Steven Savage – Page 498

Science Fiction As Vision

April 23, 2014 by Steven Savage

Astronaut

Over at the Atlantic (and later in Mashable), Robinson Meyer made the interesting – indeed challenging statement – that the idea of making things in Science Fiction a reality was limiting. He was specifically discussing the Google X lab, which was profiled by John Gertner of Fast Company – and there they want every project to have a a component that resembled Science Fiction.

Which frankly, sounds pretty cool, but Robinson had issues with this idea:

SF means we tend think in whole, complete systems as opposed to the assembled work of many actors and influences.
We miss that some change – such as social – is incremental, and SF’s inheritance includes some limited and reactionary elements.
There is virtue in incrementalization.

So this got me thinking about the role of SF in envisioning and building the future. I think he has a point in that thinking about things “Science Fictionally” can be limiting. But I don’t think the problem is Science Fictional thinking per se – it’s the state of SF today and in our culture.

50 Shades Of Resume #16: The Colorful And Simple

April 22, 2014 by Steven Savage

Faratiana is a creative person to judge by her many works, but it’s her resume that got my attention. At first glance the colors stand out – but then as you look at it you see how there’s both clever and effective design and a lot of information, all delivered with precision.

Here’s what stands out to me:

The skill section is clever. Each color calls attention to a different skill, and the “rating system” tells you how good she is. There’s many ways this could be used on resumes, but the basic idea is whimsical, colorful, – and effective.
The colorful “stars” detailing each separate section also call attention to them – without being garish or overdone. This is a good use of bright colors effectively.
Every use of color here has an atypical shape – no squares or circles. That further draws attention.
Note that the elements of the resume reinforce each other – the star at the top is made of colorful “teardrops” – which in turn are reflected in the skills. The “star” itself is reflected in the single-color stars later in the resume. This adds a consistent design – and shows great thought.
It’s a nicely complete resume. It’s all here.
The use of different text colors is a useful choice for adding detail and hitting high points. It works well with the use of color.

I have a few critiques:

There’s a bit too much white space, It could be a bit fuller.
The light-colored fonts are just a bit too light colored and look washed out. In addition, some of the smaller fonts are a bit too small.
The use of the white colors in the “skill tears” is good, but a bold may work as they don’t quite carry.
A photo of the artist *might* work here to further personalize it. It might need to be black and white or colorized to fit properly

Overall I’m very fond of this resume, as it’s another one that manages to be a “standard” resume while being creative, and it uses interesting ways to communicate skills – in this case an unusual skill list and a rating system. Finally, it feels very professional.

Steve’s Summary: If I saw this it immediately gets my attention – and then as I look at it I see more detail. I feel I can “get” the creator very easy, and it shows an extremely professional level of work.

[“50 Shades of Resume” is an analysis of various interesting resumes to celebrate the launch of the second edition of my book “Fan To Pro” and to give our readers inspiration for their own unique creations.]

– Steven Savage

50 Shades Of Resume #15: The History Chart

April 21, 2014 by Steven Savage

Greg Dizzia loves a good graph at a level that I almost envy – I might need to try to convert this guy to a career in Project Management. This is just one of his charts, he has others up at Deviant Art.

In this case he mapped the history of his career in one chart. Mixing color coding, timelines, and icons, it’s a mindbendingly dense summary of, well, his career. As a devotee of good info graphics and charts, it’s a bit overwhelming in a delightful way. Ok, delightful to me and people like me.

When you dig deep into what he created, these lessons stand out:

This shows a sense of organization – yes, that’s obvious, but that’s not something easily communicated in a resume. Greg really thought this thing through, and tells me he’d probably be easy to work with organization-wise.
It communicates a serious love of graphs and designs – as does his other work. It shows not just a sense of organization but serious skills.
It says a lot. You can, if you break it down, really get a deep idea of what he did, learned, and what skills he employed.
The use of icons is very effective – something I’d like to see more of, and something I’m noticing more of in resumes.
It’s visually very appealing. These are good color choices.

Now there’s limits to this:

It’s not a traditional or scannable resume. It’d probably have to be paired with a more traditional one.
If a person doesn’t take the time to look into it, they won’t really get anything out of it – it’s not a resume to hand to someone for casual viewing.
It is impersonal – it says a few things about him, but there’s no sense of “person.” A picture may help out – or an illustration.
It’s a testimony to his skills, but it showcases only a few of his skills, and thus needs supplements.
Some people might find it overly showy.

I think that this resume and others may be good in a portfolio, supplemented with a regular resume. He might even be able to create a whimsical “graph series” for display – since he apparently loves doing them – and that might be an idea for you, dear reader, to consider.

Steve’s Summary: Hand me this resume and, beyond my deep envy of his charting skills, it’d be a clear testimony to a very organized person that knows how to do specific graphic design. I’d want to see a regular resume and a larger portfolio though.

– Steven Savage