Blog: Ramblings and Rants

…And boy are my arms tired.

I just got back from a rapidly setup 1-day consultation in Dallas, Texas. It was the workflow observation and understanding phase, where I go in, learn how a creative workflow runs currently and the agency’s goals moving forward in that workflow.

Now that I’m home (an hour now), I go through my compiled data, samples of the client’s deliverables, and my notes (10 pages of notes today). I’ll use all that to flesh out the workflow optimization strategy I had already started building in my head on-site, then produce a detailed report of my recommendations and an action plan. That’s when the real fun begins—executing the workflow optimization.

Though only a 1 day trip, it was remarkably productive. Both the client’s team and my team left this afternoon excitedly optimistic and with a solid foundation for the actions to come.

What else have I been doing? Or, as Chris may ask: What else has been keeping me from mailing him his copy of Illustrator CS2 @Work? Quite a lot.

• I wrote the current feature story on PDFZone.com, “Using PDF Layers,” which explains how—and more importantly why—proofing clients with layered PDFs can save time and hassle.
• I’m working on my portions of what will undoubtedly be a very cool feature article in the next issue of InDesign Magazine. (I’m not going to spill the beans—you’ll have to check it out for yourself.)
• I wrote “XPress to InDesign: Overcoming the Top Three Pain Points” for Publish.com.
• I’m hard at work writing the last two articles in the Quark VS InDesign.com feature series “InCopy CS2: In Production.”
• I’ve been managing and building Designorati.
• Applications from talented writers and editors interested in joining Designorati have been pouring in, and the audition committee and I have been pouring over them. We’ll be announcing new team members next week.
• Speaking of next week… I’ll be Baton Rouge, LA (can you believe I managed to find the one hotel room available?) doing what promises to be a very exciting workflow migration consultation: Freehand to Illustrator CS2. I help transition creative and advertising workflows from PageMaker or QuarkXPress to InDesign and Word to InCopy frequently, but Freehand to Illustrator is not as common a need. It’s a real treat for me.
• I exposed the public leak of highly confidential Adobe and Quark information in LEAKED! Creative Suite 3, InDesign CS3, QuarkXPress 7 Features
• I have some other articles in the works for Publish.com and InDesign Magazine.
• I’ve been expanding and updating REVdrink.com, a site listing my various creative how-to writings (books, magazine articles, websites, and so on) as well as providing original content resources.
• Of course, I’ve been out promoting my book, Adobe Illustrator CS2 @Work (exclusive excerpt) as well as Cate Indiano’s InDesign book in the same series, Adobe InDesign CS2 @Work (exclusive excerpt).
• I’ve been deploying significant new content delivery and other systems technologies across all my websites.
• A redesign of Quark VS InDesign.com and a design realignment of Designorati are in the works.
• I’m getting ready for some very exciting upcoming lectures and workshops (more on that later).
• And… I took out the trash without being asked.

So, that’s what I’ve been up to the last few weeks. Granted, it isn’t very much, but it’s kept me entertained. I’ve also been working on a couple of projects not listed above (everything in its own time) and have several interesting opportunities on the horizon.

Chris, I will get the book mailed before Baton Rouge!