Notes from ‘In-House Design in Practice’
I picked up In-House Design in Practice by Cathy Fishel at the 2009 HOW Design Conference… I read it shortly thereafter, taking several pieces of Fishel’s advice to practice, and it’s helped me navigate the in-house design world ever since. Here are some of the more interesting passages (in my opinion) from the book: “The [...]
Continue ReadingQ&A: How can I market my in-house team?
I got an e-mail from a reader yesterday that asked me for advice on marketing her in-house design team. Unfortunately, she didn’t provide too many details on her exact situation, but thankfully there are a lot of ways to do this. The first thing to keep in mind is that generally, in-house creative services will be cheaper to your in-house [...]
Continue ReadingAvoid In-House Burnout by Getting to Know Your Customers
Something that I’ve been thinking of a lot recently is the importance for in-house designers to not only know the product (or service) their company is selling, but who is purchasing those goods or services. A lot of times, in-house design is just that; creatives supporting the external operational functions of a company. Unfortunately, [...]
Continue ReadingNotes on Creative Culture
Brendon Derr of Cella Consulting describes it as “the elephant in the room that nobody knows is there until it moves in the wrong direction.” “A healthy corporate culture”, Derr explains, “can be one of the most, if not the most, valuable assets to a Creative Executive. The quantifiable outcomes of a healthy corporate [...]
Continue ReadingLessons Learned: The Corporate Creative
I’m pleased to announce that I just finished The Corporate Creative: Tips and Tactics for Thriving as an In-House Designer by Andy Epstein. I had the pleasure of attending two of Andy’s seminars at the 2009 HOW Design Conference in Austin, and it’s worth reporting that Andy is responsible for my current quest for knowledge [...]
Continue ReadingSpeaking the Language of the Internal Client
In-house designers, believe it or not, have access to things that their counterparts in outside agencies will never have; namely the time to connect with their internal clients. Though, as AIGA.org columnist Michelle Taute points out, the in-house designer might feel like his/her fellow employees don’t even speak the same language at [...]
Continue ReadingService is Not Servitude
A great article on AIGA.org from Andy Epstein, the co-founder of InSource, an association dedicated to providing support to in-house designers and design team managers. Andy is also head of an AIGA task force on corporate design, where he continues his efforts to empower in-house teams and raise their stature in the design and business communities. [...]
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