(http://www NULL.caradvice NULL.com NULL.au/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/iload0002 NULL.jpg)

iLDAD? or iLOAD?

I was driving down the M2 Hills Motorway a couple of days ago when a white van pulled in front of me. I noticed the Hyundai logo and then the van’s model name.

I thought it said “iLDAD”. Ill dad? Blimey, I said to myself, that’s a strange model name. Maybe something got lost in the translation from Korean.

Austin Allegro

Ah, but wait. I tailgated the van for a moment or two just to read the name more clearly and realised it said “iLOAD”. The font that was used featured an “o” with square corners. Had someone in Hyundai been channelling the designers of the ill-fated 1970s Austin Allegro with its quartic steering wheel? (For the unenlightened, the quartic steering wheel wasn’t round. It was rectangular with slightly rounded corners. I suspect it caused many bruised thighs and was a key reason for the Allegro’s lack of sales. There is a reason why steering wheels are round.)

The upshot was that it was hard to tell the “O” and “D” apart. A classic case of not thinking carefully before choosing a font or typeface.

(http://arionproductions NULL.com NULL.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/ildad NULL.jpg)

similar but different... not quite the Hyundai font but the same effect with the quartic O

The typeface used by Hyundai was modern and clean – probably too modern when used in that particular word. A car model number has to be readable at a swift glance. When you’re driving, your brain is reacting in fractions of a second. You may need to recall that car’s model name and number plate for any reason – let’s say you heard a police report on the radio that police were searching for a white Hyundai iLOAD which had been involved in a major crime. Oh, you think. Well, that’s not the car in front. That car is an iLDAD.

It’s not just car names that have to be readable at a swift glance, either – it’s anything you put on paper or the internet that is intended to attract customers. The exceptions may be heavy metal band names or products aimed at Generation Y or Generation Z. But for most of us, finding a font that matches our branding and is easy to read is paramount. That doesn’t mean sticking with Times New Roman (ugh); there are literally thousands of fonts out there for the taking, ranging from the striking and simple to the elegant and filigree. Even fonts with swirling serifs can be eminently readable.

There’s no excuse for doing an iLDAD! (And by the way, Hyundai, what’s with the lower case i? Channelling Apple as well?)

Maybe I’m just getting grumpier with age, but these days I tend to mentally edit a lot of what I read in newspapers, magazines and online. One of my main causes to get out the mental red pencil is the use of the word “chance” when the writer was really describing an “opportunity“.

What’s the difference?

I was taught back in communication school there’s quite a lot of difference between the words, although both may mean similar things.

Let’s a have a look at the meanings of both.

Dictionary.com offers the following meanings, among others, for chance:

–noun

1. the absence of any cause of events that can be predicted, understood, or controlled: often personified or treated as a positive agency: Chance governs all.

2. luck or fortune: a game of chance.

3. a possibility or probability of anything happening: a fifty-percent chance of success.

4. an opportune or favorable time; opportunity: Now is your chance.

And it says this about opportunity:

–noun, plural -ties.

1. an appropriate or favorable time or occasion: Their meeting afforded an opportunity to exchange views.

2. a situation or condition favorable for attainment of a goal.

3. a good position, chance, or prospect, as for advancement or success.

You can see areas where both words overlap (ie meaning 4 of chance is similar but slightly different to meaning 1 of opportunity), but let’s look at using them in context.

One of my clients is Ryde Business Forum (http://www NULL.rydebusiness NULL.com NULL.au), and I organise many events for this association. In the invitations I write, I offer members and guests the opportunity to hear a keynote speaker, not the chance. Chance suggests a gamble in what the visitors might get out of the occasion – it could be good or it could be rubbish; opportunity suggests they’re going to hear something to their advantage.

If I’m organising a charity auction, I advertise that bidders have the opportunity to win the object of their desire – this isn’t a game of chance, they have to put the highest bid in to be successful. If I’m organising a charity raffle, then ticket buyers are told they have a chance of winning as they don’t, unlike an auction, have any say over the outcome.

If you are writing a media release, copy for your website, an invitation to an event or other promotional material, think carefully before using chance or opportunity to make sure you’re using the correct word for the situation. It does make a difference to the way your readers will perceive you and your chosen topic. If you’re confused about which word to use, drop me a line on the contact form you’ll find on this website!

If you didn’t make it this morning, you missed out!

I read an interesting article by David Frith (http://www NULL.theaustralian NULL.com NULL.au/australian-it/always-on-gen-should-learn-to-switch-off-gadgets-sometimes/story-e6frgakx-1225873737052) in the Australian’s IT section this week. It’s all about switching off occasionally – turning off your mobile phone at weekends, distancing yourself from your social media network when you’re not in working hours.

I’ve always been a champion of work/life balance, of having time to yourself where work just doesn’t intervene. Like, for instance, weekends. But now I think about it, I can’t remember the last weekend in which I didn’t do some kind of work. Update someone’s website, respond to work emails… if you’re like me you know how it is.

The last few weeks have been super-hectic for me. I’ve been working late at nights and working weekends to finish tasks for people. I’ve been available and ‘switched on’, and realistically it’s taking a bit of a toll. I woke this morning stressed out because I realised, late last night, I’d left my phone switched off all day.

I’d been in a meeting the afternoon before and switched it off, because I didn’t even want disturbance on ‘silent’ mode. I’d left it switched off for the drive home as I hate the phone ringing when I’m driving. I won’t answer it because I find talking on the phone distracting when I’m confronting Sydney traffic, and if it rings a portion of my mind is wondering who rang and what they want when I should be thinking about the idiot in front of me with a penchant for not using his indicator.

So my subconscious took the matter in hand for me, and neglected to remind me to switch the phone back on. As a result I had a reasonably stress-free day yesterday. My interruptions were minimal, and I got a ton of tasks done. I did wonder why several people emailed me asking them to ring me, and didn’t find out why until I went to put the phone on charge that night. Oops! My subconscious had the right idea, though. I needed a day to catch up. I’d been making mistakes, not doing updates for people which I said I’d do, rushing jobs and making typos. Not good. Not professional. You might say switching off the phone isn’t professional either, but if it gives you the breathing space to do good work, then it’s a good thing.

I switched the phone on this morning and collected my messages and thankfully I’d addressed most of them in the course of yesterday’s work day, so the stress levels dropped quite a lot. Remembering how grumpy and stressed I was over breakfast, worrying about how many people might be chasing me, and how relieved I was at realising it wasn’t as bad as I thought when I switched the phone on afterwards, has rung some warning bells.

It really is important to take time for yourself. Perhaps not switching the phone off for a working day, but switching off at dinner time and not turning on until the next day – switch off the phone, don’t be tempted to access your emails, forget tweeting about business stuff. I’ve been a bear with a sore head for more than a week as I haven’t been having enough ‘me’ time. There’s a novel calling my name, and I’m off to read it now and indulge in some necessary escapism.

Don’t feel guilty next time you want to do the same.