The Case for Slow Design: Make Art, Not Products – by Jesse Weaver

by / January 11, 2019 / Coming out of school as newly minted designers, we often aspire to the heights of master craftsmanship. We envision ourselves creating expertly designed, meticulously implemented products that inspire awe with their beauty, artistry, and execution. Then the real world promptly smacks us in the face. Craftsmen spend untold hours creating their masterpieces. They sweat the details and pour their s[Read More]

Moving Forward: The Portland Egotist Re-Launch

by / April 30, 2018 / How does the song go? “What a long, strange trip it’s been”? A lot has changed since we took over the editorial duties of The Portland edition of the Egotist Network. Over the past five years we have diligently explored the creative scene here in Portland, examined and shared work from regional and global agencies, met and worked alongside local studios to promote their amazing work, support[Read More]

To Those Who Have Pitched and Lost

by / March 15, 2017 / I’m in a fug. I’m sluggish. I’m agitated. I’m like a lovelorn teenager who’s just been dumped. Yes, I’m in the midst of that pitch-loss after-glow. Can I get some compassionate leave? It’s hard to shake. There’s no easy way out of it. Unless the client changes their mind, which they never do. Except that time when they did. Unfortunately, that time we were the initial winners and [Read More]

On Behalf of Offline Communities

by / November 3, 2016 / There’s a blurb on theegotistnetwork.com—this site's parent site urges the ambitious to start their own civic Egotist sites as a means of supplemental income—under the icon with one genderless pictogram representing loneliness and two genderless pictograms representing community that states, “Create Community: Because of their convenience and 24/7 accessibility, online communities have re[Read More]

Success Isn’t just Salary and Titles

by / March 2, 2016 / Recently, my father asked me if I had something measurable to show for the past four years of my career. Something – a number, a title, an award – to prove that I’d found success. It was an interesting question. Success by definition is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Most people measure their success by their title or their salary. Granted, I don’t have a clearly defined title a[Read More]

Advertising Has a Part To Play In America’s Gun Violence

by / October 9, 2015 / A big part actually. I already hear people bitching, whining, cocking shotguns in my general direction, and that’s to be expected when you start pointing the finger; especially when the finger is pointed our way. But hold on. This thought may not be as ridiculous as it first appears. In fact, the more I talk to people about it (and I mean people who are actually open to debate, not the uber-ri[Read More]

The Creative Team taboo: who’s the better half?

by / April 17, 2015 / For all their ubiquity in agencies, creative teams are their own secret universe where very few outsiders are invited. The rest of the agency sees the ideas, the outside world sees the finished work, but who inside the team was responsible for what? Who cracked the idea, the line, the execution? Only the team itself knows. Or do they? Ask them independently and each half would claim the lion's s[Read More]

Your Inner Critic Is A Jerk

by / February 13, 2015 / He resides under your skin and over your shoulder. Breathing down your neck. Whispering behind your back. Ceremoniously leading the war within while unapologetically telling you how it is.
 He offers snarky feedback like, “Wow, did you really just say that? Man, you sounded like an idiot.” Right after he insults your wardrobe choice. (Well, let’s be honest, velour is not a good look on mo[Read More]

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