Devon Hopkins

Designing a website for an artist is difficult. Artists are creative, playful, unique, quirky, strange, and often mildly insane. And they want their websites to be creative, playful, unique, quirky, strange, and often mildly insane.

Which is great!

However, before you go and create your cultural production of an allegorically strata-transcending disembodied experience (that’s how us artists say “website”), take a step back and make sure you have the 6 key elements of a well-designed website.

FrankChimero.com

1. Straight-forward, consistent navigation that tells exactly what the site offers

Frank Chimero is a graphic designer and illustrator. The navigation of his website is clean and simple. A website is not a labyrinth to be discovered. The main navigation should be consistent on every page so that the viewer never gets lost. The goal is for the viewer not to have to press the back button.

JaneArt.com

2. A homepage that says who you are and what you do

The homepage should say right off the bat something about you and your work. On Jane’s homepage, there are examples of her work, a blurb that describes her passion for painting, and a title image that has her full name followed by “paintings”. These are subtle things, but I know immediately that Jane is a painter and I can see what kind of paintings she does.

NatashaWescoat.com

3. A space that promotes participation

Give your viewers a chance to participate in the site. On Natasha’s website, her fans can watch her working in the studio via webcam, and she often takes recommendations from them about what they want to see. When people are involved in a process, they begin to develop a more personal relationship with the artist. If you don’t want them involved in your art, incorporate a blog and give them a space to get involved in that.

4. Clean and functional layout that highlights your art/work

ChristyHydeck.com

First and foremost, your website is about your work. Viewing art online can be just as visually appealing as viewing it in a gallery. Instead of throwing all your content into a Flickr account and calling it a day, take some time to layout how you want your art to be viewed. Christy Hydeck’s online photo galleries are easy to navigate and beautifully designed.

Pamdora.com

5. Reason for viewer to return to the site

If a viewer knows that you add content to your site on a regular basis, they are more likely to return to the site. Pam Rubert over at Pamdora adds new posts every other week, giving her fans a reason to come back and keep up-to-date on what she is doing.

AmandaPalmer.net

6. Easy ways for your audience to connect/contact you

Give your viewers an easy direct line of contact to you. Amanda Palmer uses social media to connect with her viewers. She connects through Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, and Flickr. If your fans have to make an effort to contact you, more often than not, they won’t.

For those of you who don’t know, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the biggest consumer electronics trade show of the year, held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Last year was kind of a disappointment, with most companies feeling the effects of the downturned economy and not showing many exciting products.

But this year CES is back with shiny new gadgets. You probably won’t be able to afford them, and they probably won’t actually be available until next year, but still, they are shiny new gadgets!!

So I’ve picked out some of my favorites and I’m going to tell you what they do or why they are cool, without using the words Core 2 Duo, OLED display, or HDMI.

Happy 2010! After four months abroad in Spain, I am back in the United States, settling back into Chipotle burritos, big SUVs, free tap water at restaurants, and going to bed at midnight instead of 6am. And it’s great. Although it’s not great that I haven’t written since December, but it’s a new year! So here are 10 new thoughts on the emerging trends of 2010.

4. People will actually start to care about Facebook privacy.

You’ve heard of the horror stories of students getting fired from their jobs for saying bad things about their bosses on Facebook.

In 2010, students will be more aware of their online reputation, increase their privacy settings across the board and cut back on the incriminating keg-stand photos.

And there you have my predictions for 2010! Do you agree? Disagree? Have predictions of your own? Leave a comment and let me know.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any money lost due to gambling these claims. Unless you win.

Jobless by khalilshah on Flickr

Industries are in a period of flux and college grads are facing the worst job market in years (sorry!). Traditional media is failing and the poor economy is forcing companies to re-define themselves. As David Carr puts it, “[The] feeling of age, of a coming sunset, is tough to avoid in all corners of traditional publishing.”

So what can you do? Stay informed.

The rules of the game are changing, so when it comes time for a job search, interview, or a deal with a new client, you have to show that you really know your industry.

It easy to get so overwhelmed with the amount of information out there that you end up shying away from it instead of learning from it. Think of social media as an opportunity to learn rather than an obligation.

I am interested in how independent creative minds can use social media to build communities, brand themselves, and ultimately increase sales. So, I followed leading creative minds on twitter, asked questions, read blogs, wrote blog posts, shared links, and got hired to consult by an independent artist on her web design and social media strategy. If I can do it, then you can too.

If the internet age has proved one thing, it’s that if you don’t keep up, you will be left behind. Progress waits for no one.

Thanksgiving Spread by CarbonNYC on Flickr

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. Who doesn’t love gorging themselves on tryptophan-filled meat and fatty casseroles (actually, common misconception: tryptophan doesn’t cause drowsiness. Your body just burns so much energy trying to digest the disgusting amount of food and drink we consume that you feel tired after.)

But Thanksgiving isn’t just an excuse to eat and sleep a lot. It is an opportunity to use your built-in network (family) to your advantage. And you don’t even have to use any awkward icebreakers like you do at networking events, because you know that every single aunt and uncle is going to ask you, “So, how’s school/class/work/job/life going?” or the dreaded “What are you going to do when you graduate?”

Don’t throw away this opportunity! You might be tempted to respond with a simple “Good” or “I’m not sure” and wander your way back over to the gloriously delicious bowl of stuffing, but try to actually have a conversation. These people are resources to be tapped and bonus: they actually care about you.

So, here’s your checklist:

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

not quite clear on the concept by WWWorks on Flickr

It’s easy to find ourselves stuck in the grind of everyday.  We get into the same weekly routine and take little time to think about what we are actually doing (how many times have you thought to yourself: “Wow, where did the day/week/month go?”)

Are you growing?  Are you pushing yourself forward?  There is a question that I ask myself at the end of every week.  It is simple:

What did I learn last week?

The secret to moving forward, in life, in school, in a job, anywhere, is that you have to be constantly learning and growing, and be aware of that learning and growth.  Some things to think about when you ask yourself this question:

Ridington Room

We are the procrastination nation. It happens every day. You should be working on a presentation for next week’s meeting or finishing your paper for tomorrow’s class (or, more likely, starting it), but instead you end up reading FailBlog for an hour. (It’s just so damn addicting!)

Today, there was something that you should have done, but didn’t. But why? Identifying what is making you procrastinate is the first step.

I should have written a blog post last week. I did not write one. Why? Last week I read a post by Rebecca Thorman called “Stop writing about social media to be a successful blogger”. A lot of her points hit home.

There are a lot of social media “experts” (usually self-proclaimed) out there that tell you what you should or shouldn’t be doing with social media, how things are supposed to work. Rebecca nicely points out that this is “really freaking boring”.

So that got me thinking. And I thought for a while. Am I boring? Am I unoriginal? Maybe. Probably. But at least I’m doing something.

I think this is a brilliant anecdote. It is often not the brilliant minds that have success or the most talent people that get noticed. It’s the people that get things done.

So, how do you become the type of person that gets things done?

Pressure… by Casey Serin on Flickr

Most of us could use less stress. With the kind of ridiculous connectivity that we have and the expectation to be constantly “plugged in”, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. And we aren’t only worrying about things that we have to do, but things that we feel like we should do, or could do.

I’m studying abroad in Spain right now. While I don’t have as many have to dos as I do at home, the list of should dos is almost endless (talk with friends, see a bull-fight, make Spanish friends, eat paella, etc).

I am normally good at handling a long to do list, but this shift from have to do to should do has been hard to adjust to, because instead of managing my time, I just get overwhelmed with all the possibilities and usually end up wasting my entire day eating lunch (it’s actually not that hard to do that here).

This change has forced me to think of how I normally manage being overwhelmed, and to adjust that strategy to this new lifestyle of fewer responsibilities and greater possibilities.

So, here’s what we are going to do. Make a list. Making lists is how I solve problems. It clears my mind and is a great distraction when I’m bored in class or at work. This list will have three columns:

So you have your lists. Ideally you’d work from top to bottom until everything was done, but we all know that it doesn’t work like that. We procrastinate, we put things off, we don’t feel like doing things we should do, so we do things we could do instead. Let’s look at 4 of the most common problems people have when they are overwhelmed, and try to come up with some solutions for them. You might have some suggestions for these problems, or strategies that work well for you. Share them with me!

The semester has started and many of you are busily working away, spending the days in classes and the nights in libraries, quietly munching on your pita chips and humus while reading about how Ancient Greeks actually invented Velcro. Maybe you’re worried that there is more you could be doing to prepare yourself for a career or sweet summer internship. Good news: there is!

Welcome to the age of self-publication and promotion. You don’t need a prestigious professor as your mentor to get published anymore (although having one doesn’t hurt), and there are more than a few things you can do to prepare yourself for life in the real world.

Take advantage of on-campus groups and activities

College campuses are loaded with student run groups and events that are not only fun, but offer the chance to gain valuable leadership and teamwork experience. My most valuable experience at Wesleyan has been managing my a cappella group, The Wesleyan Spirits. Most employers look to see whether you have leadership skills and the ability to work with other people, so don’t be afraid of taking responsibility within your groups.

You know all those flyers and emails you get about interesting lectures and talks? And you know how you always intend to go? And you know how you’ve never actually been to one? Go! Make it a goal to go to at least one talk or lecture this next semester on something that really interests you. These kinds of events won’t be available to you once you graduate, so think of it as free personal and professional development.

Get an on-campus job

There are hundreds of different possibilities for student workers on campus. From library assistants to food workers to technical consultants, students can find work in almost any field as long as they are willing to look. Instead of opting for the easy desk job that lets you do your homework, or a well paying job that a monkey could do, try finding a job that challenges you and provides opportunity for upward mobility. Let’s look at two popular on-campus jobs at Wesleyan University:

While the Weshop Grocer gets paid more hourly, the Events Technician is receiving free training on multimedia software and has the opportunity for upward advancement. Yet surprisingly, the Weshop Grocer is one of the most (if not the most) popular jobs on campus. With your on-campus job, ask yourself: Am I learning something? And if the answer is no, then why are you there?

Volunteer

With the current economic environment, paid jobs are sometimes hard to come by. Volunteering is another great way to get hands-on, out of the classroom experience in a variety of different work environments.

Be creative. Look for volunteering positions that give you responsibility or leadership opportunities. If you’re interested in journalism, contact the local newspaper. If you’re interested in the arts, find a local arts center for kids that you can teach at.

Stay Informed

Instead of spending your time on Youtube and Gossip blogs, (although I do love seeing cats jumping out of boxes and reading about Kanye’s exploits) try to become an expert in something you are interested in pursuing. There are so many tools out there (like Google Reader) that make it easy to manage your news sources and help you be more efficient in your “news consumption”. 

Start a blog

I´ve said this before in my post on Internships and the same is true during your semester. Keeping a non-personal blog is one of the most effective ways of establishing yourself as a dedicated, passionate, and knowledgeable individual. It shows employers or future bosses that, among other things, you have the discipline to self-motivate and self-manage, skills often lacking in recent college graduates. We are the Procrastination Nation.

Credit: The Life of Bryan on Flickr

In my last post on Facebook for the Over 40, I showed you how to change your privacy settings to keep your profile safe. Now that you are protected, let’s talk about interacting with friends and family. Here are a few tips for getting the most out of your connections.

1. Don’t be offended when your family members don’t friend you back.

Either you have already experienced this or you will. You friend your favorite nephew and, oh no!, they don’t accept your friend request. Do not take this personally. They probably have not cleaned up their online reputation yet.

Many facebook users, especially younger users, have their entire lives on facebook (they shouldn’t). Instead of feeling rejected, why don’t you point your family member to “How to Create an Exclusive Friends List”. That way, they can friend you and keep their profile private.

2. When responding to a wall post, respond on the other person’s wall.

So, someone wrote on your wall! Great! Now, how do you respond?  Maybe this tip seems obvious to you, but I’ve seen a surprising number of people respond to a wall post by writing on their own wall. This is like receiving a letter and addressing your responding letter to yourself. They will be looking on their wall for a response, not on yours.

When you receive a wall post, click “See Wall to Wall” in the bottom right corner of the box. This shows you the conversation between you and your friend. Now you can type in the response box and the comment will go directly to their wall.

3. Control your feed so you can hear from people you actually care about.

Most people don’t know that the main feed on the facebook homepage is fully customizable. Unless you really want to see everything your 40 random high school friends from 1970 are doing, let me show you how to customize your feed to show you the activity of the friends you really what to hear from.

Now, when you login, your feed will be populated with activity from the people in your exclusive friends list, saving you time sifting through random updates from people you don’t really care about.

4. Create a facebook group for your family.

Facebook groups, while often used to idolize Britney Spears, are also a great tool for families looking for a communal space online. Create a group for your family and start sharing pictures, videos, links, stories, or anything else your family would find interesting.