In 2012, I resolved to work smarter and with more love, to raise the bar on creativity, and to deliver more every day for my clients and myself. This year also marked my first-ever trip to Disney World.

What do these things have in common, you ask?

I had plenty of mixed feelings about my Disney adventure at first—excited to spend time with family but not so sure Aunt Joanna would love the Disney experience itself.

Then, like magic, shortly before my trip, Marie Forleo tweeted a new-to-me quote from Walt Disney:

“Disneyland is a work of love. We didn’t go into Disneyland just with the idea of making money.”

Looking at Disney World through that lens really upped the appreciation factor for me. I learned that, regardless of my opinion on the work itself, it’s mighty hard to hate on someone’s work of love.

Seeing that first quote prompted me to look at more words from Walt, like this gem on how to succeed:

“Just do your best work—then try to trump it.”

Awesome!

Or Walt’s profit formula:

“I suppose my formula might be: dream, diversify and never miss an angle.”

Almost 50 years after his death, Walt Disney continues to be relevant and his work still oozes passion—that’s a pretty magical accomplishment.

Have you ever learned a lesson from an unexpected source? Tell me in the comments.

Sources: How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Magic Every Day of Your Life ( 2004), by Pat Williams, with Jim Denney, and “Walt’s Profit Formula: Dream, Diversity, and Never Miss an Angle” in Wall Street Journal (4 February 1958).

Every once and a while—no matter how much I try to avoid it—a client needs a rush design and printing job, like this package put together in record time for the Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families’ spring board meeting.

A little bit of planning and lots of clear communication took this project from “You want it when?” to “Let’s do this!”

“Given our organization’s fast-paced environment, it is important for me to work with a designer who is not only skilled at graphic identity and brand management, but one who also possess the wonderful ability to handle projects that sometimes come at us ‘on the fly,’” says Jaime Winne Alvarez, director of media relations and communications for Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families. “This was certainly one of those times, and lucky for us, Joanna was up to the challenge!”

“Our open communication about the design and scope of the package that we needed to create for our stakeholders was essential in making this work, nailing down the drop-dead deadlines and looping in the print vendor to ensure that they could meet our request,” adds Alvarez. “I’ve been working with Joanna for a little over a year now, and while the client-designer process that we have developed together is essentially quite seamless to begin with, I cannot praise her enough for the fantastic job she did with what could have been a very stressful project. Instead, working together, we made it work and met our deadline, with the end result being a set of outstanding printed collateral that continues to earn us the highest of compliments from our constituents and collaborators alike.”

Whether you’re a client or designer,  following these five simple steps will reduce the drama level of your next rush job:

The board meeting package included a four-color pocket folder, gatefold development brochure, and 24-page prospectus booklet.

1. What’s the drop-dead deadline?

Determine the absolute latest deadline by which the pieces must be delivered. Figure on the day before this as your delivery date—Murphy’s Law and all. Key questions to factor in: Will the pieces need to be shipped to another location? Will the client or the printer be stuffing pocket folders or folding letters?

2. Be realistic about how many copies you need.

If you’re printing 100 copies but you really only need 25 by the deadline, let your printer know that you’re open to a partial delivery, with 25 copies delivered on your deadline and the balance at a later date. If there’s any hand assembly or bindery required (such as gluing pocket folders), this may buy you some time.

3. Size does matter.

Before starting the design, contact your printer to find out if the planned pieces are within their capabilities. In this case, short print runs necessitated digital printing and required that the brochure be a quarter inch narrower than planned to fit on a standard digital press.

4. Make the printer your partner.

Let them in on the deadline and ask when is the latest that you can deliver the files to them in order to meet it. If you need more time, ask if you can pay a rush fee. Most are really great at turning jobs around quickly, but I’ve never met a printer who is a mind reader!

5. Divide and conquer, locally.

Don’t be afraid to use more than one print vendor. Some may be set up to handle letter-size jobs efficiently, while others may specialize in folders and business cards. If you’re asking for a lot in a really short period of time, consider spreading the wealth around town. The prices and promises of online printers are tempting, but in a case like this, chances are a local shop is going to go the extra mile for you—plus there are no rush delivery charges.

What are your favorite tips for meeting red-hot deadlines? Let me know in the comments!

As part of their final projects, graphic design students at Mohawk Valley Community College interview a professional in the design field. Last month, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Abby Giannatelli.

Want to know more about what makes Joanna tick? Read on for the complete Q&A.

Sparking an early obsession with typography was this classic: Lettering for Reproduction, by David Gates (Watson Guptill, 1969).

How did you get into graphic design?
The essay answer is that I took a mighty circuitous path to get to where I am today. As a kid I was fascinated with Scotch tape and type, and even published a family magazine. But I never thought I could make a living as an artist and knew I needed a job right after college. So I took design, art, and photography classes while I majored in political science and magazine journalism. Initially, I worked as a writer/editor/communications manager, always doing design projects on the side. Eventually, design won out full time. I jokingly call myself as a ‘well-rounded designer,’ but the roundabout way I got here has served me well.

What is your proudest design/achievement so far?
Does quitting my day job to open my own studio 12 years ago count?

What do you find works best when dealing with a difficult client?
Take a deep breath and put myself in their shoes. Most of the time, the person hiring me is not a creative person. They’re an administrative person who’s charged with making sure their company’s publications come out on time and on budget. The process can be pretty stressful since they are trusting you to tell them how to spend large amounts of their company’s money and yet, especially with print design, nowhere along the line can you show them exactly what the finished piece will look like until it is done. They’re taking a giant leap of faith. Keeping that in mind smooths many a bumpy patch.

Why did you decide to start your own business, and was it difficult to do so?
I’d gone about as far as I could in communications management with my employer at the time and really wanted to expand the types of projects I worked on. So, I made a list of all the equipment I needed and acquired it, got debt-free (crucial), lined up a few clients, and took the leap. Scary, indeed! But it’s turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.

Which aspects of designing (process, programs, etc) do you enjoy the most, or are the most comfortable with?
I love that early part in the process when you’re sketching something out (yes, I still do that!) or pushing things around on the screen and you see something that wasn’t there before—that eureka moment. I’d have to say my comfort zone is identity and print design.

Where do you get the inspiration for your designs?
99% of the time, it’s when I’m away from my computer screen and totally offline. Not that long ago, I was in a diner having lunch with friends and saw the solution to a logo I’d been working on in the lines of the napkin dispenser! I love to look at architecture, mid-century modern anything, classic cars and boats, old books, found type, and nature. I keep up with the work of other designers of all kinds. Seeing how they approach design can be inspiring—not to imitate but to open the mind to other possibilities. I love clicking on a link to a new website or opening a well-designed package and thinking, Oh. My. God. Brilliant!

Thank you for the honor, Abby! Best of luck as you continue your studies and hope to meet you at an upcoming Upstate New York AIGA Portfolio workshop/review :)

This is work? That’s how I felt while designing a recent commission from Syracuse University’s University College (UC) for the cover of its fall 2012 course schedule.

The typographical design—inspired by vintage posters—echoes themes of the college’s current marketing campaign and was welcome change of pace in my spring workload.

Maybe I can convince the client to print a poster too?

Last winter, I had the opportunity to design the CD package for a Kickstarter-funded project by Charlottesville, Va., singer-songwriter Carl Anderson. Seeing the amazing photos of the musician taken by Doug Lloyd of East Lake Studios sealed the deal.

My challenge: to create a design that echoed the gritty mood of the music and photos without getting in the way.

My favorite part of the liner notes is the credit for “art direction,” which credits Anderson, Lloyd, and yours truly. It might not be the smoothest of sailing when three opinionated creatives work together on a design. But I think all of us would agree that the end product came out better than either of us could have envisioned on our own.

A month after Wolftown’s release, iTunes selected “Don’t Stop Trying” from the CD as part of its Singer-Songwriter Indie Spotlight for January 2012.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this guy. You should too.

The GiansantiDesign-ed website for Syracuse city school board candidate Michelle Mignano embraced turquoise and orange, standing out from the sea of red, white, and blue campaign sites.

Built on WordPress, the Common Cents for Schools site was fast to create and easy to update by both the candidate and designer.

I don’t take credit but am happy to report that Mignano took more votes than any other candidate in her race!

(Election results source: Syracuse.com)

This spring, a student I met during the Upstate New York AIGA portfolio review interviewed me for his Professional Practices course at Mohawk Valley Community College. I was honored—even though it made me feel a tiny bit like a design elder!

It was a fun exercise and, after working in the field for more than 25 years, I am struck by how often I need to remind myself of my answers, which follow, to his last question:

“What advice could you give to ‘young’* designers entering the field?”

This bag is the perfect example of “Be nice.” I originally designed the Finger Lakes Tour logo for a tote bag in 2004 but never saw the finished product. When the client reordered this spring, the vendor made an extra for me and hand delivered it too. How nice!

Even when you are working for someone else, make time to do your own work. Whether it’s a personal project or something you volunteer for, it will keep your interest in design up and creative juices flowing.

It might sound silly but be nice. Unless you end up being one of the few rock stars, designers are often the go-between with clients, printers, photographers, illustrators, writers, etc., on projects. A little bit of pleasantness goes a long way.

Connect with other designers too. Even though it’s a competitive field, designers are each other’s best advocates, champions, and sounding blocks.

Understand that most of your clients will never care about the design itself. They are interested in what the design will do for their business. They entrust you with spending huge amounts of their money. It’s an awesome responsibility, but hugely rewarding

Thanks for the nice reminder, Duane!

*Young is in quotes, I hope, because he was a nontraditional student, not because of my age!

Graphic Design USA magazine recently recognized GiansantiDesign with a 2010 American Graphic Design Award. Capturing the honor was GiansantiDesign’s identity design for Pulse Fitness Studio.

The winning mark uses a stylized version of Duffy Script by Shinntype.

For nearly five decades, GDUSA has presented national design competitions that spotlight areas of excellence and opportunity for creative professionals. The 2010 American Graphic Design Awards competition attracted a remarkable 9,000-plus entries and honors outstanding new work of all kinds in 23 categories from print and packaging to internet and interactive design.

For more information:
Learn more about GDUSA and see the entry in the winners gallery.

“People always remark how the first impression means everything—well I’m here to say it’s true. I don’t think people would have walked through the doors as quickly as they did if it weren’t for Joanna’s work creating the brand and website for my fitness studio,” says Pulse owner Tammy Panzironi.

The studio’s email campaigns consistently deliver above-average returns compared to others in the fitness industry.

The Pulse website is a Thesis customization for WordPress, making for easy updates to the class schedules and other information that changes frequently.

Additional services provided include MailChimp email campaign integration, design and maintenance of the studio’s very active Facebook fan page, and collateral design.

The multicolored logo even inspired the paint on the studio walls. Now that’s brand integration!

SU Preview is the incoming student’s “go-to guide to life on the Syracuse University campus.” This summer, the university contacted me to bring a fresh, magazine-feel to this tabloid. Much to my surprise, I found working with newsprint’s limited color palette and printing capabilities refreshing.

Lesson learned? Let printing constraints push your work further, instead of boxing it in.