Issue 3

The co-founder of the design centered social network Designer ID, provides some excellent reasons that designers should embrace social networking for both our professional and personal lives.

Firstborn's executives give us a glimpse inside the home-grown intranet that keeps their well oiled machine churning out consistently great work time and time again.

Lately, sustainability has become a buzz word in the design industry, and rightfully so. With the severe implications of global warming and the future of the environment at stake, it should be at the forefront of every designer's mind. Jennifer Blais shares with us how to make sustainable design affordable for your studio and still turn a profit.

Building a design studio, like any other business, is obviously a daunting task. Eric Karjaluoto shares some thoughts and tips on what has helped his firm, smashLAB, remain on the path of success no matter what obstacles try to stop them.

Fresh off the heels of his terrific HOW Conference presentation, Steven Gordon shares how your network of contacts can help you succeed.

Some call it "being in harmony", others say its "aligning your chi". No matter what you call it, there is no denying that we all possess the same energy inside of us to fuel our desires. Florence shares her experiences and explains how you can use your physical, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual energy to fuel and evolve your work

Mentioning to a colleague that you would like to fire a client always gets a chuckle and instigates an impromptu bitch fest around the water cooler which usually doesn't amount to letting go of the client, but rather just dreaming of it. New contributor Renee Costantini shares some signs of a bad client and how to take the bull by the horns and let the cow go to graze in someone else's pasture.

How well do you know your prospective new clients? Do you often feel like they are from a completely different world than you? Ilise Benun serves up a delicious dish of explaining who your prospects are and the essentials you need to keep in mind when working with them.

If you don't get paid, you don't have a business. Plain and simple. This article by design management consultant Emily Cohen provides some tips on the main things you need to focus on to ensure you're always getting your invoices fulfilled in a timely manner.