Hi, I’m Chris Lysy.
freshspectrum is my little place on the web.
Three things you should know about me and this website, in brief…
- I am an independent digital strategy consultant.
- This is what I do for money, I’m super good at it.
- I teach and blog about information design.
- I really enjoy helping data people get more creative.
- I draw evaluation comics.
- This is how most people know me.
What is digital strategy, and what exactly do you do for money?
In short, it’s all the tactical stuff behind doing things effectively on the web. It’s a mix of user experience design, evaluation, information design, web design, project management, and content strategy.
For example, let’s say you want to build a set of online courses and sell them to produce some additional revenue for your organization.
To do this effectively you’ll likely need…
- A website
- A set of landing pages
- An LMS of some type
- An eCommerce plan
- A presale content strategy
- Lead generation materials
- An email newsletter
- Macro course design
- Learning objectives
- Course materials
- Video lectures
- Pricing strategy
- A plan for scholarships or freebie access
- Subject matter expertise
- An audience
- And more…
So, who do you call?
Me.
Because I’ve done all that stuff, multiple times. And because if you don’t call me, you’re likely going to need to hire a full team of people to do the same work and lead the same decision making and design process. That will cost more and take far more time.
Example projects I suggest calling me to discuss:
- Digital Evaluation Capacity Building Initiatives
- Communities of Practice
- Learning Communities
- Modern Resource Websites
- Social Media Content Strategy
- Digital Evaluation Efforts
- Anything digital where you don’t know who to call.
Want to setup a call?
If you want to chat on Zoom, just go ahead and just grab a spot on my calendar.
Or you always send me an email: chris@freshspectrum.com
Why blog about and teach information design?
Because we researchers and evaluators need to do a better job reporting on our work. But as critical as it is, we do not get taught information design in grad school. Creativity is a weakness for many evaluators, but with a little work we can turn it into a strength.
My goal with this blog, and my online workshop, is to help data people become better designers, storytellers, and communicators.
On this blog I like to talk about…
- The process behind practical creative work.
- Tools that make our lives easier, like Canva, Flourish, and Datawrapper.
- The challenges and struggles that many researchers and evaluators face.
I also lead a support community (Information Design Academy)
It’s an online community where you can get the support, inspiration, and encouragement you need to grow as a data designer.
- Learn how to take long complicated reports and turn them into things people actually want to read.
- Discover new tools that can help you create better work, faster, and share it further.
- Practice turning presentations into illustrated stories your audiences will love.
- Join a community of like minded aspiring data designers.
- Have a place where you can ask hyperspecific questions when you get stuck.
- Get 1 on 1 support from a data design professional (Chris) who wants to see you reach your full creative potential.
Learn more by checking out my Academy page.
I have also written a book about reporting called The Reporting Revolution, which is available as an ebook or as paperback through Amazon.
Evaluation Comics?
This started as just a fun little hobby.
But it quickly became clear how much our field needs some simple visual tools to help introduce and discuss important topics related to our work.
I stopped taking money for cartooning. Turning comics into part of my business made me enjoy it less. It’s now more of a labor of love and a way to contribute to a professional community I love.
My cartoons are creative commons licensed. If you want to use them commercially I usually say yes but ask that you reach out and ask permission first > chris@freshspectrum.com
Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.
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Want to follow my comics?
The best way to do that these days is by following my LinkedIn Profile where I share comics just about every day.
I have also shared one collection as a book, it’s called Evaluation Illustrated, which is available as an ebook or as paperback through Amazon.
To get in touch.
Send me an email (chris@freshspectrum.com) or connect with me on LinkedIn!
