A quick rant. . .

There is one thing that drives me crazy about designers and marketing/ad specialists. You would think that they would know what is needed to make a good print. For example, today we had someone call in to say that a color on their "flattened" image was not the right color yellow. I explained to them several times (along with another artist) that we cannot manipulate the color on a flattened image without altering the entire image since it was not in a vector format. They were dead set in their mind that since they sent an EPS file that it was automatically vector. WRONG!!! Just because it is an EPS does not mean it is a vector file. If any of you who read my blog get anything out of this, just know this one thing. Flattened or "raster" files cannot be edited unlike vector files. There isn't a "magic" button printers can press to make your artwork vector or to clean it up. It's amazing the people in the world of design that do not know the first thing about it! I hope that I can help my clients better understand what good artwork is in order to promote themselves better.

Panic Mode. . .

Ok, this is where I start to panic. I'm looking at the calendar and realize we do not have much left of the semester - let along a lot of time to finish the web project. I'm probably going to try to go above and beyond again, I just have to maintain my cool. . . I can do this!! Just another one of those hurdles that I must jump through in order to advance in the world of design. But lately, I have been thinking I can do it. Everyday is a new learning experience.

Website Layout

Oh, I did come up with a design for my website that I like. Now it is just putting it together and deciding how I want to do it. Do I want to put my work in Flash so that my content can not be taken? I think that could work, but I'm having issues with background colors and such, since I'm trying to go for a certain look. At least I have an idea though, right?

Crazy Week

This week has been a crazy week - and not an easy one for blogging either. Even though I have been off of my main job for Thanksgiving, I have been working my part time job, which has felt like full time hours. This was my first time to be in retail on the days after Thanksgiving, and it has been pretty crazy! Tonight we had out floor set (which I just got home from), where we change out tables and marketing for the store. I have noticed that a lot of effort goes into the planning and setting of the tables so that the customers will be drawn in. The signage, table layouts and more all have to coordinate and work together to give a presentable display for the customers. It's crazy, but it works.

Template decisions. . .

It has been a busy holiday break - most of my time has been spent at my second job. In between that time I have been thinking about my template for my website. Do I use a pre-made template? Do I create it myself? So many choices. I've search high and low to try to find a template that I could manipulate to make it my own, but I have had no such luck - so, I think I will be creating it myself. I think I just wanted to use another medium than the Flash route I was used to. Oh well, I'm sure it will come to me soon.

Reflection technique

Today I have had extra time to play around. In searching the internet, I found a tutorial on how to make a reflection. I attempted mine in Illustrator, but the tutorials I found were for Photoshop. I still have a ways to go, not perfected yet. But if you would like to try it, here are a few websites that I looked at for instructions.

http://www.oman3d.com/tutorials/photoshop/learnphotoshop_3dreflection/

http://www.planetphotoshop.com/photo-reflection-effect.html

On the right track. . .

I think I'm on the right track. Tonight I started on a new path for a portfolio website. It's cute where it fits my personality, yet sophisticated. I believe it is a good start to becoming a designer that expand on her horizons. I'm hoping to add a flash slide show where it will link to pages with the images of my work. I'm getting pretty excited about it. :)

A New Opportunity

At one time in a class, I was told that my drawings were "too cute" - well, that is just apart of me. I've always like cute, flowery things. Something that I'm struggling with right now is what type of designer I would like to portray myself is. What is my style? I've mention this in the past, but it is something that is constantly pressing on my mind.

I have recently been given the opportunity to work on a website for the company I work for. It has been a long time coming - and it still isn't up yet. In this day in age, a website is almost necessary for business. I want to succeed on this project and would like it to look professional. I've been doing some research on what other banner companies have done for their sites. So far, there has been a wide variety. I think so far that I envision the site to be simple, yet user friendly - although I'm sure that is something that everyone wants. I'm excited, yet nervous about this project. We are a national distributing company. I just hope that I can come up with something that will be great!

Reflections

Going into my last semester as a digital design student, I can't help but to think about where I was when I first began my journey. I had just left the teaching world and started my first class in Illustration. I was so nervous about it. I had never really drawn anything in my life except the usual stick people, flowers and other doodles. I was very overwhelmed by the whole idea of drawing on the computer. But as time went on, I surprised myself in what I could actually do. I was proud of myself for once. I had second guessed myself for a while there at the beginning of it all, but now, I feel like I had made a good decision.

I realize that I'm not as "artsy" as most designers out there are. I haven't really taken any art classes, and when I did - I was so overwhelmed by it, that I decided it was best to drop the class at the time. I would try to draw things for a project and I was told my drawings were "too cute." I realize that they are and that I have a long road ahead of me when it comes to my art skills, but it will all happen in time. I just have to practice.

So now, as I look upon my completion of the digital design aspect of my education, I am trying to decide what type of designer do I really want to be? What do I want to do, what do I want to be known for? I would like to continue on and complete website development and get into the technical side of things, as well as continue with my skills in print - and I have to say, Flash has captured my attention as well. All I know at this moment is that I need to break out of my "cutsie" shell and expand my skills in design - there is only a few jobs where "cute" will make you successful - at least in my opinion.

I guess deep down inside, I just want to be able to compete with the rest of the world.

*here's a link to my portfolio website if you care to take a look: http://studentweb.tulane.edu/~hlink

Where It All Began. . .

My journey began about a year and a half ago. At the time I was a teacher in East Texas, and the year was ending. Part of me wanted to stay where I was, another part of me wanted to move on with my life somewhere else. Where I was living had many memories that I needed to put behind me and I told myself I would stay a few more years, if I was able to move to Pre-K from Head Start. Unfortunately, that did not happen. So, I had several choices I had to make.

I started out by applying for other teaching jobs in Arkansas. I really enjoyed teaching, but was not happy in the program I was teaching in. Then one day, on a trip to New Orleans to visit a friend, I was checking out Tulane's website. It had always been a thought in the back of my mind to go back to school to advance my original degree of Communications & Mass Media.

After doing a little research about graphic design and web development, I made a decision to go back to school at Tulane and pursue Post-Baccalaureate Certificates in these areas. At first, my family didn't really like the idea of me moving to New Orleans - they would have much rather me move closer to home and go to the University of Arkansas. But, I felt that I was at a time in my life where I needed a scenery change - and New Orleans was somewhere I always liked to visit.

So, here I am. On my journey into the world as a Graphic Designer. Who knows where this road will lead me.