Make it more edgy Recently in Perth over a coffee I caught up with Marcus Taylor from Studio Papa and the conversation as always turned to clients and their foibles. We both agreed the client to be wary of is the one who says ‘make it a bit more edgy'. This conversation got me thinking [...]

Why studio management comes before design Being a great designer doesn't automatically bring in clients. Nor does it transform a once-off client into returning revenue. When you boil it down to the basics, you've got to sell before you get to design. We sell ideas using design that gives clients an outcome – it may [...]

A strategy that turned a loss into a profit I had the best week in Perth. One of my meetings was with a designer I have been mentoring for the past 12 months. Over a coffee, Frankie explained how this year’s financial figures proved she has successfully transformed a loss-making part of her business into [...]

A scholarship for female startups Design is a great career for both sexes. Working in design makes it possible to combine any mixture of doing, producing and managing. Strange thing is, research continually shows that women are more likely to be doing and men seem to be managing. We want to help change that… Our [...]

Working from Lisbon - part two Our annual northern hemisphere expedition to look at design practices took us to Portugal this year. We chose it partly because we wanted to see how design had faired in a country ravaged by the global financial crisis. As with each trip we researched our destination extensively before we [...]

Working in design plays with your head ... Two things happened last week worth sharing. The first was part of our regularly 'design yak' - a breakfast meeting of like-minded designers. During the discussion (we have a topic each month) a designer shared her frustration at losing a project on price. Yep, happens all the [...]

Read your website and socials through the lens of a client who is researching, looking for a new design partner. It’s astounding how similar everyone sounds.

What a Lisbon Chef taught me about studio management One of the benefits of traveling is that it gives you a completely new perspective on everyday things. Everyday things such as sitting at the bar of an open kitchen and watching a chef work. We often do it at our favourite Melbourne restaurants like Tipo [...]

Working from Lisbon Ola from Lisbon where we are currently working/holidaying. This year we decided to travel light with technology. We both purchased iPad pro’s because they seem to be the closest thing to a laptop. There seem to be very few limitations. Here’s how we do it. External hard drive Normally we take away [...]

Photo by Jordon Opel on Unsplash Hunters and farmers I’ve always found it incongruous studios need to ramp-up new business activities when we are busiest. Seems bonkers, but research proves it time and again. Sustainable businesses need constant client renewal. One would think, with all that research, someone must have found some kind of formula [...]

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash Persuading others (to do what you want). In a world of co-creating and collaborating, the ability to persuade others to your view point is a really valuable skill. Would you be surprised if I told you that forcefully arguing your point of view is the least effective way of [...]

Photo by Adam Birkett on Unsplash Too black for Snapchat. It’s easy to think that bias is embedded in ‘others’ – people like Donald Trump, Pauline Hanson and Today Tonight producers. Truth is we all have unconscious bias and we all unknowingly embed our bias into design. Think you don’t? That could be worse – [...]