Return of the Prodigal Blogger

I admit, I have fallen completely off the wagon in terms of keeping up with blogging every week. A thousand blog ideas run through my head everyday while I’m at work and then as soon as I get home, I instantly lose inspiration. This has been a recurring problem throughout my design career. I had the problem in college, I have the problem now but I am determined to not let it overcome me. It’s no surprise that today’s blog is about inspiration. I know I’ve talked about this a few times before but I feel this is a problem area for me and I’m sure other people have the same issue.

I’ve searched for some articles on the subject of losing inspiration but didn’t really find that much discussion about it. I feel that a lot of articles and blogs tend to focus on looking towards goals and pushing forward and whatnot but forget that sometimes we lose steam and need help getting back on track. Sure, there are lots of resources for finding your inspiration in the middle of a project, but what if we lose our inspiration to do anything altogether? I have a few things that I think could be helpful, at least for me.

1. Your Environment Predetermines Your Mood.
This explains quite a bit about why I feel inspiration at work but not at home. My cube at work is filled with silly things and I am in my own space with no distractions. At home, not so much. My desk is in the living room/next to my boyfriend’s computer so there’s a lot of distraction there. Also, there’s a cat. Everyone knows getting work done with a cat around is impossible. The environment of inspiration differs from person to person. Some people find inspiration at 3 in the morning sitting on the futon drinking tea. Others may find their inspiration on a 6 AM run. Every person needs to find their space and discover what inspires them. A space without distractions is ideal but introducing things like artwork or plants into the area could also help.

2. Watch TED videos
Usually TED videos are around 10 minutes and there’s a huge variety of topics covered. if you feel yourself without inspiration, watch one of these videos. This is a great place to learn about other people’s inspiration, their ideas and how they’re planning on executing them. Even if it’s something about how scarily smart crows are. If you say you’re too busy to watch just one video, you are a liar. 

3. Relax
Inspiration will not come if you’re stressing about it. In fact, stressing about it is probably the worst way to go about it. Stressing is actually really bad for your body (and your mind) and the ideas will definitely not come if you’re tensed up. You don’t have to search through thousands of inspiration quotes or even read this blog. You know what you should do? Take a nap. Naps do wonders for inspiration. Searching desperately for inspiration can never lead to good ideas.

4. Read good books
Specifically I’m referring to books related to whatever you’re seeking inspiration for. Graphic design? There are a ton of great resource books to get the creative juices flowing. My favorite book for inspiration is The End of Print by David Carson. This man is my favorite graphic designer and amazes me with his experimental style of design. Look for some books by notable designers and take inspiration from their work. Here is an excellent place to get started. Looking at other graphic designer’s work is a great place for inspiration but sometimes it can be a pitfall as well. Staring at all of that fantastic design can either bring you to new heights in design or make you feel completely useless as a designer. Comparing yourself to the top designers in the world? Not a good idea ever.

Looking back at this list I’ve written, it seems like the tiniest, least helpful list of all time. However, I believe these things are good starting points in getting myself back on track for blogging as well as designing in my free time.

 

Got some tips from here:
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/how-to-feel-inspired-when-youve-lost-motivation.html

And also here:
http://tinybuddha.com/blog/50-ways-to-find-inspiration-create-explore-expand/

The Life of an Adult (or someone pretending to be)

First of all, I apologize for my lack of blogging over the last month or so.

Moving to a new city and starting a new job all at once has been a little overwhelming so I’ve been focusing on keeping it together and looking poised and professional. Since my job consists of me sitting in front of a computer 8-10 hours a day leaves me with no will or desire to come home and sit in front of a computer and blog. I will be trying to write my blogs a little more frequently though as my job has been teaching me a lot about having a real-life design job.

I’ve been very lucky to land a fantastic job as a Website Designer. This is a great opportunity for a first job and will definitely help me land great positions when I eventually decide to move on in the future. My coworkers and various supervisors have been very welcoming and helpful and the fact that three of my classmates were hired around the same time as me has provided a nifty support group. Starting a new job is always nerve wracking but the experience has been less terrifying simply because of how great the people are.

One of my weaknesses in the past (which has been big regret of mine) is the fact that I have a hard time talking to new people. I’m socially awkward and I always feel strange talking to people I don’t know. This is something I’ve been working on for the past year simply because of how important it is to make new connections and to go out and meet people. However, meeting people is a little easier in college than it is in a brand new city. I’ve made some friends in the office and I hope to keep expanding these friendships.

Another huge problem I’ve had is finding things to DO. I know you’re thinking, “But you’re in the city. There’s so much to do, so many activities!” Well that may be true but how do I find out about these activities? I’ve been keeping an eye out for some design conferences coming up but other than that I haven’t really had the chance to explore the city too  much. I hope I’ll have the opportunity to do so in the next couple of weeks.

So that’s a quick summary of how things are going for me so far. I haven’t decided what I want to blog about now but I will probably be reviewing some articles and maybe highlighting some design freebies (who doesn’t love free things?). If there’s something you want me to blog about then leave a comment/tweet/email me and I’ll see what I can do.

As I said, I will be blogging more frequently in the future and eventually hashing out some kind of schedule. I appreciate all my lovely followers listening to my nonsense design ramblings. :]

Week Ten: Newly Graduated, Newly Employed

Yes, I have very exciting news. I got a job! 

I got an actual design job, at a legitimate company and I could not be more excited. The job offer was very unexpected and came a few days after receiving a rejection email from the same company. This offer also came after I had already made the decision to move to Indy without a job or any other prospects. Sometimes you just have to take that leap of faith. 

So what have we learned? Sometimes, you can do everything right but still be rejected. Sometimes there’s someone better, more qualified, or more experienced. Sometimes things are out of your control but the thing you can control is your presence, your attitude and how much you push yourself to get to that place you want to be. We’re all going to go through rejection and failure in our personal and professional lives. The important thing is how we use that opportunity to learn from our mistakes and move forward. 

• Make use of the wonderful wide world of the internet and do your research before going into an interview. Know the company and know what their mission is. Know why you want to work for them and be prepared to answer tough questions.
• Keep an updated resume and if you haven’t already, get business cards.
• If you’re a designer, keep your online portfolio updated with relevant design work and don’t be afraid to remove work if it doesn’t match the quality of the rest of the portfolio.
• Write either a handwritten note or an email after your interview to thank the interviewer for your time. 
• Dress professionally for an interview (ALWAYS!).
• Keep your dress neat and clean even if the dress code in your office is casual
• Try to keep a positive attitude even if things aren’t looking too bright. No one ever got anywhere with moping.
• Take risks. Try new things and new places. If you have the funds and connections, make that move to a new city. If you’re unhappy with your current situation or job, make a change. 

Always keep pushing and moving forward. Keep on reaching for your dreams and improving yourself and your skills.

I won’t be continuing this series of ‘Newly Graduated’ blogs anymore, but I will keep blogging. Mostly about my inspirations and other professional tips. I hope everyone has enjoyed my turmoil and struggles over the past two months!

Week Nine: Newly Graduated, Depending on Those Around Me

I have made a mostly well thought out plan to move to Indianapolis in the next two weeks. To others it may seem rash and last minute, a plan of desperation if you will. I am moving to a new city with no prospects and no job (not even a temporary one) but one thing I do have is a fantastic support system in the form of my friends and family. This ‘career’ support system has been in place since the first day I started college as a wide-eyed freshman. My slightly over-bearing but well-meaning parents were my first supporters, my biggest fans. They were there to encourage me no matter how rough things got and tried to offer advice in times of need. I can honestly say I would be lost without them. When I first started college, I tried to be independent and act like I didn’t need them but quickly realized this was not the way to go. Family is a fantastic resource to have. You always have somewhere to stay, somewhere to do laundry for free and people who will love you and help you to the best of their ability. Not everyone may have such a great family and I realize I have been very fortunate.

When striking out on our own as young professionals, we may feel the need to distance ourselves slightly from our families. This may come from the sense that we’re finding ourselves and becoming real adults. We don’t need parents. Parents are for children. We are our own people!

This couldn’t be more wrong. Parents (and the rest of the family members) can be valuable connections not only personally but professionally. I’m not saying you should hit up your parents for jobs, but ask them if they can keep an eye and ear out for anything that may come along.

The next best support system is of course friends. Friends are on of the best networking tools to have. Friends like introducing you to their other friends (hopefully). Friends like going out and doing friend things. Friends try to help you out if you need it. The nice thing about college is that it will show you who you can actually rely on. The problem is that a lot of people don’t like to depend on other people. It’s that sense of being independent that I brought up before. Being dependent on someone is thought to show weakness, however you’re never going to get anywhere in life without depending on someone. Eventually you will have to depend on your team, your coworkers or your boss. Depending on someone does not make you weak, it actually makes you stronger. It gives you something to lean on, some time to take a breath and gather yourself again. You can’t do it all by yourself so if you haven’t learned to depend, now is the time.

The reason I’m blogging about my support system is because I will be relying on them a lot in the next couple of months. I’m moving to a city where I already have friends and my parents are about an hour’s drive if an emergency should arise. I will be living with one of my friends until I can find something more permanent. This friend actually offered to let me stay with him because he could see I was reaching that level of desperation. I was trying the tough man act where I would rely on nobody but myself. You can see how that turned out. So for the next couple of months I will be depending. I will be pushing and searching for jobs of course but I will also be depending.

Week 7: Newly Graduated, Rejected Again

Rejection is apparently becoming a staple in my life. I got rejected from a really terrific job. This was a job position that I was really excited about (and turned down another offer for). The responsibilities I would have taken on were exactly what I’ve been doing for the past couple of years and it was one of the few job postings I had found that had really excited me. However, they hired someone with more experience (every time). The person who interviewed me said the interview went really well and he enjoyed talking with me, but that they had decided to go with someone who had a little more experience in the field. Yes I did send a thank you note and I prepared really well for that interview, but sometimes things don’t work out. Maybe that wasn’t the job for me or maybe I have to grow a little bit more professionally. I know that I did the best I could and gave it my all. I am proud of being chosen out of 200 applicants to come in for an interview so it’s not all bad. I just have to keep pushing myself and keep applying to more jobs. The fun never stops.

I don’t really have a lesson for this week. I would talk about rejection again (since I just experienced that for the second time) but I have already discussed that in length in one of my previous posts. On the up side, I did have another interview today so that’s something I’m pretty excited about. Fingers crossed, I hear something back next week.

As always, keep applying and keep your chins up! Being positive will get you much further than being negative.

Week Five: Newly Graduated, I Will Take All the Jobs Please

This past week has been quite the muddle. I’ve been a little bit busy running around with projects, going to my little brother’s graduation and going to interviews.

It figures that as soon as I find a good temporary position for summer (not design related), I get two callbacks for interviews in Indy. Now it’s awkward because if I get hired to one of those positions, I’ll probably have been working a total of two or three weeks and then have to quit. Does that mean I shouldn’t have gotten the summer job? Absolutely not. This is just a prime example of how plans usually don’t work out how we anticipated. I’m very grateful for that summer job as being unemployed is never a wonderful situation to be in and I’m very excited that I got two interviews. I shows that being persistent and never stopping the job search is the best route to take.

As the hot days of summer mosey along, it’s easy to simply stop looking as hard or to procrastinate on job searching. Even though job postings may be scarce, it’s important to persist and keep at it. Broaden your job parameters to include job positions that you could work at that may be related to what you want to do but not exactly what you were searching for before. For example, a lot of Marketing positions are perfect for recent Graphic Design grads as they use those skills and creative talent that you’ve gained and require you to work outside of your box a little bit. Marketing jobs can also eventually lead to full time Design positions further down the road. Remember to always keep an open mind when considering where you want to work.

Many people don’t end up with their dream job right away, but if you’re willing to work hard for it and be persistent, you can get to that perfect place for you.

Week Four: Newly Graduated, Taking the Rejection

Many of us face rejection on a daily basis whether it be school, work, family or otherwise related. Yes, it can be tough to stay positive in a world that is continually saying “no”, but the important thing is to learn from the rejection.

We’re all familiar with the phrases “Good things come to those that wait” and “Everything happens for a reason”. They’re right up there with “Something will come along eventually”. However, there is a point when you feel like strangling the next person who dares utter anything related to that because it doesn’t feel like those phrases apply to you. Constant rejection can lower your confidence and positivity levels and it’s hard to carry on under those conditions. Just yesterday I went out with one of my fellow graduated classmates for a bit of girl time/ranting session and she said she was feeling pretty discouraged about searching for a job. She had recently received several automatic rejection emails literally minutes after applying for jobs (let’s face it, those are the worst kinds of rejection emails) and it was wearing her down.

Rejection is a good thing. Yes, you read that correctly. Rejection happens for a reason. It makes us challenge ourselves and push ourselves further than we would normally. It forces us to take a good look at how we are presenting ourselves and our work. Maybe your cover letter isn’t professional enough and should be changed slightly. Maybe your website needs to be updated. Maybe, just maybe, you aren’t a good fit for the company. Personally, I’m glad rejection emails happen, even the automatic ones. That let’s me know that a company that wouldn’t even take the time to write a short note probably doesn’t care THAT much and that’s probably not an environment I would enjoy working in. So I keep on applying, I keep updating my cover letter and I keep working on projects. 

The only way to get over the rejection is to become better. Become so good that they can’t ignore you anymore. If you feel that you were rejected for no good reason, write an email requesting to know if they would be willing to offer some tips on your next application. Find out what you can improve on and become better at. Getting over the rejection will help you grow as a person and a professional. It shows that you’re determined to get where you want to go, that you have drive and passion about where you’re headed. 

So I encourage everyone reading this today, keep your chin up! Everything happens for a reason…

Week Three: Newly Graduated, Never Settling

The theme of this past week has been ‘Never Settle’.

I got an email from a marketing company in Indianapolis who was really interested in interviewing me. The original job posting had been a vague “General Marketing” type position which outlined a few duties that the job required. Okay, it sounded pretty good to me so I went ahead and applied. Even though I’m looking for a Graphic Design position, I would have no problem starting out in Marketing as most Marketing positions require some design. I figured this job was exactly that, an entry-level Marketing position.

I made the trip to Indy on a scorching Thursday. I had my portfolio, my resume and a car packed full of possessions I was taking home to my parents directly after the interview. I was prepared for this. I was ready to talk about my work and how I was willing to learn the ropes of the new job. I was ready to relocate as soon as possible and begin the job as quickly as possible.

I entered the building and paused for a moment, seeing which direction I had to go when I heard someone call my name behind me. Lo and behold, one of my fellow graphic design graduates had applied to the same job. Okay, no problem. I’m not really competitive and it seemed like they had a few positions to fill. We enter the office and shake everyone’s hands and immediately I’m ushered into the interview room. The first thing the hiring manager says to me is, “I see you have your portfolio there. Well to be honest with you, we don’t do any graphic design here. Everything is outsourced.”

Now I’m suspicious. Marketing without design? What is this?

She asks me some questions about myself and then delves into an explanation of the job.

“So this is a sales position…”

As soon as I hear that my heart sinks. I knew this was too good to be true. I argue internally with myself. Maybe I can do this for about a year or so and then move on to a graphic design position. I can’t be picky, I’m a recent graduate with no job. I smile, I nod and agree with what the hiring manager is saying after talking myself into settling for this position. “It won’t be that bad”, I say to myself. “Everyone has to start somewhere right?” I’ve fallen into the ‘Newly Graduated and Desperate’ trap. I leave the interview in turmoil, wish my fellow classmate good luck and start the drive home.

By the time I’ve completed the hour and a half journey, I’ve come to my senses. I’ve given myself a stern talking to and have found my resolve again. Graphic Design is what I want to do. There is no way I want to be stuck in a job that isn’t fulfilling and will never lead in the direction I want to go. I have to no problem starting out in a job that isn’t fully design as long as there is a way to get where I want to go. However, the only place this position was leading to was a cushy manager job. Don’t get me wrong, I like cushy, but I’m passionate about Graphic Design.

I ended up turning down the second interview and here I am again, scouring the internet for jobs. I encourage everyone who is job searching, don’t settle for something you can’t see yourself doing in five years. It gets really tough. You think to yourself that maybe you can just work at this for a little bit and then move on but this is how many people get stuck in a rut. They find themselves in a position that isn’t a great fit, in a company that isn’t right for them. I urge you to keep fighting to get what you want. I can’t even count the times I’ve heard the phrase “Well you can’t always have what you want”. That’s true, but settling into the wrong job that won’t lead you to what you want is not the way to go. If you can’t get what you want right now, make plans now that will lead you there. Maybe that means taking a local, unpaid internship. Maybe it means doing volunteer work. Always keep planning, and never settle.

Here are some options for my lovely graphic design readers. If you’re looking to make some extra cash for designing there are three great sites that can help:

99designs – This is a contest type website. People post projects and then designers compete for a money prize. This is a pretty big community so the designs are a mixed bag of really good, mediocre and “This looks like it was made in Word”.

crowdSpring – Same idea as 99Designs but with a smaller community and a lot of really great designs.

Elance – A place to find quick freelance jobs. Kind of the same deal as above but there’s more personal interaction between the designers and client. I just signed up for this so I haven’t had much time to check it out, but it looks promising.

Week Two: Newly Graduated, Sort of Unemployed

This week I re-started my internship at the Liberal Arts Career Development office. Obviously I won’t have as many projects as I had during the school year, but it’s good to have some things to work on during the week. It keeps me motivated and keeps me designing which is always a good thing. I’ve also been applying to part-time jobs around town so that I’ll have some sort of income to keep me going during the summer.

In light of everything changing for me, I wanted to talk a little bit about having patience and not getting discouraged during the job search. Lisa always told the interns that if Plan A goes wrong, there is always 25 other letters in the alphabet. Boy, have I learned how true that statement is. My perfectly laid plans are always changing and not going according to schedule. I’ve had to learn to be patient and flexible with my planning. Everything may not happen in the time I want it to happen, but things will eventually turn out like I want.

For example, I came to college, a lowly freshman with hopes and dreams of being an interior designer. I was confident in my plan, I knew what I wanted (or so I thought). I could never have predicated that I would actually change my plans and double major in Graphic Design and Classical Studies. Never. I had my life planned out but things change and I have to admit, it was the right change for me.

Now looking at my career future, I have no idea where I’ll end up. I know where I want to go, but it’s important that I be flexible in my planning. Having goals in mind is obviously a good thing but always be patient when things don’t go according to plan. It’s easy to get discouraged when Plan A doesn’t work out but keep making those goals and keep making plans! Be open to new opportunities, locations and experiences that you weren’t considering before.

Week One: Newly Graduated, Newly Unemployed

It has now been almost one week since I graduated college. It’s not going well.

I have applied to at least 50 design jobs. I have emailed, I have written brilliant cover letters, I have updated my online portfolio as well as my print portfolio and I’ve had an awesome internship (which I’m still doing over the summer). Aren’t the job offers supposed to be piling up in my inbox? Shouldn’t I be turning away employers because I have so much work already? Truth is, not all of us get jobs right out of college. Exhibit A: Myself. People love to talk about statistics and the economy and whatnot. I’ve heard the phrase, “Oh, you’ll find something eventually.” more times than I can count. Why is every random person I talk to suddenly an expert on job searching?

I’ve had one interview. The interview was with a company in New Jersey for a summer internship. We all agreed that it wasn’t particularly feasible for me to move out there for a temporary position but the Creative Director said he would pass any freelance jobs he had on to me. Well, that’s great but what about right now? I’ve already figured out that I can’t really afford to move anywhere out of the state at the moment so I’ve been applying locally. Problem is, there aren’t millions of jobs available in good ol’ Indiana.

This is Week One of unemployment and desperation. I think I’m doing well so far, but we’ll see what next week brings as I am forced to contemplate my choices between part-time employment in food or retail. It’s pretty grim. However, I will keep applying to jobs and I will keep doing projects in my spare time. This is what I want to do with my life and so I have to keep plugging away at it.