My (almost) daily sources of Visual Inspiration:

• Design at Alltop
• Design Observer by
• CommandShift3’s daily leaderboard (and, for fun, I like to peruse the losers)
• We Made This is the blog of UK design firm We Made This, Ltd
• I Love Typography
• Logo Design Love

And Ethan over at Unstoppable Robot Ninja just posted a link to classic Blue Note album covers. I’ve already poached a few ideas just from scrolling through that incredible archive.

In the category of things that would make me shake if I couldn’t have it:

1. Caffeine - Coffee (black), green tea, or yerba mate being the preferred delivery method
2. Internet
3. Camera
4. iPod
5. The love of a good woman (the woman, in this case, being my wife)

And in the category of things that might cause me to whine a little if I were to be without them, but on the whole I would be able to function in their absence:

1. Advil
2. My Sigg Water Bottle
3. Moleskine Squared Reporter Notebook
4. Mechanical Pencils, preferrably with a .07 lead
5. Chocolate

Right now I’m writing two proposals for potential clients. I tend to hold on to them for a while before I send them out for review. Why? Because I’m always afraid of what the response might be. Once I do send them out, I cringe and cower (mentally) because I expect a certain amount of push-back due to “sticker shock.” I imagine the client getting to the part about my rates and shouting, “WHAT? How could she charge this much? She must be insane!”

I should get over this. Because, really, I know I’m worth what I charge. While I am self-taught, I bring with me an extensive fine arts and mass communication education as well as the experience of working on a wide range of projects, from large-scale Web sites to small print jobs for non-profits. I have been a vendor and I have been a client. I leverage my project management as well as my volunteer experience. Creatively, I am well-versed in a variety of techniques. And if I don’t know how to do something, I’m smart enough to find someone who can show me.

So why the fear of sticker shock? Because I assume that most people don’t know how much good design costs. Remember, dear client, ideally you are hiring a specialist, someone who does one thing and does it well because they are passionate about what they do.

Imagine you are home alone on a quiet Sunday afternoon. You go into your kitchen to investigate a trickling sound only to find sheets of brown water cascading from your kitchen ceiling. Ah, yes. Now imagine that this is days before Thanksgiving. Days before you are about to start a new job. Imagine having to wash every single thing that was once in your kitchen and moving it into your dining room, where it will remain even 8 weeks later because of, well, circumstances. Circumstances like the building’s owner, whose faulty plumbing caused the flood, is going through a divorce and is a schoolteacher with finals to grade and has planned a week-long Caribbean vacation during Christmas.

(Three appointments with contractors later, things are now moving along at a reasonable pace. I pray to whatever benevolent force there is in the universe that we will have a new kitchen before too long.)

Now picture a major family crisis days before Christmas. The unexpected loss of someone much too young. Confusion. Tears. Anguish. Grief. Meanwhile, you are barely holding yourself together because there’s too little money and too many bills. And you’re not exactly getting along with your spouse.

That, people, is what you call a shitstorm. A not-so-cheery holiday season. 2008 couldn’t come fast enough.

Meanwhile, back in the Hall of Justice: After one year and much experience later, I am redesigning the site. It’s been quite a process, and this time my better half will be helping with the PHP. If all goes well, I should be ready to launch on the one-year anniversary of the debut PIXELBERG (March 2008).

Also looking forward to: Seeing Neko Case LIVE at Calvin Theater on February 2nd. I just want to say now that in some bizarro alternate universe, I am Neko Case. And I don’t mean that in a stalker kind of way. Just in a wishful thinking kind of way. Like, whenever I listen to her I think that perhaps I am a failed musician.

But all things considered, I think I’ll stick to the photography.