My favorite Christmas CD

Almost 10 years ago, Al Di Meola released Winter Nights, his first, and (AFAIK) only holiday recording. One of my favorites, I've added a few, including Phil Keaggy, Vince Guaraldi, George Winston and Jars of Clay to the Altered Ego store on Amazon.

Design takes a holiday

The days between Christmas and New Year's day are one of my favorite times of the year, mainly because we close our office and take a holiday.

It's a tradition we began when we formed Brian Sooy & Co. over 11 years ago, and it's not particular to our business. Other local and design firms around the nation follow the same practice. One of the largest employers in the county in which we live is closed.

It will be a working holiday this year, with a press check to attend and time to catch up on invoicing, but it will allow for time to spend with family, to play and to think.

Thinking is so often overlooked, since many designers tend to enjoy doing: designing, creating, making. It's the leisure of unstructured time over these next few days that allow the opportunity for thinking.

Big picture thinking: Where are you headed next year? Where is your design business headed? Are you content with your positioning? Are you content with your client relationships? Are you noticing your employees enough? Are you making it possible for them to do great work?

Mundane thinking: Is our data backed up reliably? How can I synchronize my font library across the network? Will anybody notice if I don't send out a Christmas card?

At any rate, plan well for next year. You'll appreciate it next December, which will be here before you know it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!