Skip to main content

Articles By:

Chris Cashdollar

  1. Cognition Roundtable

    Posted on 8/28/14

    We’re bringing you this special edition of Cognition Roundtable, where Assistant PM Mica McPheeters speaks with our VP of Design Chris Cashdollar about the client’s role in design projects. Spend the next half hour with Chris, as he pulls inspiration from his upcoming presentation at HOW Interactive Design Conference in Washington, DC—“Reevaluating the Role of Your Client in the Design Process.” Specifically, he’ll cover:

  2. Presenting Design with Confidence

    Posted on 6/19/14

    When it comes to conducting a well-orchestrated design presentation, having prior presentation experience is a false measuring stick for success. Preparedness, not experience, actually breeds the confidence needed.

    “Are you ready?” Klaus asked finally.
    “No,” Sunny answered.
    “Me neither,” Violet said, “but if we wait until we’re ready we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives, Let’s go.”
    – Lemony Snicket, The Ersatz Elevator

    Like Violet states, you can’t wait for the perfect moment or the deserving job title to feel comfortable presenting work to clients. To help nudge you out of the nest, I’ve culled these personal tips for anyone who has to stand up in front of an audience and talk about design fluently and with confidence.

  3. Avoiding #RWD Limbo

    Posted on 4/10/14

    Almost four years ago, I wrote a Cognition post about my Rule of Threes. In it, I explained that pushing a design effort far enough often resulted in stronger, better-conceived, and more thoroughly vetted solutions. If you didn’t read the article, let me give you a quick recap:

    At the conclusion of the information architecture phase, multiple designers worked in unison to evolve three unique design concepts. Each effort was aimed at different, but agreed upon goals. By varying art direction, user-interface interpretation, and content prioritization, the Rule stressed designing a “range” of static mock-up solutions to present to a client. Whichever concept garnered the most attention became the “base model” that was iterated on and drove the overall look and feel moving forward.

  4. Better Stakeholder Interviews

    Posted on 5/9/13

    Remember the childhood game of “Telephone”? One person whispers a message into the ear of their friend, and that action is repeated until everyone in attendance has heard and relayed the statement. The last person blurts out to the group what they heard, and, usually, laughter ensues.

    Everyone understands why this happens. Translation and less-than-pristine reinterpretation damage the fidelity of the message. There is no copy-and-paste equivalent for verbal storytelling. A photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy of an image will always render that image indistinguishable from the original.

  5. Anatomy of an Illustration

    Posted on 11/8/12

    Time flies by. Cognition recently crossed its one-hundred-article threshold. While there is nothing particularly newsworthy about this milestone, the interesting fact is that numerous hands cooperate each week to birth a new post. One unique part of this behind-the-scenes magic is the weekly pairing of our author with an in-house illustrator. Editorial illustration, when done well, helps to bring the essence of the article to life via a single, compelling image.

  6. Before You Hit Send: A Few Honest Tips for Job Seeking Designers

    Posted on 6/28/12

    Hiring a new designer is exciting. The hiring process is not. As someone who has recently been on the receving end of hundreds of applications, I’m noticing a few alarming trends. New graduate or seasoned veteran, it doesn’t seem to matter.

  7. Dear Branding Agencies,

    Posted on 3/1/12

    You’ve crafted the “big picture” view. The client loves the new branding direction; they can practically smell the future you’ve unveiled for them. Now it’s time to get to work. That means you likely have a bazillion different projects in play to bring this new brand to life: identity packages, brochures of all shapes and sizes, tickets, annual reports, bus wraps, on-site signage, and, yes, the website.

  8. Escape the Fear Factory

    Posted on 9/29/11

    With my Pittsburgh roots comes a 30+ year fandom of the NHL hockey team the Pittsburgh Penguins. But one of my favorite Pens memories didn’t happen during a game; it was actually a text message. A message sent by owner and legendary player, Mario Lemieux, to the team and coaches before decisive game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup finals.

  9. The Secret Ingredient

    Posted on 6/2/11

    Variety is a blessing. Here at Happy Cog, each and every design project is radically different. Show me the day when any two client design challenges are exactly the same and I’ll turn in my font library, ergonomic chair, and scribble-filled Field Notes. Retirement at 34? Sounds good. Now, where’s my fishing pole…

  10. Watch Your Language

    Posted on 2/10/11

    He invoked a sense of dread every Monday and Wednesday from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. At the age of 18, “color theory” wasn’t something I necessarily “got.” Yet the facts were unavoidable. The class was mandatory. All design majors had to take it and endure it. And almost all of us were clueless in the art of discussing design. We were at the mercy of the scariest design professor this side of the Bauhaus, Keith Newhouse.

  11. The Magic Number

    Posted on 10/28/10

    At the age of three I decided that three was the best number. This was based on sound science: my toddler-brain resolved that being 3 was the best age. This infatuation has stuck around for years, and now taken root in my design methodology. Ever since my first creative director demanded three different concepts, I’ve always subscribed to the Rule of Three (3): it’s my de facto way to structure process and unveil work to clients. Want Happy Cog to design your website? You’ll probably get three different solutions to choose from.

  1. Headshot of Rawle Anders Rawle Anders Browse all of Rawle’s articles »
  2. Headshot of Amanda Buck Amanda Buck Browse all of Amanda’s articles »
  3. Headshot of Sarah Carr Sarah Carr Browse all of Sarah’s articles »
  4. Headshot of Ben Carr Ben Carr Browse all of Ben’s articles »
  5. Headshot of Chris Cashdollar Chris Cashdollar Browse all of Chris’s articles »
  6. Headshot of Stephen Caver Stephen Caver Browse all of Stephen’s articles »
  7. Headshot of Anthony Colangelo Anthony Colangelo Browse all of Anthony’s articles »
  8. Headshot of Kyle Cotter Kyle Cotter Browse all of Kyle’s articles »
  9. Headshot of Courtney & Chelsea Courtney & Chelsea Courtney & Chelsea Courtney & Chelsea Browse all of Courtney & Chelsea’s articles »
  10. Headshot of Taylor Daughtry Taylor Daughtry Browse all of Taylor’s articles »
  11. Headshot of Dan Delauro Dan Delauro Browse all of Dan’s articles »
  12. Headshot of Dave DeRuchie Dave DeRuchie Browse all of Dave’s articles »
  13. Headshot of Jason Dziak Jason Dziak Browse all of Jason’s articles »
  14. Headshot of Cat Farman Cat Farman Browse all of Cat’s articles »
  15. Headshot of Abby Fretz Abby Fretz Browse all of Abby’s articles »
  16. Headshot of Helenita Frounfelkner Helenita Frounfelkner Browse all of Helenita’s articles »
  17. Headshot of Jeremy Gimbel Jeremy Gimbel Browse all of Jeremy’s articles »
  18. Headshot of Lee Goldberg Lee Goldberg Browse all of Lee’s articles »
  19. Headshot of Brett Harned Brett Harned Browse all of Brett’s articles »
  20. Headshot of Lauren Harris Lauren Harris Browse all of Lauren’s articles »
  21. Headshot of Alison Harshbarger Alison Harshbarger Browse all of Alison’s articles »
  22. Headshot of Brenna Heaps Brenna Heaps Browse all of Brenna’s articles »
  23. Headshot of Stuart Henry Stuart Henry Browse all of Stuart’s articles »
  24. Headshot of Sam Hernandez Sam Hernandez Browse all of Sam’s articles »
  25. Headshot of Katie High Katie High Browse all of Katie’s articles »
  26. Headshot of Kevin Hoffman Kevin Hoffman Browse all of Kevin’s articles »
  27. Headshot of Greg Hoy Greg Hoy Browse all of Greg’s articles »
  28. Headshot of Mark Huot Mark Huot Browse all of Mark’s articles »
  29. Headshot of Ryan Irelan Ryan Irelan Browse all of Ryan’s articles »
  30. Headshot of Jessica Ivins Jessica Ivins Browse all of Jessica’s articles »
  31. Headshot of Michael Johnson Michael Johnson Browse all of Michael’s articles »
  32. Headshot of Robert Jolly Robert Jolly Browse all of Robert’s articles »
  33. Headshot of Andrew Kaslick Andrew Kaslick Browse all of Andrew’s articles »
  34. Headshot of Alex Kendrick Alex Kendrick Browse all of Alex’s articles »
  35. Headshot of Keyboard Man Keyboard Man Keyboard Man Keyboard Man Browse all of Keyboard Man’s articles »
  36. Headshot of Saima Khan Saima Khan Browse all of Saima’s articles »
  37. Headshot of Katie Kovalcin Katie Kovalcin Browse all of Katie’s articles »
  38. Headshot of Kate Lechleiter Kate Lechleiter Browse all of Kate’s articles »
  39. Headshot of Alyse Lorber Alyse Lorber Browse all of Alyse’s articles »
  40. Headshot of Jenn Lukas Jenn Lukas Browse all of Jenn’s articles »
  41. Headshot of Sue Malomo Sue Malomo Browse all of Sue’s articles »
  42. Headshot of Patrick Marsceill Patrick Marsceill Browse all of Patrick’s articles »
  43. Headshot of Maria Martinez Maria Martinez Browse all of Maria’s articles »
  44. Headshot of Rob McFadden Rob McFadden Browse all of Rob’s articles »
  45. Headshot of Mica McPheeters Mica McPheeters Browse all of Mica’s articles »
  46. Headshot of Tom McQuaid Tom McQuaid Browse all of Tom’s articles »
  47. Headshot of Rene Merino Rene Merino Browse all of Rene’s articles »
  48. Headshot of Leigh Nash Leigh Nash Browse all of Leigh’s articles »
  49. Headshot of Amelia Pardieu Amelia Pardieu Browse all of Amelia’s articles »
  50. Headshot of Sabrina Patrizio Sabrina Patrizio Browse all of Sabrina’s articles »
  51. Headshot of Dana Pavlichko Dana Pavlichko Browse all of Dana’s articles »
  52. Headshot of Yesenia Perez-Cruz Yesenia Perez-Cruz Browse all of Yesenia’s articles »
  53. Headshot of Paul Phan Paul Phan Browse all of Paul’s articles »
  54. Headshot of Emaan Riaz Emaan Riaz Browse all of Emaan’s articles »
  55. Headshot of Joe Rinaldi Joe Rinaldi Browse all of Joe’s articles »
  56. Headshot of Brandon Rosage Brandon Rosage Browse all of Brandon’s articles »
  57. Headshot of Dre Ryan Dre Ryan Browse all of Dre’s articles »
  58. Headshot of Courtney Sabo Courtney Sabo Browse all of Courtney’s articles »
  59. Headshot of Rob Sanchez Rob Sanchez Browse all of Rob’s articles »
  60. Headshot of Aura Seltzer Aura Seltzer Browse all of Aura’s articles »
  61. Headshot of Kevin Sharon Kevin Sharon Browse all of Kevin’s articles »
  62. Headshot of Sophie Shepherd Sophie Shepherd Browse all of Sophie’s articles »
  63. Headshot of Zach Smith Zach Smith Browse all of Zach’s articles »
  64. Headshot of Ben Smith Ben Smith Browse all of Ben’s articles »
  65. Headshot of Greg Storey Greg Storey Browse all of Greg’s articles »
  66. Headshot of Jason Studstill Jason Studstill Browse all of Jason’s articles »
  67. Headshot of Oka Tai-Lee Oka Tai-Lee Browse all of Oka’s articles »
  68. Headshot of Russ Unger Russ Unger Browse all of Russ’s articles »
  69. Headshot of Eli Van Zoeren Eli Van Zoeren Browse all of Eli’s articles »
  70. Headshot of Allison Wagner Allison Wagner Browse all of Allison’s articles »
  71. Headshot of Drew Warkentin Drew Warkentin Browse all of Drew’s articles »
  72. Headshot of Brian Warren Brian Warren Browse all of Brian’s articles »
  73. Headshot of Faith Zaki Faith Zaki Browse all of Faith’s articles »
  74. Headshot of Jeffrey Zeldman Jeffrey Zeldman Browse all of Jeffrey’s articles »