Taking the Occam Razor Approach to Design
Did you know that designers can use a tool that mathematicians, philosophers, and other academics have known about for hundreds of years? It’s called Occam’s Razor, and it’s a law…
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Addison Duvall (72 Articles)
Addison Duvall is the author of Food Identities, a blog that explores the crossroads of food, design, art, and culture. She’s written some things, designed other things, and eaten a whole lot of food.
How To Avoid Design By Committee
Here’s a scenario for you: a woman has three young children, each armed with a handful of crayons. They’re happily drawing on a large sheet of paper, cooperating and sharing…
The Role Design Plays in Your Client’s Sales Funnel
Your designs aren’t technically meant to sell anything. In fact, it’s actually almost impossible for them to do so if the viewer has never seen them before. In this article…
The Deadly Communication Sins Freelance Designers Commit
Alright, freelancers – it’s time to confess! How many of you are guilty of not communicating regularly enough with your clients? Maybe you’re running behind on your deadline, and you’re…
Must-Do’s When Ending a Freelance Design Project
It sounds so simple, right? You do a good job on a freelance design project, the client loves it and pays you on time, you both walk away feeling good…
Stop Worrying About People Stealing Your Ideas
Ideas: the germs that grow into those great, award-winning designs we all want to have our names attached to. We all get dozens of ideas constantly, which typically range from…
Taking Inspiration from the Humble Shopping Cart
We’re going to explore the history of the humble shopping cart, taking lessons from its design, marketing, and even the psychology of use, that you can start applying to your…
Getting Those Creative Juices Flowing Again
What do you do if you’re partway through an important project for a client and you get, well… stuck? You simply can’t wring any more good ideas from that brain…
Is It Worthwhile Having a Personal Portfolio?
We all know blogging and personal portfolio sites have been very important for designers looking to increase their visibility to clients and others who admire their work. But there are…
The Idea Generation Process of Scribbling on a Napkin
Millions of us around the world eat at restaurants every day with our family, friends, co-workers, clients, parole officers…just kidding. Restaurants serve an important purpose in our lives – a…