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? (Dec 2007)

Last night was officially the last exam of my undergraduate days. And no, it doesn’t feel good to say it the second time. Either way, I have no real, long-term commitments scheduled, which means that I don’t have any reason for not looking for a job.

It wasn’t like I haven’t done anything to prepare for my job search, though. I have been looking at listings and taking notes about the whole application and interview process. I’ve done a lot of that soul searching stuff and figuring out what I really want to do right now and in the future.

Here’s a summary list of what I’ve done for my career and my life: I took on the GTD method to begin to organize my life, read a lot of design blogs daily to keep myself updated on what’s out there today and what design is like as a career, read/reread a few books on design, started this blog and worked on my entire web site, and listened to and watched a lot of design podcasts, some related to technical skills (Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast, Photoshop Killer Tips, and PixelPerfect with Bert Monroy), and others related to design in “real life” (Be A Design Cast and Design Matters with Debbie Millman).

The Attitude on Blogs and Podcasts

I don’t know what the professional attitude among employers and business people out there is on blogs and podcasts, but 1) this is the current trend in our culture so businesses should pay attention to it, and 2) I definitely learned a lot from reading these blogs and listening and watching these podcasts about how to and how not to be a designer in the business world.

The Lesson

One thing I heard repeatedly is to not act like you know everything, because you don’t. That’s great because I don’t know everything, and I admit it! I know that there is a lot of stuff that I need to learn that I didn’t get to in school, and I am ready to learn. Just give it to me, baby. I want to be a sponge and absorb as much knowledge as I can.

So hopefully, potential employers won’t scoff at me when I say that I like to listen to podcasts and read blogs, because while I understand that it sounds so teenage and unprofessional, you learn a lot more than you would think.

Task One

But back to what I’m doing now. Since I’m done with that class with no more studying to get in my way, I am currently putting my portfolio and my web site together. I’m going to rework some of my pieces, and then I’m considering making different versions of the portfolio (not just one print and one web) that suit different needs and different situations. That is my number one task to do.

That leads to my number one-point-five task to do, which is my web site. I’m tired of constantly changing the entire site just because I’m past that style or that layout. I want to create a more permanent but flexible site that is accessible and user-friendly using what I know now, which is simply XHTML, CSS, and a little of JavaScript (and, when appropriate, a little Flash/ActionScript).

I plan on developing a structure where I would keep around for a much longer time than any of the personal sites I’ve done in the past, while still allow it to change as I please and as I know more about different web development languages. CSS is going to be my love-hate friend.

I think that once I’ve gotten my portfolio system and web site under control, I will be ready to just design and experiment and grow and learn.

Flush.

P.S. I don’t know if I should make this a monthly or a bimonthly update. We’ll see.