How to Get Into the News Media and Pull Big Bloggers Like Guy Kawasaki With 
Top 100 Designers: Graphic Industrial Interior, On Earth
Tyler, A close friend of mine in Seattle is 6 months behind and $12,000USD over budget on his design project. Crabby, tired, and frustrated, he'd skype his designers at 3am. He literally went out drinking just to pass the time and be up for the call. He sourced out to a team in India or Malaysia or was it Chile? Their rates were too good to pass up.
There was a time when you would only do business with people who were already in your life. You'd do business with parents who send their kids to the same school. You'd do business with people in your church (or atheist meetups). You'd do business with people on your block. And you'd do business with people related to co-workers and clients.
This was smart for several reasons. First, you'd already start off with a common cultural base. Your architect, graphic designer, product designer, or interior designer wouldn't pull some weird scheiBBe out of their hat (that was totally cool where they were from). Secondly, you'd have social and political leverage.
[TBA: The Most Popular Designer from http://Plurban.com/design Will Be Featured Here]
Nobody who works for you wants to do a poor job when they see you every day. Nobody wants someone who knows all their friends to say anything embarrassing to any one of them. And absolutely nobody wants their kids openly scolding them about settling differences because of some unresolved issue that becomes glaringly obvious at the school open house. It would cost too much to leave you, the client, anything less than 100% Happy.
Recently, all that has changed. I suspect that you, with my buddy Tyler, have sailed into exploring the international outsourcing option based on the price tag. And I suspect you've heard of a friend who has or have personally been sunk out in the high seas. The fatal mistake you made, that everyone makes, is that you traded in social and personal leverage for a low price tag that ended up costing you much more in the end.
To prevent that sour mistake from ever happening again, http://sparkah.com has assembled the Top 100 Designers Around The World Who Are Your Neighbors. No, you don't have to select a designer who lives in your town. Everyone below is in your neighborhood--no matter what time zone they're in. They are all people who are online on Twitter, Linkedin and facebook near 24 hours a day.
Think about it. If you work with any of the Top Designers below, you'll have 100% redundant access to them near 24/7. More confidence inspiring than that, you'll be able to network and friend their subcontractors, employees, and even their other clients via Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. You'll be personally be closer to the geographically furthest designer on this list than with Gary from the Golf Club.
But the best part, we've hand picked the below designers from several hundred more. The criteria we used makes us confident that each of these designers below are operationally transparent, manage their business relationships with the highest integrity, and won't nickel and dime you do death (although some may slip on deadline here and there--who doesn't?!). In other words, while your global neighbors below may be more accessible than designers who are physical neighbors, you most probably won't have to do any politicking to get them to take good care of you.
Before we introduce you to the top designers on earth who are closer than your neighbors, we want to interject a quick "How to Select A Designer Checklist:"
1) Deadline your project long before you actually need it
The creative process is temperamental and designers are even worse when you don't give them enough time.
2) Talk to a designer long before you commission a project
The most common problem designers experience is that you, the client, will deliver necessary components and pieces long after the designer needs it. To compound this problem, you tend to give designers partial information and interject (derail) the design process with unforecasted additions and changes. This is fine if you get the designer involved long before the project begins. This way, the designer can account for possible changes.
3) Ask a designer for help pre-design
Ask a designer how he / she wants files named. Let the designer know that you're having a hard time with verbage, copy, ergonomics, feng-shui, etc. Your designer has lots of friends and connections. He / she can refer a professional writer / Feng Shui Master, erg expert, etc who will get all the components prepped perfectly and on time for design commencement.
Really, don't try and do anything you're not a pro at. It'll sabotage everyone down the line and ultimately, you.
4) Select a designer for their style then let them do their job
We all know that you don't try and change your mate. Design is no different. Industrial design, graphic design, interior design, and family design are all the same. They are all temporary living collaborations. Don't work with a designer who you think is close to your design-soul-mate and try to change him/her (unless the designer accepts the challenge). Start with a designer who you can fully entrust with your vision. You do it with marriage. You marry your favorite person because in the end, you don't have any idea what kind of kids will pop out.
Sure, you'll have much more in-utero molding influence with a designer than with your zygotes. But in the end, the core principles are universal. Don't plan on micromanaging. Plan of doing your best job during the courtship process, then surrender. Let the pros do their job.
5) Only work with a designer with a baseline interview checklist/questionaire
It's the designer's job to guide your project. If they forget to ask you basic things like, "is this for left or right handed people?" You'll both abruptly run into that nose-breaking brick wall. Professionals have general "client interview and discovery questionaires and checklists." They will start asking you personalized questions that will only apply to your account after they've covered all the basics.
6) Only work with a designer who stays in touch daily as a policy
All the biggest and most successful firms hold this policy as a sacred duty. They realise that not only is it their job to manage your project, it's their job to manage your expections and delivery room anxiety. Even if it's just a quick, "still working on your project. In the thick of it, going well. so can we talk friday? Will do another status update tomorrow," email or text, it's the lowest professional courtesy a design firm can provide.
7) Pay on time. Pay 10% more.
It's true. Many designers are emotional people. You have to be to communicate and transmit something as amorphous as emotion via a 2d or 3d medium. Designers have multiple demanding clients. Do not try and bargain them down. This is an economical tactic you use on commodities like potatoes. With services, if you want to get 200% your value, pay on time and pay 10% more. 200% for 10 ain't bad.
PS... We're Creating a Full Twitter List of Everyone Below. If You Want to Contact All of Them, Follow http://twitter.com/journik (most of them are already following us) and ask for a RT. And, If you want to be alerted when that Twitter list is ready, just click "Like," HERE on this Facebook Page.
Finally, we're good letting you go loose on the 100 Top Designers Around The World, All of Whom Are Your Neighbors:
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Doug Bowman contact Name Doug Bowman location San Francisco, CA Web stopdesign... Bio Designer, thinker, speaker, Creative Director at Twitter. ... twitter.com/stop
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Mike Kruzeniski contact |
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Kasovitz contact |
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Anderson Finn Design contact |
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On Point Design contact |
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Jason Santa Maria contact |
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RMAC Brand Design contact |
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Brian Hoff contact |
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Bre Roz [Web Design] contact |
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Jim Hill contact |
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Josh Brewer contact |
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Ellen Lupton contact |
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April Guzik contact |
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Tyler Finck contact |
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Dan Rubin contact |
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The Art Of Design contact |
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Splinter Design contact |
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Nathan M. contact |
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David Wright contact |
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Stephen Caver contact |
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ouno contact |
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Joey Marburger contact |
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Danny Trinh contact |
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Holly Peterson contact |
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Paul Carew contact |
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NextBigDesign contact |
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Scott @ Cube Studio contact |
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Design Packaging contact |
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Cameron Moll contact |
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Andrew Dahley contact |
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Design Devise contact |
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Baby Fab CEO - Amber contact |
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Tiago Almeida contact |
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Dina Manzo contact |
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Jason Morrow contact |
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content design group contact |
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Logotipo Design contact |
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SuperLemz contact |
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Hillary Fisher contact |
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drilone contact |
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Design Womb contact |
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Doug March contact |
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henry ryder contact |
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Cesar Torres contact |
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Design Jewelry contact |
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Greg Power contact |
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Keegan Jones contact |
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Design Snack contact |
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Herman Manson contact |
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Artist / Designer contact |
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Michael Wood contact |
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Ben Sawyer contact |
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GoodTwin contact |
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Aaron Perry-Zucker contact |
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Adam Polselli contact |
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Jeff Andrews-Design contact |
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Mike Harding contact |
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Designsite contact |
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James Chiu contact |
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Jacob Cass contact |
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Brady Bone contact |
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~ Reeve Jolliffe ~ contact |
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Kevin Burg contact |
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Hongkiat contact |
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Grace Bonney contact |
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Rebecca Goldberg contact |
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Kayd Mustonen contact |
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