Rob Alan

Independent Contractor Cut Rate Poll Results

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:28:00 -0700

Last week I asked thee independents (aka fr**lancers), “Do you lower your standard hourly rate for longer-term contract work?”

It was a curiosity brought on by my own tendencies to feel the need to bend to potential clients’ requirements and the recent release of the AIGA|Aquent Survey of Design Salaries for 2011¹.

The results are in. In the majorities, out of 23 votes, ten of you said you cut your rates by 10-25%. Close behind were the steadfast eight who said they never adjust their rate, period:

At first, I wondered if those who wouldn’t budge were simply setting their rates low enough that they had found a sweet spot—a magical range that meant they turned away few clients but also made enough to be profitable.

My great friend Samuel brought up a great possibility, though: higher paying work begets higher paying work. If my rate is $1000/hour (hypothetical, obviously) and I hold out for a client that will pay $1000/hour and feels like that’s a steal for my contribution, the result of that work is not only a happier client (and a happier me), it will also lead to more clients that are willing to pay $1000/hour.

What do you think? Is anyone willing to expand on their vote?

1. http://designsalaries.org

Supply Co. (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 20 May 2011 18:32:48 -0700

Supply Co. (Taken with instagram)

Rock - reminiscing on tangible product (Taken with Instagram at...

Tue, 03 May 2011 10:51:54 -0700

Rock - reminiscing on tangible product (Taken with Instagram at Everyday Music - Burnside)

Designing a better work pattern

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 11:49:20 -0700

Today I start a new regimen. Not entirely new — I’ve tried variations before — but something I’m finding increasingly important: Standing up and moving around. I know, right? Revolutionary!

The cause has been building. The effect? A few months ago, I tried a standing desk and it was okay, but it was far too large of a footprint for the space and there seem to be just as many reasons not to stand all day as there are not to sit. Either way, as someone who spends 10+ hours in front of the computer on average, I need to try something else.

I’ve blamed my chair for my sore joints and muscles, but in the past, I have typically sat uninterrupted for at least three or four hours, designing, coding, or just tinkering. I used to run two-to-three times a week, but apparently that isn’t enough either. So…

I’ve drummed up resolve to keep this going:

I decided it simply needs to happen. I may not have weight issues, but that doesn’t mean my metabolism isn’t slowing and the risk for other adverse effects of sitting all day aren’t knocking at my door.
I downloaded a handy little app called Focus Booster to keep on top of it. I hate Air apps, but this is so small, important, and has a nice look to it besides the dock icon… I’ll forgive it.
I work for 25mins, and then pause whatever I’m doing to take a five minute break where I force myself to stand up and move around; run in place, drink some water, refill coffee, take the dog out. I cannot sit during the five minute break. Every four or five 25min sessions, I take a longer break (part of the pomodoro technique).
I’m going to sign Amy and I up for yoga classes soon. I need to boost my flexibility and agility +1. Or… +10.
I’m thinking of buying an exercise ball to test as an alternative to my desk chair.
It goes beyond the workday: we just bought a new couch. I know this seems a little counterintuitive, but if we are sitting in the evening, it should be on something that supports our bodies.
Related, we will be pausing Netflix for the summer after next week.

What are you going to do about it? Do you feel the effects of working like we do?

Brewery Blocks (Taken with instagram)

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:10:40 -0700

Brewery Blocks (Taken with instagram)

Snowfall (Taken with Instagram at Timberline Lodge)

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:50:44 -0700

Snowfall (Taken with Instagram at Timberline Lodge)

Quickie business cards (Taken with instagram)

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:50:55 -0700

Quickie business cards (Taken with instagram)

Best coffee in town. (Taken with Instagram at Sterling Coffee...

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 15:22:09 -0700

Best coffee in town. (Taken with Instagram at Sterling Coffee Roasters)

Dusk (Taken with instagram)

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:10:51 -0700

Dusk (Taken with instagram)

makenosound: Beautiful photographs by Stephan Tillmans of CRT...

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:20:23 -0700

makenosound:

Beautiful photographs by Stephan Tillmans of CRT televisions at the moment they are switched off.

"I go for a run one or twice a week, on the hill behind our home. There are three decent uphill..."

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 21:50:00 -0800

“

I go for a run one or twice a week, on the hill behind our home. There are three decent uphill sections to get the heart pumping and corresponding downhills for contemplation of the mountains and all kinds of thinking.

We think of doing our best as if it’s a singular act. But it isn’t about the heroic effort at the end. A minute’s sprint in a half-hour run will hardly affect your time at all. It’s about getting up before dawn instead of staying in bed. It’s about setting a solid pace right from the start, when running seems strange and everything hurts just a bit. It’s about sucking it up when it gets hard – and it does get hard. It’s about not stopping, even when your legs and lungs and heart want you to. Your body is strong. But your mind is stronger.

And it’s about doing it again and again, because – and this is incredible, when you think about it – your body responds to hard work by getting better at it. Whatever you habitually do, your body will optimise for.

Those soft imbeciles shuffling from their car to the mall to buy more stuff? They’re optimised too. Optimised for sitting in front of a screen being told what to consume.

You are what you do.

”

- I was about to shut this blog down and then this pops up… Golden. You are what you do.

Look (and record) how far we've come...

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 09:43:44 -0700

In perusing my feeds this morning, this photo and article caught my eye (click to read about it after you’re done here):

When I was a kid, I don’t remember how old, I kind of “designed” the Looxcie. I’m sure I wasn’t the first, but it seemed like it at the time. As far as I know, there were no wearable camcorders on the market, at least not on the consumer level.

I had this thought that you were always likely to miss something by holding the camera out in front of you as a secondary perspective. Not only could you miss a shot, but you were also missing whatever was happening because you were too concerned with getting the shot. It also seemed to me that the body’s natural stability and support for the head would be the perfect movable tripod.

My design housed the lens on a type of headgear that put it next to the user’s eyes. A cable then ran down to a pack on the user’s waist. I don’t remember the tape format that was available at the time… Hi8 or DV probably; but the camcorders to date were still bulky as ever. I might have the sketches somewhere in a box…

And now? You can wear one on your ear and use your smartphone as a viewfinder. And it’s a bluetooth headset. For $199.

That’s pretty incredible. I’ll be expecting my paycheck in the mail…?

How about you? What did you “invent” as a kid?

Neat photo series: Paul Octavious - Recycled Religion

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:14:06 -0700

Neat photo series: Paul Octavious - Recycled Religion

Super fast, fun and excellent read for an intro foray into the...

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 17:11:00 -0700

Super fast, fun and excellent read for an intro foray into the world according to HTML5. Worth it, I’d say.

Amy taught me how to make my own shirt out of this amazing...

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 19:19:16 -0700

Amy taught me how to make my own shirt out of this amazing fabric we snagged from Church and State. It feels like I’m wearing buttah. My wife is friggin’ amazing, I tell you.

New PDX Bus icon is live!

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:52:49 -0700

The new icon I designed for PDX Bus (a free iOS app that shows arrival times and more for public transportation in Portland) is now live on the App Store.

Go snag an update, or download it for the first time!

Griffin House interviewed at SSv

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:29:00 -0700

(Full photo set on Flickr)

Great interview with Griffin House at Stereo Subversion. Griffin is one of my favorite songwriters out there. There’s an originality and honest writing that I think is rare.

Here’s an excerpt that relates to my last post, regarding honing your skills:

Griffin: I just joined this songwriting group with Bob Schneider and some other writers – right now Sarah and Sean from Nickel Creek are in it – and we all get together and write, sending in a song every week based on a prompt we’re given.

SSv: You mean songwriting homework?

Griffin: Yeah, we have to turn one in every week, it keeps us going. I’ve written my entire new record from that process. I’ve been amazed just how much having a prompt, an assignment, can help keep you focused.

It’s inspiring that artists that I admire struggle with the same things and find the need to flex the creative muscle based on assignment. It’s easy to believe from afar that someone with “natural talent” simply produces solely by “muse.”

If you haven’t heard his stuff and you enjoy gritty-alt-country-con-folk-pop, pop to his Myspace page and take a listen.

Take a Hike

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:32:46 -0700

Yesterday afternoon I grabbed my camera, my 50mm, a zoom and a bottle of water and set out into Lower Macleay park without any plan. My goal was to reacquaint myself with the basics—in nature and photography.

In photography classes, I was forced to create images by assignment. I was also using a borrowed Minolta film camera and had to think a little harder about lighting, aperture, speed… I realized yesterday just how lazy I had become with it. I would end up taking way too many shots with poor results simply because I could review them instantly.

I had this realization around halfway into the hike while trying to make this photo—

—I was trying too hard and basically sucking the life out of the photo. It was no longer truly unique, but really just the best shot out of five (or ten) thoughtless clicks.

From that point on, I shut off image previews and focused solely on making a decent photo. I ended up hiking from Lower Macleay up to Pittock Mansion, then down through the neighborhood to NW 23rd Ave and had a blast! I’m planning on starting through a 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Portland hike-by-hike.

You can view the entire set on Flickr. How do you hone your skills?

Liquid Mountaineering. This looks like so much fun! People want...

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 11:51:48 -0700

Liquid Mountaineering. This looks like so much fun!

People want you to think in a certain way… push your horizons further. It’s just, it’s not boxing you in and saying ‘that’s what you are.’

Awesome.

(via tmblg)

An introduction, of sorts

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:59:39 -0700

Let’s get one thing clear from the start. I would probably meet you with a nod and blank stare if you started to go on about design principles, methods, the gods of design history, or most any other textbook topic. I didn’t go to art or design school—two photography classes are probably the closest I got.

Suffice to say, I lack hipster cred if hipster-design-speak is what you’re expecting here.

Given all that, when it comes to keeping a blog active, I’ve failed many times. Sometimes due to lack of interest; mostly due to the assumption that I have little to add to the conversation beyond 140 character quips. I think I’ve held back long enough. Too long.

So, welcome. This will be less of a design blog and more about living. It will likely involve design because that’s what I have built a career around, but it’s not my core.

“Each of us in our own way gotta do something… save your soul, you know? Whatever that is…” — Yvon Chouinard

What am I here for? How am I to save my soul? It’s surely not through Photoshop and CSS3. Lately I’ve grown incredibly tired of trying to keep up. I wonder what life would be like as a farmer or a carpenter… even photographer. Can you imagine it? Working in a trade where you could focus on doing something extremely well, using (and improving upon but little) methods that have been around for centuries and sometimes millennia? If you’re involved in creating for the web, you might find it difficult. I love the Internet, but part of me detests this never-ending Google search we have going on.

The information age. What have we learned? And if we—humanity—have learned something vital to our existence because of this wealth of information, have we put it into practice? Personally, I don’t feel I’ve gained, but rather, lost. Lost time, life, energy, blood-flow to my legs… and weekend crusading isn’t strong enough to cure that.

I love what I do, but I can’t help but wonder what’s next. I used to write more. I used to sing. I used to examine things. I want to get back to all of that.