Spot on. However, I would add that much of the push for 'original' designs come from many other sources beside the designer. I can not tell you how many times I have had clients request all manner of non-standard layouts and other customization to make the website look cool/unique/fresh...
I have lived in Kansas City for several years and would partially agree with your statements. I have seen most of the best people I know move elsewhere, primarily to larger cultural hubs, leaving behind a large portion of people who lack vision and tenacity. There are definitely still bright spots, they are just more difficult to find.
I am very excited to see what Drchrono will do in the medical field. The industry is overdue for a smart company to come in and innovate.
I don't have any hands on experience with the app yet, but it seems to address one of the biggest hurdles to adoption, the physicians' reluctance to learn/use the cumbersome interfaces of the existing systems.
This really distills the car search information down to exactly what I want. Presented in such a way to where I get a feel for what the meta trends are, as well as the best/worst deals (or other anomalies). Very nicely presented!
Feature Requests:
- The ability to search for sub car models (Subaru Forester XT vs Subaru Forester), it looks like some higher end models might be filtered as worse deals at the moment.
- It would also be nice to have a free text field to search for other misc specific car features in the listings.
Pretty much exactly how I work as well. I have been able to set a more healthy schedule in the last couple months, but it is really hard to shut down in the evening when I feel the most alive and productive.
This sounds very similar to my experience, just starting with design first and then delving into programming to gain more control over the finished product. I knew that this would be a great combination to have considering how frequently a product breaks down in the communication between programmers and designers.
However, right now I am debating which direction to go in since it has a mess trying to get anyone to take me seriously without being 100% designer or 100% programmer.
If people don't take you seriously, there are only two potential things at play:
1. You don't command respect (either in posture/body language, the way you communicate, your portfolio/lack thereof, some combination of the three)
2. You are trying to work with nimrods
If you don't personally command respect, you will never get respect, no matter what you do. Unless you shore up your body language, communication style, and portfolio.
If you're trying to work with nimrods, nothing will ever please them. There's nothing worse than an ignorant client who thinks he knows what it takes.
Sometimes it's a 1-2 punch with all factors, in which case you're screwed. Better work on your clients (charge more) and work on yourself (take improv training, fix your body posture, etc.).
