I've finally gotten some free time (on a Friday evening, no less) to blog some bits and pieces before too much time passes and then, what I want to write about, loses relevance.

I visited Belfast, for the first time, at the beginning of November, to attend the Build Conference. I had contemplated arriving the Wednesday before the main conference, which was on the Thursday, but then I would've missed Erik Spiekermann's talk on Tuesday evening, so I arrived on the Tuesday.

I have been a big fan of Spiekermann for a long time, probably from the 1990's when I was a FontFont fanboy- I even submitted typefaces to FontFont for approval. Sadly, I never heard back from them. Anyway, Spiekermann is a prolific designer, both in graphic design and in typographic design. I enjoy his work and his attitude to work, so I was really looking forward to his talk.

Spiekermann is a brilliant presenter, incredibly passionate about his work. I loved the fact that his talk was about both his creative work but also about the business side to his work- running a company, staff, premises, clients, budgets.

He made a few points that really resonated with me-

• Projects should be costed on the basis of what the project is worth, not on a per-hour basis.
• Never work with bad clients, it'll end up costing you, rather than making you money.
• An espresso machine is always a good present if you're opening a new office.

His talk was videoed for later publishing by the Build crew (or so I hope), and I really can't wait to see it again. In the meantime, check out this interview with Erik Spiekermann, by Elliot Jay Stocks: