I admit I’ve been a bad blogger over the past while. Until a week or two ago, I had hardly written a thing. Sorry about that. It’s been a great year for new work, which makes me happier than a preteen girl at a screening of Twilight. Unfortunately, it has resulted in rather limit time to write.

The following is in response to an interview with Paula Scher on the blog Pr*tty Sh*tty. In it Josh Berta asked Paula questions about her work and design in general. A few of her remarks, surrounding socially-concentrated design, felt troublesome. Read the interview here and (if you’re so inclined) look over my response:

That’s right… I’m going to fail this year. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t really want to fail. Truth be told, it’s the kind of thing that completely messes with my head. Even contemplating doing so makes my uneasy, but I worry about the consequences of doing otherwise.

I probably haven’t ever noted this, but these Random Observations are a running project for me. In ways, they prove a respite of sorts from my otherwise lengthy posts. As I observe some kind of a rule or occurrence, I make note of it as succinctly as I can. (Some I admit, are contradictory—as is much in life, it seems.) Here are the latest:

I’ve never claimed to be a good boss; nor, have I ever said that I’m good at hiring. Doing so is one of the hardest things that I’ve had to, and I struggle to find a set of consistent rules that work. We’ve hired people who worked well here, and others who haven’t. Still this topic has been floating in my mind for a few months.

I’ve uncovered a secret about working in design. At first glance, it may seem like another in a long line of posts moaning about clients. It is not. This is a simple observation, and I believe that it can change how you work—for the better.

Sorry for the lack of posts as of late. As we work to complete Speak Human, I find myself wrestling with footnotes, nitpicking over commas, and obsessing over every last detail. As a result, I’ve been a bad blogger. (Still, I think this is preferable to a bad bladder.) In the meanwhile, here are some random observations:

Uh-oh… I feel a rant coming on, and it’s not one of those brief ones either. It’s long and full of my own custom brand of “bitchiness”. I typically don’t address the issue of “spec”. It’s a boring topic that has been debated on countless occasions. Something recently arose, however, that demanded a response.

It’s hot at smashLAB today, probably much like at your studio. We’ve finally pushed Speak Human through its first set of hard edits and it’s getting closer to release, even though it has been delayed somewhat. Additionally, we’re working on a few new projects that will launch this fall. In the meanwhile, here are a few more random observations.

You’re probably a fine person; meanwhile, I believe I’m a generally decent human being. If we met over drinks, we’d probably have a fine time and perhaps even become friends. If, however, I hired you to work at smashLAB, you might end up hating me.