We all have a “good enough factor” wired into our brains. It’s who we are and very much a part of everything we do. I come from an austere German heritage, so you can imagine how high my “good enough factor” was set even as a kid. At my house, you didn’t just mow the lawn, you mowed in a consistent and straight pattern, trimmed closely around everything, raked the clippings, edged the sidewalks and then swept them clean after pulling any weeds that might have been growing in the cracks. It was that way with everything: laundry had to be folded a certain way, beds were always made and things were always expected to be returned to where they belonged. The German mindset: “If you don’t have time to do something right, when will you find the time to do it over?”

As a kid, as a student and even later as a designer, I was often called a perfectionist and I wore that title like a badge of honor. I honestly thought it was compliment and that being called a perfectionist meant I had indeed reached a state of perfection in my work. Boy was I wrong.

It wasn’t until recently that I started challenging the idea of perfectionism, and how this entire notion of perfection was undermining my ability to respond quickly to opportunities, think creatively in new and unproven ways, and to take risks based on my instincts instead of my intellect. I began to realize that when called a perfectionist, it wasn’t the same as someone saying, “you have reached perfection.” Instead, it often meant that I had spent too much time and energy focusing on details that didn’t matter. My “good enough factor” did not align with theirs.

I have since changed how I approach assignments and work with my clients. The first thing I try to understand is their own level of “good enough.” Does this mean that I only deliver to that level? Absolutely not. What it means is that I have stopped trying to design for the respect and consideration of the design community and I focus more on what my clients and their customers want and expect.

I still embrace the idea of “under-promise and over-deliver.” I still try very hard to provide the best solutions I can within the perimeters of the project. I still implement a creative process that involves getting ideas down quickly on paper and sharing them to get as much feedback as possible. I obey the key elements of sound design and I will always adhere to deadlines and industry standards.

What I no longer have is a perfect excuse for disappointing my clients and myself because I was trying to be perfect.

Confession #2 – I tend to over think things.

When I first launched LIME and started developing my marketing materials, I found myself laboring over the content as though I were writing a great manifesto or the decisive rules for governing a small nation. Obviously, I wanted to get it right, but more than anything I wanted to be sincere and authentic.

What I wanted to express was pretty straight forward and I was able to generate most of the content rather quickly. I had been planning the launch of this business for quite some time and I knew exactly what I wanted to say — that wasn’t the problem. Everything was coming together quite nicely and then BAM!, there it was, the question that needed answered: should I write and speak in a singular or collective voice? Who could have imagined the self-reflection and strife that the four little pronouns we, us, me and I could produce?

To gain a little guidance and clarity, I read several books and online articles regarding how to market an agency of one. Several solo practitioners like myself argued that using “we” and “us” instilled a sense of confidence in potential clients, suggesting that no project could be too large to manage. They rationalized that most individuals rely on a team of others behind the scenes to get the job done — whether it be web programmers, professional printers, or even the mail house — so the reference of “we” was really a reflection of that team effort. They also mentioned that clients like to feel involved in the creative process, so the use of “we” was a nice way to make them feel included, too. On the surface it seemed like a sound business decision. The last thing I wanted to do was lose potential work because I was perceived as being too small and insignificant to matter. So I did it.

In all of my promotional materials and website content, I used the terms “we” and “us” to describe my individual intentions, efforts and successes. I completely embraced the “fake it until you make it” mindset that is so prevalent in our business culture today — and the deception worked. But words that were so successful at instilling confidence in others did just the opposite to me. Instead of being sincere and authentic, I felt dishonest and overinflated. I felt like a fraud.

And then it hit me. Why was I so concerned about the pronouns I should be using? LIME’s marketing materials and website were never supposed to be about me. They are supposed to be about ideas and solutions that help others establish their brand and solve their communication problems. How could I expect to build trusting relationships with my clients based on an obvious deception? Since the majority of my clients come to me through referrals, the last thing I want to do is compromise my reputation.

I have since started removing the “we” and “us” from all of LIME’s marketing materials. There are still lots of pieces floating around out there with LIME’s collective voice and with my luck, by the time I finally get everything switched to the singular reference, I will have hired an assistant or taken on a partner. Oh well. At least now I am keeping it real.

I have been employed as a professional graphic designer for over half of my life (nearly a quarter of a century!). More times than I care to admit, especially when I was moving forward with an idea or project that I did not agree with, I would remind myself: “Remember who signs your paycheck.” Because when you work within an in-house marketing department or for an advertising or communications agency, the person whose name is scribed on the bottom of your paycheck is the person you answer to. Every decision you make and action you perform must comply with that person’s own agenda if you wish to keep receiving paychecks. It’s that simple. Period.

My days as an in-house designer and agency employee are long over. I am self-employed and although I operate under the agency name of Lime Creative, I am really “just another” freelancer designer. But freelancer is a difficult badge to wear. No, I am not in-between jobs, doing this on the side or waiting for the perfect offer to come along. And no, I’m not just dabbling in a design career to see if it’s the right fit. I’m not lazy or unreliable, and I am certainly not unemployable.

What I am is this: I am committed to producing quality design work and marketing materials that deliver awareness and measurable results for my clients. I am determined to remain fair in my practices, even though larger profits could be realized by cutting corners, rushing through assignments with hurried solutions or eliminating free services. I am and will always be inspired by my clients and their own personal and professional stories. I am motivated by and sincerely thankful for the opportunities I have been given. I continue to be challenged by an industry that is forever changing, yet encouraged by the amount and degree of information my colleagues and business partners so willingly share. I am humbled by how much more I have to learn.

But most importantly, I am forever mindful of who signs my paycheck now: you.

When I look back at 2011, it was nothing short of being an incredible year in terms of personal growth. Life is like that sometimes. We have those moments in time where everything seems to click for us. I don’t mean click in the sense that everything happens the way we want it to. I mean “click” in the sense that the answers we are looking for somehow present themselves and we are able to move forward and make significant progress. That’s how 2011 was for me.

If you recall, last year at this time I posted a blog entitled “F-bombing the F-words” and I seriously took my resolution to heart. Every day this past year, even if I only thought about FEAR and FAILURE for a fraction of a second, I corrected my thinking and continued my pursuit for answers. And sure enough, even when I wasn’t completely certain that the direction I was taking was always the right one, the determination to continue moving forward was enough to sustain me until the next piece of the puzzle fell into place.

I realize now that honoring my 2011 new year’s resolution wasn’t about conquering fear and failure in one fell swoop. There was no moment of realization or major battle I had won. Instead, it was about addressing a thousand little things everyday with the audacity and conviction of becoming better and smarter than I was the day before. And trust me, the little things do matter. They quickly add up to very big things — good and bad. And like it or not, we are the result and culmination of what we do every day. No matter what obstacles we face or excuses we use for doing less than our best, our habits define us. We begin the process of changing those habits when we become mindful of the (seemingly unimportant) thousand little decisions we make each day. The devil (or the divinity) is always in the details.

For the past couple of months, I have had the privilege of getting to know the great tenor and music conductor RD Mathey in a very personal way. I was given the challenge of capturing his unique life and translating his operatic performances, choir direction and music theory into a visually rich reading experience. Working closely with his daughter, writer and educator Stacey Mathey Osborn, we anxiously completed the first draft of the book/teaching manual this past week. And last night, at a private book party in his honor, the prototype was presented to RD for his review.

To borrow a line from a page in the book, "King Richard was impressed."

Love. Dedication. Passion. Commitment. These are all words that we associate with Valentine’s Day and rightly so — they are the essential cornerstones of a happy and healthy relationship. I am very fortunate in that I have a special Valentine and I know firsthand what each of these words truly means. I also have a supportive family and a close circle of friends who encourage me to follow my heart and live a purposeful life. But as great as all of that is and despite my immeasurable gratitude, my personal relationships are not the reason behind today’s post. Instead, it is my very public relationship with design that I want to talk about today.

Love.
My entire life, I have loved art, books, photography and type, so choosing a career in graphic design was pretty much a no-brainer for me. Everything about the design process — from the initial sketches to the moment of discovering a viable solution — makes my heart race and literally gets my creative juices flowing. Even when the answers aren’t that easy to come by, I’m still caught up in the challenge and the need to make it visually work. Yes, it is work. Always. And I love to work because work gives me purpose.

Dedication.
I’ve been at this for a couple of decades now and during that time, so many things have changed. Specifically, the introduction and advancement of computer technology has been a real game-changer in graphic design. Digital natives (those fortunate enough to have been born with a silver iPhone at their mouth) have a true time advantage over us digital adaptors who still read our software manuals cover-to-cover. But any designer worth his or her salt will tell you that it’s not the tools you use but the results you get that matter. So I continue to plug along, dedicated to my craft despite the constant software upgrades and the new and various platforms that design is now disseminated through. As much as I like to complain about the expensive hardware, software and printing devices, I remain steadfast because design is what I love to do and all of these things make the possibilities limitless.

Passion.
Even though it could be debated that I get obsessed with design at times, I would like to think that I am just passionate about what I do for a living. I seriously think about design all the time. I see and appreciate the design in everything, and my head is always spinning with ways that I can apply what I am observing to a current project or assignment. It’s always there, from the moment I wake up and discover the sunlight cutting patterns across the ceiling, until the moment I fall asleep to the warm glow of my alarm clock. The world is so rich with color, pattern, shapes and diagonal lines. I wouldn’t want to live any other way.

Commitment.
It’s easy for me to say that I love what I do, that I am dedicated to my work and to my clients, and that I approach everything with a certain degree of passion. But let’s face it — it’s easy for anyone to profess those things, isn’t it? The real question then becomes: Are you totally committed? Have you put in all of your chips and placed everything on the line because you’re that certain that this is what you are meant to do? Do you believe in yourself and your abilities to that degree? Are you that committed to seeing it through? My answer, from the bottom of my heart, is a resounding “yes.”

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Throughout my career, I have shared my various office spaces with the Rodney White poster featured above. From the moment I discovered it, I knew I wanted it in my life. Why? Because I think it's important to surround oneself with gentle reminders of why exploration, risk and change are so important in life.

As a designer, I am always looking for new things to discover and unique ways to approach and solve visual problems. It's so easy and so tempting to continue to repeat a past solution once it has been proven successful. With initial success comes notoriety and praise, and requests for future projects to look just like the ones before. And to be fair, sometimes the answer to one design problem can be very transferable to another, saving time and money for clients short on both. But before I jump too quickly to tried and true conclusions, I have to ask myself if that repeated performance will produced the best results? Am I exploring every possibility or simply choosing the easiest? For me, the key is to know when I am sacrificing better ideas and solutions for the sake of staying within my comfort zone. When work becomes easy, I know that I am no longer thinking strategically or pursuing the wow factor.

How do you feel about New Year’s resolutions? If you’re like most people, you probably think about them passively as things that you might hope for in the coming year. You may even make subtle changes in your daily routine to point yourself in the right direction. But for the most part, they are usually just wishes — things that you would like to see happen but you really don’t have the time or energy to see them through fruition. Unless we are forced into it, very few among us truly resolve to make significant changes in our lives. We're creatures of habit and change is not easy.

This year, I have decided to kick my bad habit of using F-words. No, I am not giving up cussing and swearing — let’s face it, there are occasions when using a swear word is more than appropriate. Would you not agree? No, what I’m talking about is the “other F-words.” We all have them tucked deep inside our brains and they slip out in our daily speech without us even noticing. I’m talking about “fear” and I’m also talking about “failure.” And since we're on the topic, let’s not forget about the double-whammy “fear of failure,” too.

Have you ever really listened to yourself? I catch myself saying things like “I’m afraid if we try this, it may not work and we will have wasted our time,” or “Let’s make sure it’s the perfect time to launch this, that way our risk is low.” On the surface it sounds like I know what I’m talking about, but let’s face it — it’s all bullshit. If you have ever waited for the perfect time to do something, you know deep inside that it’s usually not about being patient. It’s about justifying your procrastination or buying yourself a little more time because you’re really afraid to make the next move. And think about what it really means when you keep your risks low. When was the last time you heard of a low risk venture returning huge rewards? It just doesn’t happen that way.

It’s not easy wrapping your brain around the idea of embracing failure. It actually sounds ridiculous. Yet, if you think about anything of significance that has been introduced into the world, it didn’t happen overnight. It wasn’t a one-time shot, launched at the perfect time when the risks were moderately low. It happened because someone believed that it could; their failures had transcended into their greatest teachers.

The right time is now, so let’s get busy.

Did anyone happen to see where November went? Or even the first 10 days of December? Anyone? Wow... where does the time go? I will say this: the past two months have been extremely busy and I am so fortunate to have that problem. It is incredibly gratifying to be working on so many fun and exciting projects.

As much as I like to practice what I preach, I fell a little short this past month in keeping up with my blog. I could lay out a dozen or more excuses, but the fact-of-the-matter is that I simply did not make it a priority. As a marketing professional, I know how important it is to keep the lines of communication open with current, past and potential clients. I have so much good information to share that I hope you will benefit from, whether you choose to work with Lime Creative or not. And just like many of my clients, I too want to explore this thing called social media and test its possibilities.

This past week I made a commitment to my readers and myself regarding this blog. I started a blog calendar, where I now schedule the content I will be writing about the next couple of months. Not only does this force me to remain on-task, but it also gives me a fresh perspective of what I have already written and what still needs to be addressed. And don't worry. I won't be pushing out content just to fill a calendar slot or to check off a task on my list of things to do. In fact, I am certain just the opposite will happen. By planning what I want to talk about, I allow myself the time to research and prepare meaningful content. I will still post a few "Just for Fun" items now and again — that part will never change. But what has changed is my attitude towards true client outreach and my own marketing habits. No more excuses. It's time to lead by example.

Lime Creative is now on Twitter! Follow us for all the latest news on design, advertising and marketing trends. (And by the way, no chicks were harmed in the making of this graphic.)

Graphic Design USA announced the winners of this year's American Graphic Design Awards. Lime Creative won a Certificate for Excellence for its self-promotion crate mailer entitled "The Original Lime Stress Reliever."

Each year, for more than thirty years, Graphic Design USA has recognized outstanding new work in all facets of the design industry, including print, point-of-purchase, packaging, web, interactive and motion graphics. This year over 8000 entries were considered from 23 categories, with a select 15 percent receiving a Certificate of Excellence. Award-winning pieces are eligible for publication in the 300-page American Graphic Awards Design Annual, which is combined with the November/December edition of GDUSA, and will be featured online at www.gdusa.com.

Although I have won numerous awards with other agencies, this is Lime Creative's first award, which makes it's the sweetest.

Stay tuned, because Lime Creative is just getting started!

Welcome to Lime Creative's new Website and blog! There are still a few finishing touches that need to be made, but I am thrilled to have completed the site within my own self-imposed deadline of May 1. Ok, perhaps "completed" isn't really the right word, since a good Website requires a great deal more than just planting a few seeds. An enormous amount of time, care and optimism are required. So, as I continue to create the conditions for growth — in both the Website and the agency — I hope you will check in now and again to see the fruits of my labor and how much LIME continues to grow.