Part 1 of a three part series.

Carlos Segura is the successful, talented and interesting designer/owner behind Segura Inc, home to Segura Design, T-26, 5″ and various other creative and design ventures. An innovator and creative force in the regional/national design field, Segura has long been known in the field for being a driven, yet approachable creative.

He was the first speaker to present at the Seed Conference, January 18th, 2008 at IIT in Chicago. His presentation was largely about genreal observations in his process and company as well as his thoughts on managing relationships. He profiled several recent case studies and displayed an attractive graphic presentation that accented the work being discussed but contained few if any words.

Some key notes/quotes taken by me from the presentation:

• A person that doesn’t take a chance, doesn’t make a chance.
• His ethos behind much of what has transpired at Segura, Inc has been about fostering/creating a community of design.
• Recording and avid record keeping of client correspondence is needed to help gently remind them of the decisions made during the process.
• Don’t be everything to everyone. That applies to not only services/mediums you create in, but also to vertical markets you may do work in. Being a jack of all trades can be a liability.
• Suggest projects to clients once comfortable with them to continue to push their “envelope”
• Don’t be afraid to say no to people (new clients or bad decisions chosen by clients)
• Client gives you no budget guidance? Give them no estimate if possible.
• From an ongoing business standpoint for all intensive purposes the actual client is irrelevant, it’s about the work that is done.
• He doesn’t meet his clients in person. (Wow.)
• Never do spec work.

And that’s about that… If you captured different or opposing views from his presentation, let me know.

Posted on January 24, 2008

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