Speak Up has a new web site (launched today) and it’s fantastic, as always. I wanted to point out the web stie itself and also that they have a new columnist who many of you probably know: David Baker. He advises creative firms on paths to profitability.

Zeldman has a great argument for why you should never design on-spec. Basically, he sums it up in one sentence: Design is only partly decoration. Mainly it is problem solving. Unless the RFP spells out site goals and user needs in phenomenal detail, you can�t create an appropriate design because you don�t yet know what…

“The best way to distinguish between advertising and marketing is to think of marketing as a pie, inside that pie you have slices of advertising, market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, and community involvement. Advertising only equals one piece of the pie in the strategy.” Quoted from an…

So you’re a creative pro currently using Macromedia Studio MX… You know Macromedia’s announced a newer version, which including Flash Professional, costs $499 to upgrade to. That’s what their site store charges. And along comes Amazon, selling the same thing for $299? It might a typo, but to save $200 on something you’ll buy anyways?…