Part of Scott Kellum's beautiful portfolio.
Second in my series is all about the portfolio. This is definitely an area that I am still learning about and I can only give you basic advice on what to do and not do. A few things to think about before you even start to put yours together:
01] How do you want to sell yourself? You may have had classes in just about every area of art, but what are your strengths and what kind of job are you going after? A potential art director may or may not care about your printmaking experience.
02] Are you planning on showing your personality through your work? This is an interesting aspect of the portfolio that I haven’t ever addressed myself. Your personality can be shown through your actual pieces and also how the pieces are presented. My current art director spent countless hours on a beautiful style guide for his portfolio, which included custom boards that sit in their own tin. You can spend $50 on a black, zippered case like me and plop work in (because you don’t have time, money, ideas, etc.), and you can also make your portfolio unique. If you go the second route, make sure you are able to justify why you did what you did. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Experiences, Thoughts , graphic design, job, landing, portfolio
Last week I had the privilege of being a part of an interview team here at work. I got to sit in while a recent graduate showed her work and answered our questions. I was so pumped from the experience that I’ve decided to write a three-part series about what I’ve learned just from my short time as an interviewer. Granted, my insights are purely mine and may not reflect the other talented individuals in my field. Feel free to edit/add to this advice as you see fit.
Part I in the series is The Resume. This is what gets you in the door. I’ve written a bit on this subject before, but I wanted to get a little more detailed and list the DOs and DON’Ts of creating a resume. Keep in mind this list is for mostly for recent graduates, but experienced professionals need to remember a few of these bits as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Experiences, Thoughts
April 22, 2009 • 11:32 am
Last week I worked some pretty late nights. Monday I came home from work at 1 AM, Wednesday it was 4AM. They were the first few nights I’ve worked late at a job in my long history of working in this business. I’ve always heard stories about how designers work until all hours of the night and now I can say that I’ve fully experienced what that’s like. I can sum this up in two words: not bad.
Granted, I work at a really awesome place with a great boss who has the greatest music ever (i.e. Muppets and William Shatner), so my experience might be different from others. I’m pretty tired this morning (as I usually put myself to bed by 9:45) but I feel as though I’ve completed some sort of rite of passage by working late. But I digress.
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Filed under: Reads, Thoughts, Views
What IS this!?
Well, I made it to Arkansas and am once again employed. This place makes me very happy and I am honestly excited (despite my comment in my last post) to start writing about design again. So without further ado:
The other day I went to Apple’s website to see what was new. I was a bit shocked to see they’ve come out with a new Shuffle. Even more shocked that they changed it so much. And though I don’t own one and haven’t tried it out, I would still like to relay my first impressions. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Thoughts , Apple, iPod Shuffle, review
February 27, 2009 • 5:25 pm
I’d like to tell you all a little story. Here is the summary:
Girl starts blog. Girls loses job. Girls blogs about losing job. Employers read blog. Girl gets new job.
It’s basically a success story. And now I’ll elaborate. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Experiences , arkansas, communication, design, graphic, interview, job, knoxville, new, visual
February 19, 2009 • 10:54 am
Patiently waiting for his afternoon walk, Indy gazes outside from his spot against the couch.
I know you are all eagerly anticipating my next adventure, but I thought I would take a small break and share with you a photo. I’d like to do this more often and hopefully will follow through. Enjoy.
Filed under: Photography , breed, couch, dog, living, mixed, mutt, Photography, photoshop, room
February 12, 2009 • 8:10 am
I have returned from my epic road trip to the Ohio Valley. I would’ve updated last night, but I was exhausted when I got home and there was a marathon of Ghost Hunters on SciFi–something I simply couldn’t miss. So here I am, in my pajamas, regaling you, the reader, with this tale.
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Filed under: Experiences , cincinnati, communication, design, graphic, indianapolis, interview, job, visual
