The hardest part about working on The Most Amazing Projects Ever is that you can’t share the work until it launches. But your noggin is swelling, close to bursting even, because it can barely contain the nuclear blast happening inside.

Sometimes those projects are other people’s stuff, so even if you decided to leak a bit of your work it wouldn’t be fair – or sometimes legal.

What can I say? It’s no secret that I love the work I do. I can get pretty annoying about it, actually. I’ll do something like post a video of The Captain & Tennille, which is like eating Skittles and Coke at the same time. Sweet and yummy, but you can only handle so much. Yeah, I’m aware.

But that’s what being inside the magical land of I Love My Work is like sometimes.

Take Pam Slim and Charlie Gilkey’s Lift Off Retreat. They asked if I would create an illustration for some retreat materials and I said, “Hell, no. I am way too busy. Try elance.com.”

Right.

I had been kicking myself because the retreat was perfect for me, but I already had commitments in Portland. So if I couldn’t go, at least I could contribute. Hell, yes. Once I accepted the mission, a few problems arose:

1. They told me what they needed and then let me “run with it.”
2. I had way more fun working on this design than people should be allowed.
3. I couldn’t show it off until after the retreat.

Alright, so only 3 was an actual problem, and only because of 1 & 2. Dream clients, they were. Free rein. Read about our retreat, do something cool. So I did:

I hear there’s another Lift Off retreat happening in August. I also hear that this last one was an experience to be treasured. So. August. Calendar. Reserved.

So what’s next?

So much stuff. I’m working on another Highlights High Five illustration… that I can’t show you. I created a header illustration with a magical creature and a real creature that you will have to see to understand. But you’ll understand and you’ll probably squirt Coke & Skittles out your nose. But I can’t show you.

Then there’s the ultra fantastic semi-custom web site help project that Tzaddi and I have been cooking up. She showed me the site this past weekend. If I was a little girl, I would have squealed. But I am not a little girl, I am a Very Strong Heterosexual Male, so I did not squeal. Not that you could hear, anyway. Stop looking at me.

And… I can’t show that to you, either. But my nuclear noggin is bursting. I want to, badly. Soon. In fact, if you’re at sxsw, you could probably twist Tzaddi’s arm to tell you about it. If you’re even slightly thinking that you need a web site, it’s going to be amazingly useful.

This is the first real team project I’ve been involved with over the past few years and I can tell you I picked a winner. I suspected that Tzaddi had some skillz, but I’ve been blown away by the work she’s done. When we combined our super powers, it was like Bam! Pow! Awesome! It’s one hell of a package.

Like I said, I can’t show you yet (after all that bam-pow-awesome stuff, I know, I know). I’m not sure exactly how or when I’m going to let people know when we officially launch. Maybe here, likely Twitter. If we run into each other at Starbucks I’ll probably blab all about it. If you would like to get the inside track, steal some sneak peeks, and wrangle advance discounts, you can get email updates. Just use the form below. Your info is top secret and the only thing you’ll hear about is this special package from Tzaddi and me.

Sign up for advance discounts and sneak peeks:

What else can I not show you? Plenty. It’s like trying to stand in front of a ginormous circus tent, saying, “What circus?”

Small business, blah blah.

Design, blah. Blah blah. Design good. blah.

Logos and branding blah. Do this. Blah blah. Think about your people… blah.

SXSW. Blahgity blah blah. Not going…because x, y, z, blah.

Who’s doing what blah. Products. blah. Teleclass, blah.

Think different, blah. blauthenticity.

Tuesday morning. Puddles. Wet. Cold. Happy.

I am about to embark on an historic expedition. I mean, excursion.

Let me back up a bit (insert squealing brakes and engine noises).

At least once a year I take a good look at my web site (every day if I’m feeling particularly narcissistic) and figure out what’s working, what’s not, and how it could better communicate what I do and who I help.

It’s hell.

Well, the figuring out part is kind of fun. I usually know what I want to offer. I certainly know what I do. I absolutely have a lock on just being me (I just can’t do it any other way anymore).

Oh, I can make it look nice. Sure. I’m a visual dude. I can even tackle some WordPress stuff. Heck, I actually help people with this stuff.

But I draw (heh) a blank on my own site. I know, I know, it’s weird.

Digging for the Gold

Enter Prospector Extraordinaire, Sarah Bray. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of her blog. Her words are enormously helpful and she’s well… she’s just Sarah. No crap standing in the way of her message. So when I read about the Gold-Digging Excursion she’s leading in April I checked the battery on my mining helmet and kissed my family goodbye.

Then I read further and found out it would be online, so I don’t have to actually descend into the bowels of the Earth. That was fortunate because I don’t do well in small enclosed spaces. I didn’t have to put on a brave face just to learn this stuff. And my family was relieved.

I’ll be honest. Originally I only signed on as an affiliate because:

A. I knew Sarah would make this awesome, so I could promote it without any hesitation (I’m super picky about affiliate stuff).

B. Those icons would look really good on my site.

As I got in deeper, I realized how much I actually need this. It was hard to be that honest with myself about my site, but considering that 90% of my business is from online sources, it’s not really a question. I need to go digging.

What am I expecting? It might be easier to explain what I’m not expecting (or wanting). I’m not looking for cheesy get-rich-quick schemey tactics to “rake in the dollars.” I don’t have that kind of site and I don’t want it.

I have a lot of stuff to offer here. Some of it is free content that is created specifically to give my clients a boost with their graphics. But I think it’s getting lost. That means it’s not actually helping very many people, which is a big fat fail.

a-gold-digging we will go.

I was going to simply tweet this and post a cool button in my sidebar, but speaking of helpful content getting lost, HELLO?!!??

I needed to post this. You needed to know about it. Even if I wasn’t an affiliate for Sarah’s program (I am) I would still be promoting the hell out of it. It promises to be awesome and I don’t like doing stuff that’s almost awesome. It has to be at least awesome. So there you go.

This looks like there’s a community element to this, so if I see you on the excursion, tip your helmet so I know it’s you. In fact, please come along. I need someone to help me watch the canary.

In the past few years, there’s been a spate of corporate rebranding and logo revising. Pizza Hut (oops, The Hut), KFC (what does that stand for again?), and Pepsi (does the new logo make it taste better?) come to mind.

My twitter pal @myklroventine pointed out this article today about Caribou Coffee’s branding makeover. Here’s a quote from the article:

“We wanted a visual signal that Caribou is alive and well,” said Alfredo Martel, senior vice president of marketing for the Brooklyn Park company. “We’re saying life is short, seize the day.” And do it with Caribou Coffee.

Martel called the latest Caribou marketing attempt “a two-way conversation with the customer.”

The Cup that Talks Back to You

It seems that one of their new Branding Strategies is using new cups that have messages on them. Last time I checked, a two-way conversation involved at least two people. Not one person and a cup with jazzy little sayings on it. I don’t care how much coffee you’ve had, if you’re bonding with the cardboard sleeve, it’s time for counseling.

The Little Logo That Could

That new logo. Oh, it’s cool. It’s nicely designed and uber hip.It’s a coffee bean. Get it? A coffee bean in the shape of a leaping caribou. Not like our old logo, which was a caribou leaping.

Does the management at Caribou honestly think that updating the logo and revitalizing their store and cup designs will solve that pesky little customer shortage problem? It sounds more like a pacifier for investors than an attempt at creating a great experience for the people who buy coffee.

Why Customers are Buying Your Coffee and not the Other Guy’s

(Hint: it’s not your logo)

I used to love Caribou Coffee. Not that I don’t anymore, it’s just that aren’t any Caribou stores in the Pacific Northwest (now there’s some irony for you). When we lived in D.C., Caribou was my preferred coffee shop. Here’s a few reasons why:

1. I liked the coffee. Surprise!
2. I liked the people there. They knew me. More important, they interacted in a conversational way that wasn’t scripted – even before they knew me.
3. They had a trivia question on a board every day. Answer it and get a discount on your coffee. Even more than saving a few cents, I loved the trivia. First, I’m a geek. Second, it prompted conversations with other strangers in line that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Instead of a line full of hurried grumps, they had a line of people to distracted to think about how long it was taking. Not every person, to be sure, but most.

Do you see “great logo” on that list? No, and I’m a designer for cryin’ out loud.

Small Business Owners Take Note

(but not on a Caribou napkin, because it’s pre-covered with “messages.”)

While you’re agonizing over your branding strategy and your logo design, consider that those things are not your business. They’re the face of your business, but they’re not going to save you from poor sales.

A logo and branding strategy that’s designed to reach the people you intend is important. Yes. It’s not easy to get that right and it’s worth investing in help.

First things first: create (or revamp) the experience, service, and value you want people to receive. Your true fans (the people who understand the value of what you’re offering) aren’t going to be swayed in either direction by a trendy new logo.

So to Caribou, I would say that rather than print messages on cups to engage customers, try actually having a real two-way conversation with them. It’s going to be a lot harder to get your butt out of your office than it is to pick the right font, but I’ll bet it’s more effective.

So you’ve started a small business. Yay! Now that you’re in the (shh!) secret club, these things will soon arrive at your doorstep:

1. A stack of books by Seth Godin
2. A special pass allowing you free business-class upgrades on every airline
3. A sackful of money to develop a brand that will put your business on a level with Apple.

If you’re like me, you spent the sackful of money on Apple products. So it’s back to square one on that pesky branding thing.

When the sackful of money doesn’t arrive right away

If you’re like most new business owners (or, ahem… me), you do the fun stuff first and save the tax stuff for later. So, the fun stuff: a web site, twitter account, facebook fan page, logo, business cards, and custom pens to give away. Right. As long as we’re not pretending otherwise here.

Since you don’t have a sackful of money on day one, creating your brand or even getting a logo designed can be daunting. It’s a big expense. Working with a professional designer or branding pro is well worth the investment and if you can swing it, that’s the route you should go.

But let’s pretend that me saying that’s what you should do doesn’t mean you can suddenly afford it. There’s still that missing sack.

I’m going to tell you about something that seems counter to everything I’ve ever said on this blog about getting cheap design. It’s called 99 Designs.

99 Designs is a web site where you can pick out an image from a vast catalog and get a logo created, lickety-split, for the obvious price of $99. It’s almost painless and certainly fast. It’s at least a tenth of the price of working with a designer.

In the past I’ve warned people (in strongly-worded rants) to stay far away from these kinds of services. So why have I changed my stance? Simple, really.

I started to think about this logo design process from the perspective of a shiny new (micro) business owner. Wow, imagine that.

From what I see, it’s incredibly tough. Aside from those free Seth Godin books at your door, there’s no information that just comes to you about how to do all this stuff. So if you can’t afford a designer, the only choice seems to be to do nothing (or incur the wrath of elitist designers like me).

Okay, so there’s not doing nothing. There’s doing it yourself. I’ve recommended in the past (and I still think this is a good idea) that if you can’t afford a logo, just type your business name in a common, legible font and sit tight until you build some capital.

But $99.00 to get something decent that will make your business cards look a step above something you created with your printer’s design software? Man, that’s tempting. And could be a really great deal for you.

So get a $99 logo but consider this first

Here’s the thing about these off-the-rack logos. They’re not tailored for you and the people you serve. You’re not creating a brand. You’re decorating. Is that okay with you? Maybe you don’t need to think Branding with your tiny felt monster biz on etsy. It’s way more important to just get moving and create your cool felt dudes than get mired in branding strategies.

Listen, if you have a landscaping business you can go pick out a tree image and let the $99 Designs people pair it with a nice font and lay it out. Boom, landscaping logo. You’re not going to do any harm. You are not evil. You’re smart. You would be stupid not to take advantage of this deal in your early days.

However, when you need to get across who you are to your right people instead of just any ol’ shmoe looking for the cheapest landscaper, you’ll need to work with a human being one-on-one. That needs to be crafted. It shouldn’t be a cookie-cutter process because hopefully you’re not creating a cookie-cutter business.

For every cheap logo you buy, somewhere a designer falls down dead

Something designers need to understand is that no matter how we rage against the machine of monolithic stock image houses and online logo services, they’re not going to turn tail and run. It seems there’s a need. Hmmm. Need.

This means that designers have to become good at more than just production work. You can’t build a design business around cranking out $99 logos. You’re never going to compete on cheap production and why would you want to?

Stop fretting about The Man and get smart. If you want to be thought of as something more than a production monkey, you can. Create something beautiful and new and unique and crazy and helpful. Make art, not widgets.

I repeat to small biz people: you are not evil.

The final word on this

I actually have no final words on this. I imagine I’ll be changing and adapting the way I look at these kinds of things forever. As a designer I can take a strong stance against working on spec, charging per project instead of hourly, and this discount logo issue. When I believe in something I stand by it. But closing my mind to new perspectives and clients’ changing needs only feeds my ego, not the people who need my special kind of help and guidance.

I welcome any discussion, from designers and small biz owners who have dealt with these issues.

I taped this note to my monitor this morning:

Seems kinda lame that I would need to remind myself to do great work.

It’s easy for me to write myself stickies and create Google calendar alarms for stuff like “Taxes,” “Book flight to NYC,” or even client deadlines.

Am I really going to forget to do those? Unlikely.

The thing I should be more concerned about is remembering to create the kind of work that matters. I get so buried in the day-to-day details of running a business that sometimes I forget to work on those great things I set out to do early on.

Oh, look – here’s some great work now…

Tzaddi Gordon and I are teaming up to create some great work. Tzaddi runs ThriveWire, where she creates “kick-ass, grown-up web sites YOU can update.” I love that and I was thrilled when we figured out a way to do something awesome together.

We’re still in development so I don’t want to spill the entire can of beans yet, but we’ll be offering a semi-custom WordPress web site package. Every day that we work on it, things get clearer and, well, awesomer.

Collaborating on this work of art has been a great experience for me. Tzaddi and I are very different in our approaches to solving problems and creating ideas, which is just perfect. If we thought about everything the same, the point of collaboration would be lost.

See, Tzaddi is fantastic at culling our project notes into easily-accessible docs that we share on Google. I have a very strange way of drawing my notes in a sketchbook that’s too big to scan. It turns out we need both methods (and two heads) to get this done.

Doing great work is why I started this circus in the first place. Creating it with really smart, creative people is a bonus.

Stay tuned. Tzaddi and I will be letting people in on our work of art very soon. Stay tuned here, at ThriveWire, or follow us on Twitter: sparkyfirepants tzaddi

NEW: If you want me to update you on the goings-on with this project, there’s a free and easy update subscription. Just sign up below (your info won’t be used for any other lists):

You know what’s better than perfect? Passion.

Push all the right buttons, follow the formulas, apply the stuff you learned in that teleclass. Who cares?

Nobody. Nobody will care if you don’t put all your passion into your thing.

Does it look weird to be so passionate? Do some people have trouble with that? Oh yeah. Who cares?

I dare you to watch this performance and not feel energized. It doesn’t matter if it’s not your favorite song. Watch the fantastic amount of passion that Toni Tennille puts into this performance.

Almost every time I connect with someone new, they ask me, “How did you come up with a name like ‘Sparky Firepants?’” Sometimes I even hear, “Wow. I wish I had thought of that.”

You know what? Sometimes I wish I hadn’t used it. It’s actually very personal, but I’ll get to that.

I enjoy the fact that the name of my business makes people smile or laugh (even if they’re laughing at me). It’s fun. It’s a conversation starter. It’s a way for people to approach me, already feeling like I might just be a friendly guy (I am). It’s also fun at the the bank when the manager shouts out, “Heyyyy! Sparky Firepants!”

It’s a bit of celebrity and that’s fun. I’ll take it, thanks. I won’t pretend I’m on a higher plane where that doesn’t feel good.

Sometimes I wish I hadn’t thought of it because it sounds so easy. Here’s the imagined formula:

1. Come up with a goofy name.

2. Get on Twitter

3. Open mailbox, take out check for $1 million.

Sparky Firepants was never just a name

Here’s how it happened. One day I was sitting in my office at my j-o-b, thinking about what I wanted to do that I wasn’t what I was already doing. I was trying to remember what that thing was when I was 6 years old that I felt so strongly I should be doing for the world.

By 37 I had accomplished some pretty cool things, but few of them had really changed the world in the way I imagined. Cool stuff to point to, but just that. Cool. Some of the things were just about survival.

On that day in my office, I decided that it was about time I go do the thing I was meant to do. I didn’t have a clearly written spreadsheet of all the little tasks I would need to complete to get there. I knew that to even start I needed to go back to thinking like the kid who wanted to make huge world changes.

I knew who this kid was. In his head he was Sparky Firepants. So there.

It could be anything

It’s not about the name and I think deep down people know that. Naming my business something goofy doesn’t make amazing things happen. It could be Broccoli Cornflower. Fred Smith, Inc. Doesn’t matter. It’s different, but just being different is not enough.

If it was just about a funky name, it sure would be a lot easier.

It’s not easy. This is hard. It’s work. Hard work. Rewarding work, but hard.

Being Sparky Firepants only gets me so far. I still have to get up in the morning ready to do more tiny, almost invisible things that eventually add up to changing the way things work on this planet. I have to be ready to not be rewarded at the end of every day with applause and flowers. I have to understand that the people I really want to work with are looking for real help, not just a silly name to associate with. That means sometimes I have to say no, even if saying yes means I can buy my plane ticket early.

Excuse me while I barf: authentic

So tired of hearing that word. Authentic.

But dammit, it’s true. You can create a business around a persona, but it’s going to run out of gas (hot air?) before long. It’s not about being an internet personality or squeezing a brand into every nook and cranny you inhabit.

You didn’t come up with “Sparky Firepants” because Sparky Firepants isn’t just some dorky name I thunk up when I was drunk. It’s me. Do you get that?

So there’s nothing in a name. When it’s just a name.

And I’m still figuring out how to accomplish what that 6-year old had in mind. It was pretty lofty. I have to get back to work.

See that kid in the photo? This is my son. He’s two.

What do you notice about his face? Is it maybe unbridled enthusiasm and joy for the thing he’s doing?

Of course it is.

This is the quality you need to have about your thing to create great images for it. Nothing less.

The best people I’ve worked with, the best work I’ve done were possible because of this level of enthusiasm.

If it’s not there, it’s not fun. It doesn’t turn out well. It’s not worth doing.

And I won’t.

Remember when Buzz Lightyear found out he was just a toy and not really a space hero? A sad moment.

Google Buzz is sort of like that. Google has built itself up in its mind (it really is just one entity) to be a space hero when really it’s a lot of toys. Some really cool toys (cooler than Woody Microsoft), but still… toys.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my Google toys. In fact,  I just set up a Google Apps account this week so I can actually work in the cloud instead of just being there in my head. I pretend that it’s about productivity, but let’s face it; toy.

Any time a new Thing comes out, I try to think about how I can use it in my life or my business before I dismiss it out of hand. Okay, so first I mentally lick the shiny logo and then I try to think about usefulness.

So I licked my screen and did some thinkin’ about Buzz.

Too many toys

Here’s the inherent problem with any new toy that hits the internet: if I start thinking about the fact that I have to open yet another tab in Firefox or switch to a new app on my iPhone, they’re already losing me. If I just jump in without thinking because it looks super useful or really cool, then opening tabs and switching apps is no big deal.

I was waiting for my family in the car a few nights ago and I decided to check out Google Buzz on my iPhone. The first thing I noticed was that I couldn’t use it with my new Google Apps account, which is where I’m now hanging out. I have to use my old Google account where I use that Wave toy. So before I even figure out what it does, they’re losing me.

But I check it out anyway. It looks like Twitter, sort of. I buzzed (?) something stupid like, “Figuring out Buzz.” Genius.

Looks like I can bring in my contacts from Gmail, but the UX Hero nailed it on this one. No obvious privacy rules.

Long ago it really bugged me when I noticed that my old landlord could see when I was online in Gmail. We didn’t chat, but it creeped me out anyway.

I didn’t spend much time on Buzz, I admit. I use Twitter. Why do I want a new Twitter-like thing? It’s the same reason I don’t hang out on Facebook much. I just adopted Twitter and that’s where I hang out. Supposedly Buzz integrates with Twitter, but it’s kinda like how MegaBlocks work with LEGO. If I use LEGO, why would I switch to something that’s kind of like it?

In her post about Buzz (and snow), Laura Belgray said, “Can’t a person get comfortable for a while?” Exactly. What’s the rush to start a new Twitter-like thing?

So maybe I’m suffering from too many toys to appreciate the true potential of Google Buzz. But you know what? If I get a new toy, it better be something completely awesome and new. If it’s kind of like the toys I already have but I need to learn a new system to play with it, what’s the point?

Funny toy talk aside, how will this maintain or improve my personal relationships or the way I help my clients better than what I’m already using? Right now I don’t see it.

It’s not a laser. It’s a little light bulb that blinks.