Designer in Residence, Bessemer
Former Lead Designer, mint.com
Creator of Capitol Circle & elegant.ly
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Steve Jobs on brands.
Five Simple Steps has a really great collection of design books, both PDF, and hardcopy.
It is a movie of people typing in front of computer screens and talking in rooms that is as suspenseful as any more obvious thriller. But this is also social commentary so perceptive that it may be regarded by future generations the way we now look to Gatsby for its acute distillation of Jazz Age decadence.
How much time does it typically take to get responses from designers? And (assuming our pitch was powerful) can we typically expect multiple designer responses or do you filter it down to only one?
My investors are clamoring for a Chief Designer, I want to know if I can count just on Elegant.ly or if I should activate other options.
Thanks for your help!
Roland
I don’t track statistics on responses yet, but it’s a feature I’ll be adding. Anecdotally I’m hearing good things and many thanks from entrepreneurs.
I do not filter the designers contacting you, all of our members are free to do so directly via the email address or link you provided.
I make no guarantee that your pitch will compel someone to respond, so you should activate every possible option you can to fill your candidate pipeline. Recruiting is tough! Expect to spend a lot of time on it!
Thanks and good luck!
Jonathan
Yes! However you filled out the ‘Contact Email or Link to Job Application’ field, is how one would contact you.
Why Design Contests Are Bad
Why are shows bad? Shouldn’t we reward good design? Sure, if that’s what the shows accomplish, but they don’t. In fact, I believe they do harm to the profession. They reward the visible parts - styling - and ignore the most important, but hardest parts: interaction, experience, truly meeting needs, and even economic success.
I taught myself a lot outside of school with books, and practice. I started when I was 8, I was lucky and had parents who bought an IBM PC for home. I taught myself programming, and gained an early computer science foundation. I started building websites after that, and became slowly better at graphic design simply out of necessity. My partner in my design firm Novaurora, Miche Capone, was a classically trained artist, and really pushed my aesthetic sense forward once I made the web my full-time profession.
The skills I brought to Mint were the ability to turn problems into solutions, visually, and interactively. I expressed that through sketches, wireframes, high-fidelity designs, and ultimately HTML/CSS markup. I also carried with me a lot of the marketing and brand studying I did while I was running a creative agency, and doing this type of work for clients. It helped me create a great brand for the company. Writing is also a critical skill in design and crafting brand voice.
I'm working with a clean energy sector start up that could use your talents. I signed up for your designer network but wanted to see if you're interested in freelance opportunities. It's a cool project. Please let me know.
Best,
Dean
deanhollander@gmail.com
Sounds cool. Definitely pitch on elegant.ly — the new system should work well for you.
