Tuffy What?

What in the world are tuffypants?

Tuffypants is more of a state of mind than an article of clothing.

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine commissioned me to design a website to promote his book. Since my friend was paying for my services, he was due the full-blown professional treatment of his project. I laid down the law right up front and explained how I worked with clients: proposals, timelines, estimates, deadlines, the works. For a designer, the crux of a good working relationship with a client hinges on an understanding of two principles 1) of the two of us—designer and client—I am the design expert because of my expertise in the field, and 2) client delays in getting deliverables to me proportionally affect the delivery of the final product to the client.

My friend approved the proposals, timelines, estimates, and deadlines, but lollygagged on more than one occasion in getting deliverables to me. I got annoyed with the way things were going and deftly shifted gears from my laid-back persona to a no-nonsense mode. My friend was caught off guard as that was a side of me he’d never seen before and responded, “…okay, okay. I guess you’re wearing the tuffy pants today.”

I broke out in laughter because the reference was spot on.

And my client learned to take me and the process a little more seriously.

So when it came time to name my blog, that’s what chose. I created the graphic red pants as an avatar and thus was born my brand.

For a little more about the guy who’s wearing the tuffypants, click here.