What Am I Doing? (Dec 2008)

I’ve done enough anniversary/milestone posts for the time being, so I’m not going to dwell on the anniversary of the “What Am I Doing?” series. Besides, I have something interesting/productive to talk about this month.

Freelance Gig

Mid-last month, a college friend of mine contacted me about a freelance gig that I might be interested in. His friends from high school have created a startup, doing viral videos for clients, and they need a designer doing the site and create a logo and all that jazz.

I don’t know how much liberty I have with talking about this gig, since it’s still in progress, so I’m going to be conservative in the details. But what I would like to say is that I am excited for this project, and I am excited to see this company grow and succeed. I see real potential with the guys who created this company, and it’ll be interesting to see where it will stand six months or one year from now.

Last night, I spent two or three hours watching all the videos that these guys have created for their old project, Huge In Asia. You might have heard of it, and I think I have, too, back when I was still in college two years ago. To be honest, back then, I probably thought it was really cheesy and silly. But it’s so cheesy and silly, that it’s also entertaining and good! These guys seem free to let their creativity lead their journey, something I wish I have a lot more often.

Luckily, I am now a teeny part of their next project, and I am not going to screw up, not that that happens often anyway. I just have to balance this with my job at Peet’s. So whenever I’m not making lattes, I’m working on this project. Sorry to those who tried to contact me and I haven’t responded. It’s going to be pretty crazy for the next few weeks, especially when you add on the holiday season madness.

Last Month at Peet’s

Speaking of Peet’s, I will be leaving this job sometime next month, after the holiday rush. It really hasn’t hit me yet. But no matter how I feel, I think this needs to happen. The time for change has come.

Flush.

What Am I Doing? (Nov 2008)

End of the Year, End of an Experience

In the past month, Peet’s had been getting ready for the holiday season with special blends of coffees, teas, candies, chocolates, drinks, promotions, etc. And that has gotten me into the holiday spirit earlier than usual. But it also serves as a daily reminder that this is the grand finale of my employment at Peet’s, after which I will hopefully be working somewhere that has more relevance with design and/or environmental issues.

Having said that, I’m beginning to make some progress with my portfolio site. The structure of the site is pretty much set; I just needed to fine-tune the content. Once that is done, I could move on to other areas of the site, including this blog.

Good Will Hunting

A few nights ago, I caught the latter two-thirds of the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting. I probably haven’t seen it for seven or eight years, and I noticed a few new things that I hadn’t before. (One would be the frequent use of the late Elliott Smith’s music throughout the film.) I also couldn’t believe how young and thin Matt Damon and Ben Affleck looked. It’s one of those things where you can’t believe how fast ten years go by, yet so much had happened.

I find this movie more relevant to me now than seven or eight years ago because of where Matt Damon’s character, Will, was in his life. While I can’t say that I am just like Will, we both have something that we’re good at and we both have the potential to succeed.

The problem is that we don’t know what we should do for the rest of our lives, or that we’re afraid to figure that out. And as Robin Williams’s character pointed out after Will’s monologue of all the bad things that would happen if he had taken a government job cracking some enemy code, Will is so bright that he thinks ten or twenty steps ahead and would envision a bad outcome, resulting him to not act, to stand still, and to not go anywhere in life, something that I can relate ever since I became self-conscious.

Current Plan

This movie made me realize that while I cannot confidently decide right now which of the two or three of my desired paths would be best for me in life, I should start at one of them. If I end up not liking it, or that I get bored with it, I can move on, while I’m still young and unattached. One thing I like about being me is that I have so many ideas about the things that I’m passionate about, but at the same time I don’t like that part of me who doesn’t have time to pursue all of them. If I explore one idea, ten more will emerge, but I become frustrated and I wouldn’t be able to get to them in a timely fashion.

With that in mind, I have more or less an idea of what I want to be doing in the coming year. If that doesn’t work out, I would have a few back-up plans, and that should probably last for two, three good years.

Flush.

Vote

1 > 0

Flush.

What Have I Done? (Anniversary Review 2008)

Today marks the first anniversary of Flush. A year ago, I “soft opened” this blog, and believe it or not, I still haven’t “grand opened” it, although I’m not sure if I really need to anyway.

Flash Review

The past year has been a bumpy ride. I finished my last undergrad class, got sucked into the world of Sim City 3000 and Sims 2 as I prepped for my job search, started my beta site, got a job at Peet’s, went to see Sagmeister speak, skipped out on Alumni Day (I’m sorry!), worked on a freelance project for my aunt’s business, bought a new printer, watched the impressive production of the Beijing Olympics, resumed working on my portfolio and site, and rekindled my passion for web developing.

My attitude on design has changed, and that has helped me narrow down the types of careers that I would like to pursue. And every day, I’m getting closer to that job and that career. Working on my site almost every day excites me and motivates me because 1) I’ve grown to enjoy coding and designing, and 2) I can’t wait to share with the world what I’ve done.

Prediction for the Next Twelve Months

I don’t know.

Nobody does, and I’ve been wrong enough times about where I would be right now to not make any more general predictions. But I will always have hope, I will always have my expectations, and I will always believe in the future.

A year from now, I may or may not be a designer, and I may or may not enjoy coding still/anymore, and I may completely change my mind about this site and start a brand new one, or career. And that’s perfectly okay, as long as I am okay with it and it’s for the better. I may not reach my current desired destination, but that may or may not be as important as the journey to get there. I mean, I totally wish I were rich already and not have to work but become a philanthropist and help starving children in Africa or save the rain forest in South America, but it would probably mean more to me if I actually pay my dues, work my way up, meet interesting people, and learn about the issues to get there.

Flush.

What Am I Doing? (Oct 2008)

Web Languages

As I had posted in the past few entries, I’m teaching myself the relatively basic web programming languages by working on my site, mostly the portfolio section. I’ve conducted a couple experiments to get a better understanding and grip of these languages. Learning Cookies, Ajax, and PHP has been very exciting and has stirred up project ideas.

Every day I wish I would have enough energy after work to work a little bit on my site or an experiment. I could see myself doing this as a career, although I haven’t been with the big kids yet, so troubleshooting one line in the haystack of hundreds that others have written might make me think otherwise. Still, it’s exciting when things work the way you want it to, and that might make it all worth it.

Economy and Job

So the economy’s not doing so well. Just when you think you’re at the bottom, you’re wrong. This isn’t really affecting me as directly as other Americans, since I don’t intend to buy a house or borrow large sums of money in the near future.

But when others suffer, we might, too. I’m talking specifically about companies’ ability (or inability) to keep their finances in the black, which may require them to lay off some employees, employees who might now compete with me in the job market, or employees whose positions that I desire but seize to exist because they’re laid off.

So that makes me reconsider the length of my employment at Peet’s. But then again, if I worry too much, which I probably already have, I won’t get anywhere.

Flush.

Advice for Design Students 2008

With my alma mater beginning a new school year this week, I want to give the students at the Design Program there two more advice to continue from the list I started last November.

Have a Life Outside of Design

Don’t let design be your life. I’m not talking about doing all-nighters in the final two or three weeks of each quarter/term and declining invitations to parties. You may love design, but it’s not everything. I have quoted Michael Bierut before that “design is about everything,” but that doesn’t mean design is everything; it’s about everything else.

Have a separate passion: music, the environment, politics, sports, love, whatever. That way, 1) you have an escape if you get frustrated with design or have a designer’s block, and 2) you have a topic on which to base your next design project.

That’s partly why I chose to go to UC Davis instead of an art school; I got to be around people of different interests: Bio-chem majors, Engineering majors, Sociology majors, etc., and I got to take different types of classes, and learn about nutrition and grammar and neuroscience and exercise and acting and a bunch of other non-design topics. Take advantage of college, especially since you’re paying so much for it.

Teach Yourself

It’s not that they’re not doing a good job, but our professors and faculty are there to give you information and guide you with their knowledge about the subject; you have to use that information for what you want to do. Just because it’s a class on ActionScript doesn’t mean that you just need to complete the bare minimum of the assignments and you’ll be an AS expert. You know that one student who’s exceptionally good with it? Yeah, he/she didn’t learn it from a class, it’s from self-teaching.

So do yourself a favor, and teach yourself what you don’t know but want to, be it a programming language or the history of printing. You can take a class if you don’t know where to start, but in the end you are the one who’s going to have to do it; no one can live your life and learn ActionScript for you.

Flush.

What Am I Doing? (Sept 2008)

Peet’s

It is discovered and decided that I will be working at Peet’s for only four more months, through the holiday season. Hopefully, this gives me a sense of having a deadline again and I can get more things done.

Olympics

I don’t know if I had made it clear a couple of posts ago that I love the Olympics, but I do. Not only did I enjoy racing home from work to watch Olympic history being made, but I was also impressed with the level of detail with which the Beijing team executed the events and their appearance in the world.

The opening and closing ceremonies were the best ever in my opinion, but not only that, it makes me want to take part in performances like those for a living, mainly in the planning and conceptual stage. This goes beyond “graphic design,” but I never said I am interested in graphic design alone. It’s times like this that lift my spirits and believe the best of days is always ahead of us.

Beta Portfolio

I’ve been working on the portfolio section for the past few weeks, and now I’m working on the coding before I pump out the images and make the link available, although you can still access it by manually entering the URI based on the site’s navigation. Constructive feedback is always appreciated.

Future

With a four-month timeframe in place, I now have a sense of what I’m doing in the near future. After that though, I don’t know. I’ve been revisiting the idea of a road trip a lot, and it seems like there’s no better time than the present (or asap, e.g. four months from now). I would have some money saved up, and either get on a train or drive myself across the country, maybe with a friend or two.

I might have a revelation in the four-month period and know for sure which path I want to go on after Peet’s. It might not be far from what I had been planning all along; it could be a regular graphic design job right here in the Bay Area, or it might be somewhere in the East Coast. Or, I could be in Asia, or Africa, or Europe, following some hint of an opportunity that is remotely related to design and more related to the environment or humanitarian work.

Flush.

2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony Links

I just watched the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and I am beyond ecstatic and proud of the superb job the organization has done. Because of the time difference and the exclusive broadcast rights in the States, the opening ceremony had already occurred early morning of August 8, 2008 Pacific Daylight Time, and nothing is broadcast on TV until the evening. So I avoided all news sites and blog feeds for the whole day, fearing that I will see anything already posted from the ceremony before I could watch the broadcast in the evening. I wanted to be completely surprised.

Usually, when I mentally prepare myself for a big event, like a highly anticipated movie premiere or the days of my high school and undergrad graduation, I upped my expectations so much that I become disappointed when the moment finally comes. Not this time. Not at all. The team that organized this ceremony did not let me down. I am extremely satisfied and I am glad I did not give in to any temptations with the spoilers.

I just want to say that China has done a great job showing the world the power of the masses, that with enough people, and with an amazingly detailed creative vision, we can be great and amazing and awe-inspiring at anything we want.

I rarely post external links without much analysis, but this is an exceptional exception. I am listing links that I find worth checking out on the opening ceremony. I know it’s only been two or so hours since I watched the ceremony, but I have heard nothing but good things and praise about it, so I must share this excitement and positivity with everyone. (I will add more as I find more pages.)

• Funny Title: Core77 : Western Civilization, You've Been Served - Chinese Olympic Opening Ceremony Best Ever
• Amazing Photographs: Boston.com: 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony
• Flickr fever (start on these pages and click the right arrow to browse):
  • toomanytribbles
  • SleepingSheep
  • sunflowergirl_9x
  • vanessagx
  • angeladare45
  • Windizzy
  • sp1ffd
• Video: Crazy amount of fireworks. Only in China.YouTube: Light the Olymipc cauldron - Beijing 2008

Flush.

What Am I Doing? (Jun 2008)

You realize time really flies when you see the weather gets nicer by the day and you start writing “6”’s in dates.

This past month, I’ve moved forward with my career planning by continuing my ambitiously comprehensive website, mainly in the type experiments section. I’ve also started looking into getting a wide-format, individual inkjet cartridge printer so I can have large and nice prints for my print portfolio.

Finally, I have a tiny photo shoot gig for my aunt’s business. If all goes well, I will post the completed pieces.

Even as the country continues to go downhill economically, there is still that ray of hope in my personal life emerging in the past few weeks, believing that things will get better; I just need to be patient, continue to work hard, and persevere.

Flush.

Alumni Day 2009

Hi, my name is Ivan Lam, class of 2007. I live in the Bay Area right now and I am working part-time at Peet’s Coffee and Tea while doing freelance design work for clients that are recommended from friends.

Hi, my name is Ivan Lam, class of 2007. I’m a production artist at Peet’s Coffee and Tea’s headquarters in Emeryville, and I am part of a team that is responsible for all of Peet’s branding, including the packaging, signage, printed materials, interior plans, etc.

Hi, my name is Ivan Lam, class of 2007. I’m currently the junior designer at a small design firm in San Francisco. I’ve been working there for about six months now, after leaving my barista job at Peet’s, which is another story. But we mostly do print work, and occasionally, when necessary, we do some web, and I get to do the basic programming and I work with freelance programmers who do more of the complicated backend portion. I really like this job because everyone is really nice and the work environment is really welcoming and relaxed yet productive. There are a lot of smart people there whom I can learn a lot from and I really like going to work every day because I get to challenge myself and do really good work.

Hi, my name is Ivan Lam, class of 2007. I’m a full-time freelance designer, running my one-man freelance design business from my apartment in San Francisco. For the past year or so, I had become more into web programming and had gotten really familiar with a lot of different programming languages that make the web work, so I pretty much do full-time freelance work for clients who not only need special high-security logins or complex server database visitor access, but also are into social issues as opposed to always trying to sell stuff. There are environmentalist groups as well as social awareness organizations that come to me asking to design and produce creative interactive websites that go with their campaigns. I usually have at least two large projects and one or two small ones at any one time, so that pretty much keeps me busy. At first, I wasn’t finding any clients, but eventually things started picking up, and I’m doing a little better and I don’t have to do that whole “starving artist” thing anymore.

Hi, my name is Ivan Lam, class of 2007. I’m sort of in a special situation right now because I just started this little design business with two other people I met last year and we specialize in helping environmental groups with their visual branding and that sort of thing. I am the main designer of the “trio,” and one of the other two partners is the business/finances person who takes care of the money and all that, and the other partner is the environmentalist “guru” who helps us be more familiar with the issues and stuff like that. A few people here know I really like saving the planet and driving a Prius and doing all that green stuff, so this is my little experiment to change the world for the better and what not. We’re sort of still setting up shop in the East Bay right now and getting our website ready to promote our business. So it’s all very exciting and I’ll probably get a better update at next year’s Alumni Day.

Hi, my name is Ivan Lam, class of 2007. Right now, I’m working for a non-profit organization that pushes for social change in countries like Sudan and Myanmar. I’m still a designer at heart, but I do about 50% design stuff and 50% everything else. I get to travel around the world and get a first-hand look at the conditions that the people are in and do research for my organization. I use design as a tool to get the message out, so instead of using design to sell stuff that we don’t really need, I’m trying to make a change in the world and make other people’s lives just a little bit better. I think I got this job because in my first year after graduation, I had a difficult time with finding a design job, and I took that time to really evaluate and figure out what I really want to do with my life. I still love design, but I also want a job that can make the world a better place, and I want to do that through design. So I looked around and found this job, and I’m really happy with where I am right now.

Hello future. (Inspired by a commercial I saw last night. Check out the “Nursery” one. It’s a slightly different edit than the one I saw on TV, but the concept’s still the same.)

Flush.

(The “Hello future.^®” slogan is trademarked by Lincoln Financial Group and is by no means owned by me.)

What Am I Doing? (Apr 2008)

Peet’s

A month flies by so fast sometimes, especially when you’re working almost every day. Working at Peet’s has been “learningful.” Not only did I learn about coffee and tea in general, I also experienced firsthand the corporate branding trickling all the way down to the sales floor, both in visual design and business management.

Other than the freelance route, I believe that organizational hierarchy and communication are essential to success and growth in any job out there. I am fortunate to work with a group of knowledgeable and experienced people who aren’t afraid to teach others and newbies like me their tricks and provide really useful advice. It’s not as if they were competitive and afraid that I would take their jobs somehow, especially when almost all of us have the same positions. And as “upper management” has shown us, my coworkers and I are a team; we all work together, and we are only as strong as our weakest link and all that good stuff.

I don’t think I’m revealing any company insider secrets here, but I really like the fact that Peet’s places great emphasis on two main things: quality service and quality products. Customers and fresh coffee pretty much sit next to each other at the top of Peet’s list of importance, as they should be. While it’s not possible to guarantee 100% quality on everything all the time, I still do my best everyday to make sure those two goals are achieved, and I feel proud to associate myself with an organization whose ideals are such.

Peet’s and Design Business

That sense of pride is partly due to my background in design (I say “background” like I’ve had decades of experience, haha). The way I see it, from the perspective of a baby designer with little or no “professional” design business experience, the design business is about the client and what you produce for that client. Design is about listening to what the audience and client want, but at the same time, it’s also about what you make to meet their needs and wants.

In the month that I’ve been at Peet’s, I’ve begun to develop relationships with the regulars. Every regular has his/her own unique personality and quirks, and I had to readjust to address each of them differently. Some are real cool, and some are… not so much. I feel that (and I know that) I’m going to encounter clients like that when I do design full-time. Some clients are gonna micromanage, just like some of the Peet’s customers who watch everything you do in preparing their coffee. And some are more carefree and trust you and your knowledge about coffee/design so that they get the best darn product that your skills could produce for them.

Design

Since my last monthly update, I had worked on my home page some more, continuing with the transparency concept. I know that in a real project, I really shouldn’t work on the home page until the end (nor should I take this long to build a web site). But I feel that since this is a beta site, it’s the most seen page, so the design should reflect my concept for the site so that new visitors can immediately get a sense of what’s happening and will come back if they like what they see.

So in short, I’m not going to do much else until this home page is done, as much as it pains me to not have enough time to do anything else in the mean time. But the good news is that I think I’m almost done with the design. The remaining issues are 1) how to place the slideshow “screen” on a faux-transparency while sticking to that grid I had, and 2) a more interesting background, possibly changing based on the time of day.

I believe I will resolve these in the new few weeks, and hopefully, it’ll be sooner than later.

Design Opportunities

Two weeks ago, I saw on HOW’s design blog a fellowship opportunity at Chronicle Books. It seems like a really cool gig and I really want to do this, but seeing how the deadline is at the end of this month, I don’t think I have the time to put together a solid portfolio and application. It’s a six-month fellowship from July to December, and it pays $15,000 total, which converts to a $30,000/yr salary, which is not too bad. Unlike that teamwork mentality that I was talking about earlier, I was being a little competitive here by withholding informing people about this, especially to my graduating design friends who may be interested in this. But seeing how I probably won’t apply, I figure I should share the wealth and hopefully a Davis graduates gets in.

A few days ago, a good good design friend forwarded me about an immediate job opening within her company, and other than the 2–3 years professional experience and QuarkXPress requirement, my commitment at Peet’s is preventing me from doing anything else any time soon. And that made me think about what I will be doing in the next few months.

Flush.

What Am I Doing? (Mar 08)

A slight, temporary change of direction this past month. I had been working on my web site still, though at a slower rate than before. I took on a small, short freelance project recoding a website that is easier to manage and a lot more standards-compliant. But mainly, my time has been split into two parts: one for my website, and one for a part-time job.

Long story short, and in a way that I’ve been describing to my friends and such, I am now working part-time at Peet’s Coffee and Tea as a barista while I’m finishing my portfolio and web site.

I’m still training at Peet’s, so I don’t really considered myself a barista, yet. Nonetheless, this move was a result of a readjustment of priorities, the most urgent of which is financially based.

The Strategy

But I didn’t take this job just because it’s available. I’ve thought about this for a long time and have developed a flexible strategy that will work to my advantage in my career as a designer. By working here, I will be able to, first and foremost, have a front-row look at a retail environment and corporate branding strategies, which will give me some background in retail customer experience.

I’m sure a lot of established designers today had part-time retail jobs in high school and college or in the early years of their career, and that experience most likely gave them a slight edge at understanding how it all works.

Because sometimes, I feel that a lot of designers produce things based on what they think looks cool and lack sufficient research in what the client and customers need and want, or that they receive the research from the marketing department and base their designs on words on paper and not direct, personal experience.

For example, I had only worked at Peet’s for a couple shifts, but I’ve already noticed the amount of branding that the company implements onto the sales floor, ranging from the packaging to the interior design to the employee dress code. The company also has a few service-based qualities that are consistently reasserted, especially in the training material.

Room for Improvement

At the same time, I constantly think about the certain methods and ways of saying something that can be improved to increase productivity as well as customer satisfaction and enthusiasm. Occasionally, I tried to picture how and why Peet’s design team chooses a particular approach in their branding and promotion strategies and thought about little things from a retail employee point of view that they could change or add to make both the employees and customers happier.

There are also other reasons for working at Peet’s that will help me in my career in design, but I won’t list them here. But all in all, I am enjoying the experience and will take as many lessons as I could from this and apply them to my future design jobs.

Sayings of the Moment

• “Just do it.” (no affiliation with any athletic company)
• “You fail if you don’t try.” –“Get Up,” Superch!ck (from my high school days)
• “Having guts always works out for me.” –Stefan Sagmeister

Flush.

What Am I Doing? (Feb 2008)

The Sims 2 obsession has faded (fortunately), and the words “portfolio,” “site,” and “job” have become the three most used terms in my daily mental query.

Live Site

The most significant thing that I’ve worked on this past month, I believe, was my site. On January 28 or 29, I suddenly had the motivation to start my web site with a “just do it” attitude, constructing it in public and requesting feedback. This process is moving along, and I’m glad I got started, not only because I’ve moved onto the next step, but also because it makes me realize how much work (and time) I need to put in to have a fully functional, content-rich, informative web site about me and my work. Therefore, I’ve decided to not wait anymore for this site to complete and move ahead to search for a side job.

Job and Sagmeister

Yesterday, I ordered a ticket to attend a now soldout lecture featuring Stefan Sagmeister in San Francisco on March 6. For those who don’t know (although I might have mentioned it here on Flush), Sagmeister has sort of been my hero ever since I’ve heard of him last year, when I was researching for my “Why Don’t We Care?” project. In any case, I made my first not-directly-related-to-portfolio,-site,-or-job purchase in a long time, under the condition that I get a job/side job before I go to the lecture. We’ll see how that will turn out.

Portfolio Review and Helvetica

Last Friday, a couple of my design friends and I met up to present and review our portfolios (By the way, Y.I. and T.P., the address to my main site has always been in the About sidebar). It was a very helpful experience for all of us, and I’m glad we did it. Somewhat sticking to the promise to myself, I unwrapped and watched Helvetica with my friends. Maybe it was the mentally highered expectation, but 1) I thought it was supposed to be longer, and 2) it was a different experience watching it with friends. I think caring about what others think of the film (which none of them had seen) distracted me from paying attention to the film. I shall watch it by myself next time, including the bonus material and take names and ideas for future reference.

Words Pondered

Here are a few things that I’ve been thinking about in the past month:

• “Safe is Risky.” —Seth Godin
• “Trying to look good limits my life.”—Stefan Sagmeister, from his Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far Series
• “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” —William Shakespeare, from the wrapper of some chocolates my cousin-friend gave me for Christmas.
• “Hope”
• “Change”
• “Honesty”
• “Dreams”

Flush.

Why Don’t We Use a Chinky Font?

Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate it! I didn’t plan on posting anything about Chinese New Year today until I saw this a few minutes ago.

I don’t want to seem ultra-sensitive or too politically correct or whatever, but really? This font? I’m not going to go too deep into it in this post, but it still needs to be mentioned.

My request is simply this: can we just not use this type of fonts? At least for sites like msn; I can see it (and I have seen it) being used on the Simpsons, but there’s a difference. And while I remember being fascinated by doing lettering like this in handmade school posters in middle school to show my roots, I have since known better that this more or less perpetuate the old stereotype of how Americans have thought of Chinese and Asians.

While it is a nicer version of the typefaces in this style (maybe just the “2008”), I still think it’s too much. If I had to think of a visual substitute right off the top of my head, I would suggest Optima. It’s a significant downgrade, but it still gives off that essence without jumping at your face.

Here’s my disclaimer on this post: While I am an Asian American, I do not represent all Asian Americans. I’m sure there are some who do not find this offensive at all, or that some don’t even care. But as someone who does care, I think this is not appropriate for institutions like msn, not anymore at this day and age. I’m speaking as someone who is concerned about this topic, because I feel that if I don’t say anything, no one else will.

Flush.

Voting is Confusing

So I got my sample ballot and Vote-By-Mail ballot in the past two days, and I couldn’t help but notice the continuing lack of good visual and information design in these election documents.

Front Cover

Let’s start with the front cover. There just seems to be just too much information. The key word is seems. There’s actually not that much information, but it’s just arranged on the page so that it looks like a lot. In terms of the white arrows, the left one points to the improper outlining of type (more on that on the next image). The top right points to what I believe to one of the many instances when they unnecessarily stretched the type. And the bottom arrow points to just too many individually centered type that together ironically lacks unity.

This is a close up of the front cover. Notice the gray outline around the yellow “Non-partisan” all against a lighter gray background. While at first glance, the solution of “NO OUTLINED TYPE!” immediately came to me, but when I realize that if the outline wasn’t there, the yellow would start to get lost in the light gray. The easiest, cleanest solution I have for it (at least as a start) is to have a darker gray background. No, it won’t match the gray of “non-partisanship” that the cover takes on, but it’s definitely the same hue (or lack thereof) so it’s not a big deal if it’s not the same shade of gray.

On Outlined Type: Ever since Davis, I had learned that outlined type is bad. But since leaving Davis, I’ve become more tolerant of outlining type, while still conservative compared to the billions of commercial type I’ve seen. Outline type is not evil; it’s just abused.

Voting’s so cool, it’s like a magazine!

Anyone want another card-stock half-page that inherently reminded me of the same kinds in magazines? I know, they want to save paper, blah blah. But they should not stick them in the middle of spreads like that. Give it its own space and people will not ignore it like I had (except for taking this photo).

Technical Stuff

Elements outside the lines when they’re not meant to. This makes me think of the first one or two Illustrator class assignments that students would produce (for some people, it’s in all projects). This would not happen under my watch. “If I were elected San Mateo County’s next sample ballot designer, I promise to make sure that all lines would not stick out of their containers like hangnail!”

The second image involves grammar. Being a Grammar N-word (the other N-word). This is more upsetting than the hangnail. I am beginning to be convinced that this document is made entirely in Illustrator, because of the use of Myriad as its body typeface, the hangnail, and now, the missing closing quotation mark typical of the “designing on the spot” spirit of the designer who does not look back for accuracy. The right arrow is where the quoting began, and the left arrow is where the quoting is supposed to stop. “If I were elected San Mateo County’s next sample ballot designer, I will make sure that the disappearance of closing quotation marks will seize, and I will pass legislation to make sure that there will be No Quote Marks Left Behind.

Voting is Like, So Kewl!

This is the deal sealer (“seal-dealer?”) about Illustrator. Preset strokes to make it look like you used a wax pencil to draw that arrow, and then your pencil suddenly turned into a pen, and your handwriting has identical k’s and e’s and pretty much every letter in the alphabet.

Oh, and look, the new electronic voting system is just like an iPod! How cool! Voting is so cool, all the kids are doing it!

The Important Stuff

This probably has the least problem, because it’s not about color, and it’s not about being “cool.” It’s about the content that has stood the test of time, constantly perfecting the best layout. Even so, I think there’s still the problem of overall typographic arrangement. Maybe they’re doing this to be neutral and as boring as possible because it’s the actual ballot design, but the lack of contrast in type confuses me and causes more frustration than it should.

Set in Helvetica Roman or something, there are only four font sizes to distinguish all words, and all but the smallest font are set in caps. My problem with this is that the separation of one question with another is very subtle, by a single line, the same width of line used to separate names of districts, which I have no idea what they mean (See top of image). I’m sure it’s important to display that information, but how should that relate to the actual reading of the proposition descriptions below that?

Those three lines for the district names completely distracted me from the Instructions for the ballot, which is more important to me as a voter to know how to do this right and not where in the state I’m doing it, because I know where I am. A simple solution I could think of is to just make those lines between propositions thicker and not the same width of the type stroke. It shows that this is the end of this proposition, and this is the start.

The other problem is the names of the proposition of category being hidden into the rest of the entry, and if I get lost in thinking about the proposition’s pros and cons, I might accidentally subconsciously fill in No for the previous question just because I see the current question closer to the Yes/No boxes. While they obviously give generous whitespace to show the Yes/No boxes, I think they should be next to or below the proposition number and not right before the next one, so they know for sure they’re voting for the right choice.

Too Much Red

I’m gonna go for a guess that they used red as an emphasis of things you should do before sealing the envelope and mailing it in. But this is a ridiculous amount of red type and lines and boxes. Emphases are meant to emphasize a limited amount of the most important thing(s), not everything you think is sorta, kinda important.

What Am I Looking at?

And finally, the back cover. What am I looking at? Did you know there’s a perforation across the middle where you tear off and mail it in to get a Vote-by-Mail ballot? Did you know that before I told you? And did you know what is the most important information you should know as a voter on this back cover? I haven’t found it yet, because I don’t want to look at it for more than three seconds at a time, kind of like the sun.

I realize that I sound really cynical and sarcastic with this pamphlet to a point of appearing arrogant and cocky, but I’m just upset that an official government publication failed to uphold the highest standards in print design, be it aesthetically, like the outlined type and the red-emphases-saturated envelope, or technically, like the missing closing quotation mark (which led me to think that you didn’t proofread this government document or any government document.

I can’t promise that as a beginner designer I can produce the best sample ballot pamphlet, because I know some of these problems involve a lot of bureaucracy and politics as well as dealing with many people who think they know what the best design should be, based on their own interests. But I can say that I would do my best to make sure that little (yet representative) problems like this don’t appear.

It’s interesting to see that the Polling Place Photo Project is continuing and growing via New York Times. I’d like to see a similar project in the documents involved in the voting process.

Flush.

What Am I Doing? (Jan 2008)

Taking a step back, I noticed that I made a lot of progress in the past month, relatively speaking. Not having school anymore freed up my time to work on my portfolio. Since I last posted a progress update, I have completed the “redos” that I wanted for my portfolio and I am now in the process of branching my attention to put together a “general interview” portfolio, a leave-behind, a portfolio site, a PDF version (for those who ask for it), a CD/DVD version (just in case), and a general portal-like website, which will connect my portfolio, this blog, and another section that I really want to have on my site.

As always, I have a lot of ideas and very little time to execute them well. And time is definitely becoming a larger factor as my dependencies on others for survival have begun to tire me out. So the focus of my life right now can pretty much be summarized into one phrase: job searching.

A Note on the Redo

During the past month, I spent most of my time working on project redos. I was surprised as to how long each project took. I had to find the files, figure out what to fix, work on the changes, prep the files for portfolio and for general purposes, and then package and archive the entire project so I don’t have a harder time finding it the next time. Even the smaller projects that were only one page (flyers, posters, etc.) took at least a day each.

I think what happened was I had to organized I lot of my old files that were just in their own little organization system. I basically took the time to rearrange everything into a more standardized organization system, which has been working pretty well for almost a year now. So from now on, I can work more on the design and less on the organizing.

Holiday Season

With December being the heart of the Holiday Season, I encountered a conflict between having to work on my portfolio as much as and as timely as I could against celebrating the season by not wanting to work at all. Debates went on daily in my head, trying to find a good reason to let me off the hook for the day by promising myself to do more work the next day. It was a lose-lose situation, especially when a rediscovery of an old hobby emerged.

Sim City 3000/Sims 2—A Little Sidetrack (Skip to the next heading if you wish)

At a family gathering for the holidays this winter, I noticed that my cousins brought their laptop to play games and kill time. Usually they play role-playing games and go around shooting things. This time they brought The Sims, and I found myself unable to resist watching them play. They offered to let me play, and I, being the kind of person I am, took a hour or so creating two new people and building a house before actually playing the game.

That got me going. I spent the ride home that night thinking about playing the Sim City 3000 that I got in high school: “And now with a faster computer and larger screen, it’s going to be so much better!” I thought. So I started playing it at home, but the problem was that this is not the type of game where there are stop points. It’s like a casino, where there are no windows to tell you what time it is; you just keep going.

I knew I had to control myself, but my mind couldn’t stop zoning land and expanding city limits. So for the whole week or two, I periodically thought about special building strategies, and even dreamed in squares.

At another family gathering, my cousins brought Sims 2. I was even more drawn to it than Sims 1 because of the graphics, the functions, and the new playing experience. Again, I spent an hour or two creating people and building a house. I think I enjoy that a lot more than actually playing the game; something about making things.

When I got home, I knew I had to ask my sister for her copy of Sims 2. But this time, I had more self-discipline (at least in the beginning). I had one short session of just checking out the neighborhoods and the interface, and another one creating the people, and then one more to build a super fancy house just for fun. Last night was when I started playing, but that’s not enough.

Long story short (too late), I need a vacation.

“But Ivan,” you may ask, “you don’t have a job. Aren’t you on vacation?”

“Well, you,” I respond, “have you ever heard of the saying, ‘Finding a job is a full-time job’?”

“No, I haven’t, Ivan,” you replied, “why don’t you extrapol…

Well, it is. I’m sure a lot of people work wish they weren’t working. But for those who aren’t working, like me, getting a job is almost all they think about.

I’ve been so into this project called Get-My-Portfolio-Ready-So-I-Can-Find-A-Good-Job that I think I’ve put in more than forty hours a week, since I “work” on the weekends, too.

But according to Neil Fiore in The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play (which I read this past month for somewhat obvious reasons), I should allow myself time to play so I can be more productive in my work.

And I realized this as I was playing Sims 1 on my cousins’ laptop. My “Bachelor,” who was living alone, was basically working, eating, cleaning, sleeping, every day. Eventually, he started crying because his “Social” and “Fun” levels had gone red.

Funnily in a not funny way, I played Bachelor like I would with my life, always chasing that extra dollar and not thinking that social interactions matter that much. In the game, they tell you so and you suffer the consequences. In real life, it’s less black and white, and you don’t know it until your leprechaun friend tells you.

So, I want a vacation, but I still feel guilty for playing before finishing my portfolio. And I know that once I get a job, I’ll be head-on into my work, although I love working anyway. Still, it might be years before I get a decent vacation. Maybe I will make a more appropriate use of my weekends then.

Recruiter

This past week, I was contacted by a recruiter, who heard about me from one of my friends to whom I mentioned more than a month ago that I was looking for a job.

It was a very surprising email, and I really freaked out, because I wasn’t done with my portfolio and all that stuff. Nonetheless, I contacted the recruiter, and it turned out that the job opening was for someone with a lot more experience. Still, she let me send her a résumé to keep on file in case something else comes up.

Our discussion of the job opening and its responsibilities actually made me realize what kind of job I wanted, and where I stand in the field: gumshoe bottom. I actually don’t mind that, as long as I don't stay there my whole life. I know where I stand, and I am ready to move on up.

Also, this surprise recruiter episode allowed me to see what I’ve done so far with my portfolio and how much more I have left to do. I’m excited that slowly but surely, I am getting there.

I’m going to end this apparently monthly post with lyrics to a song to stick in your head. I heard my favorite radio morning show mentioning and singing this song this morning as they said that Obama’s using this song for his campaign. I had to look it up on YouTube for the song and the classic TV show that went with it.

Well, we’re movin’ on up, (movin’ on up)
To the East Side, (movin’ on up)
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin’ on up, (movin’ on up)
To the East Side, (movin’ on up)
We finally got a piece of the pie!

Fish don’t fry in the kitchen;
Beans don’t burn on the grill.
Take a whole lotta tryin’,
Just to get up that hill.
Now we’re up in the big leagues,
Getting’ our turn at bat.
As long as we live, it’s you and me baby,
There ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.

Well, we’re movin’ on up, (movin’ on up)
To the East Side, (movin’ on up)
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin’ on up, (movin’ on up)
To the East Side, (movin’ on up)
We finally got a piece of the pie!

—“Movin’ on Up,” Ja’net DuBois

Flush.

X’s and O’s

The X’s

A few weeks ago I read a post on AIGA’s web site regarding the abundant amount of uses of “X” in our culture yet that wealth of usage reflects extremely poorly in the dictionary. I couldn’t believe how many ways the X is used. The common, traditional “X marks the spot” and the roman numeral for 10 were easily mentioned in the post, while the all-too-frequent substitutions for “ex-” words in marketing culture like “X-treme” were not left out, either.

What I didn’t realize was that X was also used to indicate “experiment” in aerospace: NASA’s X-33 Program and X-15 aircraft. Come to think of it, the letter X just adds some sort of futuristic mysteriousness to new technology that gets your imagination going. Even cars, a modern-era technology, can have names with “X” in it, suddenly making it more “cool”: “Xterra,” “Turbo X,” and “X-Type” (Jaguar has the most amount of cars that I’ve seen with X-names)

If we were to talk about the amount of unique, stand out, unusual uses for a character, I think “X” is the most used character in our culture, after “O,” of course.

And the O’s

As we cruises along the last month of 2007, I couldn’t help but to start thinking about what to do on New Year’s Eve. Then I remember watching people in Times Square on TV, celebrating with their goofy, unoriginal glasses where the two middle zeroes of Two-Thousand-Whatever for the past seven years circled (no pun intended) the eyes. And then it hit me. Next year (or in less than a month), there will be two more circular frames on those glasses, not that they’ll be used to see through, but they are circles nonetheless, zeroes nonetheless, O’s nonetheless.

I’m actually surprised that I haven’t seen any 2008 calendars where they hungrily took advantage of those two extra circles to make some sort of bubbles galore. I mean, that’s where I would go first for design ideas, but I know that as a freshie designer learning the craft, I must resist the most obvious and therefore most unoriginal solution. Still, that shouldn’t stop the amateur calendar designers to get someone to turn that 8 into a designer’s eyesore. I mean, so many people did it for 2000, and they had only three circles! Think of what you can do with four!

As we get past the New Year’s celebration and the calendar buying frenzy, there are still occasions where the number 2008 will be typographically manipulated to death throughout the year. Think of all the special annual events and conferences and awards shows that will have to incorporate 2008 into the logo. Most people will have thousands of variations of one circle concept, where one or two look decent, while some just don’t even try to dignify that trend with any typographic solution. But there will be that one or two pieces where the circular forms of “2008” will escape expectations and display a composition that no one has thought of, and design will win another battle.

So watch out for the O’s next year; you’ll get tired of round design and then everything will be flat and sharp.

Flush.

AIGA 2009

I want to go. Since I won’t be going to Beijing for the Olympics next year, I’m going to plan my next trip around going to Memphis, Tennessee. I’m kind of scared going to the South; I’ve never been. Hopefully, it’ll all work out just fine.

Flush.