Think of it like this -- remember that scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (I know, I know [groan]) where the knights must answer three questions before being allowed to cross the Bridge of Death? In this case, to cross, you must first read this book. Then take a test. Then read it again. And then maybe do it all again for good measure.

Throughout the book's roughly 150 brief, entertaining, and no fluff pages, Mike lays all the cards on the table -- face up. He provides simple, clear guidance on how to run not only a successful and profitable design practice, but also one that plays to your team's or your individual strengths.

There are no claims that this stuff is easy. It's not. Design is a job. Like any job, you need to work at it to be good. You need to keep working at it to be better, and you need to know when to call in the reinforcements (e.g. the lawyers) when necessary.

That means more than just improving your Photoshop skills. It means learning about business. It means being able to not just communicate and justify your decisions, but to sell them. Your job is to lead, not follow. As soon as you give up the reins on your process, or let a client walk all over you, you're done for; and as Mike says, ultimately surrender any claim on the title "designer".

Stop trying to get your clients to "understand design" and instead show them that you understand what they hired you to do. Explain how the choices you've made lead to a successful project. This isn't magic, it's math. Show your work. Don't hope someone "gets it," and don't blame them if they don't -- convince them.

Throughout the book, Mike consistently reinforces how fear, a lack of shared trust, and misunderstanding your clients' and your responsibilities are critical failings for so many designers -- whether in-house, freelance, or part of an agency of any size. Again, these things aren't always easy to acknowledge, but success means more than just showing up, it means stepping up. Understanding and doing something about these things are catalysts for change.

While I can relate to, or have experienced nearly everything he discusses in the book during my career, there's one particular story that resonated with me the most. Mike talks about going to see a client one day and discovering the entire team he was working with was gone. I've been there, more than once. It's not an fun problem, but still one you can both protect yourself, and recover from. Luckily, both our stories had similarly positive outcomes.

If nothing else, the fact that I haven't stopped thinking about Mike's book is the sign that it's not just good, but brilliant. If you think you don't need this book, you probably do. And if you do think you need it, you definitely need it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go read it again.

Want a primer on the book? If you haven't already, watch his, um, colourful Creative Mornings SF talk from March 2011 on, er, getting paid.

If you asked me to sum up the last several months, I’d say they’ve been about evaluating, prioritizing, doing, undoing, showing, talking, thinking, considering, reconsidering, and preparing. They’ve been a convergence of opportunity, serendipity, and, I don’t know, something else. I think. Probably.

There are times when an opportunity comes knocking, when the effect would be profound, when plans, tactics, goals and values perfectly align, and when patience pays in spades.

While I’ve been fortunate to have recently discussed a number of amazing, and frankly, flattering opportunities, at the end of March, I’m grabbing one by the horns and headed south-west from Toronto to California to join the Communications Design team at Facebook, with my family following in the months following (once the school year is out).

To say I’m excited for the opportunity to work with such an impressive team and to tackle new challenges would be an understatement of the highest order. Seriously, this is a bad-ass team of designers and I’m truly humbled to be included in their company.

Of course none of this is going to be easy — it’s a big deal to move, let alone move from one coast to the other, to cross borders, and to be away from your family for a signifiant stretch of time. But we’ll make it work. We’ve made it through three very intense major home renovation projects and the birth of two kids after all…

Like others (ahem, @splorp), I’ve had my share of apprehension about Facebook over the years… and frankly, just about every other “social” service, but what I’ve seen, based on the brief glimpse behind the curtain I’ve had so far has reminded me that it’s made of people. And in this case, those people are clearly trying to produce something meaningful and with lasting value to help our increasingly connected world communicate, share, and remember.

Not only do I think this is an opportunity to do some really interesting and challenging work, but also to see an immediate measurable impact. Personally, this is also an opportunity to observe some of McLuhan’s ideas and their effects from a bit of an insider’s perspective.

Although we’ll miss Toronto (sorry In-N-Out but you’re no Burgers Priest) and our families and friends — the next great adventure awaits. See you on the other side.

On a side note, I had hoped that this would be the first post on my long overdue new site, but alas, that’s had to take a back seat for a few weeks while we’ve been busy with all this business… Oh, and that Frank guy had to go make his more awesome, so back to the drawing board…

I saw and read the article the day it was posted and although I didn't intend on commenting on it, instead just hoping it might disappear into the ether, it's bothered me ever since, so here we are.

I'll give the author, Stuart, a bit of a break insomuch as I'm sure he's well-meaning and a perfectly fine fellow (we met briefly after I spoke during Typecon in New Orleans earlier this year), but it's sending the wrong message. Frankly, I call bullshit.

And I quote:

You don't get into advertising in order to stroll in at 9:26 and stroll out at 4:48. You don't get into it for the balanced diets or eight-hour sleeps.

No, perhaps not. But it doesn't mean the expectation is wrong, that it's not possible to remain excited, to love what you do, and even thrive in the industry without sacrificing a balanced life outside that world.

Sure there are times when an early morning, late night, or spat of weekend work might be required (too often the product of someone's poor planning or project management), but as soon as that door is opened, it's almost impossible to close. Such behaviour should be a rare exception, not the norm. As soon as it's a regular occurrence, you're in trouble.

Unfortunately, those new to the industry, such as Stuart, quickly fall victim to this so-called reality which perpetuates the problem. It's a slippery slope and a one-way ticket to burnout.

The worst part is that he knew going in. He was explicitly told to expect it. That it's normal -- be ready to give up your life so someone else can reap the real rewards.

Before I accepted the offer, I called a couple friends who were familiar with the agency, who uniformly said one thing: So long as you're ready to work late and on weekends (if needed), Prox is a great place to work with a killer atmosphere.

A "killer atmosphere" is nice, but it's hardly everything. It's not enough to make up for what you'll sacrifice in the process -- something typically not apparent until it's already too late. It's not enough when you're automatically nominated to be a punching bag for the agency (or their clients), or subject to someone else's misguided sense of normalcy.

The only way to truly put an end to the problem is to say "no" to this reality. For yourself. For everyone that will follow after. Unfortunately for Stuart, he went in anyway, which meant he was already screwed.

In those new chapters, Brian provides an introduction to the use of the CSS @font-face syntax, and I cover a handful of the new(-ish) CSS properties such as border-radius, box-shadow, text-shadow, multiple backgrounds, and background gradients.

Because this book is aimed at newbies, it was an interesting challenge in restraint, and also my ability to distill some complicated properties, along with the use of vendor prefixes down to something a mere mortal can comprehend. If you've ever spent any time with the background gradient syntax for example, it's... um, complicated. That I managed to write something which makes learning the basics of CSS3 gradients simple, I consider that a win.

Aside from some minor aches and pains writing and editing in Word, the process was both a great learning experience and fun. And I, of course, would be remiss to not mention the expert editorial guidance provided by Bruce and our editors Cliff and Robyn.

Brian and I have some ideas cooking for something new, so I suspect this is not the last you'll see from us in book form. Until then, you can pick up a copy of the HTML5 & CSS3 Visual QuickStart Guide from Peachpit or Amazon.com, or if you happen to be in Canada, from Amazon.ca, or Chapters/Indigo.

While considering whether or not to attend a book reading by Steve Jobs biograher Walter Isaacson tonight in Toronto, I was reminded of the above quote from Bukowski. It defines Steve for me perfectly, and equally contrasts with McLuhan, who most would say falls into the opposite camp of people who expressed simple ideas in a complex way. I like to think McLuhan just made you work a bit to understand.

The funny thing about the opportunity to review these books in advance is that as much as I might have a lot to say about them, my inclination is to let them speak for themselves. A lengthy review feels contrary to the spirit of the books themselves.

Instead, I'd like to make or reinforce a few observations about the series and it's overarching relevance to designers, developers, content strategists, project managers, business executives, and everyone in between.

As with previous titles, HTML5 for Web Designers, CSS3 for Web Designers, and The Elements of Content Strategy, they paint an unapologetic picture of what the web could be and where those leading the charge are taking it. These books are ammunition.

Because I was already familiar with many of the ideas expressed throughout both books, what became evident was that I wasn't the primary audience. Ultimately, the real readership is not the early adopters. Those people -- myself included -- don't need convincing. Early adopters have already read the articles and blog posts, or heard Aarron and Luke speak on their respective topics. Nevertheless, I found myself nodding in agreement pretty much the entire way through both.

Newness of the content to early adopters aside, it's the relevancy, timeliness, length, and quality of these books, and the time required to comfortably read them that positions them to hold the attention of clients, managers, executives, and other decision makers (and yes, your common design nerd); to convince those people to explore a new approach, to make the web more expressive, more beautiful, and more future friendly.

Should you pick up copies of one or both of these books? Yes. Should you pick up copies to share with a manager, client, or co-worker who's less enlightened than you? Yes... yes you should.

Perhaps it was just a matter of time before I came to my senses, but I have, and last night I quickly (and painlessly) made the jump over to Pinboard.

While I plan on keep my old Delicious account active, it's reached the end of the line and I need to find a way to flag it as inactive. In the meantime though, the Elsewhere links that either linked out to Delicious or pulled data from there have already been transitioned over to use Pinboard instead. Easy peasy. You did know that's what all that was about right?

And of course that just reminded me of the one thing I did forget to switch. Be right back...

But first a bit of context…

How (Most) Web Designers Work Today

During TypeCon in New Orleans this past July, one of the things Brian, Luke and I covered during our talk on web fonts was process — exactly how (most) web designers work, and what happens to the particular artifacts we produce as a result of that work. In particular, design mockups, and most importantly though, how those relate to a web designer’s somewhat contentious relationship with fonts.

Web designers have wanted the same control over typography print designers have taken for granted for decades, including being able to use the same variety of typefaces. Hacks such as sIFR and Cufon aside, it’s really only during the last two years, thanks to the encouraging work of type designers, foundries and browser makers, that the tide has really turned and we’re inching closer to that reality.

Unlike print though, where designers create final artwork files that are the final output of the design phase of a project (a newspaper advertisement, a book layout, product packaging), the large majority of web designers create mockups, a transitional artifact created for the benefit of clients and others involved in producing the actual end product — a functioning website.

Mockups are not the end result, and so purchasing desktop font licenses for what is effectively a throwaway product is counter-intuitive. Web fonts are part of the real end product of a web designer’s work, not their desktop equivalents. But that’s not the way we’ve had to work.

And it’s certainly not that web designers don’t want to pay for fonts — quite the opposite in fact. Web designers have flocked to web font services such as FontDeck, Typekit, and WebINK, and more will come as these services are more readily adopted by those beyond the early adopters.

During our talk at TypeCon, we further explored a suggestion which originated from Elliot Jay Stocks illustrating how web fonts might be integrated into a desktop design application such as Photoshop. In July no such thing existed; it was just an idea. And while the software is not available quite yet, I can happily say that it does now thanks to the team behind WebINK, Extensis’ web font service.

Introducing the Web Font Plugin for Photoshop

To address this disconnect in how web designers work, Extensis has created a piece of software that bridges their WebINK web font service and Photoshop, thus allowing web designers to use web fonts as though they were traditional desktop fonts in the popular design tool.

The web font plugin for Photoshop will be included with Suitcase Fusion 3 and available in beta in the coming weeks. Most importantly, it will continue to function beyond the software’s 30 day trial. There’s no requirement to purchase or use Suitcase — it’s simply the delivery mechanism for the plugin itself and assists in integrating the plugin with their WebINK web font service.

At the moment the functionality is simple and straightforward. Once the software is installed, open the Panel in Photoshop, sign in to your account and start working with their library of web fonts.

Transferring PSD files to others is seamless too, provided they have a WebINK account and the plugin installed. Designers will also be free to create JPEG, PNG and PDF files without watermarks or licensing restrictions beyond anything they’re already used to. Of course, there are still a few unanswered questions such as what happens without a network connection, but it’s a very promising start and raises the bar for competing web font services. Nudge, nudge Typekit and FontDeck.

Update (September 12, 2011)

Extensis has soft-launched the software’s microsite and you can download a 30 day free trial of Suitcase Fusion 3 and the Web Font plugin for Photoshop at webfontplugin.com. Go. Download. Create.

I'm debating a "live rebuild", but will more likely do more behind the scenes groundwork and hopefully not break too much else in the process before I make a decision on that.

These latest changes were about accomplishing the following:

1. Simplifying a bit of the back-end template code
2. Reducing the number of external assets
3. Implementing other minor performance optimizations
4. Preparing for the transition of the underlying code to HTML5

The impetus for these changes was really about changing how the Elsewhere popover is loaded and rendered. Previously the code was rendered statically by Movable Type in every page but also using some PHP processing to grab the latest from my Delicious feed (or the cached version). Not really very DRY.

Now the popover is rendered as a static HTML file (no PHP at all, rebuilt every so often automatically by the server) and loaded into the requesting page progressively via Ajax. There's still a standalone (non-JS enabled) page as well of course.

Next up -- HTML5-ifying the base structural elements. Where's my hard hat and jackhammer?

While there have already been many events this year celebrating McLuhan's centennial, this week in particular has been the one so many have been waiting for -- to properly re-examine, reflect on, and otherwise celebrate McLuhan's life and still hotly debated body of work.

Events and Reissues

In addition to the worldwide events honouring McLuhan, new centennial editions of many of his most important books will be making their way to book sellers around the world. The most recent being a new paperback edition of The Medium is the Massage featuring a beautifully designed cover by Shepard Fairey.

Even if you're not familiar with the man or his writing, if you work in the digital realm, you owe it to yourself to at least dip a toe into his observations and ideas -- you may be surprised what you find and how it affects you.

Digging a little deeper, the seminal book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964), and the quick-hit mosaics of The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects (1967) both still read as though they were written in the last few years. The world McLuhan describes is the one we live in now.

Celebrations in Toronto

Tonight, during a free to the public McLuhan Festival Celebration event, author John Ralston Saul will be awarded the first Gutenberg Galaxy Award for Literature "for his career achievements in literature and his contribution to the culture of Canada." I also happen to know there's at least one more surprise in store for someone else close to McLuhan during the evening...

Happy birthday Marshall.

The SOGO Japan project, designed and beautifully lettered in Kanji by type designer and lettering artist Neil Summerour, whose typeface Epic graced both editions of the Typographic Lesson Plan, has deep personal meaning for him, having amassed many friends and adopted family there since first visiting the country as a teenager, and we're extremely honoured that he asked us to be involved.

Each 18" × 24" print is individually signed and numbered by Neil, and features the names of all the cities affected by these tragedies. Additionally, each includes a smaller secondary print showing the matching English translations for the city names.

In keeping with the spirit of the SOGO Japan charitable organization established by Neil, and because we want to ensure as much money as possible will reach the people of Japan, LL&S is taking measures to ensure our impact on the funds raised are negligible. All money raised will feed directly into organizations on the front lines in Japan -- groups that know the landscape, the people, and their actual needs.

That said -- we realize this is not an inexpensive piece of art. On the other hand though, it's an opportunity to do good and support a country whose exports enrich the lives of so many around the globe.

We hope you'll help positively impact those who desperately need your support, whether by purchasing a print, or simply getting the word out about the project and the SOGO Japan organization. Thank you.

You can see all the contributions in the Flickr pool, or follow along on Twitter and Facebook.

A few words about The Impossible Project

I've owned a Polaroid camera of one type or another for probably longer than I remember though it's only been during the last couple years that I've started to find myself interested in the medium again and excited about what the The Impossible Project is doing, particularly Annie and Dave who I had the opportunity to meet last year while in NYC on my way to Connecticut.

Annie and Dave and the rest of the Impossible team get customer service like few companies. They frequently going above and beyond to take care of customers. They've certainly helped me on more than one occasion -- and have my utmost gratitude and respect for being so constantly wonderful. I can't think of another company who would ship me something overnight and keep an eye on the order themselves to ensure it got to me. There's just not enough nice things I can about them.

As an aside, if I can offer one simple piece of advice -- do yourself a favour if you ever plan on visiting the Impossible Project Space in New York -- take the elevator!

As we discovered, the narrative on the topic of web fonts weaved its way into even more presentations than previously at TypeCon. This meant editing and rehearsing up until the last minute to ensure our spin on the topic was sufficiently unique. And while we somewhat ended up winging it, all three of us came away feeling good and have had great discussions with other speakers and attendees since.

The premise of the talk revolved around the idea that web designers have all along wanted the same typographic control as print has historically enjoyed. In that same vein, now that fine-grained control over type using CSS is becoming a reality, there's a greater need to educate web designers on how to sensibly select and pair type, evaluate web fonts, and to know when to use advanced typographic features such as those found in newer OpenType fonts.

During the talk we also briefly covered the history of workarounds and hacks that have been invented to bridge the gap between what's available and what's really possible.

Additionally, we've made the complete anonymous source data from the unscientific, yet (we think) still relevant and interesting survey we ran not long ago to help prepare for the talk. The way to best explore the data is to put it through the lens of early adopters. It's reasonably safe to assume that's who the majority of the respondents were.

From Brian, Luke and myself -- a big thank you to the TypeCon and SOTA board, staff and volunteers on hand during the conference -- especially Michelle, JP, and Grant who helped get us there and made presenting painless. And of course everyone in the audience too.

Access to real fonts on the web means a familiarity and understanding of 400+ years of typographic history is even more urgently needed by web designers to suitably pay respect to the typefaces and type designers whose work we now have greater access to. Or as Jason Santa Maria so succinctly put it during Ampersand in Brighton, UK earlier this week:

If your type is bad, the design fails

In just over two weeks, Brian Warren, Luke Dorny and I will be giving a talk titled "Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Where are Designers Going with Web Fonts?" at TypeCon 2011 in New Orleans. In finalizing our outline we felt it would be helpful to find out how other designers are using web fonts. To do so, we've put together a brief anonymous survey to help us identify common behaviours, patterns and gaps.

The survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete. We greatly appreciate all those who take the time to help us out with this and we promise to share the results along with our slide deck after the conference.

Take the survey