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/

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 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 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 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.

Graphic Design Resumes & Portfolios (Part 2)

Here is the long awaited Part 2 of my discussion about Graphic Design portfolio and resumes. I know you’re excited, please maintain your composure.

In my last blog post I discussed some differences between what makes a good resume and a bad resume. This time around, I will be talking about portfolios and what makes an effective portfolio. There are three important things to keep in mind when creating your portfolio site.

1. Navigation – Can the viewer navigate your site easily? Can they find what they’re looking for? Keep your navigation clean and simple so that visitors to your site do not have to search for it. Also, if you want to have a splash page when someone first views your site, make sure its easy to navigate. There is nothing worse than being greeted by a splash page and then being stuck there with no hope for escape. Simple is best!

2. Work – Obviously you will need a page to display your work. You want to keep the gallery portion of your project page very clean and simple too. If you want to separate your pieces such as print and web, certainly do so but don’t get confusing with it. You want clear titles so that the viewer knows what they are looking at. Make sure your thumbnails are large enough and contain enough detail about the projects to peak the viewers interest. Tiny images are not going to look attractive on the page and neither is a thumbnail of the corner detail of the serif of a letter form. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

3. About You – This is your portfolio, include some information about yourself. You can also include your resume on the site so that potential employers who find your site have easy access to it. Keep the about you section short and concise. There is no need to ramble on about your childhood, simply talk about how you got to where you are today, what inspires you, and where you hope to go.

Now for the examples of portfolio sites!

Foundry Collective

I think this site is a really great example of a portfolio site. Now, this isn’t a personal website but still take note! The navigation is really easy to see and easy to understand. There is a fantastic use of a grid which makes the web page look very organized and clean. The page is not too simple that the viewer would become bored but rather entices the eye with large, interesting images. Also, I am really loving the text. It’s a good balance between the clean, modern white space and the serif typeface.

Buffalo

Also not a personal site but another great example of using the grid system (in a new and interesting way). The site uses a great sense of symmetry to create a clean space. The color scheme really pops against the light background and the design uses the black logo and type to create hierarchy (I’m really digging the logo). The navigation is also easy to see and neatly organized. Clicking on an image takes the viewer to a page where they can learn more about the project. Remember, when creating a website, you want to emphasize your work above all.

Made Like Me

And here we have a personal portfolio site! Now this one is a little different than traditional sites simply because the home page is the portfolio page. This designer opts to showcase his work first and foremost without messing around with silly things like home pages or splash pages (who even needs those?). He is very clear about what he wants the viewer to see. Look at his work. Look at it! The thumbnails are a great size and show just enough detail of the projects. The only critique I would have for this is that there is no description for the projects. I have absolutely no idea what these are for. Does he do them in his spare time? Are these illustrations commissioned? Any information would be fantastic.

I’ve been giving a lot of love to grid based designs (I can’t help it, they’re too sexy) so I’m going to shift my focus to something a little different…

Jesse Willmon’s 2013 DESIGN-TACULAR

“What is this monstrosity?!” you may be screaming at this exact moment, but lets take some time to examine this website. This is actually a splash page and any picture you click will take you to the actual website and the page of the project. Yes, it took me a second to figure it out, but those doodles were too fun to pass up. Another important aspect when making a portfolio website, inject your personality into it! Add some color, add some spice. When looking at this portfolio, I get this person’s aesthetic and personality right away (Whovian? Right on man.)

The navigation is clear, and you can see that this guy has done some really awesome projects. I may or may not be a little jealous. There could be more white space around the site and each project title but at this point I’m just nitpicking.

As you can see from the above examples, they kept their portfolio pieces the main priority. Remember to keep plenty of white space around your images and text and use big thumbnails. Add a little of your personality into your portfolio and show employers how great you’ll be to work with. After all, employers are looking for exciting talent and personality, not robots (yet).

Graphic Design Resumes & Portfolios (Part 1)

I have browsed the internet for portfolio and resume design inspiration many, many times. I have read countless posts showing fun and innovative resumes. I have seen so many crazy, over the top resumes and portfolio designs that I’ve lost track. Why do designers do this? The most important thing I’ve learned in class is from a design professor who absolutely adores crazy and colorful things. His designs are over the top and gorgeous and he’s not afraid to break boundaries. However, when it came time for the class to create their portfolio sites he said something very important to us,

“Let the work speak for itself.”

As designers, we are tempted to throw as much skill and talent as we can manage at potential employers. We want them to notice our work and notice how good we are at it. However, crazy resumes and portfolios are not the way to go. The most beautiful, innovative designs I’ve seen are from designers who use their resources to make their work the most important thing. They realize that potential employers are not there to look at their website but to look at their work. They want to see how you develop ideas and create innovative solutions to design problems.

I’ll break down a couple of examples of good and bad resumes and website designs and explain what works and what does not. In this post I’ll break down some resumes and then move on to portfolio sites in a later post.

Bad Resumes

This is a fantastic design piece, however this is a bad resume. There is so much information on the page that the eye doesn’t know where to look. A resume should have a sense of flow and a sense of hierarchy however this doesn’t highlight any specific points and the information gets lost in the design. I’m not saying that a resume should be thrown together in a word document but it should be clear and easy to understand. Obviously this designer is really good at what she does, however the important information that a potential employer would be looking for is not clear. Resumes are no place for an infographic.

Again with the infographics. Employers will not want to dissect everything on your resume to make sense of the information. It’s too much work, they’ll move on to the next resume. Most recruiters only look at a resume for about 20 seconds. Of course this will vary between job types, but that is a very small amount of time to gather information. How much information about this person will they be able to read in 20 seconds?

Good Resumes

Easy to read does not mean boring. You can make your resume clear to understand but still insert a little bit of personality into it. Take this example, the information is separated into clear columns, The most important information is at the top and there is fantastic use of type throughout the resume. You want to use the type to create hierarchy information and highlight important information. There is a good use of white space throughout the document so nothing is too cramped and there is a good break up of text so that the information is not running together.

Another clear, easy to read resume. Again, just because the resume is clean and easy to understand does not mean it’s boring. This designer has displayed that she understands layout and typography really well and uses color to emphasize certain points of the resume. The only problem I could potentially see with this resume is that the blue might fade out a lot if it gets copied which could make the type hard to read. However, the overall design is very strong.

So the next time you get the temptation to throw all of your design talent onto your resume, stop. Think about what the most important information is and what you want the recruiter or potential employer to get from your resume. You only have a short amount of time to make an impression. Make it count.

Portfolio Website

I’ve been working on my new portfolio website and it’s now up and running! I still have some things to change around and add, but the basics are there and my portfolio can now be viewed.

We had a speaker come in to talk to us in my ‘Professional Practice’ and talk about his experience as a former student in Visual Communications Design and how having a portfolio is really important when looking for a job. My classmates and I all have digital and print portfolios but now is the time to spruce them up!

The link to my portfolio: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~murrays/

I’ve been getting some great comments on my previous posts so keep them coming!