The Young Designer’s Guide

If you are like me than you likely never received a user’s manual on how the brain works when you were born. If you are a guy like me than let’s face it, we wouldn’t have read the manual anyway. If we had though, we would have learned some interesting and not well publicized things about how our memories and our minds actual do work.

To begin with, you, the reader of this report, have an absolutely astounding computer system that you likely haven’t thought much about in some time. This computer is not made by Toshiba, or Gateway, or Dell. This computer of yours has an absolutely immense hard drive. It computes at lightning fast speeds, and it could do tremendous things to improve the quality of your life with its immense power if only you understood how to operate it. The computer I’m speaking of is the incredible super computer in between your ears called the human mind. Specifically, I’m speaking of your mind’s memory and the systems by which your mind stores and retrieves the data that is essentially your life.

In today’s age of modern technology we have largely done ourselves a great disservice. We have forgotten about memory systems. We use our cell phones, palm pilots, laptops, and good old fashion day planners to keep our tasks and records and responsibilities straight. These gadgets are fine, but why use expensive gadgets when we have this perfectly good processor in between our ears.

To begin with, we need to understand that our memory is organized into a memory system. If you think about it, it seems reasonable enough. After all, we have a nervous system, a respiratory system, a skeletal system, a circulatory system, a digestive system, etc. The human body is comprised of systems. Why, then, have we never been taught about memory systems?

This news that our memory is a system that can be studied, understood, and utilized to our advantage is really good news. It means that when we want to learn something we don’t have to just try harder to remember it. We can try smart instead and blow the competition away.

The first step to understand is the language of the memory itself. Just as a computer is a processor that works with software of various programming languages, our memory has its language. If we do not speak in the language of our memory than we are doomed before we even begin. So what is this language I’m speaking of? Well, take this little test with me and discover it for yourself.

First, answer this question. Do you have a photographic memory? Most likely your answer is no. Well, let’s think about this for a minute. I’d like you to think about the refrigerator in your kitchen. Think about the items on the inside. Do you have ketchup? How many shelves are on the inside? Is there dust on the top of the refrigerator? … Ok, come back to me now.

A moment ago when I asked you to think about your refrigerator something should have happened in your mind’s eye. One, you saw the word refrigerator or two you saw an image of a refrigerator. Think now to which one you were. If you are like 99.99% of all other human beings than you likely saw a picture.

This brings me back to my original question. Do you have a photographic memory? The answer is unequivocally yes. Put simply, the mind thinks in pictures. This is a really important and often misunderstood element of our memory system. You see, I didn’t ask you to visualize your refrigerator. I didn’t use the word imagine or anything else that would suggest imagery. I said think. When I said think your brain new instinctively to create a picture in the mind and to lock that picture in place for further reference. This is a necessary first step to remembering things. We must understand that our minds are visual no matter who we are and we can remember much more easily if we speak the same language of our mind.

With an understanding of this fundamental truth, we can begin to form a system for remembering that can serve us. From here you can use association and processing to create incredible power with your memory and to even do things you never believed were humanly possible. A this time the Guinness World Record for the category greatest memory is held by a gentleman in Canada for memorizing 59 decks of playing cards in a row. That is a total of 3068 cards. Are you amazed by this feat? Well, if so consider this. Anyone, and yes I mean anyone can learn to do this too. And that means you.
For more information on memory skills and memory systems contact Lonny Hogan directly at 847-489-5132. Lonny delivers entertaining and interactive seminars and keynotes on organized memory systems and on the powers of the human mind. Contact Lonny to determine if his talk is a good fit for one of your upcoming sales meeting.

“That isn’t exactly what I meant”. “I don’t think you understood me.” “You didn’t hear me correctly.” These are some of the most commonly used phrases in our country. We generally tend to think that talking and hearing are simple mechanisms. After all, we have been doing it even before we learned our ABC’s. Poor communication skills can affect all factors of our lives. Our social relationships; being misunderstood can weaken even the best of friendships. Our familial relationships; is your teenager not listening to you? Our business relationships; are your ideas not being heard or understood because of your presentation skills?

Effective communication is a two way street and both or all parties must have responsibility. We, as the speaker, must seek feedback. Feedback will determine just how effectively we are communicating. Seeking feedback will also demonstrate how actively your audience is listening. An audience can be one individual, a boardroom, a kitchen table or a group of many.

To be an effective communicator means always abiding by the golden rule of Know Your Audience. Use language with words which can be easily understood. Use phrasing and timing to allow for your listener to process the information. Be knowledgeable about the subject matter and don’t try to bluff. Be aware of time and stick to the appointed schedule. Always believe in what you are saying and be enthusiastic.

Bridge your gaps in your own communication process. Remember, only seven (7) percent of our message is communicated verbally. Be aware of your own body language and realize you are speaking volumes without ever saying a single word. Be aware of how your own emotional opinions could get in the way of your objectivity. Think about what you are going to say so you can be more concise and have fewer tendencies to ramble Seek feedback to measure your ability in having your message received and understood.

Whether we are presenting a workshop, bringing new ideas to the business table or meeting one on one, we should always strive to be the best communicator we can be. Ask yourself if some of these traits may be making you less effective. Do you tend to dwell on the trivial? Do you consistently bring up past errors to make a point? Do you talk down to your audience? Are you never able to admit you are wrong?

We all should strive to be active listeners and to do that we must review how we listen. People who are not effectively listening tend to have some of these traits. Finding yourself designing your next comment rather than focusing on what is being said. Judging before the complete message has been delivered. Changing the subject when it is a topic with which you are not familiar. Daydreaming and not staying focused on the speaker.

Effective listeners accept the responsibility of understanding. To do this we must first stop talking. We cannot listen if we are still talking. Encouraging others to talk will let them know you are willing to listen to the complete message. Be active by making eye contact, nodding and even taking notes. Communication is an exchange. Be participatory.

The first step to improving any skill is to understand what you need to do or cease to do in order to hone this particular skill. The second and most difficult step is the absolute requirement that you practice the skill repeatedly. Communicating effectively is no different.

“It is the province of knowledge to speak and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes

Beverly A. Chana
VP Corporate Services
Gray Hair Management, LLC
www.grayhairmanagement.com

Let me be clear from the start; I am neither an ethics professor, nor do I play one on TV. (Sorry, just couldn’t resist that.) But I am going to address a serious topic because, as designers, you will come across it all the time. Although “business ethics” is now offered at many colleges, it’s still “theory” as long as you are in the classroom. Trust me – this is a real issue. And it never goes away. Fortunately, when handled appropriately, situations regarding ethics can make your reputation and guarantee that you will be well regarded. So let’s chat. First of all, let’s talk about how you will encounter ethical situations.

If you are a solo practitioner, it begins when you first talk to prospects, evaluating whether there is a good fit. The first thing to ask yourself is “Does this present any conflict of interest for me? Do any of my present clients compete with this one?” If the answer is no, you have a new client. But you’re not home free.

One of the main reasons companies seek design services is to launch a new product. You will learn why it’s bigger/smaller/faster/better than the competition’s. “Bingo” – proprietary information. (You may even be asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which I have been asked to do on occasion, and see no problem in signing. It helps solidify the relationship and lays the groundwork for future work with the company.)

In addition, if you ask the right questions, you will probably find out how the company sees itself positioned in the marketplace. You’ll help them determine whether ads should be designed for image building, fact presenting, or straightforward product comparison. “Bingo” number two – their market strategy is revealed. And whether they remember to stress it or not, they don’t want that to get out to the competition. At this point I know what you’re thinking: only an idiot would divulge proprietary information to the competition. But most people don’t intend to leak information – it just happens. Think it couldn’t happen to you? Don’t be so sure.

Let’s make the fairly safe assumption that you tend to hang out with other designers and media people. You meet for dinner, a movie, or drinks, and you naturally talk about how you’re all doing at work, etc. So you tell them about your client with this “great new product” whose campaign you’re working on. You’re excited; so you tell them how you are going to really make your mark on this one, and how your client is going to eat the competition’s lunch. You can see this happening, right? Of course you can. It’s only human nature to talk about that which excites us. Problem – the stranger on your left at the bar works at the agency that handles your client’s direct competitor. Or worse, he IS your client’s direct competitor. Ouch…you just divulged your client’s strategy to the competition.

Isn’t it amazing how lives and businesses crisscross? This is something our government has known for years – the Navy has a saying, “Loose lips sink ships.” Think about it. And on a practical level, in the abovementioned scenario you can kiss future work from either your guy or the competition goodbye. And don’t even get me going on our litigious society. Another reason so many creatives and consultants have “error and omission” insurance!

The same principles we’ve been talking about also hold true if you work at an ad agency. As an agency you have a true fiduciary responsibility to your clients. Hopefully, your agency would not take on any client that presents a conflict of interest, so let’s assume that’s a non-issue. But agencies face other problems. For instance, I own an ad agency (www.richardsandlord.com) and magazine ad reps come and see me all the time to try and sell me ad space for my clients. Because they also sell space to my client’s competitors, I have to be careful what I say. Good questions to pose to an ad rep: “Who is your audience? How would you define their job functions? What industries do you serve?” Bad question to pose: “Do you reach engineers in the whatever industry? We see that as the next market for our client to explore, and don’t’ think anyone else is really paying attention to it as a market for this product.”

If you have a good ad rep, they are like Father Confessor and nothing goes past the confessional. If you have an unenlightened rep, he or she may use the information when trying to sell to your client’s competition by saying, “You should really be placing some space in our whatever-focused issue. So-and-so Company thinks that is going to be a hot new market for them.”

To be fair, I don’t think there is necessarily anything wrong with reps’ telling their prospective advertisers “So-and-so is going to be in this issue.” Clients like knowing where their competition is advertising – but the critical difference, as I see it, is that by simply saying they are going to be in the issue, the reps haven’t divulged So-and-so’s strategy by saying why they are in, what market they are specifically targeting, or anything else in the way of strategic information that was entrusted to them. As a designer, the above ad rep scenario may never apply to you. In some agencies, however, things are always done by a team, so you may be sitting in on meetings where it could very well happen.

By this time I’m sure you’re starting to get the picture. Elevators, restaurants, trains and planes all naturally foster conversations. But you just don’t know who is standing next to you, or how they could damage your client if they knew his business. So save the specific business conversation for the office where you are in your own “safe” environment. And if you are so excited that you think you will burst if you don’t tell your buddies at the bar what you are working on, take a deep breath. Remember the words “non-disclosure” and let them be your guide as to what, and how much, you say.

A couple more thoughts on conflict of interest. You will be respected if you don’t waste time with an interview once you suspect a conflict. It’s simply better to say “I currently am handling So-and-so Company who makes widgets. Do you see that as a conflict of interest?” Let them decide. Time is money, and nobody wants to waste either. They will respect you even more if you recommend another designer who is qualified and available. When you earn a reputation for putting your client’s interests above your own, people trust you. They seek you out. And they recommend you. Recommendations are your lifeblood. If you think I am exaggerating, read on. I’ve seen this firsthand.

The impetus for me to open my own agency came when I was still an ad rep. With no notice, my publisher decided to let all three of his U.S. reps go as he moved in another direction. My two colleagues secured other sales jobs, but I decided to realize my dream and open my own ad agency. I had extensive experience in PR; had been in the publishing industry for almost twenty years; and as an ad rep for many of those years, had given strategic advice to clients as part of doing what I considered a good job. It was the “perfect storm” of opportunity.

I called my then-current clients to let them know I would be leaving the magazine and what I would be doing, and one immediately said, “Does that mean you could help us write our PR and help with our marketing?” When I told them indeed it did, they immediately became my first client. Why? Because they knew I had always put their interests first. They knew they could trust what I said. And they knew I had never divulged any of their strategies to anyone.

Other clients helped in their own way. If they couldn’t use me as an agency, they gave me referrals and moral support – two vital things for a startup. Integrity. Trustworthiness. A reputation for being a “straight shooter.” These are the things that will chart your path to success every bit as much as your talent.

A few other things bear mentioning with regard to ethics. It’s not just the obvious things like avoiding conflict of interest that make us ethical. Equally important are the mundane everyday things that reflect our integrity:

• If you give your word that a project will be completed by a certain date, meet your deadline. A domino effect could take place if you don’t. People at the printer (or any point of service) could be put on overtime to get the job done “off schedule,” incurring additional charges for you or your client. (By the way, if it’s your fault and you get late fees, etc., eat them. It’s not the client’s fault. If the client is the holdup, however, use your own judgment as to whether it is appropriate to pass on the cost. It’s a fine line sometimes.)

• If you promise a whole new campaign, deliver one. Don’t simply rehash an old campaign, changing a picture or a slogan and labeling it “new.” The client deserves what you promised. Get in the habit of always delivering your best possible job.

• If you have meetings scheduled, don’t cancel them unless your house is on fire. Again, the domino effect. You have no idea how you could be impacting other people. And be on time. Remember, time is money.

• Be prepared. You gave the impression that you knew what you were doing when you pitched your services. Prove it.

• Don’t talk negatively about the client. It’s like family – you can fight with your brother, but you jump in and defend him from his attackers. If you find yourself always complaining about a client’s treatment of you, either find a way to address the issue or drop the client. Life’s too short, and frankly, you will seem ill-equipped to play with the big boys if you can’t handle the relationship. Not good for business.

• Pay your bills on time. You expect it; so do others. If you subcontract services, you need to pay that fee in a timely manner unless you have agreed to other arrangements.

• Don’t steal ideas – or work. It will come back to haunt you. And it’s just plain wrong. Share the credit and the praise. It’s amazing how others will bend over backward to help you if they know they are appreciated.

In a nutshell, never be afraid to the take the high road. You meet all the people you really need there. And it always gets you where you need to go.