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Communication

We’ve written 33 blog posts about Communication. View all topics »

  1. Cog 317 DP

    Fighting Stage Fright

    Headshot of Tom McQuaid

    2/2/17

    by Tom McQuaid

    In my younger days I performed quite a bit. I liked rehearsing and being on stage. I was a student teacher for an acting class. I somehow became the host of my high school talent show (footage of that has been burned). Yet despite having zero qualms about putting myself out there once my lines had been memorized, I was completely and utterly terrified of auditions. To this day, I have recurring nightmares about auditioning for a play and bombing so miserably that I feel embarrassed for hours after waking up.

  2. Cog 307 TM

    Check Your Design Taste At the Door

    Headshot of Dana Pavlichko

    10/20/16

    by Dana Pavlichko

    Rococo, sequins, Rupaul: The inner-me has a taste for over-embellishment. But as a designer, it’s important I tame this affinity towards razzle-dazzle in my work, which is rarely the best method of visual communication for the task at hand. However, checking my own taste at the door and adapting my voice can sometimes be surprisingly difficult.

  3. Cognition 296 tm

    The Truth About Facts

    Headshot of Michael Johnson

    8/12/16

    by Michael Johnson

    A significant portion of this country supports a candidate for President that I do not. By now you’ve already formed an idea of whom I’m talking about, though I’ve given no indication about my preference (unless you follow me on Twitter) and the statement is true for anyone who writes it.

  4. Cog 283 DP

    Thoughtful Communication

    Headshot of Joe Rinaldi

    4/21/16

    by Joe Rinaldi

    Comedian/actor Eddie Izzard makes an interesting point in his 2011 stand up Dress To Kill about communication. Through a (famously misunderstood) historic example of JFK’s 1963 address in Berlin, he illustrates how what you say, is often overshadowed by how you say it. The literal translation of what JFK said could have been interpreted in one of two ways. It could have been interpreted to mean he called himself a jelly doughnut. Because of the powerful way he delivered his message however, and the connection he had crafted with the Berlin crowd, they properly understood his meaning and responded enthusiastically when he declared himself a Berliner at heart.

  5. Illo 273

    Distributed yet synchronized

    Headshot of Amanda Buck

    2/18/16

    by Amanda Buck

    I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Brooklyn with four of my coworkers. An all-day client workshop was the reason for the visit but we also squeezed in my first employee review (over tagliatelle, no less) and a team dinner. I spend most of my days away from the Philly office, working in my studio in Baltimore. So it’s refreshing (and fun) to see my colleagues in person.

  6. Hc blog mainarticleillustration v149 cs

    Show Your Work

    Headshot of Joe Rinaldi

    7/30/15

    by Joe Rinaldi

    There is no Angie’s List for creative service companies. No IMDb for project credits. No peer review requirements for blog posts. Our industry is out here on its own, and left to act on our collective best behavior.

  7. Hc blog Main Article Illustration v147 AS

    Don’t Make Me Turn This Project Around...

    Headshot of Joe Rinaldi

    7/10/15

    by Joe Rinaldi

    As I sit in my living room, laptop open and a Cognition column awaiting my two cent contribution, I listen to the sound of my three children shrieking upstairs. It’s bath time and they’ve been freed from the prisons of their clothing. They may or may not be careening into one another in a darkened second-floor hallway, laughing like maniacs. Parenting, like client services, is the management of the wackiest of variables, people.

  8. Dana artilce 6 4

    Writing Inkcouragement

    Headshot of Dana Pavlichko

    6/4/15

    by Dana Pavlichko

    Until recently, I haven’t had much experience writing. In my distant past there were English classes and essays to keep me in practice, but professionally I knew something was lacking. I was supposed to write more often. I was told it would help me establish perspective as a designer, and help organize my thoughts (which to me sounded like a chicken-or-egg situation). I was reluctant because the idea of publishing a full-length piece in my own words seemed impossible. Determined, I approached writing the same way I approach my graphic design, and slowly it has come more naturally. As I began writing more frequently in blogs, emails, and even annotations, I’ve discovered a few tips that have helped me write better.

  9. Hc blog Main Article Illustration v132 DP

    The Intro Tech Call

    Headshot of Allison Wagner

    2/26/15

    by Allison Wagner

    Yesterday at Happy Cog, Mark, Abby, and I had an intro call with a tech team for a client who will be implementing our templates into their CMS, which, in this case, is ExpressionEngine.

  10. Cognition illo jr 1 2015

    Resource Planning - Part of the Greater Guru Good

    Headshot of Abby Fretz

    1/9/15

    by Abby Fretz

    The Digital Project Management (DPM) community is experiencing something for the first time that has become old hat for the web design and development communities – open dialogue and the sharing of ideas. In the past couple years we’ve been able to tap into a growing number of open forums and online DPM communities (check out this article by the illustrious Brett Harned).