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Often the success of a project from a budgetary, timescale and satisfaction level comes down to how a project is managed (internally) and how involved a client is with the creative (externally).

In these tightening times of finance and expansive times of industry nervousness it pays to up your ability in both managing your team and engaging the client. It may be extra effort on your part (and let’s be honest we are already working night and day to secure the success, quality and growth of our companies)… but if you play it right, you may actually be better off for it, saving time by working smarter…

Here are seven rules of thumb to help engage your team and make sure that the late nights are an exception not the norm:

1. Agree precise specification for the project. Document, document, document… create a scope of works.
2. Plan the project - time, team, activities, resources, financials.
3. Communicate the project plan to your project team.
4. Agree and delegate project actions.
5. Manage, motivate, inform, encourage, enable the project team.
6. Check, measure, review project progress; adjust project plans, and inform the project team and others.
7. Complete project; review and report on project performance; give praise and thanks to the project team. And ultimately be honest.

As for the Client: In your planning always ensure that there are ample review sessions, tissue meetings and brainstorms… This ultimately helps you get a better result. No one knows his or her business better than the client. They can feed in to your ideas, support and solve the weaknesses and feel like they have been part of the process, helping to secure the success of their current activity…

Now you know the process… let it run and go be creative…

Imagine your website is a shop in the world’s biggest shopping centre and everyday thousands of people breeze straight past it without coming in because you’ve gone and left a ‘closed’ sign in the window. Now imagine that you don’t know that the ‘closed’ sign is there. Would you be surprised that no one came in?

Not understanding the importance of a well designed, well optimized website in this consumer ‘click’ era is as excusable as being the son of a British fascist leader who enjoys dressing up in German military uniform and wonders what all the fuss is about.

Whether your website is a provider of information, goods, entertainment or services, there are a number of online marketing tactics you can employ to greatly increase your traffic. Hiring an expert is an option but with the investment of your own time, you can literally save thousands of pounds in applying something that is no longer becoming a choice but an unavoidable prerequisite of successful online trading.

Here is a basic list of SEO (search engine optimisation), usability and online marketing P&A’s (problems and answers) that can be applied to any online website, whatever its intended purpose.

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“GUERRILLA INNOVATION is a blog that brings together a wide range of cases in which traditional ideas and situations are challenged through unconventional creativity.” Says it all really… go check it out…

http://www.guerrilla-innovation.com/

When I was at design school… we had to train and learn certain skills which allowed us to understand what we were training for… A life of Graphic Design… A vocation that we loved and cared about.

Now it seems that certain skill sets are being eroded. I won’t list them all… but I happened across this the over day… (yes I know there are loads more colour apps out there)… But this one is a commercialisation of colour.

A quick and lazy way of creating colour palettes without thought… The application of which could be abused if the young talent are not so questioning of the pixels that are placed before their eyes.

Is this a good thing. I know it speeds up process and offers us a usable and exact tool. I just hope that formal education on specialised skills are not lost in a world of instant answers.

Very Very cool site for designs:

http://www.gestalten.com/

I love the book section where you can preview… and I mean properly preview… before you buy.