Everyone sucks at the beginning. Keep at it and you’ll suck a little bit less!

Management styles for the home.

True Love and Time Sheets

What are you willing to suffer for? Choose your struggles wisley!

Sunk Cost Fallacy: Don’t let past investments stop you from quitting.

This week I look at “Show your work” by Austin Kleon, as someone who is struggling with what direction to take with social media this book gave me plenty of actionable steps to move forward. Video of the week is a Chris Do interview with Roy Cranston who talks about posting once a day on instagram. Podcast of the week is a Guy Raz interview on with the founders of Headspace: Andy Puddicombe and Rich Pierson - really great story and not what I’d expected at all.

“If the font is the song, the typeface is the artist.”

Perfectionism is killing your creativity.

The constant conflict between being a parent and a professional.

A lesson in setting boundaries for my birthday!

Using journey map’s to discover your quirks.

Being Book Smart is overrated. Stop worrying about what other people think!

But are you really, truely OK? I mean seriously, how is everything going?

No big deal, I just discovered the Formula of Humanity!

Preventing problems rather than solving them.

“Now that she had nothing to lose, she was free”

Crying is totally underrated.

How do you define success?

It's not the years that count, it’s the moments.

It could just be the lockdown but my need to read is insatiable.

It’s either good news or a good story.

Why ‘Shitty First Drafts’ will make you a nicer person.

Breaking up with a client is a hard but necessary part of the professional working relationship. I look at ‘The Win without Pitching Manifesto’ by Blair Enns for some guidance on the topic. The video of the week is about raising prices with clients. The podcast of the week is an interview Fabian Geyrhalter from ‘Hitting the Mark’ does wth Kate Torgersen - the founder of Milk Stork - A US company that delivers breast milk from working mums their hungry babies at home. What a brilliant idea!

What are your personal values and do you actually live by them?

What is personal branding and do you need it? The short answer is yes.

‘Comparisonitis’ is the compulsion to compare one’s accomplishments to another's to determine relative importance.

Create visual alignment and guarantee success before you even start designing!

When was the last time you had a truly constructive conversation?

Running isn’t just good for your body, it's good for your head too!

How to deliver content with confidence.

“If this were the second time I were living this day, what would I do differently?”

Using a Time Timer has supercharged my productivity.

Are you afraid of your own potential? You should be.

Work / life integration sounds way more achievable than work / life balance. This week I reflect on raising a family while trying to run a design business. The podcast of the week is about that very topic. The font of the week is a lovely sans serif called Okta Neue. The video of the week is another Chris Do conversation with Melinda Livsey (a Futur regular) about teaching. Can or should you teach? How long do you have to be practicing before you are worthy of the title expert? It’s really interesting.

Try. Fail. Learn. Repeat. The entrepreneurial mantra that successful businesses are built on.

Are you on a mission? What is it and why does it matter?

Everybody loves good design, but not everyone likes paying for it.

How often do you position yourself as the victim versus the hero?

This week I became the secretary of AGDA VIC (Australian Graphic Design Association). It's a funny story really.

Attaining distance from the BIG decisions is a great way to help make the BEST decision.

We are in. Not unpacked. Not set up. Just in.

Decisions, decisions decisions. I must've asked myself at least 100 times this week if we made the right decision.

I’m not against a bit of hard work but this week has defeated me!

This week I will try to explain ‘emotionally focused couples therapy’ which is something I knew nothing about. The video of the week is a short clip of a longer interview between Wesley Anne Little and Chris Do. Super valuable information. Podcast of the week is Black Hands - A family mass murder. Font of the week is Maelstorm designed by Kris Sowerby.

Lawyers, Accountants and Insurers - oh my! Becoming a company!

Understanding how habits work gives you the power to change them.

It’s not what we want to achieve, it's who we want to become! How habits are the building blocks of our identity and what we can do to change them.

Why does it feel like everything happens at once?

The universe has a strange way of working. Today it was an email about the ‘Stockdale Paradox’ sent straight to my inbox.

I did it!!! I wrote a weekly blog for one whole year!

You are worth more than you think.

So universe, it’s 2021, what do you have in store for us this year?

Social media marketing can quickly get overwhelming. Here are a few tips on keeping screen time down while still actively engaging with customers.

This week I celebrate my 16th Australiaversary. What a great reason to reflect and discuss what I wish I knew when I started working as a freelancer all those years ago.

This week I explain why designing the ultimate beach umbrella will somehow help me get over my fear of being in front of a camera as well as put my martial working relationship on the internet for everyone to see! I can’t stop listening to “How I Built This with Guy Raz” - I especially like the Allbirds and Canva interviews. Font of the week is Domaine by Kris Sowerby.

Running a family business is an emotional rollercoaster. This week I have a few tips on how best to work with the people we love!

Are you spending more time working in your business rather than on it? When your head is down working it can be easy to miss the opportunities on the horizon.

Why getting sued was the best thing that ever happened to us.

Stop focusing on a single outcome! There is more than one way to skin a cat!

You aren’t what you create.

How are you pricing your design projects? I have a look at value based pricing vs project pricing vs hourly rate.

This week it was my birthday and to celebrate I’m taking the weekend off.

Is your company’s message still being heard loud and clear? Brand maintenance is so very important and so often overlooked!

This week I released my first ever online tutorial. What is an InCopy / InDesign workflow and how does it work? It will blow your mind… if streamlining your publishing workflow is something you’re into of course.

What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning? Maybe it’s money, maybe it’s a greater calling that keeps us showing up everyday.

Imagine if we lived in a world where you can create without judgement, that mistakes were rewarded. The Bulletin Board this week is about changing the way we view failure and how a simple change in understanding of the word can make big steps easy to take. The video of the week is a live stream by Chris Do, the font of the week is Akuto Display by Brigida Guerreiro and my podcast of the week is another Jake and Jonathan episode that made me laugh out loud!

All anybody wants in a relationship is to be understood, validated and cared for! But how do you get from ‘hello’ to a meaningful relationship?

“What if we didn’t just remember the defining moments of our life but made them?” The Power of Moments by The Heath brothers is my new favourite book!

How many priorities do you have in your life this very second?

You’ve got to survive in order to thrive! Understanding Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

‘Fake it till you make it’ is the cure to imposter syndrome.

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good.

It's amateur hour and I invite you all to bask in the freedom of starting something new.

Have you ever stopped to think about how companies are selling you things?

How being curious and slowing down on the ‘advice giving’ will make you a better leader.

What is the role of design in creating equality in our communities?

How much of your working week do you dedicate to marketing and promoting your own business?

This weeks Bulletin Board is about ‘The Win without Pitching Manifesto’ by Blair Enns. This book has been on my to read list for a while and I finally got to it over the Christmas break. I loved everything about it and will be reading it over and over again. I rewatched the interview Chris Do has with Blair Enns in May last year to go with this post. I don’t know if a book has ever resonated with me as much as this. Its awesome - every creative should read it.

Selling your process as well as the outcome.

Working from home with young kids is the most stressful and frustrating thing that's ever happened to me.

How do you align the clients expectations with your designer vision? You use stylescapes of course!

The power of being nice.

Who are you? What do you do? What’s your mission? This week I ask the big questions.

So, What do you do? I mean, what do you really do? This week I worked on my elevator pitch, in preparation for the times when we can be in an elevator together again!

This week, everything changes.

With all this uncertainty around, I thought it would be a good opportunity to update my résumé - just in case... However, instead of the traditional résumé, highlighting my achievements and accolades, I’ve opted for ‘Failure Résumé’ instead.

What is the difference between design thinking and a design sprint? What is a design sprint anyway? This week I got familiar with the best way to test big new ideas with a team and it’s super efficient and super quick!

It can sometimes feel like other people have all the luck - as if there is a finite supply of luck and one must have the bad in order for another to have good. Luckily, this isn’t the case and this week I have some helpful tips on increasing your luck! Lucky you!

Imagine if we replaced the word ‘problem’ with the word ‘opportunity’. How much more exciting and intriguing does that make the future sound! This week I read ‘What I wish I knew when I was 20’ by Tina Seelig. The stories inside will inspire and delight whatever age you are.

Welcome to The Design Dept Bulletin Board. This week I look at Lost and Founders by Rand Fishken - a book discovered through my Podcast of the week from Jake and Jonathan. The video of the week is a deep dive into how to price design work with Chris Do and Micheal Janda - thank goodness I found this video! The feature typeface of the week is Cako designed by Jérémy Schneider in 2019.

This week I want to acknowledge the huge amount of stress we’ve all been under. I appreciate that everyone is experiencing a different ‘normal’ right now and even though we all have similar restrictions put on us, they affect us all in very different ways.

Are you a passive reader or an active reader? One reads for understanding and the other for information. As someone who spends every available moment reading with the intent of bettering my practice as a designer, I want to make sure I’m doing the right one.

Everyone wants to be the expert in their chosen field but what is an expert? Can anyone become one? Discipline and good fortune are the two main ingredients according to David C. Baker, author of The Business of Expertise. This week I break down his interview with Chris Do on The Futur.

Great storytelling is this week's focus. Companies use storytelling to help connect and align with their audience. Internally, they use stories to build and strengthen their core, giving employees something they can rally around. Right now, bedtime stories are what send my kids to sleep every night! But how do we tell good stories and can we get better at it?

How can we be more compassionate? This week I watched a great video by The Futur where Chris Do talks to my favourite regular guest Wesley Anne Little. They discuss ways to manage fear and anxiety in these are uncertain times. The ‘podcast of the week’ is Jake and Jonathan with another uplifting perspective on the world today.

How do you be ‘fully present’ in a meeting? My video of the week is from @thefutur and is a deep dive on how to slow down and gain higher self awareness in client meetings. My podcast of the week is another ‘How I built this with Guy Raz’ interview, this time with Casey Neistat. It's quite the story. Font of the week is another winner from Pizza typefaces.

This week I hosted my first ‘Show your work’ meetup. The best and worst idea I’ve had for a wee while. Have you got a few hours to kill and need a thought provoking podcast? This weeks ‘podcast of the week’ is 2 hours of very insightful conversation about communicating with clients featuring Chris Do and his Pro Group members. The video of the week is from AJ&Smart and is a quick tutorial on how to run a super productive brainstorming session. It’s ace, and you don’t even need to talk to anyone!

Un-fucken-believable. 100 weeks in a row!!

Welcome to The Design Dept Bulletin Board. This is a space to record and collect the inspiring content I discovered on my internet wanderings. Video of the week is Wesley Little, a Psycho Therapist with Chris Do, the Founder of The Futur, in a pretty inspiring conversation about starting and maintaining, meaningful relationships. Podcast of the week goes to Fabian Geyrhelters’ Hitting the Mark. He talked to Clement Kwan, Co-founder of Beboe - a lifestyle cannabis brand. It’s not what I expecting at all and is another one of those beautiful brand stories I love to hear. Typeface of the week is Misto which is designed by Katerina Korolevtseva.

I found an unexpected gem in the library this week. ‘Creative Confidence - Unleashing the creative potential within us all’ by Tom Kelley and David Kelley. An inspiring read about finding your inner design thinker. The video of the week is a smooth talking instructional video that saved my 2012 macbook - thank goodness. Podcast of the week is an interview Chris Do did with Lilian Darmono - it's probably one of the best discussions about sexism in the workplace I’ve ever heard.