The Art of Teaching

Our company, High Concept Design & Media Services is the only Corel Training Partner in western Canada and a continuing education provider for the Architectural Institute of British Columbia.

What does that mean?

It means we position ourselves to provide technology training to our clients on the products that we specialize in using every day. It also means that we spend even more time taking training and applying that knowledge in on a daily basis.

Teaching can be difficult, no question, but it can be just as tough to be a student in a challenging classroom environment.

Everyone has their own favourite approach. I believe in a simple formula for assessing the value of training: a 20/30/50 ratio. At the end of the course, I would like to see the total time allocated as follows:

20% Telling
30% Showing
50% Doing

The instructor definitely has experience and information to impart to the students, but in my opinion nobody can learn a lot by being talked at. Knowledge is generally imparted by modeling/emulating; hence the need to show, but the real knowledge is learned by doing in an environment where it is safe, where there is someone to bail you out.

We learn from classes, online and DVD training, experimentation and even from our clients. The thing to remember when it comes to learning software, especially when you have used previous versions is that likely it still works the way you have done it before, but that does not necessarily mean it is the best practice.

Software companies invest millions of dollars on Research and Development – polling existing clients for most requested features, increasing efficiency and adding to ease of use. I often am left shaking my head when someone uses the new version of software and remarks that it is the same as when they last used it – because they can’t be bothered to investigate the power of the new tools and start applying them to their workflow.

No matter how you learn, investigate user groups, tutorials, online training or sign up for a course. You will likely realize there are powerful capabilities in the software you currently use and tasks you do every day that could unnecessarily be costing you hours.

A couple of online resources I recommend are www.lynda.com and VTC Online. They are both inexpensive and support a huge library of courses. Check out the free chapters they offer on all their courses – you could be smarter than you think you are.

Artwork - digital vs traditional

Welcome to 2008!

In reviewing my 2007 blogs I noticed a trend in my topics -- a lot of duality. Compare and contrast. Yin and yang.

Apparently, 2008 will be no different from me.

High Concept deals with a lot of architects and we get a lot of feedback about renderings -- the 2 schools, the traditional "Mike Brady" way and the high tech 3d visualization route.

We position ourselves as a 3D modelling company and there is a level of speed and accuracy that comes with that approach, no question about it.

However, a hand rendered piece presented on a nice watercolour paper has a sense of magic to it -- the soft lines and vague shapes invite the potential tenant to bring his or her imagination and dreams to the table to fill out the image.

As a company we are playing with ways to bring both to the table. I have mentioned in a previous blog, that Corel Painter has become my software of choice.

I miss the feel of paper under my fingers, the ink building up on my caloused hand and all those old smells that go with my well-used tools.

...but, I don't miss throwing away ruined art pages! I love how easy it is to experiment and simply "undo" or throw a layer away if it didn't take me closer to my destination.

So, I guess I am going with the best of both worlds -- I put a sheet of paper down on my Intuos tablet to create some friction/resistance for my stylus and choose a product which simulates traditional media perfectly. It also Allows me to incorporate images, patterns, vector shapes, and text while painting with oils/inks/watercolours/chalk on a textured surface.

I don't use masking tape to get a smooth line anymore - click, click, click - draw a mask and paint around that detail easily!

If you like to draw or paint I suggest you check out the free 30-day trial (there is one for both PC and Mac) -- you'll love it (and understand why I rave about it)!

Then when you are asked, digital or traditional -- you can choose both.

Get the trial: http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/ca/en/Product/1166553886612

The 2 secrets to creating anything

During my time working in the comic book industry I had many people, particularly students, approach me discussing their desire to be published.

I was fortunate enough to be published as a writer, an artist, and a production artist more than 75 times for 11 publishers. I learned a lot of lessons during that time, many of them the hard way and most of them painful.

It became difficult to talk about it to those youthful creators with desire and passion in their hearts. They were no more interested in the politics, the games, and the betrayal than I was when I was in their position. When it comes to bringing life to your imagination, whether for comics, books, movies, music or anything; it is all-consuming and you are willing to do most anything to make it happen.

So what does it take to be a successful creator?

With experience and hindsight, I have learned to answer that question with two references:

Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead and Tim Burton’s Ed Wood

These two films (and more accurately, the book, in the case of The Fountainhead) represent the duality required to be a successful and fulfilled creator regardless of your craft.

The Fountainhead shows the importance of being committed to the integrity of your design without compromise – to realize that people will want to put their fingerprints on your work and try to use it to speak with their voice – even if the whole world disagrees, if you believe in the creation that you have built with your ideas, reason and efforts you need to hold fast to your ideals.

Ed Wood has a different message – that as a creator, regardless of the talent, the budget or the obstacles you must have an unbridled love and passion for the work AND the process to create – you must be true to who you are and serious about getting the work done even if the content of the work isn’t as serious.

The right mix of these two philosophies makes for a creator who will be true to their work, themselves, enjoy the journey and get the work done.

Or perhaps be a schizophrenic. You decide.

Check out links from both films below.

Awaiting the muse!

Well, here it is -- Friday, my blog day.

I have been so busy this week and as usual I have been looking out the corner of my eye waiting for inspiration to strike.

Alas, no muse...

Inspiration, is a weird thing. A doctor doesn't wait for the right mood before he performs an emergency surgery, the race car mechanic doesn't stop the car from leaving the pit until he "feels" that his work is done, hell, I don't think the guy making your Big Mac is going to hold off throwing it in the bun until he finds the PERFECT onion.

For some reason, creative work -- writing, painting, performing -- has always been presented as some magical process. I guess, I just don't buy it. I quit waiting for those pixies to show up as soon as I had my first deadline. Dreaming doesn't fill a page; knowledge, skill and hard work fill a page. Great ideas fill a page.

My buddy Mitch always used to say (and I paraphrase here): "If I practiced operating on the human brain as many hours as I have drawn I would be a hell of a brain surgeon."

In other words, in the daydreams we grasp at ideas and find our voices, but it is in the act of our design, our craft that we produce results. The more we do it the better we get.

An architect, for instance, is likely to wake in the night with a great idea, or be inspired by some great building she saw on vacation -- but it is unlikely that it is the specific design that suits the purpose of a building she is currently designing. Like most professional creators, she is likely to make some sketches, take some notes, do some research, rework it and then put it away in a drawer somewhere always waiting for the perfect fit to come along. And when that chance comes to make the idea into reality -- she will do it for a purpose and likely for a fee.

So when the blank page is too white, the piano is too loud or none of the colours are mixing right, you need to shut off that whimsical right side of your brain for a few minutes and let your reason and experience show you the way.

Of course, I could be wrong -- perhaps writing without a muse you will end up putting out something like this blog. If so, remember the advice was free -- and we usually get what we pay for!

Why life is like a game!

Anyone who knows me knows what a hockey fanatic I am. I love the game even though I only started to completely understand it as an adult.

I try not to do it too often -- use sports analogies in day to day life -- but as I watch my local team (the Canucks) fumbling out of the gate I recognize a series of issues that parallel a new business getting out of the gate. (Now don't worry, I am not going to say you need to give 110% and there is no "i" in team... I have other cliches I can use!)

Last year, the Vancouver Canucks assembled a brand new team (essentially), as a new General Manager in just his second year, Dave Nonis, decided to re-brand the team, removing an exciting but not always effective offense-first style with a new coach, one of the best goalies in the game and a defense-first lunch bucket style of play.

The start of their season was suspect at best. The group of individuals sought to find their role in the new team, to understand their methodologies and to find an identity as an organization. They struggled through the first few months of the season... but you could see that even though the wins weren't coming initially that they weren't far off.

The Canucks went on to play a pair of "must win" games against their divisional opponents the Calgary Flames -- and win is what they did. Something clicked. The vision the coaching staff and management had for the team really could work if each person played their role and trusted in their teammates. The Canucks went on to win at a ridiculous clip for the rest of the season -- they set a new team record for points and ended up winning their division!

Now this year, the Canucks started slow out of the gate once again, even though they were icing essentially the same team as last year. They weren't looking like division leaders - they were looking more like basement dwellers.

So what happened?

I see this everyday with myself, my clients and my colleagues. We can often become a victim of our own success.

I have been a fortunate person, I have had some success as an artist, as a business manager and as a sales professional. I find, you often ride the momentum of these successes by getting into the right mindset, having confidence in your abilities and doing all the right things that come with the habits it takes to get wins. You get to a point where you hardly think about it at all.

The problem is when you think the future successes are going to come because they are "deserved", or simply because of what you have done in the past. In other words, you have to avoid buying your own hype.

A successful sports team, or business or artist or anyone typically follows a formula that is pretty simple to say and harder to do:

1. Have a clear vision of your goals


2. Get everyone on the same page


3. Make sure everyone understands and is committed to THEIR defined role


4. Commit to HARD WORK - from the preparation, to the drop of the puck, to the final whistle (and overtime if that is what it takes to win the game)


5. Assess performances, remember what worked and change what didn't


6. Get ready for the next game

It seems easy enough, but we all (including pro athletes) are subjected to momentary (and longer) let downs in performance, we have to ignore our "off-ice" distractions (tired, sick, family needs) and we have to be prepared to accept accountability for our actions.

When the loss column begins to get larger than the wins, we can't look affectionately to our previous performances and say it is okay -- if we want to live exceptional lives we need to look at what made us successful before and work a little smarter.

Or maybe the Canucks just suck this year? Nah, I think I'm onto something here -- I will just wait by the phone for Dave Nonis to call...

Dan