March 31, 2010
I’m working hard on new promotional pieces. Here’s a small taste.
Breakin’ Hearts and Takin’ Names
Is there a different way to say "You learn something new everyday?"
March 6, 2010
It’s just as cliche as “think outside the box,” but I’m too lazy to try and think of a different way to say the same thing. It’s true. You learn something new everyday.
Cazenovia Fabrics is my mom’s store, and every time I come home I feel like it’s my store too. For the past couple of days I have picked up my research on Quickbooks Point of Sale from last summer. I think this is the perfect way for my mom to track her inventory and her customers. She could make better decisions about buying wholesale and reward customer loyalty. I also discovered that the software aids in the development and tracking of ecommerce, something we have been trying to break into for a long time.
Today, during a frequent visit to the AIGA Job Board I found a job that I would like to apply for (more about that later…) and one of the qualifications is “Experience with Magento.” What? Who? It’s not every day that I come across an item in the “Qualifications” column that makes me feel ignorant, but…
“What the hell is Magento?”
Google to the rescue! Magento is to ecommerce as WordPress is to blogging. It is an open source software tool for ecommerce development. Learning about this tool is very exciting! Maybe I can figure out ecommerce for Cazenovia Fabrics once and for all… by myself… for free…
Etsy surprised me today too! I was able to link facebook fan pages to Etsy and Etsy items to Google Search. And it was so easy. I love how all of the social networking and marketplace sites are making it so easy to connect. It’s brilliant.
My last quarter at RIT begins on Monday and I’m growing impatient to start the job search process. I must check a job board everyday. I find a job I’d apply for everyday! But I don’t feel prepared to start actually applying for these positions, which seems anti-productive. How the hell am I supposed to get a job if I don’t apply for them?
It’s all about “Ready, Set, Go!” And I’m at “Ready” when I want to be at “Set.” Hopefully, when classes start on Monday I will be steadily moving towards “Go!”
Until then… I’m Ready.
Jello and Popsicles > Drugs
March 1, 2010
I got my wisdom teeth extracted on Thursday. Everyone told me I’d be totally fine by Sunday, but Sunday is when the REAL pain started. Any pain I experienced before that was fake. The only way I can categorize the pain is this: imagine eating a piece of broccoli. Now imagine that piece of broccoli you are enjoying is made of steel. So now you have steel bits of broccoli stuck between your molars. Yeah… That’s real pain. I went back to the doctor’s today and things are much better. It is just typical that everything that can go wrong with wisdom teeth extraction goes wrong with me.
Second to last quarter at RIT completed. Lots of things to talk about.
First I have finished my Birds of a Feather collection! Meet Lovebirds, Woodland Flock, Dusty Flight and Seagull Fleet…
You can see more images on my site.
I have also launched my new website! With the job search about to be in full swing it was important for me to include a lot more information about my work, my goals and skills, as well as, a small amount of personal information. I am very happy with the way it turned out and hope to iron out the last wrinkles this week.
Last week I made my first visit to Dock2 Letterpress in Webster, New York. The RIT AIGA chapter has partnered with AIGA Upstate to bring the movie Typeface to RIT on March 18th and the promotional posters are being designed and printed with the help of Tony Zanni at Dock2. On Tuesday I got a crash course in letterpress and helped Tony and other AIGA student members start the poster design. I had a great time. I had such a great time in fact…that while trying to sleep with the epic pain in my mouth I dreamed that the broccoli pieces stuck in my teeth were actually tiny pieces of metal type… hmm…
Birds of a Feather
February 1, 2010
Here’s the newest application image from Birds of a Feather.
Birds of a Feather Progress
January 25, 2010
Slowly but surely… The collection logo is set and newest working design.
Terra
Holy crap this photo shoot was not as uneventful as I thought it would be. I knew the image I wanted and it shouldn’t have been that hard to get it.
First of all, my photographer friend Anna Ross is amazing. Not only did she agree to help me make this photograph a reality, but did so in her spare time.
Since she is so amazing, I had to make sure she didn’t feel like I was taking advantage of her time. So when I went to Wegmans to buy four bags of Terra Exotic Root Vegetable Chips, I also purchased a blueberry muffin and a cafe mocha to satisfy her early morning appetite.
I should also mention that I was running on time. I pulled into the RIT parking lot at 8:55am.
AND THEN, I locked my keys in my car. Not only did I lock my keys in my car, but I locked my wallet, a blueberry muffin, a cafe mocha and four bags of Terra Exotic Root Vegetable Chips.
So I called Campus Safety and a lovely lady came to my rescue…almost. Apparently, new model cars, like 2008 Honda Civics are designed to deter break-ins without damage, which is great…unless you lock your keys in your car.
So on with the photoshoot, but first back to Wegmans where Anna has to buy three more bags of Terra Chips!
Once shooting actually commenced it went swimmingly…
Anna is now color correcting and the ad will be complete.
Here’s the “before” image with the photo I took in my room on my bed in shitty lighting.
The “after” is on its way! Check out the FINAL version, new photo and all, here.
Week six
January 21, 2010
Week six… I think I will be recovering until my wisdom teeth are removed and only then because I will have something else to recover from.
I discovered this afternoon that I only need to take two more classes to graduate. I wish I could have figured this out…oh maybe, before this fall, and then maybe, just maybe I would have been able to get out of school a quarter early. I think I have Bruce Meader to thank for this. Thanks Bruce. You have really made my time at RIT stress free, both academically and financially.
I have two critiques today. One for a website and another for two editorial spreads. The first went very well, even though the process was a little redundant, and the second was constructive. I wasn’t happy with what I put on the wall.
So I will share with you the first project. A website dedicated to showcasing what will hopefully turn into a job. Be nice.
I started to apply for a job today. Major League Baseball is looking to hire a designer; I would move to New York for this one, but I couldn’t even get to the meat of the application because I couldn’t answer one of the generic questions in the very beginning! What the hell does this mean? “Are you able to perform the essential functions of the job being sought with or without a reasonable accommodation?” Does this mean that I can perform the job without being paid? Does this mean I can perform the job without a place to live? Without food?
I guess I am not eligible for the job simply because I cannot answer this question. For the sake of not feeling like an idiot, I decided to choose yes and move on. But then I got stuck again, when they asked me my “current salary” and “salary requirements” I was unsure how to answer again and then I gave up for real.
About a year ago I felt pretty comfortable with the job search process, but now… Now I feel very unprepared.
Tomorrow, I a photo shoot scheduled to finish up an ad campaign for Terra Chips and every time I think about it, I think about how delicious they are. Even now, I am getting a craving for their marvelous flavor. I will be snacking on them throughout the day tomorrow as I have to buy several bags in order to find four that are in perfect condition. Hopefully, I will find them before I eat them.
Outlook not so good.