Category: Links

The open-office trend is destroying the workplace

Bosses love the ability to keep a closer eye on their employees, ensuring clandestine porn-watching, constant social media-browsing and unlimited personal cellphone use isn’t occupying billing hours. But employers are getting a false sense of improved productivity.

I absolutely hate “open-office” layouts. I’ve worked for two companies that used them, and found them to be significantly less productive environments to work in. I hated the way my “door was always open” to co-workers to walk up and interrupt me as I was trying to concentrate on whatever I was working on at the time. And as the author of the article writes, they did little to nothing to improve inter-office communication and collaboration; many times it did just the opposite.

Guy quits job at Apple—rants about it. Whatever.

Apple Campus 2

There’s two sides to every story. Ben Farrell has posted a lengthy screed about what it’s like to work at Apple, and why he quit. IF his story is 100% true and not over-dramatized out of bitterness, it’s a sad story. However, I’m not sure this was the best way to leave a job, even if it is accurate. At least Mr. Farrell was classy about it, not calling-out anyone by name or title.

Photoshop Smart Objects: linked vs. embedded

Using Photoshop Smart Objects is a great way to work non-destructively. You can embed a Smart Object directly in a Photoshop file or link to a separate file and update it and reuse it in multiple projects.

I recently had a co-worker ask what they were and why I use them. I had a difficult time explaining it, so when I came across this video tutorial, I quickly fired-off a link. It’s a great walk-through for those who’ve never used them.

60 expert logo design tips

The title of their article could have also been: “60 things modern clients aren’t willing to pay for, or even think about.”

But hey, you still should. Take a look at all the great advice in this article… just remember that you’re not likely to be paid to put it to practical use anymore.

The worst argument against the Apple Car

There are dozens of ways in which Apple’s apparent effort to build an Apple-branded car could go wrong, but there’s one argument against the idea that I’m hearing a lot of that really doesn’t make sense. From Henry Blodget to former GM CEO Daniel Akerson to the LA Times to Yahoo Finance people are saying this won’t work because the car industry is a “low margin” business in contrast to the fat margins Apple is used to earning most of all on its workhorse iPhone.

Vox has a great take on the “low margin” aspect of this Apple Car story. The observations of idiots like the former GM CEO, Daimler AG chairman, and Yahoo Finance writers are so completely out of touch with the reality that Apple has been operating under for the last decade, that it’s no wonder they find their companies (Mercedes excepted) swirling around the toilet bowl with all the other turds of business.

That being said, those minivans Apple rented that have been seen driving all over CA, FL, AZ and a few other places, have been proven to be mapping vehicles (possibly even 3D mapping). So all this palaver of Apple building a car in the next five years, while interesting and fun to talk about, is just silly click-bait at this point in time.

Free eBook: The Freelance Handbook

gen-freelance-handbook

This is not an in-depth, step-by-step guide to becoming a freelance designer. Instead it gives you the broad strokes, with plenty of things to think about and act on.

I’m about half way through reading the 115 page PDF and I must say, there’s some really great advice in this eBook—even though the illustrations are stuck in the 80s 😉