Do What We Do (Dah)? – Ronen Bekerman
There is a great piece on Ronen’s site – please do read it here. There is always something to take away from posts like this about the industry.
Don’t forget to read the comments too.
Autodesk Lay Offs
7% of Autodesk staff, which totals appox. 500, have been shown the door. It’s a very sad day when people lose their jobs, and even sadder when it’s so close to our industry. 3D developers and product managers were in the mix, although Autodesk hopes to create new jobs over the coming year.
Read more on [...]
12 Breeds of Clients and How to Work with Them
Read this piece on Freelance Switch by Jack Knight – 12 Breeds of Clients and How to Work with Them.
I think it would apply to most creative industries so it’s really worth a read. It might shed some light on understanding those clients just a little better.
F*ck you; Pay me! Contracts For Designers
Don’t let the title put you off (maybe it won’t?). Mike Monteiro, design director at Mule Design Studio, gave the following speech at a seminar. In summary, he covers how to protect your work and payment. Take the 40 minutes odd to watch it. It’s really worth it!
2011/03 Mike Monteiro | F*ck You. Pay Me. [...]
Top 10 Lies Told to Naive Artists & Designers
Top 10 Lies Told to Naive Artists & Designers
by Mark W. Lewis
1 “Do this one cheap (or free) and we’ll make it up on the next one.”
No reputable business person would first give away their work and time or merchandise on the hope of making it up later. Can you imagine what a plumber would [...]
Top 10 Traits of Highly Successful People
While they sound pretty obvious – hard work, etc. – sometimes you just need a reminder and perhaps some motivation. Read Philip Humbert’s Top 10 Traits of Highly Successful People. Here’s to the week!
Free Advice
What’s the best advise you’ve ever received, as a 3D Artist?
3D World recently asked 3D artists, following them through social networks, what good advice they could share. Read it here.
Some include:
“Make sure your model is flawless before rendering; an imperfect render is a waste of your time” – Michael Hill
“What matters is that the final [...]
Working hard, or hardly working?
I really appreciated the time and effort some artists put into these infographics. And most of the time, the designs are great. Have a look at this one on laziness in the workplace.
Source
Overtime vs Productivity
Allan McKay, a technical director and VFX supervisor who’s worked for some big names in the industry, recently wrote this article. Read it, it’s relevant to many other designers and artists in our industry (and others) that I’ve spoken to.
Overtime vs Productivity – a debate that many owners, studio directors or managers and artists have [...]
More Profitable Than Ever
Two architects talk candidly about how they turned their business around even before the recession.
Read it here: http://archrecord.construction.com/practice/business/1008practice.asp
I find the below quote very interesting:
“ We had a full-time renderer. Now we are getting renderings from China. We had a full-time person working with the city planning department. We had a full-time IT [...]
Obsessive Entrepreneur
A great write up from fin24.co.za: http://www.fin24.com/PersonalFinance/My-Business/Obsessive-entrepreneur-20081024
Entrepreneur Benon Czornij of web development firm (or human-computer interaction consultancy) HelloComputer is an interesting business case for many would-be IT entrepreneurs.
Czornij went through the giddy highs of the tech bubble in the late 90s, came back down to earth and then over the last three years built HelloComputer up [...]
Things they DON’T teach you at design school
I had to giggle when I read this Design Reviver post. So relevant!
” 1. Your diploma doesn’t help you to find a job
But your portfolio does! Of course it’s a good thing to get a design education and a proof of it, but when it comes to get money out of their wallet clients want [...]
A great business/life/games blog
I gain inspiration from some strange places. A blog that I visit often is that of “Cliffski” or Cliff Harris.
Cliff is an independent game creator in the UK, he used to work at some large studios and has since (the past few years now) started his own full time studio. He makes fantastic games and [...]
Bootstrapped, Profitable, & Proud
If you have not read my previous post, then do so here: http://www.burnstudio.co.za/blog/rework-by-37signals/
37Signals have a fantastic series on companies who are successfull; but haven’t taken outside funding and massive loans. I love reading stories of companies and people that have done well.
Check out the stories by clicking below:
logik
woothemes (South African!!!)
Campaign Monitor
Shopify
Rework by 37Signals
37Signals is a small company in the US of A that makes awesome online software (with 3 million+ users). They have a unique outlook on business and how to operate properly in the 21st century.
If you enjoy business, then you will love to hear what they have to say on their blog here: http://37signals.com/svn
They have [...]
What Happened to Big Idea?
Do yourself a favour and check out this story of a small 3D company that tried to grow as big as Disney.
It’s 11 parts, but a fantastic read.
Many people think Big Idea Productions died because of the lawsuit brought against it by Lyrick Studios over general market distribution rights to VeggieTales home videos. While it [...]
Making time to design
Here at Burn, we’re lucky enough to have a team of people who cover all the countless aspects of business. But often in the industry, the freelancers or smaller design firms have to juggle being the designer, client liaison, book keeper, marketer… the list just goes on!
I’m sure all you want to do is sit [...]
Quotes & Contractual Agreements
There is a misconception that a detailed contract will scare clients away. We’ve found that a detailed contract will give your client an ease in terms of the project because they understand your expectations. They’ll know that you’re a serious business doing serious work on their behalf. The contract stands to protect the client as [...]
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
Warren Buffet by way of Benjamin Graham
This is a hard lesson that a lot of our potential clients learn.
In South Africa we, along with a few competitors, are tiered on the higher pricing spectrum for 3D renderings.
In the last week, two potential clients have chosen lower [...]
Price vs Speed vs Quality
Price – The fee you charge for your service.
Quality – A relative term, but it should be judged against the industry standard in your region.
Speed – The time taken to produce the imagery, from contract to sign off.
Where on the triangle do you position your services?
Your position on the triangle will influence your target market [...]