I’m rarely an early adopter. Usually a new technology has to prove itself overwhelmingly useful before I make it part of my working process. In the last few days, though, I’ve found something that I’m finding incredibly useful: Jott.

Jott is a web/phone service you access from your cellphone, like a cross between a personal assistant and an audio organizer. After you set up a Jott account (free during beta), you can simply call 1-800-JOTT-123, and record a message. It gets transcribed (either electronically or by a human), and placed in your Jott Inbox. You can even choose to receive a reminder via email and/or text message.

Useful, yes? Just that kind of functionality would make Jott useful for anyone, but I started thinking of specific ways that creative types could use it to their advantage. To get the most out of these ideas, it pays to prepare.

Tailoring Jott for Creatives

Once you set up a Jott account, there is some customizing to do before you fire up the cellphone.

Contacts
In order to Jott others via either email or text mail, you’ll need to import them as contacts. This is fairly straightforward as you’re able to use your GMail, Yahoo!, Hotmail address books as well as a few others. A hint that will make life easier down the road - if you don’t plan on sending text messages to your contacts, edit their telephone numbers out once they’re imported. At the moment there’s no way to choose to Jott either via text message or email - when you Jott someone, your contact gets both.

Now that your contacts have been imported, you can (and perhaps should) sort them into Groups. You can create your own Groups - I created groups for Family, Friends, Clients, Colleagues as well as a few others. This allows you to Jott to multiple people at the same time, such as a work team or perhaps client + printer + print buyer.

Folders
Setting up folders is another helpful bit of tailoring. It’s helpful to think in terms of what you typically need help remembering before you start the Folder-a-thon. In a typical day, I may be on the go and need assistance remembering things like a) creative ideas, b) editing notes for projects I’m working on, c) scheduling meetings/calls with clients, d) to do lists and e) family & home stuff. To get the most out of Jott, I created folders based on these concepts: Create, Edit, Clients, List, Family, and Home. I also started using Jott to keep a running grocery store list, and, voila, created a Food folder.

You’ll notice that I kept my Folder names fairly simple - there’s a reason for that, and it has to do with Jott’s voice recognition system. When you call in, you’ll be asked, “Who would you like to Jott?” by the IVR. I found after some experimentation that it’s best to follow a few guidelines for best results:

1. stick to single-word Folder names where possible
2. avoid Folder names with lots of sibilance (Sustenances, Sources, et al.) - Jott’s IVR seems to misunderstand these
3. stick to common words (”Food” works better than “Groceries”, we found)
4. avoid acronyms (ADFP)
5. avoid camelcase names (IBMPodcast = right out)

Once you’ve created your Folders, you’ll be able to Jott directly to them and automatically sort your ideas as you phone them in. I’ve included a few examples below to show how this all fits together.

Creative Uses for Jott

Audio Sketchbook
Traveling around Chicago I often get a jolt of inspiration when I see or hear something. The problem is that I don’t always have easy access to a sketchbook, and would either forget or misremember some bit of insight. While taking out a sketchbook may not always be possible, my cellphone is handy nearly always, so I set up a “Create” folder on Jott, and phone these little bits of inspiration directly to it, like so:

Message: Riding the Blue Line into the Loop, the trees west of the Damen stop look like withered claws without their leaves. Might make for good photographs.

or

Message: Old buildings at corner of Logan Boulevard and Elston about to be torn down. Great ironwork on outside. Take pictures before Friday when the wrecking ball swings.

I usually always include the location in case I need to revisit a place. The date/time will automatically be included in your Jott message. You have about 30 seconds of recording time with each message, but Jott allows you to create multiple messages in a row - if you need more than 30 seconds, simply wait for the next “Who would you like to Jott?” prompt, and keep recording!

Business ToDos
Graphic Designers and almost anyone who works for outside clients are almost always juggling multiple projects. Staying organized is a challenge, but Jott can rescue you from some of that.

As you remember things, phone them in to Jott. You can also set up Folders for individual clients if you like, although having all my Client “To Dos” in one Folder helps me see the broader picture. ~+/-(your mileage)

Message:Fax comps to Janeane at Price King - 312-555-1212 by Thursday

or

Message:Email estimates for brochure to Karen at kjurgen@flurgen.com

Important telephone numbers, email addresses, street addresses, names and resources won’t get lost. If your transcription doesn’t come through at 100%, no worries. You can always listen to your original voice recording at the Jott website to make sure that nothing’s missed.

Expenses with Xpen$er
Another important set of items for small businesses to keep up with are expenses: lunch with clients, art materials, parking costs. Jott allows users to hook into other useful sites like Xpen$er to keep track of every penny. You can reconcile your paper receipts with what you recorded via Jott, and make sure nothing gets overlooked.

Once your Jott account is set up, click on the “Jott Links” tab, and find the link to Xpen$er. Once you add Xpen$er as a Jott Link, you’ll be directed to the Xpen$er site to set up a free account. After you’ve completed the registration, you’ll be able to use Jott to send information to Xpen$er with one quick call from your cell.

Message: Lunch, $27.50 with Dave Smith at the Cyber Bistro

Your expense will show up in Xpen$er where you can leave it as is, or edit it if need be.

Appointments with Google Calendar
Another online application Jott hooks into is Google Calendar. As you did with Xpen$er, you’ll need to go to Jott Links, find Google Calendar, and “Add” it. You’ll be taken to Google Calendar where you’ll have to log in and give permission for Jott to share your calendar. If you have more than one calendar, you’ll also need to select which one you want to use - I use four calendars (Home, Work and two others specific to organizations I belong to) so I selected Work for Jott to interact with. Currently you can’t hook into more than calendar.

When you want to add an appointment to your calendar, give Jott a call:

Message: Dinner with Barbara April 7 from 8 to 9pm

So far Jott + Google Calendar understands dates, times and time spans fairly well. The functionality isn’t perfect, however, and setting up recurring events can be tricky, so caveat usetor.

To wrap up, Jott can help you stay creative on the go and stay organized. For the time being Jott is a free service, and the number is toll-free, but that may change once the Jott team works out all the kinks.

I’m in the midst of upgrading to CS3, checking out all the latest additions and changes to programs I use everyday in my work. Checking in with Illustrator, I jotted down some notes about what I’d like to see in its next version. The list so far:

Compass Tool

Building complex rounded shapes can be an exercise in ‘point-pushing’ whereby users have to either create then split apart oval shapes, or use the dreaded Arc tool. I’ve tried to use it, but can’t really get the fine-grained control I’d like, and using oval sections is tedious beyond belief. Instead of either tool, I’d love to see Illustrator give users the ability to scribe arcs in a way that’s more intuitive. Currently it’s like building a whole house when you only want one wall.

In geometry class we were given a simple tool called a compass. Place the pointy end on the paper, adjust the arc to the radius you want, then scribe an arc. If we extend that to Illustrator, it would give users a way to create those arcs directly without having to go through intermediate steps of creating a complex object then editing out the parts they don’t want. Here’s how it might look:

Finer Join Controls

It wasn’t until I started reading Von Glitschka’s blog that I realized something I was missing when it came to join attributes. Illustrator allows you to specify joins only for an entire object – all joins for that object are rounded/sharp/beveled, but never a mix. Again, to get around the problem, Illustrator users are forced to create a complex object, then break it down into individual line/arc segments. Now that Adobe owns Macromedia (and FreeHand), I’m hoping that we’ll see a few changes in this area.

At any point in a shape, you should be able to specify what kind of join you’d like – stellated areas of an object could have sharp joins, while truncated areas could have rounded joins. Or vice-versa. Here’s an example:

Of course I cheated here and created this with FreeHand…sorry, Illustrator.

Mirror Join

Most of my current work involves perfect symmetry along one or more axes. My typical workflow is to create half the shape using the Pen tool, then Reflect along an axis, but then I’m faced with having to Select the end points and CTRL-J to join them individually. Something that would save time would be to have a “Reflect and Join” tool where these steps are executed in one action.

The construct already exists in Illustrator with the 3D tools, so putting a 2D version of it in the Pathfinder palette should be fairly straightforward (notice I didn’t say ‘easy’…I do have immense respect for the developers at Adobe).

Symmetrical Editing

Along the same lines as Mirror Join above, being able to take a symmetrical object and edit only one side, then having those changes reflect over would also be a nice addition. Complex designs require tweaking, so being able to move a single point a fraction of a milimeter up and to the left is something I prefer not to do by hand.

If instead I could define a shape as symmetrical (through Mirror Join or using OBJECT–>REFLECT), then edit only one ‘active half’ having Illustrator cascade those changes onto the ‘passive half’, it would save a tremendous amount of effort.

Auto Clip to Artboard

Ok, I’ll admit that I’m lazy when it comes to exporting Illustrator images. I’m very organized with my files, keeping objects in appropriately-named layers and moving my ‘building block’ objects off the art board, but sometimes I forget, finding stray objects in my Preview. I’d love Illustrator to default to clipping to the Art Board to avoid that rather than always having to turn off layers.

Smart Object Edit in Photoshop

Illustrator and Photoshop, for me, are two sides of the same tool, and I love the ease with which they work together via Smart Objects. One thing I’m not thrilled about, though, is editing Smart Objects in their native applications. I rarely have both open at the same time; I’m used to using the Place function, a holdover from using my main tool, InDesign.

When composing in Photoshop and having to edit an Illustrator Smart Object, I’d love it if Illustrator kicked on in the background, opening up an edit panel in Photoshop. The same would go for any Adobe applications that work like this - editing a Photoshop image after placing it in an InDesign layout would get triggered the same way, and I imagine video and Flash tools could take advantage of this as well.

Pass-Through Rendering

This feature would work equally well for most of the Adobe Creative Suite tools - the ability to “hand off” rendering to a second computer. I got the idea for this from working with other software like Rhino, Blender and CAD software, all of which allow rendering on a dedicated machine, and saving the strain on the design workstation.

In my home studio, we’ve set up a third PC as a server for a variety of development and entertainment purposes. When working on large designs (Photoshop files specifically, but Illustrator could benefit as well), I’d love to be able to farm out the chip-intensive processes elsewhere. Even with high-end machines like the ones we’ve built, it still can be a painful process.

Modal Editing

Think of them as “Layer Comps” for Illustrator - being able to create a single design, save it, then save further changes to the file without having to make copies of the original, shuffling them into new layers, then turning off the original layer. This could also save major steps when tweaking a design in other applications like Photoshop by choosing a specific “version” as the Smart Object.

Our LibraryThing is chock-full of books, and we haven’t even cataloged the ones in storage. I put that in the “Yearly Goals” list, so it’ll happen as it happens.

There are books I refer to often, though, and I wanted to share my top five. These books that help me find everything from paper standards to the ins and outs of information design, and I consider them essential to the process of print design.

[1] Getting It Printed

Authors: Mark Kenly and Eric Beach
ISBN-13: 978-1581805772

Great book for anyone wanting to know more about the print process, with good explanations, diagrams and organization. Especially good are its explanations about the physical nature of inks, paper and press types.

[2] Forms, Folds, and Sizes

Author: Poppy Evans
ISBN-13: 978-1592530540

Evans’ book is one of the best resources available to graphic designers who work in print. She’s collected some of the most sought-after practical information - US/International postal standards, label dimensions, paper standards to name a few - and organized it into a very handy desk reference.

[3] Envisioning Information

Author: Edward R. Tufte
ISBN-13: 978-0961392116

Tufte’s books are heady things, concentrating on the intersection of art and science. Envisioning Information should be on every design curricula’s reading list, explaining some of the best ways to display information to viewers.

(Confession - one of Tufte’s criticisms about ‘infographic’ style works is that design shouldn’t simply “decorate” the data, rather it should help clarify it — reading this book helped me see that I was sometimes guilty of doing just that, so I’ve changed my ways)

[4] The Official Adobe Print Publishing Guide

Author: Brian P. Lawler
ISBN-13: 978-0321304667

While this book is very handy in a lot of the same ways “Getting It Printed” is, it’s in need of a serious update and expansion. In its own way it is a classic, though, so I thought to include it here. I hope that Lawler is working on a new edition, and includes more in-depth explanations of certain print processes.

[5] Sappi’s “The Standard”

This is a freebie, one of several short visual overview and best-practice manuals produced by Sappi, and available for download through its site. Great discussions and explanations of file prep, printer notes, color correction and layout, the guide will probably teach something new to designers at all levels.

You will have to go through a Registration and Order process in order to get any of Sappi’s brochures, but it’s worth the time. The Knowledge Bank has free brochures on a variety of print topics, and even free CDs and DVDs on printing and paper-making processes.

I’d love to hear from others on their favorite/most useful print design books. Please drop me a line, or post a comment to share yours.

As designers, our hands are our livelihood, and we need to do everything we can to keep them in good condition. When my mother’s arthritis started to become a problem for her, I started doing some research on hand health which I later incorporated into a basic computer class I taught. These tips will keep your hands and fingers working well.

[1] Keep Nails Neatly Trimmed

Women learn early that special adjustments have to be made when typing with long nails. Typically women are much better at nail care, so we men can take a few lessons here.

Keep nails trimmed neatly, remembering to follow the contour of the finger, but not cutting too closely. When you’re done, you should have no edges or corners, and no hangnails or slivers. One trick is to use a nail clipper that’s larger like a toenail clipper, and make lots of little cuts instead of one large one. This keeps the nail rounded, and in good shape. If you’re not handy at keeping the nails trimmed properly, do yourself a favor and get a manicure - even just getting a manicure once will show you what your nails should look like when clipped correctly. Afterward you’ll have at least a good idea what you’re aiming for when you do it yourself.

[2] Soak - Not in Palmolive

If you find your hands are cramping, tired and achy after a long day of Photoshopping (or Illustratoring, which is when it happens with me), soak ‘em. Get a wide bowl, put a few drops of plain hand creme - even hair conditioner will do - and fill with warm-to-almost-hot water. Put your paws in and let ‘em soak for 10-20 minutes or until the water cools off. The hot water will relax the tissues, and the hand creme/conditioner will keep your skin and nail beds more pliable. Bonus!

Soap, by the way, isn’t that great for your skin, despite what Madge might say. It tends to dry out the tissues in the long run, so using hand creme or conditioner works better.

[3] Get (and use) a Wrist Rest

It may not seem like this deals with hand health, but keeping the wrists padded while you type also keeps the blood flowing freely to the hands and fingers. The main benefit here obviously is to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome, but keeping the blood circulating is also important for the nerve endings in your fingers.

[4] Elevate the Keyboard (but not how you’d think…)

The natural state of the hand is to be open with fingers slightly curved toward the palm. Let your arms relax at your side, and observe how the hands look in a mirror. This curve should be how you type, play piano (piano teachers tell students to imagine that you’re holding an orange in their hands when they strike the keys). Since this is NOT how most people do those things, though, elevating the wrist will assist in proper positioning.

For this you may want to buy a second, cheap wrist rest made of a firm material (not the gel kind). First, if you have the little legs open on your keyboard, close them. Then take your second wrist rest, and put the spacebar edge of your keyboard on top of it. When everything’s in position, you should feel your wrists and hands relax more.

[5] Exercise Your Grip Strength

Sports medicine tells us that strong musculature helps keep everything in place and working optimally. Apply that to wrists and hands by adding some grip exercises to your regimen - nothing excessive, but those nutcrackery grippy things are cheap and simple. You could even buy a Nerf™ ball or something similar, and give it a few dozen squeezes throughout the day. These also help with forearm strength, too, but please stop when you get to the mouse-crushing stage.

Things to Avoid

Plastic Grocery Store Bags - we tend to overload them, then loop them over our hands in twos and threes, concentrating all that weight on a narrow plastic handle. If you have to carry them any distance, remember that you could be cutting off the circulation (and feeling!) to your hands and fingers. Plus it’s more environmentally sound to use paper and recycle, so bonus 2!

Smoking - an obvious one, but smoking also reduces circulation in the hands and feet. If you do smoke, try to keep your hands as warm as possible when working on a computer; fingerless gloves in the winter may look odd, but they work.

Keyboard Pounding - if you type like you’re trying desperately to push the keys through the underside of the keyboard, take a touch typing/keyboarding class. Keep reminding yourself that you just barely have to make contact when you press down. My father has worn out four keyboards this way, and it wasn’t until we got him a jelly board that he stopped crushtyping.

Excessively Heavy Jewelry (rings, watches and bangles) - Anything that weighs your hands down (rings) or comes between you and the wrist rest (watches, bangles) can potentially cause problems in the long run. If you have to, remove jewelry when you work, and put it on when you quit. In this case, comfort wins over fashion.

Remember that your hands enable you to ply your trade, so keep them in good shape!