Dave Selden
Creative Director
Dave has been a web designer almost as long as there has been a consumer Internet, starting with his first web site in 1997. He earned a BA in Art and Journalism from the University of Iowa in 2000, and utilizes a design style where he solves problems through a complete understanding of our client’s business. Dave has played a pivotal role in working with most of our clients including, Leatherman, Xerox, DTNA and the Oregon Lottery. Outside of Pop Art, he is the Marketing Chair for the Portland Chapter of the AIGA and a board member for the Portland Advertising Federation. In his down time, he is an avid homebrewer, woodworker and artist.
Go big or go home.
Education
BA in Art and Journalism from the University of Iowa
Community Involvement
- AIGA Portland
- Portland Ad Federation
- Portland Area Darts Association
- American Homebrewer’s Association
Other Interests
- Beer
- Bacon
- Woodworking
- Red Sox
Current Magazine Subscriptions
- Wood Magazine
- Popular Woodworking
- Fine Woodworking
- Imbibe
- Zymurgy
Recommended Books
Networks
Posts by Dave Selden
Top 5 Office Pranks in Pop Art History
We work pretty hard at Pop Art. There are late nights, and there are late nights. Booze sometimes takes the edge off, but where to turn when sobriety is your only friend, and there’s stress you need to relieve? Laughter is the best medicine, and it’s best enjoyed at a co-worker’s expense. 5. Jello Stapler VP of Client [...]
To Microsite or Not To Microsite?
I’ve been part of several conversations in recent months about when to build a microsite, or when a certain type of content is better placed within the confines of the corporate web site. To that end, I developed a quick little graphic that illustrates my thoughts on the matter. In my opinion, your corporate web [...]
What I wish the Apple Tablet Was
Last night, I was secretly hoping this long-rumored Apple device was just a big hoax. Seriously, how funny would that have been if all the rumors were nothing but … rumors? But as Anton and I got to talking about it, we started imagining the purposes a keyboard-less, WiFi-enabled touchscreen might have in our daily [...]
I hate Fred Meyer’s Holiday Ad
Ahh, the holidays. The time of year when retailers turn the dials up to 11 to clear storerooms and shelves. The holiday ad has always been of particular annoyance to me, particularly those with catchy new lyrics set to old songs, tending to the punny. This year, however, a new low has been set. Northwest grocer [...]
On Design Portfolios
I was talking about design portfolios with our supremely talented intern Shawna a few months ago, and the subject of format came up. Her graduation was coming up in June 2009, and she was already thinking about the job hunt, yet another sign of how sharp she is. For those of you reading who aren’t [...]
Sticky Wall 2.0
This year, Pop Art participated in Colaboratory for the first time, Portland Ad Fed’s revolutionary new internship program. We had three different interns over six weeks, from both the design and writing disciplines. Each intern was here for just eight working days (Monday – Thursday), which was some of my initial hesitation in participating in the [...]
Making Amazon More Actionable
I’m an Amazon junkie. I’ve bought everything from books to power tools on Amazon. I’m a prime member, meaning I pay $70/year for the ability to get items shipped to me in 2 days or less, every time, rather than paying for express shipping every purchase. Suffice to say, I use the site a lot. [...]
The Passive-Aggressive Brand
A couple of days ago, my sister sent me a link to PassiveAggressiveNotes.com, a site I’d seen before, but one that still elicits a chuckle every time I check it out. There’s just no replacement for the snide little notes co-workers and roomates leave one another. My favorites are variations on a simple theme: “Your [...]
Free Advice for Adobe Acrobat Programmers
I often find myself making PDFs to send our design work over to clients. Acrobat is a great little program that nearly everyone has, and is rarely blocked by corporate firewalls. It’s generally very easy to use, too. Here’s how I make most PDFs for client presentations. Make comps. This takes some time. Drag files onto Acrobat icon [...]
Open Letter to PortlandOnline Refresh Committee
In May, one of the largest interactive firms in Portland announced it was closing its downtown Portland office, and that its staff would begin “working from home.” In the last 12 months, nearly every web development firm and design firm in the Portland area has laid off staff (thankfully, a situation Pop Art has avoided), [...]
Quick Shopping Cart UX Tip
Most web checkout forms collect credit card information in this order: Card type (e.g. Visa, Mastercard) Card number Security Code (three digits on the back) Expiration Date Name on Card (e.g. DAVID R SELDEN JR) If you go through this process, you’ll note that steps 1, 2, 4 and 5 require information from the front of your credit card. The information [...]
On Method Design and Efficiency
In acting, there is a school of training known as “Method Acting,” whose proponents begin preparing for a role by immersing themselves in the culture they are trying to portray. Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro are three well-known practitioners, often going to great lengths to remain in character, even after the [...]
Lingo Bingo 2: Creative Edition
Based on the popularity of my last post, I teamed up with Kevin Platt, one of Pop Art’s talented writers, to bring you Lingo Bingo 2: Creative Edition. Next time you meet with your internal creative team, ad agency, or marketing firm, print one of these out before the meeting. When the creative buzzwords start [...]
Lingo Bingo
So there I was sipping my coffee this morning, checking my RSS feeds and WHAM! Inspiration! I should say for the record that I love our project managers, and I love our account managers, and that they have been nothing but good to me and the rest of the creative team, cleaning up the digital messes [...]
America’s First Brand Touchpoint
A couple weekends ago, my wife and I took a trip northward to Canada (aka “America’s Hat”), specifically Vancouver, B.C. The trip was great – what an amazing, global-feeling city. I heard more languages spoken on the street in 10 minutes there than I have in the past 10 days in Portland. We had some [...]
The Truly Friendly Skies: Southwest Airlines
I love Southwest Airlines. In a time when nearly every other airline is bankrupting themselves, exacerbating their problems with underhanded pricing, starving their customers, and providing Soviet-era customer service, Southwest is expanding their offerings in their typical friendly, easygoing way. If you’ve never flown Southwest, try it sometime. It takes a bit of getting used to, [...]
Behind the Design: the Pop Art Logo
In July of 2006, Pop Art’s President, Steve Rosenbaum, commissioned the Pop Art design team to develop new marketing materials to coincide with our move to a new office space. During this process, Pop Art’s existing logo was called into question, and the design team set out to develop a new logo. The new logo reflects [...]
The Lure of Argentum
If you are studiously following PopArt.com’s news feed, you probably saw that we’ve recently launched a new microsite for Leatherman Tool Group, one celebrating a new line of high-end tools called “Argentum.” You may have recently seen a link to this site from one of the many blogs that have covered this product launch (Thanks, [...]
Welcome to the Future
When the first iPhone was announced, I publicly stated that I would wait for version 2 before purchasing. It took about 30 seconds of playing with version 1 before changing my mind. Holding the slim, elegant device in my hands, I felt like I was experiencing radio for the first time. I didn’t want to [...]
Things I learned about Steve Sandstrom Last Night
Steve Sandstrom likes “verbena” scented things. Steve Sandstrom also enjoys the smell of his wife’s neck. Steve Sandstrom is married. Steve Sandstrom became a vegan 8 months ago. Steve Sandstrom likes marionberry pie. Steve Sandstrom has a child who was conceived accidentally. Steve Sandstrom is fond of people who are fond of large belt buckles. Steve Sandstrom deserves his PAF lifetime achievement [...]
Today’s The Day: Post It By Number
Today is our 10-Year Anniversary party, and the office is buzzing with last-minute preparations. The beer, wine, and martini fixin’s are here. Cocktail tables are being installed, tablecloths unfurled. The new sign is lit (look for another post, forthcoming, or just take a stroll down Broadway in downtown Portland. And, the makings for our special [...]
The Commitment Cut
Today, I got a haircut. A big one. My summer chop-off. Buzzville, USA, Population: Me. I also had a very entertaining barber, from the Bay Area. He regaled me with stories of pimped out Buicks, drug dealers, and a special summer drink his cousins used to make with equal parts Mickey’s and Gallo Sangria. Drink half [...]
Designer Movie: Stranger than Fiction
Every once in a while, I see a movie that excites me as a designer. The opening titles for Panic Room, combined with that film’s amazing camera work. Fight Club, with it’s “IKEA catalog” sequences and David Carson-like typography. Last night, I saw another such film, Stranger Than Fiction. The great typography and motion graphics first [...]
7 Habits of Highly Annoying Web Designers
1. “Real World” Interfaces. Yeah, the menu should totally be on a banner pulled behind an airplane. Get it? It’s a “fly out.”Leave the real world to the real world. To borrow from Clement Greenburg, “screen is screen, pixels are pixels.” You’ve got a million colors and several million pixels to play with, unlimited fonts, and [...]
