Being Lightweight: Working with Clients
By leelefever on May 11, 2008 - 1:34pm.
It's a question we ask each other all the time - what is the most lightweight way we can do this?
We are a small company who is trying to do big things. In order to be
successful, we need to reduce drag - to remove the processes,
bureaucracies and commitments that slow us down and don't pay off.
Today we're kicking off a series of posts called "Being Lightweight" that will relate what lightweight means to us and hopefully help you think differently about how you focus your attention.
View With Comments I Switched to a Mac - Here Are The Notes
By leelefever on April 18, 2008 - 9:03am.
I switched. It happened about 2 weeks ago, I made a Macbook my primary computer for the first time. We've had a Mac around the house for a while, but I've been loyal to my little Sony Vaio, which has been mostly flawless for about 2.5 years. It was a good one.
But alas, I wanted a Mac, and it has come to pass.
Along the way, I've been taking some stream-of-consciousness notes on my perceptions before doing any research. I'm using Leopard, btw. Here goes:
I'm still learning, but today was probably the first that I didn't reach for the crtl button to copy/paste something.
Two Quotes on Simplicity
By leelefever on April 12, 2008 - 3:44pm.
The first is by Antione de Saint Exupéry, author of The Little Prince and a pioneer in aviation:
Perfection is not when there is no more to add, but no more to take away.
The second is by William of Occam (1288-1347) You might know the name from Occam's Razor.
It is vain to do more with what can be done with less.
View With Comments Own It
By leelefever on April 6, 2008 - 9:18pm.
What is the point where many projects get off track? We think it's when decision making becomes a burden. Indecision, lack of ownership and unclear reasoning often means stasis and frustration. Over the past year, and likely through traveling together, Sachi and I have evolved a system that helps us be productive without wasting time. It's a system of ownership - of being personally accountable for the small decisions that contribute to the overall goal.
Talkin' Bout My Education
By leelefever on March 27, 2008 - 10:56am.
Looking back at my education, I wasn't a great student. I made decent grades and went to a good university and grad school, but school was never my thing. Looking back, I can pin-point a couple of points at which I lost faith.
It was sixth grade and I was in a math class with Mrs. Paine (it's true - Paine). The subject was least common denominators. I didn't get it. My worksheets came back with red marks, but I didn't really understand what I was supposed to be doing. The class moved on while I was caught up in trying to memorize the details. Instead, what I needed was an understanding of the reasoning - not how, but why. It was at this point that I fell behind and began to dread math, as I do today.
A Problem with Embedded Videos
By leelefever on March 17, 2008 - 3:41pm.
Here's a scenario:
- You create a video and upload it to a host like You Tube.
- People like it and want to share it on their blog.
- They grab the embed code and paste it into their blog.
- Sweet - your video is on multiple blogs!
- Then, you realize that the video has an error you need to correct.
- To do this, you need to delete the current video and upload a new one.
- Ack! When you delete a video, the embedded players stop working
- The bloggers now have a broken links and don't know why.
So, you're stuck - either you leave up bad content, or break the links to your blogger friends.
I bring this up for two reasons:
Free is the Future
By leelefever on February 26, 2008 - 12:11pm.
Chris Anderson, the author of The Long Tail and editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, has moved his focus to "Free". His article is the cover story of the latest Wired (Free!
15 Lessons Learned in 2007
By leelefever on January 2, 2008 - 10:04am.
What a year. I can say with ultimate confidence that we never would have guessed, one year ago, that 2007 would be so transformative for Common Craft. Here are some things we learned:
OUR WORK
Video works. Text, graphics, audio, they all have a place. But video is a different animal. Nothing engages people like the dynamics of a video. Ever read about a car chase? It's not as fun.
View With Comments The Tools of Our Trade (analog version)
By leelefever on December 13, 2007 - 10:47am.
Like our videos, the tools we use to make them are quite simple. Below is a quick tour of some of the non-electronic elements of our productions...
The photo below represents a near-complete selection of the tools we use almost everyday to create illustrations and videos. You can view the photo below with "notes" on Flickr.com.
Working as a Video Making Team
By leelefever on November 29, 2007 - 10:42am.
Last night we shot the video for the next Common Craft Show and, as usual, we came out of the experience completely exhausted. I've always been fascinated that it takes so much out of me. In thinking about why (other than the 500 watt lights), it has become clear that it may be the same thing that makes our videos work: iteration. Everything we do on video is rehashed, rewritten, repositioned and edited all the way to the point the camera rolls (and sometimes again after).
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