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.

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.)

Blue + Gold = Bright Green [Future]

What if, in the current swing of environmentalism, California as a state begins a campaign to go “green” with some cheesy slogan like: “Be Californian, where Blue and Gold means a bright green future!” As cheesy as that might be, at least it shows states as whole government-based entities are finally actively pushing for better, sustainable living.

Flush.