As a single person living in London, I suffer from the ‘single person tax‘ and I don’t think we talk about that enough in relation to design salaries. Let’s assume a junior designer role pays £35K (which incidentally is below the Skilled Worker Visa requirement). That’s £2,355.92 after tax. In Zone 3 where I live,… Continue reading The problem with design salaries
On socially distancing from microblogging
I decided to go cold turkey on micro-blogging. I’ve had a Twitter account since November 2006 and at some point owned 12 different accounts. I stopped last month. I don’t know for how long but I’ve gone back to ‘big writing’, ie. working on the second edition of Smarter Homes which I owe myself (and… Continue reading On socially distancing from microblogging
Sunday Scraps #77
Alessandro Baricco was interviewed (the English closed captioning works well) and he posits Western thought is about having just enough memory to keep building, changing, improving, innovating. I liked that. Some more tabs I had open below. Jazz music in Murakami’s novels as curated by NTS / Adding Casa Malaparte to my list of places… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #77
End of year review
Thanks to Prof. Dr. Molly Steenson for initiating this habit in 2005. What did you do in 2024 that you’d never done before? I prioritised holidays and therapy Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I didn’t make any. Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes. Did anyone… Continue reading End of year review
It’s just emotion (or how to have difficult conversations)
I studied design in the early 2000s, a time of brutal design feedback culture. These days, I have at least two to three conversations every week with designers who need some advice on how to share often negative feelings at work. Sometimes it’s because of a personality clash, other times it’s ‘constructive feedback’ based on… Continue reading It’s just emotion (or how to have difficult conversations)
On looking for work (when you’re a designer)
I’ve been reviewing CVs for free for 6 months and supporting a variety of designers looking for work for years now. In a sector that was always (and continues to be) fragile, here’s some things to consider in a job search. Nobody reads, people skim. Giles taught me that in a lecture he gave my… Continue reading On looking for work (when you’re a designer)
Sunday Scraps #76
Wellcome collection’s new exhibition on work / a reciple for ripple bread / the history of the Musée d’Orsay / A Burst of Light by Audre Lorde was written while she was fighting cancer and where she pioneered the term ‘self-care’ / i’ve been enjoying the work of Vegyn / on Google Mail’s pioneering work… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #76
A year in
I joined TPXimpact a year ago this week which means I should probably look back and think about what I’ve learnt so far. Working with a hybrid team slows everything down because it slows down how you build trust. I made sure to visit all our various offices at least every few months to try… Continue reading A year in
The end of the useful idiot
This recent piece in Fast Company was bothering me. I’ve been in work for almost 20 years soon and I’ve heard people talk about the lack of business acumen in design since I was a student. I posit that something else is happening as ‘design thinking as a service’ enters its mid life crisis. Design… Continue reading The end of the useful idiot
Sunday Scraps #75
I know nothing about Deleuze and I’m not sure I know anymore after this but I learnt some things about cute / a book written by Oliver Sack’s partner about New York / public sector backlogs / a 2009 interview with umberto eco / increasing the accessibility of Powerpoint slides / Sono Electro 2024 Festival… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #75