2014

There’s not always time to post or write case studies for the many projects that go on throughout the year. Here’s a look back at some work I did in 2014.

Why I Love Secret Penguin

Years ago, I bought a teeshirt from Dave Nelson (@secretpenguin) – partly because I liked the shirt – mostly because I wanted to have an excuse to say ‘hi’. In my early days of learning design, Dave was someone I… Read More

Pecha Kucha

I recently spoke at Pecha Kucha, an event where each speaker gets 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide. The speaker has no control over the slide changes and is given a total of 6:40 to speak. I shared about the… Read More

I Used to Play Music

I used to play music. That is to say, I used to write songs, play in coffee shops, rehearse and sometimes perform with various bands and regularly lead worship for church services and summer camps. Although the time I spent… Read More

Collective Public Problem Solving

Today something amazing happened. I launched a new site! But that’s not all. The homepage of both NicholasPetersen.is and less.is features some fancy little javascript that acts like a typewriter. On NicholasPetersen.is, I used a series of short messages on a… Read More

Introducing Less Is

Branding yourself is tough. For the past 8 years I’ve been a solo designer, working both in-house and with some great clients that have given me the opportunity to solve problems and build great things. Over the past year, I’ve… Read More

Severe Simplicity

A post made recently from Flatmade Design caught my attention. It features an extremely minimalist design for a “Utilitarian Poster” that could be used for any event/advertisement one may need. It has space and labels for the basic who, what,… Read More

Philosophy

Good design is finding a solution to a problem. Great design is finding the simplest solution to the same problem. My design philosophy directly informs my process. Through discovery, research, ideation, strategy and execution good design is attainable but I will always strive for great design…. Read More

Why I’m Doing #iconaday

    For the last week I’ve been filling up people’s instagram and twitter streams with little sketches of icons and symbols; a daily exercise in creating a small, simple design that represents whatever physical object happens to be in… Read More

Web Machine UI

I wanted to create a ui that incorporated elements that felt like some kind of old machine, based off of some old musical equipment I have in my basement. For fun, I thought it should should look great on an… Read More

Chicago Worship

When it comes to worship there are a lot of opinions out there and usually very strong ones. There are only a handful of people that I feel I’m really on the same page with on topics like creativity, leadership… Read More

Church Cover Bands

My friend Jake is a worship leader here in omaha. He is a phenomenal guitar player and a great source of insight and quiet wisdom. While chatting about church worship over coffee he brought up a phrase that has been… Read More

Psalm 56 – Our Enemies

Psalm 56:1-4O God, have mercy on me, for people are hounding me. My foes attack me all day long. I am constantly hounded by those who slander me, and many are boldly attacking me. But when I am afraid, I… Read More

Leading Worship in Omaha

Hey, I’m going to be in Omaha this sunday to lead worship with Jeff Booth. I’ll be doing some new songs and releasing a demo version of one on Monday at www.nicholaspetersen.com. Come worship, hang out and say hi! This… Read More

Set List 10.25.09

This set list is one of many that you can find at the worship music set list blog carnival at fredmckinnon.com, a great resource for worship leaders and bloggers. Today at HRCC, we did a set list focused on the… Read More

Discipline in Worship–Ephesians 5

I’m always a big fan of contrasting realities. Like when you’re a kid and your parents discipline you and you’re completely mad at them while they say, “I’m doing this because I love you.” I think that’s God does for… Read More

Double Duty

There have been some changes recently in my life at Hobson Road Community Church, where I am the Worship Arts Leader. Janell, the youth pastor of ReasonYouthChurch recently resigned, and while we look for her replacement, I am taking over… Read More

Excellence and Skill

I had a conversation with a pastor recently who said that he wouldn’t mind “having a guy leading worship that couldn’t hold a tune, as long as he was anointed.” This idea isn’t altogether unusual, as most pastors and worship… Read More

Archtop Restoration 01

Last week I discovered a little piece of junk that just might be a nice gem. This guitar has been sitting in my pastor’s garage for the past 15 years, pretty much untouched, given to them by an elderly neighbor… Read More