Richard - Blogs - Good or Bad?

Continuing to get responses on the debate of wether Blogs are good or bad Craig recommended that I got in touch with Richard (an English Graphic Designer) who runs his own blog, Aceject170. So going with Craig's recommendation I e-mailed Richard, and thankfully Richard answered the questions to do with Blogs.

Questions and Answers;

1. Would you recommend that students produce a blog? If so why?

I don't think there's any point producing a blog "for the sake of it" - except as a programming exercise I guess. Good blogs are fuelled by enthusiasm - if you don't think blogging's you're kind of thing, why force it? I certainly don't think being a designer should mean you should blog. Having said that, I've found that blogging has lead to some significant benefits: you can broaden the number and type of people you interact with and bounce ideas off; you can make 

connections you wouldn't otherwise make; your blog can help raise you profile; you might even get work through it.

There's more: blog entries are kind of transient: you can post work, an opinion,a question and get immediate feedback but in a week that entry is history so whatever you've said or asked isn't "set in stone" - at worst, you can delete it.

Also, a blog provides an opportunity to write and writing is really useful for designers.

2. A lot of students aren't safe with putting there designs up on blogs due to the idea getting stolen. What would your opinion be on this?

Get it up there! Don't be precious. Your work is always in danger of being ripped-off by second rate spongers. Let them do it and take the moral high ground: if someone rips you off it's because: a) you're good, and b) they're crap.

3. People see blogs as a way to publicize themselves and their work, but a lot of blogs don't get a lot of hits, so what should the purpose of a blog be?

You don't need lots of hits, you just need the right hits. That might be your mates or it might be prospective employers or clients. If you want hits, you have to work at it and encourage them by publicising your blog somehow.

The purpose of a blog? That could be any number of things. A blog provides a format for you to present work in a less formal way than you might in a portfolio site so you could show experimental work, personal projects or un-realised projects as well as successful live work. You could use it to show rejected concepts that you really like. I've got a pile of those going back years. I wish I'd have a blog ten years ago.

Of course, lots of designers are using blogs to catalogue things they like and influence them. That's a good thing I think. It's a scrapbook.

Others use blogs to express broader ideas and that can give an insight into the way they think. A blog can be an expression of your personality, your sense of humour, your concerns. These things say a lot about you. That kind of insight could make you much more interesting to employers or clients (of course, it could also turn people off but let's stay positive). These are "brand" things aren't they? It's about building a "me-brand" and a blog is one channel that can help you do that.

4. Finally, what's one positive and negative about having a blog?

Positive: The connections you can make

Negative: Can't think of one