Would you fall out of your chair if I said, “Yes?”

Strap yourself in, amigo.

Yes. You can be too creative.

Fine Art vs Commercial Art

That’s a terrible heading. It assumes that one is better than the other. Maybe I’ll fix it by the time I post this. Probably not.

To illustrate (heh) my point about being too creative, I want to show you a beautiful piece of art I saw online today by Leah Piken Kolidas. See it here.

It’s awesome, right? This is fine art. It’s creativity defined. Personally, I would never put a limit on creating with this kind of work. It communicates something from deep within the artist. The rest of us can decide what it means on a very personal level. Different interpretations don’t lessen the gorgeousness of this piece.

Commercial art is different. Commercial art is advertising, logos, signs. They are created to communicate something very specific. There isn’t supposed to be guesswork or interpretation involved. It’s created specifically to evoke the same set of emotions or instant understanding of a message to a wide group of people.

Too much creativity can kill the message.

Say you’re talking about savings. Close your eyes and think about an image that would represent that. What did you get?

You may have seen “piggy bank,” or “dollar sign,” or “bank vault.”

Did you see… lemon? No? Koala bear? Nope? How about… motorcycle?

Let’s think outside the box. Let’s get creative, people!

Oy. I almost threw up when I typed that.

It’s hard to come up with an image that communicates your message and not latch onto the first cliche image that strikes your consciousness. I do this every day, coming up with the easy cliche image. And then I think, no! You can’t do that, it’s too easy. Think of something better here. It needs to be more.

Be more… what? Creative?

The thing is, there’s a reason those cliches pop up in our little brains. The fact that they pop up in so many of our brains means something. Don’t fight it just for the sake of being more creative.

When you’re creating an ad about savings, you could get very creative and use an image of a three-legged cow looking in a mailbox. I’m sure there’s a story there, but if you have to explain the story to a mass audience, it’s lost its effectiveness.

So take “piggy bank” and be more creative within that framework. If it’s a retirement savings account, put a piggy bank on a Harley with another piggy bank in a sidecar. Piggy banks on a cruise ship.

That’s where you can get to have fun and flex your creative muscles. Just don’t throw the piggy out with the Harley.

See? Cliche. Updated.

So can you be too creative? Yes. Remember when you’re designing your logo or the street sign for your shop, the name of the game is easy communication. If you get too creative, you risk losing your audience.

So I writ this post yesterday, Why I’ll never say I’m booked.

One of the things I love about having this blog is that smart people come and talk to me. Check out the comments there.

I’ve also had some interesting comments in email and on Twitter about this post and the idea of saying you’re booked. There’s been some confusion about my message. This is, of course, my fault since I’m the one who wrote the damn thing and wasn’t clear enough.

Apparently it sounded a lot like I was saying that even when you’re busy, you should take on more work. It may have sounded like I was saying that even though I’m really busy, I can handle it and you can’t – you lame excuses for productivity, you.

Negatory, Good People. Nope-ity nope-ity no.

I get why you post “Booked” on your site. You’re full up. You’re swimming in work – which is completely awesome and I applaud your ability to create that situation for yourself (you’re doing something right).

I also get that the idea of taking on more projects and inserting a Monster Energy drink IV is not something you’re keen on doing. Me, neither. Taking on more work when you’re full to the brim is just insanity. It’s a dollar-chasing, panic-driven, I’ll-never-be-this-busy-again, plain ol’ life-damaging strategy.

Don’t. take. the. work.

Don’t take it. Turn down the work when you’re full. Push the plate away. Focus on the people who got in line first and deserve (paying for) your full attention.

The Acknowledgement Business

I don’t have a magic email or phone call strategy. I have some systems in place that work for me and I’m always improving them. Stuff falls through the cracks. I can’t get to everyone in 24 hours like I try to. I miss stuff, I screw it up.

But not everything begs a fully-developed answer in 24 hours. Sometimes people just want to inquire in a general way. The Facebook updates can wait.

Simple priorities.

But I’ve spent a lot of energy creating a space where people can contact me when they need my kind of help. My phone number is there. My email address, twitter handle… everything short of my Driver’s License number is on the site.

I want people reaching out. I want to hear about their projects. I want to know!

Can I create graphics for them all? No. Never. Simply not possible. It’s not always the right fit, or I’m slammed with other projects at the moment.

The point is, my figurative door is never locked. Not in a way that allows people to poke their head in when I’m illustrating and interrupt my flow. Unlocked in a way that allows me to acknowledge that they need help and I’m going to figure out how that can happen. Maybe they’ll be helped best by one of my designer friends who I trust to help them as well as or (gulp!) even better than I can.

I get it. Even that level of acknowledgment is difficult when you’re buried. So what do you do? You may need help weeding out the “Can you help me with my project?” requests from the “I love your work and just wanted to say hi” emails.

Not easy. Nope.

But I’m not in the business of graphics and animation. I’m in the business of communication and acknowledgment. Silly drawings and movies are only the vehicles. It could be anything – knitted caps, coaching, iPhone sleeves, tofu burgers, whatever.

You can’t always make more tofu burgers. I can’t always make more graphics. Sometimes we just can’t take on any more.

But we can acknowledge. To me, a person looking for some help, a sign that says “Booked solid” expresses, “I don’t have time for you. Go away.”

That may not be your intention. What you’re feeling is, “Oh my god. I am so slammed. I just can’t handle any more work and create my grand, epic, planet-changing stuff.”

Of course! You can’t.

Your ability to recognize when you’re at your limit is probably hard-won. Awesome. Trust it.

My suggestion is to simply change your message from one of “Booked. Can’t help now. Sorry.” to something that says, “Tell me about your thing and I’ll get to you as soon as I can.”

People want to talk about their projects, even if you’re too busy to do anything with it. They want you to hear them. That’s acknowledgment. That’s powerful. It means more than you might suspect.

We can take all of this design and business stuff too seriously sometimes. Not to worry. I’ve got the other stuff covered.

I’m writing this in the middle of crazy. Overflowing, messy desk. Full calendar, tax prepping, phone call at eleven, the baby just fell off his motorcycle, what-do-you-mean-the-washer-is-flooding-my-office… crazy.

So I’m really busy. Really really.

With all the new relationships I’ve made over the past few months, old relationships that are being refreshed, and partly due to my mid-January Special I’ve started off 2010 with an avalanche of new business. It’s the dream, right? When things are slow, I see posts on twitter about how busy someone else is and I have pangs of envy. Hey, can I be busy, too? How did they do that?

One thing I’ve seen a lot of lately is service providers who bill themselves as “booked.”

“Sorry, I’m booked.”

“Booked until August.”

“No inquiries, please. You should have hired me before I was internet famous. Now I can’t possibly help you.”

I’m helping a very large number of people right now. I’m slammed, my calendar is full this month. Yet I refuse to say “I’m booked.” You won’t get me to say it, even with Hershey bars and nylons. Last week a client called and asked if I was available. Staring down my calendar, without hesitation, I answered, “Of course. What do you need?”

Am I stupid? Insane? Is it that I just don’t care about work/life balance? Gee, maybe I’m not “doing it right.” Well, I’m definitely not worried about that, since I’m the one who decides how to do this anyway.

Sorry we’re closed!

Wouldn’t it suck if you went to your favorite coffee shop on a Tuesday morning and you found a locked door and a sign that said, “We’re sorry. See all these people in here enjoying hot beverages and free wi-fi? That’s about all we can manage for now. Please come back in March.”

There’s a jazz club in New York City called Smalls. They’re not kidding, either. It’s a tiny basement of a place. The first time I went, my friends and I waited in a line that stretched the whole block. Whenever someone left, the dude at the door let an equal number of people in.

I wondered what would happen if they just locked the door at capacity and said, “We’re full.” After a few nights of finding this sign, how many people would keep trying? Would they just find another jazz club? You can only trudge out in a cold drizzle so many nights before finding a place with jazz that maybe isn’t so great but is… open. And warm. With drinks.

Creating Demand

Ever heard that before? If a service provider says they’re booked, they’re creating scarcity and demand. Bully, but I still need help. I needed your particular brand of help. You know, the kind you’ve posted all the testimonials about and described in great detail, which sucked me up like a spider in a vacuum but… you’re booked.

I still need help.

I know you have twelve kids. I know your husband can’t do his own laundry, or your wife wants “hubby time” tonight. I know you’re internet famous and your email is just overflowing with love, appreciation, sex offers, and insults you have to try and ignore, but…

…wait. Why are you posting cute Elmo videos on twitter? I thought you were busy.

Anyway, the Elmo video was a hoot, but I still need help.

So you’ve created demand. Awesome. Now what? Do you just sit back on the couch and enjoy the demand? How does this work exactly? Do you earn 3.5% interest on all that demand? What are you doing with my demand? I demand to know.

Quantity vs Quality

Okay, I admit it. There are only 24 hours in a day in my universe, too. So I fit in as much work as I can, spend time with my family, fix the washing machine, blah blah blah. I fit sleep and yoga in there somewhere.

I run a creative business. My entire job relies on me being creative and whimsical. If I don’t get rest, if I don’t have times during the day where I’m working out “Eleanor Rigby” on guitar or enjoying some tea and biscuits, my creativity is going to die like, well, Eleanor Rigby.

I can only work on so many projects in a day and still do my best work, it’s true. I’m a one-human shop so I’m limited by that pesky thing called time. I envy robots, who don’t have to stare at iCal when they talk to a client about deadlines. “You need it in the morning? Beep. Whhirrr. Shhhhhh-pop! It’s done.” No loss in quality, either! Creativity… another story).

It’s important that I’m able to set realistic deadlines with my clients. I would rather deliver a proof early than send a “Sorry, but…” email. Of course. But quality and creativity over time, every time.

So sometimes we’ll need to set a longer deadline to make sure it comes out as good as it possibly can. But that means I have to keep myself open for the discussion, right?

Missed Opportunities

There’s a big difference between announcing to the world, “I’m booked” and turning down a project after you’ve heard the deadline. Saying, “I’m booked” is locking your door until August. Then what? You open the door, peer out and wonder aloud, “Where did everybody go? I’m ready now. Heeeeyyyyyyyyy!”

What does it cost to listen? How much time does it take to let someone in your shop (figuratively speaking) and ask you for help?

Besides, when you hang that cute little “Shut” sign on your door, you’re missing an opportunity to build new relationships. Say you’ve taken on as many projects as you can handle for the month without affecting quality. Someone makes an inquiry. Consider two scenarios:

A. They won’t even be ready for you until August. They just want to secure your services for later in the year.

B. They need it asap. You could refer someone else, which means you not only helped a client, you helped a fellow service provider who will now be looking for a way to scratch your back when the opportunity comes around.

I think it costs a lot more to lock the door.

Busy, but not Booked

So, yep. I’m crazy busy. Am I booked? Never. I am never booked. Please call, please write, please ask. I know there’s something I can do to help you.

This is the third in a series of posts on what to expect when working with an artist. To see them all, check out this category.

Roughed Up

Good God, Man, who taught you how to draw? Monkeys?

I would not blame any client for thinking this after seeing the rough sketch above. Before I even consider sending a client a rough sketch, I really need to know them well enough to know they can see past the scary hack job. Also, they need to know me and my work well enough to know that the final art will be lovely and full of sparkly rainbows and happiness. Like the final art here:

But let’s back up a bit.

You and your designer have had some conversations and traded emails. You know each other now. Hopefully by this point you’ve talked concepts, too. It’s possible to overdo the concept phase and drag things out forever, but you should expect to at least hear some initial ideas before you start receiving sketches or mockups. Getting from idea to rough sketch depends on you, the artist, and the nature of the work. In my case, it sometimes happens during the conversation (helpful if we’re sitting together) and other times it can take a week.

Depending on the artist, you can expect anything from a few circles to represent basic object placement to a fully rendered drawing that you would be tempted to hang in our bathroom. Both are just fine. There’s no right or wrong here except what serves (or doesn’t serve) the project.

The point in this stage is not to impress you with the Rembrandt-like quality of the artist’s layout (see Exhibit A again).

The main purpose at this time is to give you a rough idea of how things will be laid out on a page. Some people are much better with words and have trouble visualizing images without seeing them on the page. Everyone is different, but if you need to see how something might work visually, you should ask for it. It should never be a problem for a designer to help you understand a layout.

What’s Expected of You

Expectations? Of me? But I’m the one shelling out the duckets for this thing, can’t I just sit back and enjoy the ride?

Sure you could. In fact, I work with a few clients who will hand me a basic concept and ask me to run with it. The difference is that they understand that when they see the final art, they’ve got much less sway over what can be changed without ringing up extra charges. Most of the time there are few changes, but that’s because those people are used to working with me and have a good idea of what they’ll get when we’re done.

If you rarely work with a designer, it’s a good idea to prepare yourself for reviewing roughs. The artist is expecting you to participate, to have a say. If you’re going to say anything about the layout, this is your chance. Most of the time once the final art is completed, a seemingly simple change like, “move that tree from the left to the right” can wreck the balance of the whole graphic. “Take out the third sidebar” in a web site can mean hours of coding to make everything flow nicely again.

It’s because professional artists and designers do things on purpose. Sure, we’re weird. We’re full of creative whimsy and let faeries sprinkle lollipop dust over our sugary cereals. But we plan things and pay attention to stuff like “That second l in lollipop is too close to the faerie’s foot.” Insane, but true.

So take some time reviewing the rough sketch. It’s not calculus, there are just a few things to keep in mind:

1. It’s rough. Duh, but don’t get caught up in minor details. Placeholder. Placeholder. Placeholder.
2. Ask questions. It’s your chance! “Why is the word ‘Fantasy’ smaller than ‘Demon’? Does it have to be?”
3. Make sure the rough jibes with the concept you discussed. If something’s new or different, ask. It could be a mistake. This is a good time for catching a few mistakes.

See what I mean? It’s not complicated and it mostly involves clarifying things. You don’t have to run it through a spacial analyzer, just participate in the process.

Don’t forget to have fun

Um, it’s design. It’s not a UN council discussion. Hopefully you’ve hired an artist you feel good about working with, so reviewing the work should be at least a few steps above having your wisdom teeth extracted. One can get too serious about these things. I don’t know why, but one can. Whoever one is.

Whether it’s written concepts, sketched roughs, or a wireframe, it’s all communication about your thing. Keep the lines open. Your experience and the results will be better for it.

Next up: What are you trying to prove?

Tomorrow I’ll be working in North Portland. In the afternoon I’ll be hanging my hat of the day at Lucky Lab. I’ll be meeting some folks at 1 PM, but if you find yourself in the area after that please come by and say hello. I’d love to meet you or get reacquainted.

Last Thursday, Jenni and I came across a little place on Alberta called Back to Eden. They’ve got vegan baked goods and they now have a friend in me. One of these Thursdays I’ll be hanging out there. Maybe I’ll buy you a pastry if you see me there. Little surprises around every corner.

For tomorrow, see ya in NoPo!
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What be this Mobile Pants thing?

This is the second in a series of posts on what to expect when working with an artist. Besides, you know… art. The first is here: Conversation, Anyone?

Concepts and Idears

I am a big ego monkey, so I’m going to quote myself here. I could point you to the post, but then you’ll be clicking around my site all day instead of just reading.

Techniques are easy. Ideas are hard.

So you’re looking to get something created – a web site, a graphic, a bar chart for your presentation, whatever. If you search online, you’ll find scores of talented people who can produce professional work. They’ll probably use the latest techniques and all their skill to turn your concepts into a finished product.

Knowing this, how do you choose a designer out of the teeming masses?

You pick the one who can communicate ideas.

Techniques are easy. Ideas are hard. They’re also more valuable.

How do you like them apples? It sounds great in theory, but how do you know this before you hire the designer? I’m so glad you asked.

One way is to tell the designer about your project and ask them to give you some ideas so you can evaluate them and possibly hire that person.

Um, no. Leave that to the craigslist crowd. Sure, someone will bite, but that’s not who you want working on your project anyway.

Really real, no-kidding, professional artists and designers will balk at this, with good reason. You’re pretty much asking them to work for free, until you decide to actually hire them. The concern they’re feeling is that you’ll take their potentially brilliant ideas and hand them to a cheaper production artist to execute. It’s a killer deal for you, but apply the Golden Rule to this situation and you’ll see how you might react if someone asked you to coach them for free until they figure out if you’re effective. Right… that’s what I thought.

What you can do is ask the artist to give you a few examples of past projects where they’ve created concepts with successful outcomes. You should get a sense from this if they can do the same thing for you. You’ll also get a good feel for how they communicate, which is important since you’ll hopefully be doing a lot of that throughout your own project.

Mommy, where do ideas come from?

I carry around a little moleskine with me to doodle concepts. I also use my iPhone to record notes on the road. The thing is, I could be shopping for cereal and suddenly have an epiphany about a client project. So I’m working even when I’m shopping. You can’t always choose when the great concepts are going to beam down from the mothership, you know what I’m sayin’?

So this means that a designer working on your thing is working on your thing pretty much all the time. When you’re sleeping. When they’re sleeping. There aren’t any banker’s hours for ideas.

Knowing this, you should expect to not merely wait for ideas to arrive in your email, you should fuel the idea furnace early in the process. I don’t mean you should be thinking up concepts all day then nickel-and-dime an artist with your nuggets of inspiration. Please. No. I mean you need to give the designer all kinds of information about your business, your audience, and the meaning behind your project (as in “Why are you doing this?”)

You should expect to contribute to the final result by sharing information. The ideas are cooked up by the designer, but you supply the ingredients. Enjoy the process. Mmm, smells delicious.

Next: Roughed Up

So you’re about to spend a big chunk o’ change on some graphics. If you’re a small business, especially one that’s just slightly hovering above the nest, you probably want need to get a lot out of your investment.

Rightly so, because otherwise you may as well donate that money to Haitian relief so it can actually do some good.

If you’ve never worked with an artist before, it’s hard to know what to expect. Of course awesomeness – you should definitely expect amazing results. But what about all the stuff that happens between the time you pick an artist and that whole results thing? What usually happens? What’s supposed to happen?

Like any service provider, Artists can vary widely in their style of helping people. However, there are some aspects of service that you should expect to experience. This is the first in a series of posts I’ll be doing to share what it’s like to work with an artist.

Conversation, anyone?

Call it consulting if you want. The main idea is that you should get to speak to a human being before any work starts. Nay, before you put down any money.

As I write this, I’m aware that I have packages available in my business that ask for payment up front. The key thing to watch out for is risk. If you put money down on a package, it should be 100% refundable until you’ve spoken. Typically I already have good relationships with the people who purchase packages, but I couldn’t keep someone’s money if they felt uncomfortable after we spoke. It would feel slimy to me. I’m allergic to slime.

What kind of conversation should you have?

“You mean like talking about the Colts or Lady Gaga? I hate useless chit-chat. Can’t we just get down to business?”

Of course you need to talk about the business at hand – it’s what you’re paying for – but consider the fact that you’re both human beings. Hopefully you’ll get to know each other a little bit before diving into the nitty gritty of the work. You don’t have to swap stories about your dog’s digestive disorders, but you should at least share something about who you are and what your business is all about.

Sometimes very important concepts come out of “non-business” chats I’ve had with clients. In fact, my best work is done with people with whom I feel like I could share a cup of coffee. Otherwise, it just comes down to push-button instructions like, “Make this bigger,” or “Change this color.” It could all be done by a robot, which may be exactly what you want if you simply want to give out instructions.

If you don’t like being all chatty, it’s fine. Just be human: personable, polite, and open to sharing a bit about your business. Don’t tell me you’re tired of talking about your business? Yeah, I thought not.

You should expect an artist you hire to want to know about your business and the people you serve. If an artist tells you, “I don’t need to know all that stuff, I’m just laying out your card,” run. Run far, far away. Take your money with you.

Next: Concepts and Idears

Today I will be traveling a bit (no kidding, in Portland this time). This afternoon I’ll be downtown and later in the evening I’ll be hanging around on Alberta in the Concordia area (likely near 33rd Ave).

If you want to check in on my whereabouts and say hello, I’ll be updating on Twitter. I hope to see you around.

By the way, I just realized that this all sounds like “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.”

Dammit.

What be this Mobile Pants thing?

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Like most entrepreneurs, I’m a DIY dude.

That goes for just about everything in my life, including freaky things like:

• Home birth of our son
• Baking our own bread
• Making our own beer
• Ripping out the entire dashboard of our ‘86 Volvo to fix the ventilation system

Although some things I leave to the experts, like:

• Trauma surgery
• Flying passenger jets
• All things electrical
• CSS/PHP/XHTML/LMNOP/XYZ/BYOB

That last one is tricky, because I built sparkyfirepants.com with my own two hands, with the exception of the landing page. Thankfully I wised up and hired a CSS pro to handle that nightmare for me. I like figuring stuff out, but I also like to sleep and not grind my teeth (more than usual, that is).

Mission accomplished, I turned back to my other site, Digital Illustration School.

Redesigning for Content and Community

As I sketched out ideas for what I wanted to do with my illustration tutorial site, I knew that I needed it to be more dynamic. My free content paired with the more in-depth lessons for purchase had to play nice with each other. That meant a blog integration of some kind, but how to do it?

I could have someone build another theme for me, but frankly I didn’t have the budget for it.

I could start learning CSS, but as we’ve seen I am not that crazy. I’m a graphics guy. Which may be just a different brand of crazy.

So I finally decided on WordPress as the platform to build the new site. I just needed to find the right theme. After searching, searching some more, and… searching, I was back to square one. Sort of. I just couldn’t find a theme that had the customization I wanted. I’d heard good things about Thesis but since all the “How this works” stuff is in video format, I just couldn’t sit through it all to find out if it was the right option for me (video was stuttering with my slow connection). I prefer to read about features before I buy, so… I skipped it.

Is that lame? Maybe, but I’m being frank here. I simply never checked out Thesis and that’s why.

Enter Headway

Okay, so I knew about Headway before I started. I’ve known Grant Griffiths for a couple years and was well aware that Headway was his baby. I admit, I looked around a while and exhausted my options before I came back around to Headway.

But-but-but…the thing that kept bubbling to the surface every time I browsed a free theme was this little man in my head who kept saying yeah, but Headway has drag-and-drop.

Okay. Headway.

I dropped some cash into a personal option license. Anti-disclaimer: I am NOT getting paid for this review. No perks, no back-scratching. This is just me talking.

How it all Worked Out

I have enough experience installing WordPress on my own domain that installing the theme wasn’t going to be a problem. Still, there are plenty of instructions on the Headway Themes site that would have guided me through that process.

Now, I’ve never built a site on my local drive. In this case it was a really wise thing to do, especially since I needed to keep my existing site up while I figured out what the hell I was creating. More on this later.

Creating a site using Headway was pretty routine as far as setting up new pages and configuring posts. Headway’s real power is in the Visual Editor. It took a few minutes to get myself oriented, but very quickly I understood that this was freedom.

My single favorite feature of the Visual Editor is the Leafs. Resize, drag into position, save, and preview. It’s nothing short of awesome. Being able to quickly set up a page configuration and tweaking content along the way was exactly what I needed to be spending my time on – not figuring out CSS.

I could create a page and apply the leaf configuration to other layouts. That saved me a ton of hours and carpal tunnel issues.

Configuring navigation is easy, too. I created some hierarchies I wanted in my original site version that I just couldn’t implement last year. In fact, using Headway I was able to quickly test ideas in minutes, so I tried new things that previously would have had me tied up for days.

I spent a lot more time on my content (copy and graphics) than I did on building the site. It really was that easy.

There is excellent built-in SEO, but I have yet to mess with the manual settings.

If you look through the gallery on the Headway Themes web site, you’ll notice there are prettier sites than the one I just created. There’s much more possible with Headway than I was able to dive into on this first go-round. But you can check out my work here:

Sparky Firepants Digital Illustration School

Niggle Niggle

Back to developing on my local machine. Still a wise choice (I used MAMP on a Macbook) and building the site was easy. However, when I transferred everything over to my web server, the site was completely messed up. To put it mildly.

It looked like I had done everything according to all the instruction I’d had previously. I swear.

Admittedly, I am a stubborn jackass and tech support’s worst nightmare. I know just enough to get myself into trouble. It was no different when I contacted Headway support. Clay Griffiths (creator of Headway) handled my case and he probably has the bruises to prove it.

My frustration and subsequent niggle was that I didn’t want to mess with any code or MySQL to get my site up. I bought the theme with total ease in mind, so this stumbling block didn’t sit well after the initial joy of creating.

As it turns out, a niggle turned out to be another damn nice thing to say about Headway. As frustrating as the issue was, Clay walked me through the process of tweaking the code in MySQL to make everything work correctly on the web.

They’re also working on a fix for this issue in the next version which should be out soon.

The Final Word

Because I am a lunatic who has projects coming out my arse, I’m going to be building several new sites this year. Some of them are going to require hiring a web designer to make them what I need them to be (and because I can’t do it all even if my coffee cup says otherwise).

The ones where I need to get a simple site up with blog integration, I’m defaulting to Headway. In fact, I’ll probably upgrade to a developer license to accomplish all that I need to do.

Does Headway, or any theme for that matter, take the place of a great web designer? No way. Building a web site is much more than configuring leafs in a WordPress theme. But if you know you’re using WordPress, you’ve got a clear idea of what you need to do with your site, and you’re looking for a theme to do it for you, Headway is amazing.