So I have decided...

To blog more, or less, I am really not sure which at the moment.

A new chapter

Recently I was asked to become the Houston plus sized examiner for examiner.com. I am very excited to share my knowledge and style tips with the plus size community of Houston. Please check out my page at: http://www.examiner.com/x-20359-Houston-PlusSize-Fashion-Examiner and tell me what you think!

this tastes funny!?!

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) once said, "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day."

Graduation is past, my last class is Friday and I am done with work study and internship... NOW WHAT? I do not feel as confident as I should about my portfolio and my work. Is this normal? Should I be more confident and self assured? I know there are better graphic designers out there, so why would they want to hire me? These are the questions that plague me since the graduation ceremony.

I am looking for a job in a design firm and I have a meeting Friday with the Production Manager at a major graphic design firm here in Houston. I am eager to hear what he has to say about my work, even if it is not good. I feel like I need direction and a chance to improve my work.

Mac and Cheese

HTV - same ole same ole

HCC - same ole same ole.

what is my point? ok well, sometime life is mac and cheese and sometime it is steak. The steak is great, but if you eat steak every day it will clog your colon like hank hill. but i digress, anyway, mac and cheese is fast, easy and edible. So when you get the steak you enjoy it more, you savor the flavor and appriciate the meal.

What the hell does this have to do with graphic design? Working in production you do virtually the same thing day in and out. You refine your typography and learn who you want to be creatively. When you are confined by a brand standard, it makes you re-evaluate your skills. You look for better ways to make the project work and new solutions to the problems set before you.

I love a good steak, but for now i am happy to feast on mac and cheese till the chef is ready to plate up a nice dry aged, medium steak for me.

this isn't what I ordered.

Finally the card is done and on press... not without its share of revisions. I read on THIS website 34. A client who knows exactly what he wants is worse than one that has no idea. So I create the design they asked for and we get the proof back and had to reformat the card. we get the next proof back and we had to add more info to the card, then today the final proof was horrible! the logo looked like a graffiti artist spray painted it on like the puffy letters you see on the side of the freeway (I will add the image later when I get a copy). What I don't understand is if the copy place can see the mistakes and pointed them out to me, why didn't they fix this before they called? Why did she waste my time with going to look at this thing when she knew I would not approve it. So the real me is ready to lay into the woman and ask her these probing questions. I controlled myself and for the sake of the piece I zipped my lips and swallowed the brussel sprout that was my irritation.

They sent it back to the printer and they fixed the problems. We got a new proof and approved it. We should have cards on Monday!

stale bread

Wow it has been over a month since I posted a blog. I hope I don't get counted off for it.

What has happened since the last post? Well, spring break came and went with no break. I had to work the break since HTV doesn't get spring break off. Ok, so last week I hit a little snag in my HCC internship. It wasn't a snag in so much as it was a lesson in client handling. I was creating a flyer for a job fair at one of the campuses and the client was not happy with the stock photo I picked. I listened to what they wanted and found what I thought would work... I was wrong. I then looked for something else to no avail. Finally, I had to get 10 pictures together and send them to be evaluated and NONE of them worked. I knew exactly what they were looking for, I explained that I am limited by the resources available to me (our stock photography service). If I cannot find it on the service, then my hands are tied. Ideally, I would prefer a photographer to go out and shoot the material, but with the time constraints it is impossible. Needless to say I was frustrated to no end but I kept my cool and talked to my mentor who then handled the problem. I know that may not happen in the "real" world, but I am proud of the way I handled the situation.

Sour grapes

Yesterday I received word that two people I cherish deeply perished resulting from an auto accident. Jan and Don Berg. Jan died on impact and Don died at the hospital hours later.

As for blogging about my internships, I made post cards on Monday and worked on the summer schedule on Tuesday. I will be out until Monday.

Second Course

I plan on getting my Bachelors degree after I graduate in May. However, I was torn as to where to go. The majority of the 4 year universities will not accept the workforce degree from HCC (they will transfer some but not all courses). I spoke with Lloyd Schuh and he informed me that there is a program at U of H that will accept the full degree. The College of Technology at U of H has a program called Graphic Communications Technology. I called and spoke to Dr. Waite at U of H, filled out my application, and resubmitted my fafsa. I still have to speak to a counselor and get all the particulars but the ball is rolling. To learn more about the program go to: http://graphics.tech.uh.edu/

the recipe

When I cook, it is usually the same rotation (pork chops, spaghetti, tacos/tostadas, and steak). However, sometimes I want to try something different so I look for a recipe. Now, I could deviate from the recipe but I am not guaranteed the same results. To perfect the dish I may have to repeat the recipe multiple times. I might even get tired of eating the same dish over and over... This is what it is like to design with a brand standards manual.

I have been doing an internship/work study with HCC which happens to be right next door from the HTV office. I have been there for 3 weeks now. I have made 3 brochures, 2 flyers, and a poster. Now dont get me wrong, I am not saying that the brand standard is a bad thing. I think every organization should have some kind of cohesive look and that is exactly what HCC is doing.

I love to cook, so perfecting a dish is an enjoyable experience. I am very pleased working here as this is basically production. The print collateral has templates and is plug and play. What I enjoy most is having the opportunity to perfect my typography. I have been asked by several people if I would consider working there and the answer is emphatically yes. I know that whatever I do in graphic design, I will start with production and have to work my way up the ladder. I dont mind at all.

One thing that does bother me is the confusion I have with what I have learned in class and what I am being told to do at work. I have a person that tells me not to use the glyphs pallette in InDesign to make ellipsis and don't use the templates that are in the brand standard. I just follow the instructions my boss gives me.

Best assignment of the week: HCC uses a company called jupiter images unlimited to get their stock photography. So, my boss asked me to look up male models for the fashion design school at HCC. Just because you are male and striking a pose DOES NOT mean that you are a male model! I laughed so hard I cried. I also saw some cute guys, but not any of these! This is a sample of the many images that come up.

last supper

(originally slated to post Wed. Feb 11.)

Well this was the last lecture (sob sob). I was inspired and entertained. This weeks guest was Michael Rock of 2x4. He showed some of their work and talked about what inspires him. He had many installations around the world, many of them dealt with LEDs. and the main concern is content. How do you make the content new and fresh for these installations? after seeing the logo appear through bubbles 3 times, it gets old. Dystopian future sci-fi movies seemed to be the predominant crux of the first part of the lecture... Basically, the idea of the truth behind the design. How we see the advert versus what the advert really means.

I was very enlightened by the whole series of lectures. I am looking for more events to attend. I think that I should seize every opportunity to glean every piece of creative inspiration that I can.

Reccomended daily allowance of laughter

This weeks lecture was very entertaining. Ellen Lupton was smart and funny. She told us of her "do it yourself" philosophy. This enables the layperson to be their own designer. She touched on the topic of self publishing and the importance of a toaster.

To be honest, I cannot remember much for all the laughing. she was so funny.

After the lecture we went to eat at Goode Company Seafood. It was amazing! The conversation was intense as well. We discussed the lack of connection with students and concept. We also talked about the need for unification in the city with design schools. The influx of ill prepared students is growing and the industry professionals could stem the tide by teaching. I am not so sure that is the problem. As a student myself I am trying to get my hands on anything that will inspire me to be a better designer. Lupton said photoshop was a gateway drug. Once a person learns how to use it they have the mentality that they are a graphic designer. The call themselves designers but they have no idea what that means.

I am now working in the HCC communications department. It s a production job making flyers, brochures, and posters. Everything has to be brand standard. The templates are all set up and it is basically plug and play. There is some creativity involved but not much. Right now i am taking this as an opportunity to refine my typography and get production experience. I really like what I am doing... so far.

Day Two

More work on the annual report. Although the annual report will not actually have any financials in it. I would say that it was more of a newsletter, albeit a very long one, but it is demonstrating the changes that have been made and the goals they are working toward.

I have to admit that when I was anticipating the internship, I had a little trepidation as I had not used InDesign in a long time. But I have to say that it was old hat. It all came back to me. I was relieved.

I have to thank the following people who played a very important part of my interning at 3100 Main:

Jana Ortega
Celeste Wheatley
Pat Porcynaluk
Carolyn Moseley
Carolyn Tan
David Little

These people know what they have contributed to this endeavor and for all the help and support I am forever grateful.

Tomorrow is the next lecture in the rice design alliance lecture series. I found that I am learning so much by just sitting and listening to what they have to say. The most important thing I have learned from this series is you can NEVER stop seeking knowledge. I am reading as many design books as possible, I have subscribed to Print, How, and ID, and I am trying to surround myself with inspiring people, music, art, movies, and experiences.

Day one

They say it is not what you know, but who you know. and I am beginning to believe that is true. I know someone who got their internship when they unintentionally mentioned a teacher she had. And after weeks of not knowing if I would get an internship, I got on when I posted my need on Facebook. Jana contacted me and offered me the internship. She and I went to high school together; although we never really hung out, we had the same friends. Now don't get me wrong, I still had to interview and show my portfolio, but it made it easier.

Jana is still as convivial as I remember her. She is so excited about her job and is eager to make it the best she can. She has inspired me to want to produce great work to help her with her goals. The office is a friendly place and everyone seems very nice. I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the future.

I was given the job that strikes fear into the hearts of graphic design students... the dreaded annual report. LOL it is not that bad, but I am researching other annual reports for layout and content. I have made some headway and will see if this is something that Jana will like. Some of the other assignments are business cards and brochures. Since this is for the City of Houston I do not know if I am able to post the work I am doing until it is approved, so it will have to wait.

RDA serving up more gourmet talent

This past Wednesday the RDA showcased yet another amazing graphic designer. Andy Altman of why not associates in London came to our fair city and lectured on what his company has been up to. One of the pieces he showed us was commissioned by Nike for retail stores on the theme of Heroism in sports. The work is inspiring and phenomenal. After the lecture I went up to him and told him that the piece touched me, and that it brought me to tears. He asked me why?


The typography in the videos is thus:

All great heroes think alike.
I believe it is the nature of people to be heroes.
Self trust is the essence of heroism.
Calculation never mad a hero.
Heroism is... enduring one moment more.
We can't all be heroes because someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by.

This was very poignant to me. Even though it was about sports, the video made me realize that I am very hard on myself and I have trouble allowing my work to be less than perfect. I don't trust my creative judgment and I expect too much. Right now I can allow myself to "sit on the curb and clap" as the graphic design heroes go by and be happy and content to learn from them; all the while paying my dues and growing as a graphic designer. Or I can be miserable and try to be something that requires the talent that only comes with experience. It was very humbling to watch. But, it was also very hopeful. If that makes any sense.

Tomorrow I begin my internship with HTV. It is unpaid but I think it will be okay. They need new collateral and various items (business cards, etc...). I got a new laptop this weekend and I can't wait to begin my internship.

You know you want to see this!

Creme de la creme

I have the great pleasure of attending The Rice Design Alliance lecture series called Transparency, Exposing Graphic Design.

Wednesday, January 21 was Steven Heller Co-Founder, MFA Designer as Author program, School of Visual Arts, New York.

He has authored many books on graphic design, the newest one is Iron Fists: Branding the 20th Century Totalitarian State.

However, this lecture touched more on his book entitled The Design Entrepreneur: Turning Graphic Design Into Goods That Sell. He showed us how a graphic designer can be an entrepreneur by taking the design from print to product. I was amazed. Never had I thought to take design to that level. It was on the verge of invention, but isn't that what designers do... invent solutions to graphic design problems? I really feel enriched by attending everything I can that will put me in the presence of these great designers. I feel, as a student, we should not leave our education up to the university and seek out these types of events to enrich our creativity and expand our thinking. You glean so much just from the exposure to someone who knows more than you. The wisdom they convey is worth more than the cost of the lecture or workshop.

I purchased the following Steven Heller books: Stylepedia: A Guide to Graphic Design Mannerisms, Quirks, and Conceits, How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer forward by Steven Heller, and New Vintage Type: Classic Fonts for the Digital Age

I look forward to reading them. I will post my thoughts then.

Here are the other designers in the series:

This Wednesday, January 28 will be Andy Altman Founder, Why Not Associates, London.

Wednesday, February 4 is Ellen Lupton. She is Director, Graphic Design MFA Program, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore; editor of D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself

Lastly on Wednesday, February 11 we have Michael Rock Partner, 2x4, New York


Unfortunately, the advance series tickets were SOLD OUT. they are selling single tickets the night of the lecture (upon availability). So if you are going, be sure to get there early to get a number to purchase a ticket.

Graphic chef seeks internship...

Today is the first meeting of the internship class, and I still do not have an internship yet. I have until February 2 to get one. EEK!