A month ago our client, BloodCenter of Wisconsin, came to us with news that their January promotion would be enlisting the help of John Kuhn, Green Bay Packer fullback (insert thought about how excited I was that I almost peed in my pants). Now, you are all thinking this is coz’ I share the last name of this NFL star. But… there is something you should know…

You see, we are not related at all. Yet, truly John had become a part of my family. While my dad battled cancer, Sundays were the only time we would forget. Sundays, were where my whole family would wait for that first Kuhn play so we could all turn to each other and yell, “Kuuuuuuuuuuuhn.” John had given something to us that no one else could… he had changed how we felt.

Fast forward to day of shoot. As the cameras rolled and the interview started, I began to realize the power that people like John have. The power to change how we feel. He began his story. We all listened intently. He was animated, poised and as I listened to his words, his story became real. He would not be here today if his dad had not received blood after a tragic motorcycle accident. John, like so many others, had a blood donation story to tell, but more, he had a plea to make with Wisconsinites…

I can only hope that John Kuhn has the power to change how you feel.
Donate blood today.

Amendment to post: As of yesterday, BloodCenter is in a severe blood shortage. If there’s one easy gift you can give this holiday, consider donating NOW.

As we head into the new year we head into resolutions, change and new things, like colors. That’s right Pantone released yesterday the color of the year for 2012 For some, you have a smirk on your face right now—wondering why anyone would care about such things (after all the world is falling apart and rumor has it will self destruct sometime in 2012 according to the Mayan calendar). But for me, color is a part of life. Pablo Picasso once said, “Colors, like features, follow the changes of emotions.” Precisely the criteria Pantone uses to select it’s color each year. Simply put, color can change our attitudes.

So move off your 2011 throne honeysuckle (PMS 2120). You were a gorgeous color chosen for your ability to encourage us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. You made us feel alive and beautiful. But, it’s a new year with a new set of emotions. And lets welcome in the new year with Tangerine Tango (PMS 1463). You are a spirited reddish orange providing us with energy boosts to recharge. You are sophisticated, dramatic and seductive.

Pantone’s Color-of-the-Year influences product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries, including fashion, home and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design. So this summer when you walk into to Target plan on seeing bursts of reddish orange. Wanting a new look with a fresh coat of paint in your home, that’s right — tangerine dream will likely be offered through Lowe’s. And every magazine you get in the mail—Crate&Barrel, West Elm plan on patterns with, you guessed it, reddish orange. Orange flowers, orange nail polish, orange bikes, orange shoes, orange notepads, orange sharpies, orange appliances, orange furniture…

…orange triangles. Consider yourself trendy Jigsaw. Well at least for a year (insert smile).

Pantone is a company with global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industry. PMS 1463 can be achieved by using C:0 M:82 Y:80 K:0 or R:225 G:82 B:61.

It’s not a secret anymore in today’s market that user participation in social networks is more a necessity than it is a suggestion. With over 800 million users on Facebook (yes folks, that is the population of the entire continent of Europe) there is obvious demand by consumers for fun things to contribute to their social networks.

So when our client, Alverno College. came to us with the great news of being voted number one in the Midwest by U.S. News and World Report—we had an idea. Why not involve the students who made it happen? Why not give the students a chance to show their pride for their school? And why not make it fun?

So we got to work. It was simple. We created a 32×40 polaroid frame and recommended an event. Alverno created a fun lunchtime-in-the-cafeteria event, distributed the frame to students, and had a contest to encourage them to take their photos in the frame and update their profile picture on Facebook. Slowly but surely the news began to spread. Student and faculty participation turned into alumnae participation and tens of thousands of eyeballs could see Alverno’s news in their Facebook newsfeeds.

Who’s #1 in the Midwest? Why Alverno College is.
Special thanks to Facebook for making this way too easy and to our client for teamwork on a great idea.

Is it hard? Yes. Do I hate it sometimes? Yes. Does it make me feel stupid? Yes. Does it make me feel old? Yes. Does it mean I shouldn’t do it? Not really sure about that yet.

Exactly 4 weeks ago I began work with a team here at Jigsaw as a Senior Art Director (correction, Junior Interactive Designer) to design a new information website for one of our clients (STOP!)

I’m already in over my head. Ok, wireframe. The room is spinning. Page 1, yes, got it. Page 2, uh huh. Page 3, wait, where does that connect to? Page 4, tracking again. Page 5, 6, 7-34… Page 35, air, I can’t breathe. I am going to suck at this. Um-mm-mm, a site map? How do I use this document with the wireframe? (GULP).

Back to my desk. You can do this. How hard can it be? Think, think… when’s the last time you did something for the first time? (PAUSE).

Photoshop, check. Canvas size 1024×768, check. Safe zone, check. Umm-mm-mm. Now what I do? Wireframes, yes. Homepage. Alright, lets begin designing, that’s something I know how to do-oo-oo-oo (HOLD).

Dip, content area, right rail, main nav, side nav, rollover state, on state, off state, drop down. Oh my God, I need a glossary (I haven’t felt this way since I learned to do TV: FPD, lock down, heads, tails, dolly grip, key grip). You want me to do what? Make that more “buttony.” Is that a word? I can’t find it in my interactive manual (oh wait I don’t have one because they don’t exist). Um-mm-mm, pixels. Zoom in, zoom out. Zoom in, zoom out. Is this seriously how interactive designers measure things? And why on earth does Photoshop think it would be a good idea when you duplicate things to keep adding the word “copy” after the layer name. Ok, back to what I know. Type, color, images. Design. Brand. Hierarchy. This is just like a 100 page annual report. Right? Wrong! Because page 4 doesn’t link to page 8 and when you are on page 8, it doesn’t link to page 24, 25 and 26 and page 26 doesn’t link back to page 4 (BREATHE)!

I’m aggravating my team. Creating later nights on top of late nights. Costing my company money. Everyone hates me. I am a failure. Useless. Maybe I should just go back to print land where I am safe and secure and I know my #@$! (HALT).

But that. That would be giving up. No one ever learned from giving up. What kind of pride can be gained from quitting. Trying something new means you have to do it. And do it again. And when you are done doing it, do it once more for good measure and think about the next time you will do it. Because the best way to learn is by doing and application. Not reading theory. You can’t break rules until you’ve applied them. You can’t ask questions you don’t know to ask without experiencing something first.

Doing something for the first time may be painful and frustrating, but at the same time it is so damn rewarding. It challenges you, makes you humble and reminds you how much you don’t know, how you aren’t always right. How doing it again would be better than quitting. Sure, only time will tell if interactive design and I get along or not. But one thing I know, heh, at least I did it.

Please note my 1 month interactive experience could not have been possible without the help of our wonderful interactive team. Who took a leap of faith. Who thought my level of knowledge with web design was not as important as my talents, smarts and intuition. Who, although wanted to kill me (daily) believed that teaching me would be better then getting rid of me.