Issue 31: Ignition, Liftoff
On big launches, continued commitments, and shooting for the moon.
🚀 Don’t stop me now
A little over a year ago, I got an email from a client, asking for an edit that I knew would hurt her project. I’d get paid more to make the change than to tell her why it wouldn’t work — and there was always a chance that really was what she wanted. But I had a feeling her request was caused by a misunderstanding of the design process, and indeed it was. I wrote her an email explaining why her request would undermine the final result, and together we adapted the edits to what she actually needed.
Over the course of my career, this has happened many times, and it’s no secret why. There’s no reason for non-designers to know about graphic design, and, on the flip side, designers are often not quick to share their knowledge. Every time I see my clients ask for something I suspect will waste their money — or that won’t deliver for their actual needs — I always make sure to educate them so they can make an informed decision. But I realized this issue was much bigger than me and my clients. The only way to make sure clients get results that work for them every time is to make sure they have that key knowledge at their fingertips. The day I wrote back to my client, I began working on a solution.
Next week we’ll get back to our regular format.
THIS week, I couldn’t be more excited to announce the launch of The Graphic Guide – a self-paced course and design reference for people who work with designers. It includes 130+ illustrated lessons, all targeted to making sure all people who work with designers — whether they’re marketers working continually with a full design team or small business owners looking to rebrand — get exactly what they need out of the design process. This course has been over a year in the making. I am SO proud of the result and beyond excited to finally share it with you all.
You can view the course and learn more at thegraphicguide.com. I’m overjoyed to finally show off all the hard work, and can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks!
🌙 Moodboard of the week
After over a year working intensely on this project, it feels really surreal — and frankly a little scary! — to bring it into the world. That’s why this week’s moodboard is all spaceship launches. Some of them are real, many of them are illustrated because, and I cannot stress this enough, I am so scared of space. All of them represent new adventures and discovery. Click here or below to view the full board on Pinterest!
🔍 Question of the week
It is! I’ve been looking to change the name of the Substack for a while now, since I wanted the name to speak less to the name of my agency and more to my goals as a designer — namely, to help people better understand design and its impact on the world around us. As I was approaching the course launch, I realized I wanted the name to tie into the course, since I see them as companions. The course is an in-depth guide to the practical side of design, intentionally created for people who work with designers on a regular basis, or who are planning to embark on a major project. The newsletter, on the other hand, is an analysis of how design shows up in our world from all angles — how we affect design, how design affects us, how design principles show up (or don’t) in practice, and what’s looking pretty this week. They are each great — and wholly contained — alone, but if both are right for you, they support each other beautifully.
As a name, Guidelines represents both a tie-in to the course, and a reaffirmed commitment to helping the world understand design. The newsletter we all know and love isn’t changing at all — rather, this name is meant to better represent what we’ve been doing the whole time, and what we will continue doing into the years ahead.
Thank you to everyone who has been following along this whole time, and into this new year. I can’t wait to see where we go together next!
🎧 Soundtrack of the week
This week’s soundtrack is a pure all-in celebration. In keeping with our theme, I included as many space- and rocket-related songs as I could (including, but not limited to, several selections from the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack). But at the end of the day, this week is a party first, so the soundtrack is too. Preview below, and click here to listen and save on Spotify.
🪩 My Favorite Things
As much as I hate to admit it, I am absolutely OBSESSED with the new Apple Intelligence branding. The features themselves I’m mixed on (I’m more suspicious than ever of AI, but damn if I don’t love a genmoji) but the gradient-based design that accompanies Siri requests and phone-to-phone connection looks positively magical. It’s both timely and timeless, it’s deeply aesthetically appealing, and it perfectly represents the product itself.
Image from Julien Posture’s website, where you can learn more about this image and others like it. Check out Paperole’s awesome print collection at their site here, and be sure to stop by if you’re ever in MTL.
🌱 Touching Grass
📖 What I’m reading: My dad gave me Niall Williams’ Time of the Child for Chrismukkah, and it’s just beautiful. It’s giving Claire Keegan, but longer, which is truly a gift to us all.
🥔 What I’m eating: I have a bunch of sour cream and apple sauce left over from the latkes we made for Hanukkah, so I’m planning to pick up some pierogi to put at least some of them to good use!
🎧 What I’m listening to: The Green Brothers’ Dear Hank & John has long been my favorite podcast — endlessly entertaining, thoughtful, and sweet. I finally caught up on recent episodes, so I started again from the beginning and have loved seeing what has changed and what has stayed the same since 2015.
📺 What I’m watching: My sister got me hooked on Dropout this week, and I’ve loved familiarizing myself with all their content, particularly Mentopolis, Game Changer, and Um, Actually.
🎨 What I’m up to: I made a very… decision to start this year by painting virtually every room in my house. It’s going to look SO good when it’s done, but damn, I forgot how long painting takes, and as far as I’m concerned, oil trim paint can get f-ed.