Recent News from Andy Rutledge

• Dog and Pony Show Design
  

  Excuse me for harshing anyone’s mellow, but at no point does design professionalism allow for planned compromise or for entertainment and distraction as substitutes for effectively addressing a client’s unique design challenges. Therefore, any discussion of how many design comps work best to lubricate the approvals process is nothing less than mindless irrelevancy. These considerations are simply a response to situations where the agency or the designer has failed to gain the client’s trust. The thing is, failure is not mitigated by a dog and pony show…
• Unify Private Beta
  

  My friends and I at Unit Interactive have cooked up a sweet little app that should cure a lot of headaches that web designers and website owners currently endure. It’s called Unify, and we’ve just opened up registration for a private beta that will begin very soon…
• Of Brands and Commodities
  

  For web professionals, brand stewardship in action starts at the front door. When someone knocks, you’d better find out if they meet your brand’s standards before you let them in the door. If they don’t, politely send them packing. The alternative is to take up with clients or projects that are not consistent with your brand, thereby negating, damaging, or destroying it. By my estimation, too many web agencies are too comfortable with this practice. Are you sure you want to be one of them? Perhaps you are, but either way you should understand precisely what it is you’re doing…