0°Jeff Archibald
I'm co-founder of a design firm in Edmonton called Paper Leaf, and someone who still actively designs brand identities and interfaces. Other things that turn my crank: type, whisky, coffee, bicycling, and the NBA/NFL.
Recent Blog Posts
On 10 Years of Running a Design Agency
Paper Leaf turns 10 years old today. I’m bad at stopping to recognize a moment, never mind celebrating, so I’m making an effort to do that here. When we started PL, we were as green as they come. We had no real idea or plan for where the shop would go, what it would become, or all that would cha...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Paper Leaf turns 10 years old today. I’m bad at stopping to recognize a moment, never mind celebrating, so I’m making an effort to do that here. When we started PL, we were as green as they come. We had no real idea or plan for where the shop would go, what it would become, or all that would cha...
Published at Jeff Archibald
3 Fundamental Traits for Success in your Creative Career
The following is an edited version of the commencement speech I gave to the Edmonton Digital Arts College 2019 grad class. I swear it was way more hilarious and inspiring in person. --- When Jeremy approached me and said, “Jeff, I’d love if you could give a talk at the EDAC grad ceremony", I as...
Published at Jeff Archibald
The following is an edited version of the commencement speech I gave to the Edmonton Digital Arts College 2019 grad class. I swear it was way more hilarious and inspiring in person. --- When Jeremy approached me and said, “Jeff, I’d love if you could give a talk at the EDAC grad ceremony", I as...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Use This Paragraph In Your Proposals And Say Goodbye To Scope Creep
Scope creep is awful. We struggled with how to handle it for years at Paper Leaf. It’s a tricky balance, isn’t it? We don’t want to be total doormats, but we’re also terrified to nickel-and-dime the client, or damage the relationship. In my experience, though, most agencies – including us, for a ...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Scope creep is awful. We struggled with how to handle it for years at Paper Leaf. It’s a tricky balance, isn’t it? We don’t want to be total doormats, but we’re also terrified to nickel-and-dime the client, or damage the relationship. In my experience, though, most agencies – including us, for a ...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Use This Paragraph In Your Proposals And Say Goodbye To Scope Creep
Scope creep is awful. We struggled with how to handle it for years at Paper Leaf. It’s a tricky balance, isn’t it? We don’t want to be total doormats, but we’re also terrified to nickel-and-dime the client, or damage the relationship. In my experience, though, most agencies – including us, for a ...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Scope creep is awful. We struggled with how to handle it for years at Paper Leaf. It’s a tricky balance, isn’t it? We don’t want to be total doormats, but we’re also terrified to nickel-and-dime the client, or damage the relationship. In my experience, though, most agencies – including us, for a ...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Use this Paragraph in Your Proposals and Say Goodbye to Scope Creep
Scope creep is awful. We struggled with how to handle it for years at Paper Leaf. It's a tricky balance, isn't it? We don't want to be total doormats, but we're also terrified to nickel-and-dime the client, or damage the relationship. In my experience, though, most agencies – including us, for a ...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Scope creep is awful. We struggled with how to handle it for years at Paper Leaf. It's a tricky balance, isn't it? We don't want to be total doormats, but we're also terrified to nickel-and-dime the client, or damage the relationship. In my experience, though, most agencies – including us, for a ...
Published at Jeff Archibald
5 Simple Rules for Better Project Communication
Every job posting in the world has "good communicator" as a requirement, and we all think we meet that requirement. We all think we're great communicators. We cross our Ts, dot our Is, and use proper punctation. It isn't that easy though, is it? Being good at communication, especially when it com...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Every job posting in the world has "good communicator" as a requirement, and we all think we meet that requirement. We all think we're great communicators. We cross our Ts, dot our Is, and use proper punctation. It isn't that easy though, is it? Being good at communication, especially when it com...
Published at Jeff Archibald
The Simple Change that Helped Our Agency Increase Client Satisfaction and Designer Happiness
I love design. I love being able to work with smart people to diagnose and solve problems with a dose of creativity. I love the interplay between all the core principles of design. I love constantly needing to learn new things, and put them in to practice. But let’s be honest: design isn’t perfe...
Published at Jeff Archibald
I love design. I love being able to work with smart people to diagnose and solve problems with a dose of creativity. I love the interplay between all the core principles of design. I love constantly needing to learn new things, and put them in to practice. But let’s be honest: design isn’t perfe...
Published at Jeff Archibald
A Month in a Design Agency by the Numbers [Infographic]
I'm a data guy. It took me a while though. For a long time, Andy & I just operated on feel when it came to Paper Leaf, our design agency. Because it was only the two of us for the first couple of years, we could get away with that – there wasn't much overhead, and you don't need that many pr...
Published at Jeff Archibald
I'm a data guy. It took me a while though. For a long time, Andy & I just operated on feel when it came to Paper Leaf, our design agency. Because it was only the two of us for the first couple of years, we could get away with that – there wasn't much overhead, and you don't need that many pr...
Published at Jeff Archibald
False Hustle
It's easy to be busy; it's hard to be productive, and the two terms are different. Raise your hand if you've spent entire days answering "quick" email after "quick" email; spent hours in your task manager organizing your tasks for productivity; spent a half-day organizing tidying up old design fi...
Published at Jeff Archibald
It's easy to be busy; it's hard to be productive, and the two terms are different. Raise your hand if you've spent entire days answering "quick" email after "quick" email; spent hours in your task manager organizing your tasks for productivity; spent a half-day organizing tidying up old design fi...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Why You’re Losing Proposals
Losing proposals, and the potentially lucrative contracts that come with winning them, just plain sucks. You know you can do that job – knock it out of the park, even. But for some reason, the prospective client went in a different direction, leaving you, your proposal, and the hours that went in...
Published at Jeff Archibald
Losing proposals, and the potentially lucrative contracts that come with winning them, just plain sucks. You know you can do that job – knock it out of the park, even. But for some reason, the prospective client went in a different direction, leaving you, your proposal, and the hours that went in...
Published at Jeff Archibald
