Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Adobe Bridge & Version Cue
I have known about these guys for a while now, but I just started messing with them this week. I can honestly say "where have you been all my life?" These helpers help manage your files/images/logos/copy/etc. You will not need to have a million instances of anything on your hard drive because Bridge and Cue keep track of them. You can save hard drive space, keep track of projects and stuff. You can drag and drop the stuff in Bridge right into your project, no more messing around and save tons of time.If you haven't learned these awesome additions in the CS2+ packages try them out, they make life much easier.
Old Designer & Software Blues (vent)
My current supervisor has been designing for 1 million years. I think he helped invent typesetting. Anyway, he uses Quark 6.5 and Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop CS. No quite cutting edge. We both signed up for a seminar on InDesign CS3, I use InDesign CS2 all the time and I feel I am more than just an intermediate user, I also have been using Adobe CS2 for a couple years. My supe (AKA design director) doesn't know InDesign at all. So we are 2 days before the seminar and he says he can't go, he has to be at the office. This was his chance to get some insight into InDesign, learn what it is all about and see how much better it is than haggard old quirky Quark. I personally think he is afraid to learn it, he is content knowing what he knows and that's that. I also found out he wasn't needed to be at the office for anything other than normal work, he was B.S.ing. He sees his own retirement in 2 years and couldn't care less about being cutting edge. This is the same supe who refuses to let me do a photo shoot (even though I have done them many times before), keeps all of the new design work for himself and gives me the crap that he either can't do or doesn't want to and prefers to work as individuals and not a team. He offers the clients 1 design and says that is the final, they seldom like it and find his stuff "dated." So, I am stuck working on CS for most things, stuck working in Quark for updating or making revisions to his crap and stuck begging for them to update to CS3 and stuck doing entry level work even though I am way above that. It is so frustrating. It is especially tough when all the product managers come to me and ask how they can get me to design their work, they do not like what they are getting compared to what I can do. It feels good to hear that but it sucks because I can't do anything about it. I want to do real work on up-to-date software, it is that simple.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Keyboard Short Cuts - The KEYS to Success
Yeah, I know that title is super lame but sometimes lame works. What isn't lame are keyboard short cuts. Are you familiar with most of the important shortcuts at your figure tips? These quick key strokes can become second nature and speed up your design time exponentially, that way you can get done you W&I homework much quicker and get back to drinking beer 4 nights a week. Seriously, practice learning these quick cuts, they do save time and they will make your designing more enjoyable. I try to learn new ones all the time, you'll be amazed, not to mention you look a helluva lot cooler slapping out those short cuts than lumbering around with the stupid mouse.
Here are some links for some shortcuts (for the MAC of course)- get to know them.
MAC
InDesign CS2
Illustrator CS2
PhotoShop CS2
Here are some links for some shortcuts (for the MAC of course)- get to know them.
MAC
InDesign CS2
Illustrator CS2
PhotoShop CS2
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
2600 Days
2600 plus days I have been a professional designer. I went to school for animation, got a degree, went back for multimedia, got a degree and during the ride I got a job. My first job was for a dotcom. Life was good, my paycheck was fat, my hours were amazing, no dress code, ultra laid-back environment and most importantly I was young, I was trusted and my work was very fun. I was designing web graphics, pages and flash animation for an online sports registration community. Within a few months the roof fell in on the dotcom world and everyone either quit or was fired. I made a deal with the owner that I would stay onboard (they were trying to salvage the business) if they paid my final semester's tuition. The deal was made, I signed a contract to not leave until at least my classes were over and they paid my schooling. Life was not as sweet but things were still good.
14 days before I completed my BA I got laid off. I didn’t see that coming but I should have, I spent most of my 15-20 hour work weeks drinking coffee and downloading porn. The company hit rock bottom, only 1 employee remained and he was an asshole. No big deal, I thought, I had no fear, I finished my multimedia program at the top of my class, I had real world experience and I was hungry to work, look out world.
364 day passed since my last job with the dotcom, I just finished shaking hands with my new boss, accepting a job for $12,000.00 USD less than what I was paid a year ago. I had to dress business casual, my manager was a douche bag who knew nothing about anything and I somehow became a print designer (multimedia job were nowhere to be found). I knew nothing about designing for print.
912 days float by, I am now the art director, my douche bag manager was now just a douche bag co-worker and I successfully made the transition to print designer. Life was OK, however, I still was making less than at the dotcom and I had to deal with a ton of inter-office bullshit and shithead co-workers. Upon my last review ever at this company I decided to seriously look for the new job; they approved handing me more responsibility but no title change or any more money, sounds like the perfect deal right? Eff them.
240 days after the review and several mostly deadend interviews I have a new job. The graphic designer positions in Philly were impossible to land or very undesirable. For example, 5 years experience- 32-35k, no thanks, part-time to full-time 3 years experience 29k, go fuck yourself. So, I did the unthinkable, I ventured to South Jersey for a job, not fun. I am now on an in-house design team, working as a flash animator and web designer. I am excited, back to my roots finally. They had an art director, photographer, the creative director, magazine designer, man they had it all.
4 days pass and I get fired. Awesome. It appears they are very sorry because they misrepresented the job, the really wanted a programmer. WTF?
90 days crawl by in the freelance world. I decide I need to make more money and stay busier. I apply for a job at the Apple Store in Christiana, DE. I get the job, start work and officially I am depressed.
2.5 days into my 40 hours of the most boring training in the world at Apple, I get a call from a company I recently interviewed with. They offered me the job and I quite Apple on the spot. That job was bad.
3 days later I find myself shaking hands with the owner of the company, I just accepted the position. 7 days earlier she had told me my work was weak, I went home afterward, more depressed and opened a bottle of scotch. I am now working for a small marketing/ advertising firm in Newark, DE. The job is for about $5,000.00 to $7,000.00 USD less than my last 2 jobs but it looks like good experience and I need a job. Upon starting I get the huge vote of confidence with the owner telling me it will be a freelance gig for 45 days and they might offer me the full-time gig if I work out. To get the job in the first place I had to interview 2 separate times, show my portfolio and do a skills test, but I guess that wasn't enough. When I said the pay was low and asked for more the owner called me directly and told me that there are extra benefits for working there, such as free parking and a lower cost of living; again, WTF? Free parking in an industrial park in the middle of nowhere, perfect. Lower cost of living? How about no it isn’t? How did I ever get so lucky to have perks like these?
5 days into the new job I already know it sucks. The work isn’t bad but the office life is sad. My desk faces a corner; I work on an old PC that is not connected to any network because there is no network. The software works fine, the IT guy, AKA the finance guy, AKA the owner’s husband, AKA the real old guy (who smells like a real old guy) makes us shut down our computers, printers and lights every night because he thinks they are going to spontaneously combust and burn the building down. Again, my work is fun and I am learning a good deal, not to mention working with fairly high-profile clients but it still sucks.
20 days into this new job I get a callback from a company I interviewed with several months before. They wanted me to come in again. I must admit I was very excited, depression lifting. This job looked promising. I know the money was right, the place looked professional and I would be working with a guy who has been a designer for decades (a learning resource). I went in for a second round of interviews. I made up some of the greatest lies of all time to get out of work at the agency to trek the 43 miles south. Three more visits and I was offered the job.
40 Days after starting with the agency I went into the creative directors office to talk about me. I asked him if they were going to offer me the job and if so, more money? He said he was almost positive I would get the job but no more money, I let him know I was offered another job for $10,000.00 USD more than their offer and I was going to take it. He tried to convince me to stay with some weak line about how he felt they were one of the top agencies in the area, blah, blah, blah, if that were the case than pay like the top agency.
4 days into the year 2007 I am starting the new job. I have moved twice in a year, worked in 4 states, resigned twice, was fired once and almost quite the biz several times. Now I am starting the next chapter: new town, new job, new friends, new everything.
288 days into 2007, I now live 100 miles from home, I live in a cool area, I make decent money, I have a dog, I’m in school again and I am happy. My job sucks. I thought I wanted to work in a very professional/corporate environment, somewhere I am respected and trusted and a place I would be challenged and successful. Yes, I want to be challenged and I desire success and professionalism but the corporate, stuffy, tons of red tape bullcrap is not for me, not to mention designing packaging, labels and other collateral for drugs is bor-ing. The design resource guy? A recluse who is just riding it out until retirement. I want a job where creativity, imagination, hard work and fun are the standards. Do these jobs exist? I have heard nothing but pessimistic talk about design jobs in the Mid-Atlantic. Cool design boutiques that we all want to work for invite you in, exploit your skills and creativity, overwork you, under pay and spit you out like a piece of knarled gristle. Will all my hard work be worth it? Are there places to be creative, have fun and be successful in this area? Will my sweet memory of the dotcom days damn my expectations forever?
365 days from now, will it be all good? Will I be thinking about traveling 100 more miles from home, taking the job I think would be good experience or I think will be a good fit or will I find these strides I have taken over the years were all for not.
Today, can someone please give me hope.
14 days before I completed my BA I got laid off. I didn’t see that coming but I should have, I spent most of my 15-20 hour work weeks drinking coffee and downloading porn. The company hit rock bottom, only 1 employee remained and he was an asshole. No big deal, I thought, I had no fear, I finished my multimedia program at the top of my class, I had real world experience and I was hungry to work, look out world.
364 day passed since my last job with the dotcom, I just finished shaking hands with my new boss, accepting a job for $12,000.00 USD less than what I was paid a year ago. I had to dress business casual, my manager was a douche bag who knew nothing about anything and I somehow became a print designer (multimedia job were nowhere to be found). I knew nothing about designing for print.
912 days float by, I am now the art director, my douche bag manager was now just a douche bag co-worker and I successfully made the transition to print designer. Life was OK, however, I still was making less than at the dotcom and I had to deal with a ton of inter-office bullshit and shithead co-workers. Upon my last review ever at this company I decided to seriously look for the new job; they approved handing me more responsibility but no title change or any more money, sounds like the perfect deal right? Eff them.
240 days after the review and several mostly deadend interviews I have a new job. The graphic designer positions in Philly were impossible to land or very undesirable. For example, 5 years experience- 32-35k, no thanks, part-time to full-time 3 years experience 29k, go fuck yourself. So, I did the unthinkable, I ventured to South Jersey for a job, not fun. I am now on an in-house design team, working as a flash animator and web designer. I am excited, back to my roots finally. They had an art director, photographer, the creative director, magazine designer, man they had it all.
4 days pass and I get fired. Awesome. It appears they are very sorry because they misrepresented the job, the really wanted a programmer. WTF?
90 days crawl by in the freelance world. I decide I need to make more money and stay busier. I apply for a job at the Apple Store in Christiana, DE. I get the job, start work and officially I am depressed.
2.5 days into my 40 hours of the most boring training in the world at Apple, I get a call from a company I recently interviewed with. They offered me the job and I quite Apple on the spot. That job was bad.
3 days later I find myself shaking hands with the owner of the company, I just accepted the position. 7 days earlier she had told me my work was weak, I went home afterward, more depressed and opened a bottle of scotch. I am now working for a small marketing/ advertising firm in Newark, DE. The job is for about $5,000.00 to $7,000.00 USD less than my last 2 jobs but it looks like good experience and I need a job. Upon starting I get the huge vote of confidence with the owner telling me it will be a freelance gig for 45 days and they might offer me the full-time gig if I work out. To get the job in the first place I had to interview 2 separate times, show my portfolio and do a skills test, but I guess that wasn't enough. When I said the pay was low and asked for more the owner called me directly and told me that there are extra benefits for working there, such as free parking and a lower cost of living; again, WTF? Free parking in an industrial park in the middle of nowhere, perfect. Lower cost of living? How about no it isn’t? How did I ever get so lucky to have perks like these?
5 days into the new job I already know it sucks. The work isn’t bad but the office life is sad. My desk faces a corner; I work on an old PC that is not connected to any network because there is no network. The software works fine, the IT guy, AKA the finance guy, AKA the owner’s husband, AKA the real old guy (who smells like a real old guy) makes us shut down our computers, printers and lights every night because he thinks they are going to spontaneously combust and burn the building down. Again, my work is fun and I am learning a good deal, not to mention working with fairly high-profile clients but it still sucks.
20 days into this new job I get a callback from a company I interviewed with several months before. They wanted me to come in again. I must admit I was very excited, depression lifting. This job looked promising. I know the money was right, the place looked professional and I would be working with a guy who has been a designer for decades (a learning resource). I went in for a second round of interviews. I made up some of the greatest lies of all time to get out of work at the agency to trek the 43 miles south. Three more visits and I was offered the job.
40 Days after starting with the agency I went into the creative directors office to talk about me. I asked him if they were going to offer me the job and if so, more money? He said he was almost positive I would get the job but no more money, I let him know I was offered another job for $10,000.00 USD more than their offer and I was going to take it. He tried to convince me to stay with some weak line about how he felt they were one of the top agencies in the area, blah, blah, blah, if that were the case than pay like the top agency.
4 days into the year 2007 I am starting the new job. I have moved twice in a year, worked in 4 states, resigned twice, was fired once and almost quite the biz several times. Now I am starting the next chapter: new town, new job, new friends, new everything.
288 days into 2007, I now live 100 miles from home, I live in a cool area, I make decent money, I have a dog, I’m in school again and I am happy. My job sucks. I thought I wanted to work in a very professional/corporate environment, somewhere I am respected and trusted and a place I would be challenged and successful. Yes, I want to be challenged and I desire success and professionalism but the corporate, stuffy, tons of red tape bullcrap is not for me, not to mention designing packaging, labels and other collateral for drugs is bor-ing. The design resource guy? A recluse who is just riding it out until retirement. I want a job where creativity, imagination, hard work and fun are the standards. Do these jobs exist? I have heard nothing but pessimistic talk about design jobs in the Mid-Atlantic. Cool design boutiques that we all want to work for invite you in, exploit your skills and creativity, overwork you, under pay and spit you out like a piece of knarled gristle. Will all my hard work be worth it? Are there places to be creative, have fun and be successful in this area? Will my sweet memory of the dotcom days damn my expectations forever?
365 days from now, will it be all good? Will I be thinking about traveling 100 more miles from home, taking the job I think would be good experience or I think will be a good fit or will I find these strides I have taken over the years were all for not.
Today, can someone please give me hope.
Cool Typography
Once again I reached into my extensive library of unusual books and movies to satisfy this weeks "show and tell" assignment. I picked the B & W Photography book because I think the right typeface can be all the typography magic you need to make a book cover look interesting and elegant. The kerning and leading on this title are especially interesting– check out how good the word photo looks in this. On the other hand my other choice was completely different. The film "Memento" is about a man who loses his short term memory and the packaging is made to look like his medical file. The designers have done a great job of combining interesting typography, such as handwriting, and the cool package design. They have successfully made the DVD box look like a medical file.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
NAPP
I am a member of NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Users). I recommend you join if you are a designer. It is an amazing resource for all things Photoshop. With the student discount I paid 80 bucks and I got a free training DVD and book a subscription to Photoshop Users magazine, and the greatest online resource ever- tutorials, 24-7 tech support, discounts on all sorts of stuff, job search, free junk- awesome. Take a look at their web site and use your student discount to join, be sure to save your receipt for tax time.
Cool Words (some definitions)
Carrion- dead and putrefying flesh; also: flesh unfit for food
Ossified- to make rigidly conventional and opposed to change
Truculent- cruel, savage
Lurid- gruesome
Flummoxed- confuse
Nonplussed- perplex
Discombobulate- confuse
Fuck
Traipse- walk or roam
Conjunction- union, juxtaposition
Sanctify- purify
Booze
Tutelage- guidance
Pus
Popsicle
Jaundice
Jive
Rampage
Gargle
Jip
Monster
Prognosticate- predict
Convivial- feasting and drinking
Aplomb- self assured
Malarkey
Balderdash
Bullshit
Hippopotamus
Ossified- to make rigidly conventional and opposed to change
Truculent- cruel, savage
Lurid- gruesome
Flummoxed- confuse
Nonplussed- perplex
Discombobulate- confuse
Fuck
Traipse- walk or roam
Conjunction- union, juxtaposition
Sanctify- purify
Booze
Tutelage- guidance
Pus
Popsicle
Jaundice
Jive
Rampage
Gargle
Jip
Monster
Prognosticate- predict
Convivial- feasting and drinking
Aplomb- self assured
Malarkey
Balderdash
Bullshit
Hippopotamus
Super cool Old Monster Movie Posters
Who remembers "Creature Double Feature" on Saturday afternoons? How about "USA Up All Night?" They showcased some of the coolest horror movies ever. I have a feign-like addiction to a good horror flick, old classics such as White Zombie or The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari are just as cool as House of 1000 Corpses or the Saw series. A good horror movie poster makes for great inspiration and reference in my Classification project. I was a bit ambitious on this project but I have been working hard, hopefully I can pull it all together in the end. I'll post my images after class this week, hopefully you guys will think they are as cool as I do. Bye the way, anyone ever go to Blobfest?
Fuck'n eh, I knew cursing was the shit.
I found this on Yahoo news.
Swearing at work 'boosts team spirit, morale'
LONDON (AFP) - Regular swearing at work can help boost team spirit among staff, allowing them to express better their feelings as well as develop social relationships, according to a study by researchers.
Yehuda Baruch, a professor of management at the University of East Anglia, and graduate Stuart Jenkins studied the use of profanity in the workplace and assessed its implications for managers.
They assessed that swearing would become more common as traditional taboos are broken down, but the key appeared to be knowing when such language was appropriate and when to turn to blind eye.
The pair said swearing in front of senior staff or customers should be seriously discouraged or banned, but in other circumstances it helped foster solidarity among employees and express frustration, stress or other feelings.
"Employees use swearing on a continuous basis, but not necessarily in a negative, abusive manner," said Baruch, who works in the university's business school in Norwich.
Banning swear words and reprimanding staff might represent strong leadership, but could remove key links between staff and impact on morale and motivation, he said.
"We hope that this study will serve not only to acknowledge the part that swearing plays in our work and our lives, but also to indicate that leaders sometimes need to 'think differently' and be open to intriguing ideas.
"Managers need to understand how their staff feel about swearing. The challenge is to master the 'art' of knowing when to turn a blind eye to communication that does not meet their own standards."
The study, "Swearing at work and permissive leadership culture: when anti-social becomes social and incivility is acceptable", is published in the latest issue of the Leadership and Organisational Development Journal.
Swearing at work 'boosts team spirit, morale'
LONDON (AFP) - Regular swearing at work can help boost team spirit among staff, allowing them to express better their feelings as well as develop social relationships, according to a study by researchers.
Yehuda Baruch, a professor of management at the University of East Anglia, and graduate Stuart Jenkins studied the use of profanity in the workplace and assessed its implications for managers.
They assessed that swearing would become more common as traditional taboos are broken down, but the key appeared to be knowing when such language was appropriate and when to turn to blind eye.
The pair said swearing in front of senior staff or customers should be seriously discouraged or banned, but in other circumstances it helped foster solidarity among employees and express frustration, stress or other feelings.
"Employees use swearing on a continuous basis, but not necessarily in a negative, abusive manner," said Baruch, who works in the university's business school in Norwich.
Banning swear words and reprimanding staff might represent strong leadership, but could remove key links between staff and impact on morale and motivation, he said.
"We hope that this study will serve not only to acknowledge the part that swearing plays in our work and our lives, but also to indicate that leaders sometimes need to 'think differently' and be open to intriguing ideas.
"Managers need to understand how their staff feel about swearing. The challenge is to master the 'art' of knowing when to turn a blind eye to communication that does not meet their own standards."
The study, "Swearing at work and permissive leadership culture: when anti-social becomes social and incivility is acceptable", is published in the latest issue of the Leadership and Organisational Development Journal.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Robots and Donuts
Tin robots are sweet. Eric Joyner is an artist known for painting and illustrating amazing pieces that incorporate old school tin robots and donuts. Check out his work here, I am putting one of these on my Christmas list.
Tutoring
When you have that awesome idea for a design but you do not know how to execute it with your software you need help. Why not get it? U of B student services has a tutoring program and your friend Bob G is on the staff. I am available for 1 on 1 or small group tutoring sessions at the school and in the evenings. It is free for students, check it out on the web site.
Friday, October 5, 2007
How the Hell did they do that?
Ever wonder how some crafty designer created some awesome text effect or made an insanely good background textures? How about using style sheets in InDesign or in HTML? Wait style sheets for print and virtual applications? What the hell? Or you aren't very skilled in Photoshop and you want to be, what is a person to do?
Hey there are free ways out there to learn this stuff; if you want to create a cool paper-like texture in photoshop or illustrate a real looking light bulb in Illustrator you can find it out there on the Web. There are like a million tutorial sites out there just waiting for you to take advantage of their free stuff. Tutorials are great, you can learn how to do almost anything, for free, and add more know-how to your cache of design skills.
I check these sites out still, I don't go to any specific ones but when I have some free time I hit up Google and try a couple and by mistake I learn something new.
Here are a few I looked at today, try one out and learn something new! (most are fun)
http://tutorialblog.org/
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/indesigntutorials/Adobe_InDesign_Tutorials.htm
http://www.ndesign-studio.com/resources/tutorials/
http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-tutorials
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
War & Killer Robots
I really enjoy this class. Yes, there is a shit load of reading, you can potentially spend a million hours a week on each assignment and class is almost half the day on the weekend. But, I like it. I like that we are learning very important lessons about writing (the weaker of my 2 skills) and we have to be savvy enough in both regards to be successful. I am definitely not used to the whole writing, reading, editing and reediting the copy, plus (I am used to) designing, proofing, editing and so on . Combining both skills together has been very enjoyable but my favorite element is our creative freedom. I find the creative freedom awesome, it has been a while since I have been this enthused about graphic design and I like it. Don't get me wrong, I love being a designer, even if I am designing packaging and collateral for drugs, it is what I am meant to do. What can I do when I have total creative control? I do things like combine ideas from the past and future: war propaganda and killer robots. When in the world can you do that? Seriously what an opportunity to make kick-ass, fun crap for yourself and your portfolio. I hope everyone else in class sees this opportunity to be as creative and fun as possible and I certainly recommend taking advantage of it. War Propaganda Campaign Against Killer Robots– YES!
Classic Propoganda
I find that some of the best call to action graphic design work was created during war time, especially in the early 20th century.. I found this sample of some of the best CTA posters from the US perspective. Samples from the Axis powers are just as compelling and pretty cool looking, from an objective standpoint of course. Do a google search and check out some other classic "war propaganda" from the the last century, it truly is fascinating.
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