My kitchen stadium

I don't get to do that much design anymore. I still love it but I couldn't do that and my duties as well. So, anytime I get to do a little design I relish it.

With the launch of our new site we added a flash scroller on our family page to show the upcoming events. With the volume of design that goes into that it simply wasn't an option to outsource. I was pretty reluctant to take it on as I thought it would suck away my time.

It's actually turned into one of the most fun things I do all week. I look forward to the one hour I set aside on Wednesday to do them.

That's right, one hour. That's the fun. I've turned this into a challenge. On average we have three new images a week. That means I get 20 minutes to concept, find imagery, design and test per image. 

It's actually opened up a whole new style of design for me. Here are my design criteria:

1. It has to be simple. I have to do this in 20 minutes, so the concept has to be simple for me to do.
2. It has to be simple. Deja vu. The image is only up for 5 seconds, so it has to be easy for the viewer as well.
3. It can't get stale. Again I do three a week. The tendency to create a white background, simple image, and text is too easy. I force myself to try and keep it fresh. Every week I watch the whole thing to make sure they don't look alike.
4. They have to match what our graphic style is for the web. Simple, clean, interesting, and contemporary.
5. I really wanted five points.... They have to be fun for me. Again this is my relished time of the week. If I hate what I'm doing, I need to stop.

See, it's just an opportunity to choose your attitude. When this got added to my plate I thought, it's just too much. This could have become a begrudging, belabored part of my week. Instead it's become one of my favorite challenges.

What part of your job or life could you turn into a challenge and enjoy more? I've even found cleaning can be more fun when we put a time limit on it and then add a reward. What can I say, I'm a simple creature.