Are you a Mac or a PC?

Are you a "PC" or a "Mac"? Chevy or Ford? Canucks or Rangers?

It will tell a person a lot about you.

In this world we are constantly inundated with information from blogs and RSS feeds and regular websites (oh yeah, our TV with the tickers, radio with the news updates and so on). It would be safe to say we are exposed to TOO much information to reasonably sift through it all and determine the priceless from the worthless.

How do you make your decisions, how do you determine what is the right fit for you with technology? There are different platforms and different operating systems, different versions of different software from different vendors -- it can be pretty overwhelming.

We just went to Adobe's CS3 launch event in Vancouver yesterday where this was readily apparent. Mac and PC users all asking platform relevent questions, did they need the Creative Suite Standard or Pro or the Master Collection? Would it be best to move to Leopard? Should they resist upgrading to Vista?

It all comes down to enthusiasm, customer experience and at the end of the day, you make those decisions the same way you did in High School -- just what are your friends doing?

The funny thing about technology (like most things) is that when you find that thing that solves your issues, it is relieving and exciting and you have a tendency to climb to the top of the hill and shout it to anyone who will listen.

As a technical solution provider that specializes in an array of custom services, we have the benefit of working with a number of technologies and that usually allows us to pick the one that we love the most (sometimes the one we hate the least). Occasionally we will choose software that has the most integrated workflow because we are working on a campaign that stretches from 2D & 3D to print to large scale signage to web and media based stills and animation.

The workflow integration tends to be a big part of a persons love of all things Mac, or CAD design through the Autodesk lifecycle of products, or working with Corel or Adobe's suites of products. It is great when the tool doesn't get in the way of your workflow!

So what technology do you love? Is it your Vectorworks? Is it your ipod? Your Blackberry? Your X-Box 360? Whatever you have become a champion of, let your love show and look for converts wherever you can -- because there are people you trust that are looking for the answers you were looking for and your passion may be as important as a technical review.

As an example, Corel Painter is one of my favourite products personally because I can do conventional artwork better and more efficiently that I can with traditional tools -- the finished work is so much better than I can do by hand anymore. I have all the conventional tools that I would have in an extremely well-stocked art studio, I can easily save various iterations, I can import/export digital images and even swap back and forth with Photoshop. Using a pressure sensitive Wacom tablet, the only thing that is missing is the ink stains on my fingers.

So when someone asks (and even if they don't), I am always going to stand up and gush about my love for Corel Painter. I only ever standup and cheer on the things I believe in -- sometimes to excess -- and not always to my financial benefit, because you can't fake the passion of evangelising your favourite technologies.

BTW: the thing I love best about Corel Painter versus inking pages by hand? It has to be "Control-Z" certainly a lot better than crumpling up art pages!

Ooops, I guess that should tell you whether I am a Mac or a PC!

Life is strange and so are we...

I have had a couple of customers and colleagues inquire why High Concept has a blog -- and even the rest of team didn't quite get why I thought it was important for us to have a regular contribution floating out here in the ether.

Each person, company and organization is going to have their own reason -- here is mine.

It used to be in my father's time and more so in his father's time that you gave your business to a person who earned it. The quality of his work would be part of the equation, his knowledge and commitment were equal parts, but it was the person he was, his integrity and friendship that would keep earning that business.

Now, here we are in this "global economy" and maybe Wal-Mart is where you go to get this doo-dad or Amazon for that book you want because the price and selection is right this time around.

We at High Concept are offering custom design services, customized training and workflow solutions designed around your customers -- in other words we need to know you and understand your business intimately to solve your problems. However, that kind of trust is not something you shouldn't just hand out to every idiot who has a copy of Photoshop.

I felt it was important that you got to know us, as a group of individuals and determine if we are kind of people you want to trust with helping you grow your business, if we are the kind of company that can communicate all the things that are important to you as you offer new services and reach new customers.


So here we are, blemishes and all -- a strange bunch, for sure, but through regular visits here you will know whether we are the kind of strange you want run from or a comfortable kind of strange that is exactly what you have been looking for...