Snippets

  • “We use your own cookies against you”

    When purchasing items on the internet (especially airline tickets), use incognito mode on your browser. We use your own cookies against you: raising the price on tickets the more times you check, as you shop around for better deals. That way you’ll think the price is going up or that seats are being actively sold – thus increasing your urgency to buy, and punishing you for trying to get a good deal.

    We all know about the extra charges airlines like to throw us but I bet you didn’t know about this one. Disgusting.

  • Seeking Inspiration

    Nothing is truly inspiring unless you apply it to your work. (“work” meaning your life’s output, whether creative, business, or personal.)

    In other words, your work, itself, is the inspiration.

    You may hear something or see something that gives you a new idea.

    But it’s only when you stop and think of your work through this new perspective, that you actually jump up and go turn the idea into reality.

  • If you don’t A-S-K, you won’t G-E-T

    One piece of advice I’ve given designers starting out is don’t put work in your portfolio that you don’t want to do again. It’s easy to feel pressure to “round out” your book, and make your skills look as broad as possible. But it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy — the work you show is the kind of work people will ask you for.

  • How To Deal With Burnout

    Dealing with burnout is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Most designers love their job (if not the job but the actual work itself), so burnout almost seems inevitable because we want to keep doing what we love. When you feel “burnt out”, this is good advice:

    You have to stay away until your energy starts to replenish itself. Until you can feel the coals begin to burn deep inside you. Until it pulls you back with the force of our sun’s gravity, recharging you with superhuman strength and energy.

    In fact, the best way to deal with burnout, is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Recently, I’ve made sure I don’t work beyond a certain number of hours. In my case, that’s the hours I’m employed to work. If I work more than that, the quality of my work suffers. Keeping a healthy balance is the key.

    I’ve tweeted a couple of interesting articles about this if you want to read more:

    • 1 2 3 4 5 … 30

Subscribe to Inspect Element by email to get updates on new articles, tutorials and WordPress themes: