Today’s guest post is a special piece from Jeff Archibald – a graphic designer hailing from the Great White North – Canada. When he’s not building igloos, fighting polar bears or writing tongue-in-cheek articles about failing at design, he runs a modestly popular design blog over at Paper Leaf Design.

This is it. You’ve worked many long, hard hours developing your Pen tool skills in Illustrator to the point you could probably add “Pen Tool Ninja” to your business card. You’ve learned so much about graphic design that your head is bigger than Rush Limbaugh’s waistline. You know so much about web design that you pretty much invented the Internet. Now’s the time.

You’re starting your own design business.

Running your own design business is part awesome, part OHGODWHATHAVEIDONE. You’ll find tons of How to articles online, dealing with how to be a successful designer slash businessman. But where can you find an article on how to fail at your design business? Right here, readers. Read on for step 1.

Suck at design

Step one to failing at running your own design business is to be terrible at design. Use Comic Sans. Have a cute mouse follow the cursor on websites you build. Why use a subtle gradient when you can use a yellow-to-purple gradient, plus embossing, drop shadows and letterpress technique? Be careful though; you can learn to NOT suck if you listen to your peers and seek out constructive criticism on your designs. Avoid this at all costs.

Lesson: be good at what you do, and seek feedback to keep getting better.

Do everything yourself

If you want to fail at your design business, then you should do everything yourself. I’m talking about developing a marketing plan; doing all the accounting; sales; project management; web design; print design; content-management-implementation; identity design and more. Yup – if you do everything yourself, not only will you fail spectacularly – you will probably be bald and malnourished by the time you get to the point of fail.

Lesson: learn to let go. Hire or subcontract to people you trust, and give them the power to make decisions.

Deadlines are for losers

You know what sucks? Conan O’Brien getting the boot from the Tonight Show. You know what else sucks? Deadlines.

Deadlines totally hinder the creative process by making you work efficiently and in a focused manner. Plus, deadlines mean that you actually have to get your work to your client at a pre-determined date so the project can move forward. Such rigid structure in a creative field? No thanks. Plus, your clients actually don’t want you to hit their deadlines. By missing their deadlines, you’re essentially saying to them “You can’t hold me down. I’m a creative REBEL – like a deadly combo of James Dean and David Carson”. Clients find this sexy and will totally call you the next time a project comes up.

Lesson: learn to work with, respect, and hit both yours and your clients’ deadlines.

Tread design like art, not business

The phrase “design business” is sort of an oxymoron, because design is art, like everyone knows. It’s sort of like saying “check out my wicked angel tattoo” – we all know angels aren’t wicked except in that new Legion movie (which totally looks great and definitely not like the worst movie of all time).

I digress. Make sure your clients know that design is art, and if they don’t like your proposed design concepts, it’s because “they just don’t get your art”. As well, a surefire way to effectively gain new clients is to speak YOUR language (art) and not theirs (business). For example, if you’re trying to land a new web design job, be sure to talk about very specific art principles and theories in order to impress them. Avoid, at all costs, talking about how the website you can build for them will increase sales/their bottom line/conversions/anything  measurable. Your clients are business people, and business people hate measurable results.

Lesson: if you’re starting a design business, recognize it is a business and treat it like such. Learn the language and best practices of business and combine that with your creative skills to be successful.

Remove ‘No’ from your vocabulary

If you want to your design business to fail, always say “Yes”. No matter what the deadline is; no matter what the budget is; no matter what else you have on your plate – always say yes. This will ensure failure just like signing Michael Bay on to direct your film will ensure lots of explosions (and deep, thought-provoking dialogue).

The problem with saying “No” is that you end up being selective with your clients and taking on projects that suit your style and goals. Since we’re talking about failure here, we need to say “Yes” to everything – that $50 logo design job that needs to be done tomorrow, that $200 web design job proposed by that guy whose belt is made up of the bones of past designers – everything. So make a rule and hang it in Comic Sans above your workstation: “No is not in our vocabulary”.

Lesson: sometimes it’s tough, but you have to learn to be able to say no in order to succeed. Not every job is ideal, and not every client is a great match. Learn to see the good ones in advance, and know your limits.

These are only a few way to fail at your design business – there are many more. What are your favorite ways to fail?

Our sister site – Inspired News – is feeding us with more than 30 design / development & social media related articles per day, meaning that we could miss quite a few! So here is the complete list of essential reads, as clicked & retweeted by the Inspired Community. To be the first one to know when these kind of stories are published, be sure to Check out Inspired News and folow us on Twitter.

40 Creative and Funny Advertisements Using Animals

100 Years of Movie Title Stills

Avoid Design Burn-out by Limiting Client Revisions

50 Free UI and Web Design Wireframing Kits, Resources and Source Files

Freebie Friday – Download the Social Eyesores Icon Pack

Astronaut Tweets Beautiful Earth Images From Space

The Art And Science Of The Email Signature

A Collection and Resource Motherload of Textures and Patterns

The Hidden Art of Camouflage Photography

13 Big Bold Light on Dark Designs

We’re starting the 2010 series of Freebie Friday giveaways with the most creative social icon pack you’ll ever come across on the Interwebs! The author is Xavier Gallego Moya, the Barcelona based artist who created the Eyesores world! And while you’re at it, check out the first Inspired Release – The Social Bird Icon Set

The Icon Pack

The Eyesores

When they’re not offered as the coolest icon pack in the hood (Download here), the Eyesores are unique, creative and funny characters that live inside a popular Facebook application with over 740,000 users. They are virtual gifts, ready to be sent around the world to places as far flung as Indonesia, Colombia and the USA. Each Eyesore carries a quirky message and the unique hand-drawn style of Xavier, making the Eyesores application one of the most loved virtual gift platforms on Facebook.

We’re trying to keep you inspired on all levels, so here’s this week post with 10 creative iPhone & iPod Touch apps. This time we’re featuring some collectable and limited edition apps. As your at it be sure to check out The Coolest iPhone Games You Should Own No Matter What & 8 Amazing Musical iPhone Apps You Should Definitely Touch

Parra Plays | Details | Download

Boost 3D | Details | Download

Dot | Details | Download

Satromizer | Details | Download

..™ | Details | Download

Sound Shaker | Details | Download

Itotooshi | Details | Download

JellyDrift | Details | Download

…™ | Details | Download

Graffiti Analysis | Details | Download

So, what’s your favorite? And do you have other suggestions?

This is a guest post by Dave Thackeray – a copywriter, podcaster & communicator specialising in technology and travel. He blogs daily at DaveThackeray.com and started the year with a bold promise – to write 10 things every day about ‘10. He’s only missed eight days so far, because he forgot to start until January 8. Humour him as he explains how designers can be great writers too.

I love burgers, and you’re the tapas kind.
I’m all about the words, you’re a picturephile.
You say no – and I say go, go go!

In many ways we may be like night and day, you designers and us writers, but while you design with tablets or paint and we hone our craft by dancing with Miss QWERTY, there comes a time where our paths cross.

Words, designed.

You see, we need each other. We’re like Thelma and Louise, and unless we figure out the vaguaries of each other’s job we’re headed for that cliff face faster than a lightning strike.

But let’s be accurate, here (and this is of course skewed ever-so-slightly because I have a writer’s point of view): It’s a whole heap easier to become a competent writer as a designer, than a competent designer as a writer.

Trust me on this. I’ve coached hundreds of people how to write for the web, and by and large a few short sessions have transformed their efforts. These people come from all walks of life – librarians to butchers, schoolchildren to double-glazing salespeople.

Try and show someone like me, however, how to visualise and create an effective brand identity, and you’d be laughing maniacally before the end of hour 1.

It just can’t be done – I defy anyone to transform me into at least a competent artist without a few trips to the nearest sanatorium along the (failed) path.

Designers and writers work together cosily because each knows the other’s limitations – and strengths. But there comes a time when we have to do a bit of the other.

You, Mr Illustrator Champion 2010, already have an eye for a great design. And the great surprise is that thinking to write is very similar to the thinking process involved in masterminding a dazzing design.

We both follow a five-step plan:

1. Consider the objective.

In scribing stories, articles or marketing messages, we start with a rough idea of where we want to end up. The goal – whether it’s to sell more, change someone’s mind, or simply announce a product change.

In design: You conceptualize; trace.
In writing: You use the ‘rugby’ analogy – four Ws and one H, that represent five rugby guys (W) sat on the goalposts (H, just bear with me on this one):

Who
Why
When
Where
What
How

Let’s rock in reverse order, since you designers love irony:

How did you start?
How did it happen?
How did I come up with this crazy design?

And of course, to kick things off in convivial fashion:

How are you?

Next:

What is it?
What possessed you?
What’s next?

Where did you get the idea?
Where does it hurt?
Where did you last see your mother?
Where can I buy it?
Where are your customers located?

When will it be available?
When did you last see a doctor?
When did you begin the project?
When did it all start to make sense?
When did you get the funding?

Why will people want it?
Why did you invent it?
Why did you leave the back door open, anyway?
Why did you put that, there?
Why didn’t you wear the mohair sweater?

Who can I talk to for more information?
Who started this whole thing off?
Who let the dogs out?

Once you’ve asked all the leading questions – of yourself, a client, or whoever it takes to make your mind wobble – it’s time to take it to the bridge.

The bridge of creativity.

2. Get some inspiration.

As designers, visual stimulation takes many forms. Mood boards, gallery shows, other people’s work. Would it surprise you that us writers dig that stuff, too? Eye candy is one of the most important ways of motivating and inspiring us to grab a pen and give it a whirl across a page.

In design: You pick up the airbrush, of the virtual or physical kind.
In writing: You think of a great introductory paragraph that sums up the work. 28 words or less is the golden rule.

Words inspire in mysterious ways.

Obviously the ideas can flow from anything – again, this is a similarity between the two camps. I must admit while I don’t practice plagiarism I do find haven in the scribblings of other writers. I hang out with them, we share ideas, and people like Kelly Diels (penwoman of the amazing, and completely safe for work, Cleavage blog) can not only inspire, but totally change your mindset on a theme.

If you struggle to write clearly and concisely, you might be missing the message altogether. Revert to your core objective and what it is you’re trying to say. Take five, pick up a magazine you’ve never seen before, go read a blog. Sites like Inspired Magazine offer superb examples of how designers find themselves doing the job of a writer – and doing it well.

Once you have your introduction, the rest will flow. It’s natural. Every design you create tells a story. Imagine having to describe one of your colourful creations. You start with the BAM! and then move through the elements to build up a picture in words of your picture in Paint.

You want to know the most effective way to become a grandmaster of grammar and wizard of words? Start your own blog. It’s drop-dead simple – head over to WordPress.com, create your own home on the web and just flood your monitor with whatever pours from your mind. About your job, about your latest project, about anything that you don’t mind sharing with other people.

I started writing with – gasp – a pencil. One with graphite peeping out the end. But now we’re all environmentally friendly (right?!) it makes sense to get everything down in pixels rather than pages. One week, one month down the line you’ll look back and see how your writing has evolved. The results will, I guarantee, be nothing short of spectacular.

The key to becoming a great writer, and becoming comfortable with your ability, is repetition and tenacity. While I don’t expect you’ll need 10,000 hours to master writing, you certainly need to start now.

3. Get some constructive feedback.

This is a vital element of any project, and you’ll know exactly where I come from.

In design: Client review
In writing: Editor tears up your copy and insists on a total rewrite (speaking purely from personal experience).

The best feedback of all comes from an impartial source. Don’t ask your designer friends – they’ll either say only good things which are of no use at all, or mock/ridicule you for jumping the fence to the ‘other side’. Don’t ask the client: they’ll think you don’t know your job. Clients want to be bossed, it’s a fact. They love authority. Having been both agent and client side I abhor anything approximating insecurity, as do my associates. And sometimes queries on style and content – however innocuous they may seem – masquerade as exactly that.

So get feedback from people who you wouldn’t normally chat with. The receptionist. The guy who serves your coffee in the mornings. Someone who is linked to the target of your writing, but indirectly. Collect up all the ideas, sit down with a refreshing beer, and take in those amends.

4. Edit, edit, edit.

So you have something in the ballpark of ‘finished’ on your desk. But it isn’t finished, because the second most important part of the task is ahead. You might have a piece of work on your hands, but it needs tending with both care and a hacksaw.
In design: The final flourish, the swoosh on the serif, the framing of the photo.
In writing: Time for the chop. For all the right reasons, especially your reader and their short attention span.

It’s a delicate balance, is this editing lark. On the one hand, you could probably lose most of it and still have a lucid and energetic piece of writing. Alternatively, you need to know your audience: any technical complexity in a report for youngsters and you’ll lose them at the first furlong.

In writing you have to think about each piece of work as an upturned pyramid. You get all the facts in at the top – that’s your first few sentences – and then gradually you flesh them out. The thinking behind this is that sub-editors, often called ‘dozy monkeys’ by their journalist acquaintances, can then reduce the word count by lopping the end off stories. It’s not a terribly sophisticated way to work with quality writing but you’d be staggered how many practice this dark art. But try it with your own stuff – and see how easy it is to halve the length of your work without compromising on the quality.

5. The rewards.

In design and writing: The paycheque. Congrats – you’ve earned it.

So – we’re not really that different after all, are we? Now get practicing and tell us about your writer’s block in the box below…

Today’s guest star is Jacques van Heerden – a freelance digital artist from South Africa who works under the creative identity An1ken. He runs Creativeoverflow – a fresh design blog for anything creative. You should definitely connect with him on Twitter @an1ken.

Creative Blocks are quite common in the industry that we work in especially amongst very busy designers. I can say that it is truly one of the most depressing feelings you can experience as a designer. The usual reason for obtaining such a evil thing is when a designer starts comparing his/her work against someone better than him/her. There are multiple reasons that a creative block can occur, but that is solely the main cause.

We aren’t here to debate about how and how not to get hold of a Creative Block. We are here to enrich your memory with some tips to avoid the hazard. Being a designer myself I have had the problem numerous times in the beginning, after following up and using these tips I haven’t had a Creative Block in more than a year. Let’s get straight tot the tips.

1. Doodle in Your Sketchbook

Graphic Designers always sketch up some ideas or concepts when starting on new projects. I know I do and I have been sketching and drawing since I was little and you might have too. Drawing takes your mind off things and gets your creative juices flowing, you will be surprised how quickly ideas come back to you just from doodling in a little book.

2. Visit Inspirational Galleries on the Web

Looking through designs that were created by other people is usually a great inspiration too. People around the world has gone about setting up Inspirational Galleries for us to visit and view masses of art on the same website, saving us time and effort. I recommend visiting Inspirational Design Galleries as a hobby day to day too, keeping you up to date with the design trends. Read more on 10 Niche Social Networks to Get Your Design Creativity On

3. Take a Walk

Get out of your office, sitting all day is just going to make you look at the same things over and over again which definitely isn’t going to benefit you. Go outside and take the dog for a walk or just go for a walk by yourself. The fresh air and seamless nature around you might drive some new inspiration into you.

4. Search for New Fonts

You will be surprised by how much inspiration you can draw from a few simple curves. It freshens up your thinking patterns and gets your mind fixed on the things that you have to do. Fonts aren’t only used for saying something, they are also used to create something. Read more on 20 Websites for Font, Letter and Symbol enthusiasts

5. Stop Doubting Yourself

Self doubt is a huge thing to overcome a a person, every person faces it sometime or another.When the time comes and you break free from the emotional stumble block a whole new world opens up. Like I said earlier don’t compare yourself to other people, take a stand and believe in yourself, you will accomplish a lot.

6. Get Away For a Day or Two

Sitting in front of the computer days at a time isn’t good at all. My advice is to go away with friends or family for a day or two, the change of scenery will change your thinking patterns and a few ideas might spring up in the process. Keeping a balanced lifestyle is very important in the work that we do, working out is essential.

7. Take your work to the nearest Coffee Shop

Working amongst a busy environment can be very beneficial, especially if you have to come up with new concepts and ideas. The reason is that nothing stays the same, it keeps constantly changing and therefore your thinking changes. You won’t understand the difference until you have experienced it yourself. Try it.

8. Go out with some friends

A night on the town with some friends can bring across some inspiration as well. Having fun and taking your mind off work lets you relax and have fun and not think about your clients.

9. Listen to some Music

Try changing your usual music taste to something different that you don’t always listen to. It broadens your spectrum of thinking and moving by inputting some new sounds and words. A lot of inspiration can be drawn from a simple song. Read more on 20 Fantastic Ways to Find New Music that You Like

10. Follow Some Tutorials

You might think that you don’t want to follow tutorials because you want to come up with your own work, but learning new techniques is the only way to improve your skills and creativity. Following tutorials is a very good base to start off with, because you can add your personal touch to the image you are working on.

Your turn now guys, any tips you feel like sharing?

Guest post by Kevin Vertommen – a 22 years old student living in Belgium in his last year of school, hoping to find a marketing-related job soon. Besides his real-life hobbies, Kevin recently started blogging about design resources and inspiration. So drop in and say hi at Theroxor.com or @theroxor

I’ve been roaming the web in order to find some fresh & interesting photo manipulations, mostly from Behance & Deviant art. Enjoy and please suggest others in teh comments.

Marco Escobedo – Disintegration

Peter Jaworowski – Selfreflect

Krzysztof Olak – Escape

Videa – Heart of a Dragon

Fatkurro Khim – Feel My Greatest Temptation Series

Alexandres Zewinski – Intrinsic Nature

Elena Savitskaya – Flyer

Matheus – Jump to the Future

Zerj19 – Eterna

Hansomoto – Electric Bird

Alberto Seveso – Kelly Slater

Craig Shields – Transform Your Doodles

Aura – Doodle

Alberto Seveso – Grazia, Graziella e Grazie al Cazzo

Reset Blue – Kick Up

Myaki Ru – Cartoonoportation

FreshIsrael – Soul of the City

Script0s – Incredible 2.0

D4m – React

Espador – My Chaos

We’re almost there ppl – we’re almost one year old! I actually can’t believe this – it’s been an absolutely fantastic year for Inspired Mag, but we’ll talk about that in a future post. Now I’ll walk you trough some changes, updates and future plans you should be really excited about because we’re bringing much more to the table. Please take a seat!

Social Sharing Bar

First of all, I want to introduce you the new social thingy we’re very proud of – a nice sharing bar you can easily spot on the left (thx Mike). So if you like our posts, we’d buy you a beer we’d be very grateful if you’ll click on the bar and share our articles with your friends (or enemies). Now we have sharing options for Twitter, Stumble, Digg & Facebook, plus the most relevant social news sites for the design niche – Design Bump, Design Float and The Web Blend. We also supported Design Moo but it’s been sold and right now it’s on hold. So if you think we should consider more sharing options, please let me know in the comments.

Facebook Fan Page

A few days ago we’ve launched our Facebook fan page and it’s been such a surprise to see it grow to more than 700 fans so quickly (thx Alex). Anyway, we hope our daily selected stories, news, links & videos we publish almost once an hour will be appealing enough to grow our fanbase even more. BTW, you can check here to see if you are an Inspired Fan – if you get the image above that means you’re not; so if you want a good karma you should press the Become a Fan button right away.

Inspired Publishers

We always supported new blogs in the design community by publishing a roundup every month, but starting this January we began to do more: publishing amazing guest posts from up-and-coming or established bloggers in the design community and introducing their blogs to our readers, compiling a Twitter list with the new Inspired Publishers and offering them exposure trough the widget we show in the sidebar (that means everything they write is seen by our visitors) plus whitelisting the selected blogs for our sister website Inspired News (and there’s another widget in the sidebar for that). A new creative directory it’s also on its way so if you feel you belong to the Inspired Publishers family don’t hesitate to write me an email with your blog and some guest post ideas.

Sister Websites

Inspired News – the one-stop relevant design news service – it’s been our only sister website for a while, but this is gonna change because very soon you’ll see two new websites joining the inspired network. Can’t reveal too much but I must tell you we put a lot of passion & research in these two so the results will really blow your colored socks off.

Inspired Blogging – the secrets behind running a successful design blog

And the biggest announce I’m going to make today is that we’re preparing an exclusive guide on how to get a successful design blog in a short period of time – a small ebook packed with tips, strategies and insights from the team behing Inspired Mag.

That’s it for now guys, I’d be more than happy if you’d leave some comments about our plans and about how Inspired Magazine is going, what would you like to see next on our blog, on our Facebook page, on our Twitter account and so on. Have a great 2010!

ustwo™ is a multi platform development studio based in London, UK and Malmo, Sweden – 50 strong and growing rapidly in notoriety. During 2009, the studio developed and released 16 apps including the infamous MouthOffTM, .TM (48hour series), SteppinTM, and Reebok’s iSprint.

ustwo’s apps have sold globally and have become brands in their own right. Mills is well known within the industry with his refreshingly honest and open approach being well received by developers, gamers and fans alike.

I’ve written this Mobile Appifesto™ to share some of the many lessons that we’ve learnt over the last 12 months.  In that time we’ve launched 16 apps on the iPhone platform (although much of this is applicable to all platforms) – we’ve experienced the highs and lows of iPhone app development.  This Appifesto’s intention is to help inspire some of the design focused newbies to the world of app development and I hope it sets a precedent.  It really is the only way.

Build solid foundations

Focus on creating a studio, company or tribe, (influenced by Seth Godin’s Tribes – a must read).  This will form the basis of your brand, your very own style, your USP, what you stand for and this thinking will influence what you produce and create.  Ultimately if you can create an app that users identify your handiwork in – you’re there.

Long term vs. short term

Think about longevity when it comes to your career as an app developer – it’s not about short term wins and the chances are that you won’t be one of those bedroom developer success stories that we’ve all read about – you’re probably more likely to be struck by a bolt of lightning.  But remember, lightning does strike and when it does, it burns.  Plot and build the bridges to success.  It will come to those who really want it.

Passion

Passion leads to excitement, excitement leads to action, action leads to success.  All of these are required in the game of app development – they are the necessities and bedrock to creating something special.  You have to be driven by love of what you create over chasing the pot of gold.  If you believe in what you are doing, others will want to taste the quality.

Innovation

I’m talking about design solution led, fully animated and UI focused apps that remain on iPhones and aren’t deleted in a few hours.  I’m talking quality apps that innovate and make the community proud.  Think of apps that you would want to use.  A great idea is not just unique, it actually serves a purpose.

Originality

No room for copycats in this industry – that’s for total joker pretender studios. (Twitter clients are the exception as they are all pushing one another to make a better experience for the rest of us).  Countless copycat apps are just blocking the pros pathway to success. If your idea has been copied – remember imitation is a form of admiration.  Use the frustration of seeing bad apps made by passionless developers to drive you to succeed.

Usability

All about logical, engaging and beautiful user interface design – if users like using your app they will spread the word – simple.  Bad design will mean instant deletion and bad ratings.

Sound effects

Think about sound from the very minute you start out. Sound adds an invisible physicality to button presses and motion on a touch screen. Sound immerses the user into the experience and helps to hold the attention. Without sound an app is only half the man.

Teamwork

Bring the best people to the table and work with them to help you.  As a small developer don’t be afraid to ask your network for help – they could help you in aspects of business you may not have experience in.  For example you may be the world’s best developer but know nothing about marketing – use your contacts, if you don’t have them, find them.

Build Fast

Speed is key – you must get your apps out there quickly.  Not only to beat copycats, but also to keep development costs down.  Every minute you spend on your app is quantifiable by the need to sell another app to recoup the costs.  There are 2 schools of thought when it comes to the basics of development and building your app – either develop as you go (i.e. build and test) or plan it all out first then build the structure around it.  All you need to be aware of is time is money.

Prototype

Flash is a perfect tool to build a test version of your app before getting heads down into the iPhone SDK.  It allows you to see the design, sample gameplay, test transitions, and get a feel for your app.  All about testing, testing and more testing – simple but so many apps have too many bugs when launched.

Knowledge is power

Hone your skills continually pushing the boundaries of what you know.  Read as much about your chosen area as you can and make sure you know your stuff.

Influencers

It’s going to be almost impossible to get any traction with the ‘big tech journos’ so look to build relationships with niche and growing app review sites that will one day lead the way – AppBoy, AppSmile, app.it.ize.us, 8 bit Feed, CreativeApplications, PocketGamer.biz, Razorian Fly all gave us help from day 1.

Networking

Embrace other developers as fellow comrades in the battle for survival, learn from one another and pay respect to the masters out there and let their work inspire you, BUT don’t be afraid to speak your mind, get your views out there. No man’s an island.

Marketing

Tell your story to whoever will listen – the first steps in marketing what you do.  It’s all about engaging with as many people as possible including users, potential users and influencers.  So many marketing channels to explore from working with publishers, to banner ads, creating an email campaign, creating a website or a viral video on YouTube.   Try and be as creative as possible and experiment – see what works for you and what drives downloads.

Social Media

Harness the power of social media intelligently!  This is the simplest way to build a fan base and generate interest surrounding what you do.  Get people on your side who will help spread the word.  For example someone with 1000 contacts maybe able to influence his or her contacts on your behalf.

PR

Master the basics of PR – build anticipation – tell your story and engage with your audience.  All about turning eyeballs into downloads.  Some tips – on the day your app launches write a simple press release about your app and send it out to your favourite iPhone related sites.  Should guarantee some PR coverage.  You can then build on this – more sites – a bigger audience.  List the sites that pick up your releases and give them future scoops.

Stats

Use Flurry, AppViz or similar to fine tune your approach – understand what updates have driven downloads, the importance of seasonal fluctuations in terms of sales and which marketing efforts have had a positive impact on your app.

Sell in/out

Approach big companies and organisations about the possibility of doing a branded version of your app.  Anything is possible especially if your app has achieved a moderate level of success – a branded version will give your app a new lease of life.  Big corps are always hungry for niche ideas and creativity.

Dedication

If you take a knock like with anything in life – get back up and keep trying.

Your turn

Feel free to leave other tips, opinions and questions in the comments!

Welcome to our second installment of the new filmspiration series. This time Iulia David – our new performing arts & film guest writer – reviews Sherlock Holmes, the latest movie directed by Guy Ritchie. Enjoy and share your opinions in the comments.

Trailer

Review

The final scenes of this unlucky-unhappy-yet-entertaining meeting between Sherlock Holmes & Guy Ritchie clearly suggests there will be a sequel.

Yeah, there’s always a sequel – especially when you have one of those cool clear-minded,  good-looking queer birds whose charm is so confusing that you have to clear it up in the second part. But lets’ hope Mr. Ritchie will take a break from this one!

Not just that Guy Ritchie is still very proud of his cinematic trickery, but he diminishes a great talent, who was very close to perform a splendid character, to an eccentric, almost cartoonish appearance – if still Holmes is not a caricature that’s because Downey has one of those very good artistic instincts and knows exactly how to handle the stuff. Plus: to make an action hero out of a reflective celebrity – that’s totally a miscalculation.

Our Holmes solves murder mysteries and fights stubbornly; he uses his exceptional intuition to be intense as a detective but also to draw up elaborate techniques for his physical encounters with a weird, bad, ugly giant. We know him as a genius, although an arrogant (loyal only to his friendship with Watson) who uses drugs, but still, he lives in our collective subconscious as the mind genius – why would anyone want him to fight like a bull? Wouldn’t his intellectual climaxes be exciting enough for our punch-addicted world?

The film speculates on this visual show led by Holmes and his girl (I mean, look at those CG clouds in the final battle scene on that CG Tower Bridge!) and doesn’t insist much on the construction of a truly interesting personality as Sherlock Holmes. When Conan Doyle created the character, at the end of the 19th century, Holmes was the Detective – the model of the triumphant reason and the infallible logic. All those values were promoted by the Enlightenment thinkers and found the fulfillment, among other means of entertainment, in the detective fiction. Within system, Sherlock Holmes was thus charged to re-establish the social order. He was sophisticated and eccentric because the Victorian era attached much value to strong individuals, not to conformity.

Verdict

Nowadays, Sherlock Holmes is a superficially updated copy created according to the commercial laws of success. Yup, we do need super-action-heroes, but not at any price.

Bonus

You should definitely read the new Art of the Title interview with Danny Yount of Prologue Films, the studio behind the (much more relevant) main titles of the movie.