An awesome update to their amazing DIY e-commerce site. There are now 640, yep count em 640 configurable layouts. Amazing stuff.

First of all kudos to Roger Black et al at Ready-Media for seizing an opportunity to perhaps revolutionize the publishing business. The ramifications of this development and the forces at work in the publishing industry which allowed it to take place are the subjects of this posting.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave somewhere or have been on a two year sabbatical and out of WiFi range, you may have noticed the alarming trend among business owners both large and small to become leaner and more efficient (read profitable) as the economy pulls out of the recession. This has manifested itself primarily in the form of a nasty little phenomenon that I like to call, “Do More With Less.” This is certainly not new in the business world and has been around for a long time. What seems new to me is the trend on the part of business owners to find ways to wrap multiple skills into existing job descriptions. For example, employment ads seeking Administrative Assistant/Receptionist that is also a skilled web developer. Or graphic designers that also can provide administrative support to a busy executive. The list of examples goes on and on.

What does this have to do with using templates in the publishing of newspapers, magazines and their websites? If a publisher is looking for ways to become leaner and more profitable in a time when almost all print media is under siege, then what could make more sense then, “Do More With Less.” Who needs Art Directors and a team of Designers when perhaps as few as one or two individuals who can use Adobe’s InDesign can add the publications content to very stylish, well designed, complete with fonts templates. The savings from a business standpoint are readily obvious, produce great looking work without the overhead of a design team.  Or are their trade offs?

I think that there are significant trade offs that may not be readily apparent if one focuses only on the bottom line. Pick any magazine, newspaper or their accompanying website. They all have an artistic signature if you will that comes from the collaboration of a team of Art Directors, Designers and Copywriters  that assemble and layout the work using all of their years of experience and design nuance to produce the final work that goes to press. It is that signature that readers have come to expect and is the publications personality so to speak.

The problem with templates in my opinion is they strive to elevate efficiency and economy of scale to the level of artistic and creative development. Don’t get me wrong here, I use templates myself for small repetitive tasks and they are real time savers in the work flow. My templates are not art, they do not aspire to design greatness and they over time all look the same. Even today if you browse around the web there is a certain sameness that has developed. Blogs tend to look the same. Websites for the most part have the same design structure. Standards are good, we need them but do we want that to take over the publishing industry in the form of beautifully designed, well constructed and prepackaged templates?

Finally, let me finish by saying that having looked at the offerings in the Ready-Media gallery, I am very impressed with the work that they have done and the ease of use with which their packages can be deployed to interested publishers. Needless to say the credentials of Roger Black et al are impeccable in the design world. So it’s left to be seen how this all pans out. And what will become of the designers? That’s a question for another time.

Educating the client, how important that concept is and yet how sometimes designers in their zeal to create and impress forget to attend to what I think is a critical part of being a freelancer.

This is a great example of how to bring the client into the process from the inside or put another way, educating them about the creative process. Call it what you will but I think the more the clients know about what goes on behind the curtain the better it is for all involved. Do you think that the “design contest promoters” spend a lot of time on client education? I think not.

Anyway, Thanks to Duane Kinsey at logobird for this important bit of advice.

It’s so refreshing to read about designers with a social conscience especially in these current times when big profits seem to trump the reality that once the planet is ruined there is no place else for us to go. What do you personally do as a designer or freelancer to make the planet a better place and protect the environment? Just a shout out here to the creativblog Courtney is one of the most eco friendly designers out there.

Here’s a short list for what I do.

• Use the subway whenever possible for any and all trips from the house.
• Ride my scooter when the train doesn’t go where I need to go
• Only use commercial printers that are eco friendly and use soy based inks.
• I do not work for clients who produce goods or services that are blatantly anti environment. If you show up for a meeting driving a tricked out 10 cylinder, carbon belching pick up truck, we’ll have some preliminary issues to work through
• As much as humanly possible I use a PDF work flow. Anything that needs to be printed for a proof is done on recycled paper.
• My entire home is converted to CFL lighting.
• I sort and recycle trash and only use trash collectors who do the same.

The Social Media Examiner has become my go to place for all things SocMed. Not only are the bloggers top notch as writers but there are audio and video pieces as well, such as today’s post concerning under utilized media channels which is a video . Really doesn’t get much better than this. Thanks Michael!

The take away here is just because Social Media makes it easy doesn’t mean your service or product will attract users/buyers. Marketing still rules the day and no software can do that for you. And it goes without saying that you have something to market that someone besides you cares about. Just something to think about.

This from July 2nd, 2010 by Alex Kessinger at The Six Revisions Blog

One of the better think pieces lately concerning the goals and theory behind the effective use of Social Media. Well worth the read. Thanks Alex.

4 Proven Steps to Facebook Page Success | Social Media Examiner.

I have been back and forth with my Facebook more times than I can count. I am constantly ambivalent about it’s usefulness as a business tool. This is one of the more clear cut articles explaining the hows and whys  of it all. Maybe I’ll give it another try after all…maybe.

The notion of the paperless office has been around for sometime and productivity gadgets come and go that are aimed at advancing this idea. For me personally the iPad is an enormous step in this direction. With the explosion of apps aimed directly at creatives plus all of the productivity apps, most if not all of what I need to do prior to sitting down and creating the project itself is done on the iPad. This may be the tool that makes the paperless office a reality. If you have the device, look into the productivity apps. The trees and the environment will thank you.

Gerry