Meet Missy: my parent’s 13 year old miniature schnauzer who hates to swim, must have her hind quarters touching another living being at all times, and has an alarmingly pitiful bark. Missy struggles with a very embarrassing personal hygiene issue which makes her ridiculously stinky. If you have a miniature schnauzer you probably know the issue I am talking about, if you don’t… I will spare you the gross details. Regardless… she smells like Butt.

One summer break back in college I spent a few months at my parents house to work on a giant fish for the City of Richmond and brought a whole load of my art and design supplies back with me to work on some projects. In school my focus was on print design, and one of my favorite exercises was printing on sheets of velum and then gluing them together with Super 77 to achieve a rad layered effect. According to 3Ms product site, Super 77 “forms strong bonds with everything from paper, cardboard, fabric and cushion foam to plastic, metal, wood and much more.” If you have ever used Super 77 you are well aware that if you get that stuff stuck on your hands, everything is sticking to your hands for the next few days.

My parents have a utility room where they keep all their odds and ends, canned goods, and fix-it tools… this is the dank area to which they banned all of my art supplies. Once I moved off to college my mother turned my room into her Floral Arrangement-Making studio, and I never again had a real place to keep any of my personal belongings. There… in the Utility room, on a shelf below a light switch sat my 24 oz can of aerosol spray adhesive… right next to a 24 oz can of aerosol doggie deodorant destined for Missy.

What happened next was inevitable… all I heard was screams from the backyard. I ran outside to find a small dog so scared and so sticky, she stood as still as a statue.

So here is the money question: How do you get Super 77 off of a 12 pound salt-and-pepper Schnauzer?

The other questions that followed included … how do you keep herself from licking it and poisoning herself? How do you keep the flys from not sticking to it as she plays outside? how do you stop the blades of grass from attaching themselves to her coat?

So I rang up 3M. The call went like this:

Me: Hi sir, I am having a problem with your product that was mistakenly used in a way not recommended by your company, do you think you could give me some tips on what to do?

3M Guy: Sure, how was this product accidentally used? did you spray your hands? your hair? clothing?

Me: A schnauzer

3M Guy: (Silence)

Me: It was an accident.

3M Guy: A dog?

Me: A small dog, that does not shed. THINGS are sticking to her.

3M guy: (Silence) (more silence) Please hold.

——Cheesy hold music——

3M Guy: Ma’m, we are working on this for you, (roaring background laughter) please hold just a little while longer….

In the end 3M held it together long enough to let me know that they recommended bathing the dog in vegetable oil. The idea of having an oily dog versus a sticky dog wasn’t that much more appealing so we just shaved her.*

The Moral of this story :
Design supplies can be dangerous stuff &
3M super 77 is some Bad Ass Sh*t.

*No animals were harmed in the making of this blog post

Being designer can sometimes be tiring. I will never say it sucks or that its a crappy job because that is just not true. It is a privilege to be a designer and in my opinion it is the best job in the whole world, but just like any other creative occupation sometimes you feel a little burnt out. I don’t mean burnt out like Vanilla Ice burnt out or Danny Bonaduce burnt out, I mean sometimes you come home and think to yourself… “how the hell am I going to squeeze one more droplet of creativity out of this dried up sponge of a brain today?” Its not even the how, its the why. If you are ever feeling this way try and recount all the ways design makes you happy….

This post was inspired a little bit by Brian Warren’s monthly mix tape and a lot by the Design Work Flows panel I attended last year at SXSW… music seems to go hand and hand with design. While many designers regularly listen to music while concepting or photoshop comping, I am the type who prefers to listen to my headphones when I am coding some CSS. What intrigues me the most is WHAT people listen to, and when.

So the other day as I was working I decided to jot down what I listened to on my ipod and make a mixed tape. Now… my taste in music is all over the place. Don’t judge me. Ok fine… judge me. If this is your first time to my site, please keep in mind my taste in music in no way reflects my taste in design. Enjoy!

What do you guys listen to and when? What are your essential tracks?

Venus In Furs- Devotchka
I am really digging this band right now, check them out on the “Little Miss Sunshine” soundtrack as well. I like to start my day with them.

Gossip Folks- Missy Elliott (Featuring my boy Luda)
Because we are from the VA-Represent.

Heaven is a Place On Earth- Belinda Carlisle
One of the first Videos I remember seeing on MTV

Green Onions- Booker T. & The MG’s
This song is the epitome of cool. This song is the Bad-Ass Anthem

Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That- Robert Randolph and the Family Band
Because my boy can get down on the slide guitar.

Janis Joplin- Combination of the Two
There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think… “Janis Joplin, now that is a Bitch’n Bad-Ass”. This is a great early tune.

Betterman-John Butler Trio
Because John Butler is pretty freaking hot.

Bears- Lyle Lovett
…but Lyle Lovett is hotter. You think I am joking? See this guy live with his Large Band and try and disagree. Best live show hands down.

Time Bomb- Rancid
Brings back the good ole days.

Steppin’ Out with My Baby- Tony Bennett
For an old dude this guy can still get down. Also a fantastic live performer.

Say it Ain’t So- Weezer
Was the official band of the store back when I used to work at Capitol Mac in Richmond. Back before there were Apple Stores.

Designers can make a difference in helping the environment. Perhaps it is suggesting recycled papers to your clients, or encouraging the members of your studio to drink from reusable mugs instead of Styrofoam cups (thanks to Sara in our office). Some solutions are common sense and easy implementations, others take some planning. But the good news is there is a lot of help out there to get you started.

According to Re-Nourish.com sustainability is:

a systemic concept. It relates to the relationships between economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human existence. It organizes decisions to allow for current economic needs to be met while preserving biodiversities and ecosystems to maintain the same quality of life for future generations. Sustainability calls for humans (as civic creatures):

1. Respect and care for the community
2. Improve the quality of life
3. Conserve Earth’s vitality and diversity
4. Minimize the depletion of non-renewable resources Change personal attitudes and practices to keep within the planet’s carrying capacity

Some great advice from Re-Nourish.com is to “Design for the Death of your Piece”…

As opposed to designing strictly in a linear fashion (cradle to grave), keep in mind how your piece will be used when its past its useful life. Consider the “death” of your piece in the initial design process. This concept is explained more in depth in the “cradle to cradle” method conceived by William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their book “Cradle to Cradle: Rethinking the Way We Make Things.”
Here are the basic principles of Natural Systems Design:

1. Ask more “why” questions. “Why is this project necessary?”,” Why are we doing it this way?” etc.
2. Ask more “what if” questions.” What if we did this?”,” What if we minimized effort here and exerted more here?” etc.
3. Ask more “how” questions. “How is this piece going to impact the world while in production and after? “,”How can I minimize these impacts?” etc.
4. Minimize and simplify your design
5. Design for cycles (reuse, remanufacture)
6. Design for durability not obsolescence
7. Choose vendors that use renewable energy
8. Optimize your process, reduce your print waste, make sure its non-toxic
9. Support sustainable forestry, choose post-consumer waste (PCW) paper, FSC certified vendors
10. Rely on other designers, and vendors as a community of support
11. Communicate openly to your client about any concerns and help educate each other on the impacts of the project

Other sites dedicated to empowering designers for environmental change:

Design Can Change
Provides tips on producing more sustainable design and resources, including successful projects, that help raise awareness for environmental issues

The Center For Sustainable Design
is dedicated to providing designers with a wide range of information regarding sustainable business practice. Through case studies, interviews, resources and discourse, this site will encourage and support designers as they incorporate sustainable thinking into their professional lives.

The Mighty Odo
Their mission:
1. Use our creativity to try and rekindle a connection between people and nature.
2. Help foster a new sustainable design model based on nature’s laws through education, exploration and example.