With all the talk of iPads I thought I would express my love for my favourite pad. I will no doubt be an ipad lover soon also but nothing will replace my trusty Moleskine. Yes they are over priced notebooks but hey they seem to have some kind of soul.

Moleskine have worked a genius piece of mareking and somehow managed to pursuade people, (me included) that a note or sketch in a Molesine is that much more satisfying.

Here are a selection of works from people who feel the same. THere is so much out there that this hardly scratches the surface.

If you interested then visit http://www.skineart.com for loads work

Visit http://www.moleskine.com/ for the official take.. Load s of great stuff here including history , exhibitions etc

MY MOLESKINE (NOT A WORK OF ART)

FLOSKY

GO FLYING TURTLE

OFF KILTER ART

ANNA RUSAKOVA

MATISSA

UPDATE – Thanks to Catarino for finding this…Great book summarised in a Moleskine (Original post here http://gnatgnat.com/2010/05/rework-cheat-sheet/)

Here is a really neat idea I picked up off Mike Sikorsky over in Canada when I was there. It’s real simple but as often is with simple ideas…really effective

Essentially it describes a way to test the usefulness of your own feature ideas.

Given this typical scenario.

You spot some issue with your online app.
You decide that what’s needed is a new feature
You ask your users if it would prove useful.
They think it would.
So you build it. Launch it.. and..
No one uses it…and you’ve just spent hours creating more clutter!

Brilliant

So here is a really low impact way to check whether a feature will really be appreciated. The results are a good deal more telling than asking a community directly.

1. Create a link to your new feature, (Mike used the example of testing to see if a certain video was required by just producing an image of the video player)
2. Send the link to a 404 page, server busy or the way we do it with “Like to See” question
3. Track the number of click throughs
4. If no-one clicks then don’t build…simple…time cheap but really effective

We’ve used it loads recently for lots of small potential features and has saved us a ton of time

There is something soulful about good design. The simpler more functional the better. I just found this awesome blog (thanks to @catarino). The first article I spotted was on boxed water, which given my loathing of the plastic bottled water trade is not so surprising.

This caught my eye though – nice little take on packaging and a great way to cut down on it. I can see it being a great hit with ebayers

http://inhabitat.com/2010/05/03/ingenious-cardboard-packaging-folds-to-fit-any-shape/

(I should say at the outset this post was inspired by Ross Kimbarovsky recent video post and in fact the last two points ring very similar)

So Wooshii has been running now for around 6 months and I thought I would share some of the lessons learned. These are personal thoughts and relate obviously to my specific case. I do think however that there are lessons in here for anyone who is thinking of starting a new business.

Here at Wooshii although we have raised a very small amount of seed capital we are really boot strapping this business. The three founders all have other business that we keep ticking over in order to keep us alive. This brings with it whole host of challenges,

Why Bootstrap?

• It gives you a chance to turn an idea into a business and thus give it some value
• There is no better market research than actually selling your service
• Your proposition is a whole load more investable in if you have already built the product, gained the patent, made some sales or built and worked with a team
• It ingrains a frugal culture and ensures that only people passionate about your business are involved
• Expensive mistakes are cheap

How to make it work

1. Do something you love – If you’re not it will it will be twice as difficult to stick at it when you’re working at 2 am for next to nothing

2. With people who are great – Great people around you will inspire, share your vision, pick you up when you are down and add to number one.

3. Pull in some early heavy weights – We raised a tiny amount of seed capital for 2 reasons. One of those was so that we had a number of heavy weight players that both gave us credibility and contacts as well as a board that reminds you this is a serious proposition

4. Work out what you can drop – Simply put something has to give, especially if you are still having to work on other projects to keep this business alive. For me it was simple I was not prepared to drop family time or surfing BUT everything else TV, crafts, evenings out, holidays has gone. (Again having a good number one helps again here)

5. Have a plan – If your business to is scalable then you cannot bootstrap forever. You will need outside funding. So have a plan. Set dates at which you will start seeking funding and targets to achieve by those dates that will make your business even more attractive.

I am a big fan of crowdSPRING. I love what they do the way they do it and Ross Kimarovsky (a crowdSPRING founder) comes across as humble, approachable and hands out knowledge freely.

Ross recently wrote on his personal blog a great piece on attaining your early user base. (Actually he filmed it but hey.) One of his main points was engaging and empowering your early users.

As one of the founders of Wooshii I have been given that awesome job. I say awesome as when heading up a new company like ours engaging with your early users is just so important as it gives me a real incite into how our business should be growing and what users actually want form our service.

I was reminded of how important this all was today. I recently registered at site called magntize.com. Check it out. Other than being an interesting idea it also has one of the slickest signup processes I’ve ever used. Today I get an email from these guys.

Thanks for signing up with magntize! Your blog looks really cool. I agree that the new apple mouse is gorgeous, although my friend has one and it felt a little strange, almost too flat on my palm. Do you have one yet? Best of luck with the business stuff and keep surfing!

Don’t hesitate to touch base if you have any questions about your site. My cell number can be found via the link below

Wow! That is fantastic. Not only have they taken the time to look me up they have supplied me with a cellphone number to contact them on should I need any help. It has had the desired impact. I will be back on their site.

Awesome !

Posted via web from Fergus’s posterous

(Origanally written for Wooshii)

If i do work for a pitch then that is spec work

Well only in the sense that the more work you do the higher the chances of winning with a pitch .What makes the design industry so exceptional that we don’t have to do work before winning work? I have run and worked in many companies and I don’t know of a single instance where you don’t have to do some work in order to gain work.. that is how it does work .. (So to speak)

But sites like Wooshii are driving down the market

I totally disagree. The market is changing, shifting and the cashflow is shifting with it. It is becoming more competitive but the economics are just shifting. The same amount of money exists in the system it is now just spread differently.

But I need to live. I can’t live off what is being paid anymore.

There is no getting away from new markets and changing economies. So change your model. Markets change. Just look at the music industry. Stand still, moan and you will fail. Innovate, change, dare I say be creative and you will succeed.

I am a professional-level designer and I won’t participate in work on spec

That is fine. (Not that we draw any real distinction between you and an “amateur”. To us our users are just “creative”.)You probably have a good bunch of clients and are working with established brands. What Wooshii is all about is connecting the rising stars, the new creatives the stay at home moms, students, amateurs with people who want to tap into their talent. Our users are passionate about what they do and would do it anyway regardless of any financial reward. We want to challenge the notion that agencies and professionals hold the keys to creativity.

Is Spec Work Evil (thanks to I’m Just Creative for this)

Ask most seasoned designers or employed creatives and you will get a big meaty ‘yes’, SpecWork is evil. Ask those creatives struggling to make a living, those who have lost a job and find themselves without a personal portfolio, those just starting out or those seeking to earn a living whilst living with a illness and you are likely to get quite the opposite reply.

If you find it easy to judge those mentioned above, the ones that do participate in SpecWork as being reckless and irresponsible, then you ‘Creative Person’ need to open your eyes to the reality of the world. (see full article here)

So in a nutshell give it too me

1. Live and let live – There are different markets for different parties
2. Markets change – Change is always difficult but embrace it or be the changing force and you will surely succeed
3. Enjoy it – If you enjoy it then the cash is just a bonus
4. “No one owns design” Graham Smith (or for that matter creative thought). We just do it. We love it and people sometimes want to pay us to do it which is awesome!
5. One mans SpecWork is another mans pitch. Just do what you feel comfortable with. If what you are being asked to do makes you feel uncomfortable then don’t do it.