrowdSpring are usually first-rate.  But there is plenty of second-rate, cut-and-copy work that shows up on CrowdSpring.  Work appears that took three minutes and no thought to produce - for $200 projects.

CrowdSpring is no breakthrough for small business, either.  Given a search engine, good designers are not hard to find - I have a bookmarks folder full of them.  And I’ve yet to see a portfolio site that doesn’t offer contact information.  CrowdSpring is merely a middle man.

Conversely, a mass venue for freelance work can be a great resource for a designer.  If I’m looking for work, I have a place to go to find it.  And if I don’t have a job or any current projects, I have the time to spend to put together quality proposals on random CrowdSpring or 99Designs projects.  It’s also hard and time-consuming for a business to troll through a directory of designers, pick their favorite, and then ask for a bid.  A directory is certainly a more favorable method for achieving this goal.   Resources like AIGA or Facebook are a great place to start.

And maybe seeing everyone else’s design and then starting your own is the best way to create a homogenous design that will be universally accepted and recognized.  I’ll let this idea sit with me for a while, but I don’t think I’ll change my mind.

I still think crowdsourcing sucks, and is a poor way to get something done.  It gives everyone a chance to answer, but only the best answer is rewarded.  Ideally, the best creator for the project is the only resource that should ever be contacted.  It’s lazy to ask a crowd a question that one person can answer.  Why ask everyone in the library when you could ask the librarian?

Certainly, crowdsourcing works as a micro focus group.  If someone feels they can be helpful by visiting a site, commenting on a draft design or story, or giving brief feedback on a question, then it can be effective.  It’s best used when everyone involved perceives they are receiving some kind of value in the process of exchange.

I occasionally use crowdsourcing on twitter.  But as a designer, it will be a long time before I sign up for anything like CrowdSpring.  I’d much rather have a client contact me directly.

By the way, if you’re interested, you can find some of my work (and contact information) here: http://www.karlfundenberger.com/

It has been a long time since I’ve been so captivated by a documentary – but I watched Helvetica with a few friends last night, and I think I could probably quote parts of it now. I loved it.

Rarely, as a designer, do I get to be immersed in content created by someone else that is relevant to what I thoroughly love and do everyday, but this was exactly that.  A movie about type and design, and a broader discussion of design as an important part of life.

One of my favorite parts of the film (other than the “For Crystal Meth, call Christine” sign) was the clash between modernists like Wim Crouwel and Massimo Vignelli, postmodernists like David Carson, and then younger, more contemporary designers like Lars Müller.  I feel a lot like Müller when I design – I know the “rules” that the modernists set and the postmodernists broke - and I know the reasons for each – but I design by my own set of rules and motives.

Found on 20 Typefaces to Start a Designer’s Career.

I just need to work on my dot-com.

I could have gotten a lot more creative with this blog design.  I could have created my own background pattern, I could have developed my own layout, I could have… well, you get the idea.  Mostly, I wanted bigger type, dynamic type, and a bit less clutter after I saw this beautiful blog.  I’ll probably continue tweaking for a while.

Here’s another really sweet blog design.

Thoughts?

Also, this is my 100th post.  The blog is almost two years old, but I’ve only made 100 posts? I need to work on that!