How I turned my podcast into a book
On September 6, 2019, I published the first episode of my podcast, the Shades Cahaba Oral History Project. It was a conversation with the current Shades Cahaba Elementary School Principal, where we talked about the start of the school, former principals, and what...
Using ChatGPT to write my emails
TL;DR: I used an AI bot to write an email to potential customers, and here are examples I was given. It’s the beginning of the new year, and now is a great time to reach out to clients and potential clients to let them know that you are still here and ready to help...
Your new year, two minutes at a time
It’s the new year and a time for optimism! This year we will get into shape and lose a little weight. We will learn a new skill and finish that home improvement project that has been languishing for the past few years. We will make our life better and with less...
Your working environment doesn’t sound so good
Where I work and the environment surrounding me is crucial to my productivity. I have worked alone for the past decade, and I can adjust my environment to the task at hand. Most of the time, when I am creating, I work in silence. As I write this, not a song is...
Do you need a degree to be a graphic designer?
I see this question pop up from time to time on social media, and I thought I would weigh in on the question. TLDR: No, you don’t need a degree. But… There are a lot of jobs that require a degree of some kind, maybe even an advanced degree. A physician is the most...
You need a photo headshot
Not a week goes by when a client will send me an employee’s headshot that needs to go in a publication or ad. Sometimes they are good, and sometimes they are bad. And by bad, I mean they are low resolution or cropped in a weird way. They probably grabbed the...
Career advice from a graphic designer
A fraternity brother reached out, asking me to send his niece some advice. She had recently graduated college and was embarking on a career as a graphic designer. My first thought was that I should have talked to her four years ago to talk her out of her career...
The Internet Olympics 1996
Whenever I speak with a potential client, I make sure to mention my web bona fides by letting them know that I have been designing websites since the mid-1990s. For those of you keeping score, this is when the commercial internet took off, and companies had the...