Over the years I've struggled to adequately define what it is I do. I started out with Graphic Designer, then moved on to Web Designer because most of what I was doing involved the Internet (sites, emails, etc).

During all of this, I often had to understand strategy, define brands and create positionings and, sometimes, write copy for my clients. It started to feel like I was doing a whole lot more than just deciding on pictures, colour schemes and layouts. The 'graphic' part of the description seemed to have lost the dominant relevance it had when I started. Even as a web designer, I was still designing with pictures and layouts, but because I had to demonstrate an understanding of html, flash, usability, etc, the word 'web' had to be there.

When I talk to others who are pretty much in the same boat, one comes to realise that we're all selling ourselves short. Tell someone you're a graphic designer and they'll ask if you do web sites, tell them you're a web designer and they'll want to know if you do logos and brochures. You end up force-fitting an elaborate explanation and coming out sounding like you're trying to be a jack of all trades that is afraid to lose work because of the wrong title.

The longer you do something that is one link in a chain, the better you get at handling the other links. It's inevitable, really. I'm at a point now where I generally prefer to write ads (at least headlines) on my own, rather than have to deal with implementing someone else's idea that I may or may not find interesting.

Anyway, I'm now going to stick with what I think best describes what people like me do, Communication Designer. (I read this and this and they seem to be on about the same thing. Yay, validation).

I know that half the time, people will answer with a "what's that?" and I'll have a legitimate chance to explain and define what I do, without appearing like a salesman. The other half? Well, I'll just assume they get it!

This tweak worked well for me, even on Karachi’s achingly slow and latent WorldCall.

Give it a go and see if it works for you.

Make Firefox Faster - Forever Geek

This is a great read for “someone making one” as well as those who receive them.

Speak Up › Thoughts on Portfolios from Someone Making One

I think anyone putting a book together of their work has to think less about what the audience would like, and more about what turns them on. That way, your book will find you the right job for you. When you find an audience for the work you do, you will likely have the right job. Remember the goal is to find a job where you fit. You will then do well, and be well.

If you’re an employer, I figure that you’d want people to come in with an honest representation of who they are and what they’re capable of. If you’re on the other side of the table, the last two sentences in the quote above are what you really need to be thinking about.

I’ve taken jobs in two agencies, as the CD, no less, and found out the hard way that a great position and great pay package aren’t going to get you through the times when you think the people you work with suck, are liars, or aren’t honestly creative. The frustration will build up over time (in my case, a really short time) and you’ll end up somewhere else.

The advertising job market in Pakistan is pretty robust these days. Every agency is looking hard for quality talent, so you’ve got a bit to choose from and the best thing you can do for yourself is hold out (the money will eventually come) until you find a place that makes you want to get out of bed in a hurry every the morning.

I watched the Leo DiCaprio movie, Blood Diamonds, last night and it shed some light on what was happening in Sierra Leone a few years ago. I was pretty horrified. There was a scene where they were axing off people’s hands and arms — the choice was left to the victim, “short sleeves or long sleeves” meaning above the wrist or above the elbow. This was being done so that people couldn’t vote — “The future is in your hands… no more hands, no more future.”

I came across an article today at the NY Times web site that seems to continue from where Blood Diamonds left off. In a nutshell, it’s basically saying that things aren’t a whole lot better after it became difficult to sell conflict diamonds to the west.

An international regulatory system created after the war has prevented diamonds from fueling conflicts and financing terrorist networks. Even so, diamond mining in Sierra Leone remains a grim business that brings the government far too little revenue to right the devastated country, yet feeds off the desperation of some of the world’s poorest people.

“The process is more to sanitize the industry from the market side rather than the supply side,” said John Kanu, a policy adviser to the Integrated Diamond Management Program, a United States-backed effort to improve the government’s handling of diamond money. “To make it so people could go to buy a diamond ring and to say, ‘Yes, because of this system, there are no longer any blood diamonds. So my love, and my conscience, can sleep easily.’

It’s a pretty sad situation for a country that’s selling something that is prized in most parts of the world.

That’s four games in a row where he’s gone over 50 and he’s three more from tying Wilt’s record of seven consecutive 50+ games in 1961-62. As it stands, he and Chamberlin are the only people to do it four times. Fingers crossed. Oh yeah, and the Lakers beat the Hornets 111-105.