A Good Point

I found this on my friend’s website recently, and I think it holds true. I’m posting it on here so that I can remember it, and because I believe that it needs to be shared. I’ve only run into this a few times, but I’ve heard plenty of stories, and it is amazing the way some people think!

Dear Clients and Potential Clients of the World,

We, your graphic designers, web designers, and other creatives have some things we’ve needed to tell you for a long time. Now is the time for us to be honest and tell you how we feel.

It doesn’t matter how big you think your business will be “one day”, we need to make a living too, and as such we need to charge you a fair rate, both now and when you’re more successful.

We can appreciate that your wife/son/niece/hairdresser has an “eye for this kind of thing”, but we’re highly trained professionals and make the decisions we make for a reason. Their input will only get in the way.

Having a picture in your head of what you want doesn’t help us unless you can communicate it clearly, and even then it restricts our ability to effectively do our jobs. The best thing you can do for the project is to let go of your existing ideas and let us do our work.

Asking us to bring you ideas so that you can hire us if you find one you like is just insulting. Generating ideas is what we do for a living. Asking us to work “on spec” is like ordering five meals at a restaurant and expecting to only pay for the one you eat.

A logo is shorthand for your business. It needs to subtly imply a lot of things and compliment every aspect of your business, so the process is more complex that choosing a font to write your name in.

While that logo needs to imply many things, it does not need to tell the whole story about your business. If it did, every department store’s logo would need to be 100 feet long. Simplicity is your friend. Just let us take care of it.

That’s fine that you like how Papyrus and Comic Sans look together in your corporate newsletter, but you hire us to have better taste than that. It’s our job.

We’re happy to help you in every way we can, but we’re not here to help you figure out how to use your computer or to figure out why your internet connection isn’t working. There are people who do that for a living and they’d be happy to have your business.

In conclusion, we are professionals who have worked very hard to develop the skills and knowledge that you’re hiring us for. We’re on your side, so we need you to be on ours. Let us do what we do best, and together we can make the world a better-looking place to be.

Sincerely,
The Graphic Design Community
somedesignblog.com

Excuses, Excuses

I know, I know, it’s been a week since my last update! I have an excuse! I promise! Don’t get too upset! (I know you’re starving for my wise tidbits of information.) Anyway, I have news! There is a reason for my virtual absence!

I GOT AN INTERNSHIP!!!

Please take a moment to be jealous. 

Okay, you can stop now. But really, I found this great internship, working with three amazing women, and so far it’s been a great experience. My first week is over, and I’m exhausted, but it’s definitely going to be worth all the BS&T. At least, I hope so. Here’s to hoping. Keep those fingers and toes crossed! 

Since I work all morning and have class all night, I don’t have a lot of time for my recent personal projects. But I have heard murmurs at work of a possible bridal side coming out… I’m very excited. As we all know, Alex loves all things bridal! I’ll keep you guys posted!

Kala Nikta! (Good Night!)
-A 

These Two Women

This post has nothing to do with my life as an artist/ designer/ whatever I am or may become in the future. This post is about the people that have gotten me where I am, and will continue to support me through it all. I have been blessed to stumble into the classes of two amazing artists. These women have pushed me past the point of breaking and have devoted countless hours during class giving me personal attention and suggestions on how to improve my work. I have taken ten classes from these two women combined, and I have learned more about my work than I ever expected. This is a post simply to thank them. 

One of the women is a graphic designer from Texas that just started at my University about two years ago. She is the nicest woman, dedicating time to her students that exceeds the amount expected. As nice as she is, she can be a bitty. And I have to say, I love it. She has pushed me to places in design that I never dreamed existed. I went from being unsure of my work and hesitant to tackle anything, to knowing no fear when handed an assignment. I once spent fifteen hours straight at my work table working on an assignment for this woman. I had almost completed a project and she told me that it wasn’t enough. She handed me a variation on my design, told me to start over, and to have it ready in two days. I spent ten hours one day, and fifteen the next struggling over this assignment. I survived on coffee and Taco Bell brought to me by my boyfriend trying to perfect everything just so this woman would look at me with respect. I sliced my fingers up with X-acto knives, swore, cursed the ground the poor woman walked on, and cried, but when I walked into class the next morning, I got that look that I’d worked so desperately for. I may have hated her for it then, but I love her now. After that project, I have no doubt that I can handle anything. I got an A. And I damn well deserved it. 

The other woman, God bless her, is a saint. (She is also an oil painter, photographer, color and drawing teacher, army veteran, and the most amazing mentor I could imagine.) She’s about 5’2″ and 95 pounds (if that) and is one of the spunkiest, strongest women I know. She takes crap from no man (or woman) and looks out for her students wholeheartedly. In fact, she is the reason I’m writing this post in the first place. She took a fellow student and I out for coffee today and talked to us for almost two hours about our experiences and where we want to be. She offered to help where she could, and to give advice where she couldn’t. After the other student left, she took me over to the gallery where she was working and showed me around. I told her about an internship opportunity I stumbled across recently, and she told me to put her down as a reference. She’s offered to help me with my Senior Show in the fall. She offers and offers and offers, and expects nothing in return. She is one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met. 

I owe these two women everything.  

The Personality of Cupcakes

I also wanted to let you guys know that I’m starting an Oil Painting class tomorrow, so things will still be running a little slow on my personal work side. Who ever said summer was for relaxing right? Anyway, slow isn’t dead stopped, so I’m still working! I’ve just started on a very small duo of mixed media pieces inspired by cupcakes and my very good friend, Katie, who has just opened her first cupcake shop!

Katie’s Kupcakes— find them on Facebook. Oh wait, I already found it for you. CLICK! Her champagne cupcakes are to die for!  

Anyway, while my cupcakes don’t taste as good as hers (obviously, being made of paper and acrylic paint) they’re still cute as can be. I believe each cupcake has it’s own personality, and I’m thinking that Red Velvet sounds like a little hussy. You’ll see what I mean when I post the finished product. In the meantime, you’ll just have to suffer in suspense! 

– A

PHEW!

As I said before, my Web Design class ended last week! (And let me tell you, girlfriend could not be ANY happier that’s over… I was exhausted!) I finally got around to putting together my Web Design page. Everything has been transferred over into JPEGS and posted on this sweet little site! Go check it out! Let me know if you have any comments or questions!

– A