WRITER, BLOGGER & NE'ER-DO-WELL

I’ve traveled to many art schools, being asked to review senior student portfolios and speak on professional practices in the design business and the one thing I always notice is the lack of direction in student portfolios. Even with professionals, there is often no idea what or even how to present work to a client. Without senior level courses on portfolio preparation or classes taught by those who have been out of the field too long to know current trends, it is confusing and students are left with their own thoughts on what a client wants to see.
Published 5.4.2011 - Read more at Instantshift

I usually just post my own articles but here's one that was written ABOUT me! In reaction to one of my tweets, Romanian web designer with global clients, Radu Chelariu (aka SICKDESIGNER), wrote a nice and thoughtful piece which garnered quite a reaction.

Read more HERE!

One piece of business communication that hasn’t changed in a thousand years is the résumé. It’s the first contact you have with a prospective employer and your chance to sell yourself in 20 seconds. With such pressure, most people make huge mistakes with their résumé. Seasoned professionals struggle with issues such as the chronological vs. the functional, editing to keep a long career under two pages and how to truthfully show one’s life without broadcasting they are older, heavily experienced and most probably highly paid.

Judging from shows like Survivor and Lost, life on an island is not a party to be envied. One could never tell from the happy-go-lucky castaways on Gilligan’s Island. Even spending years in the tropics, wearing the same clothes, and, as disgusting as the thought may be, the same underwear, things seemed a bit too everyday normal on the small, uncharted tropic isle.

I LOVED my art school! I would not be where I am without it. I still keep in touch with my teachers…well, the ones who are still alive.

When I applied to go there, I had to present a portfolio, have an interview, have a second interview and generally, for many of the classes I enrolled for, had to meet with the teacher and present my portfolio in yet another interview. Although I had transferred in from another school, in an unrelated field, many of my credits were not accepted and I had to take a foundation year of a well-rounded assortment of those little things creatives need; painting, life drawing, color theory, design 101, sculpture and print production. It seemed silly at the time but I now realize the foundation is what made me a better creative.

It’s easy to figure out you’ve been fired from a staff position. Either your boss or a human resources person has told you to your face, you are met at your desk and walked out, or security guards drag you out, one on each arm and leg. The hints are fairly obvious. When you freelance, it takes time to realize you have been fired and will no longer be working for that client. More often than not, there are no signs. Weeks turn into months and months turn into a year. Depending on how often you do work for that client, the realization that something is wrong can come quickly. Makes me yearn for the good ol’ method of the security guards on each limb!

Thanks to Facebook I get odd news and instant anxiety rather quickly. I’m sweating over my keyboard in an attempt to earn enough for my weekly meal and maybe one pill of my medication when I notice the Facebook window glowing with the news that a graphic designer friend has “spent the afternoon riding my fabulous palomino horse, Milton Glaser” or how the flier for the third grade play will “surely win a design award!”

I was called recently about a freelance job for a local corporate entity and met to speak with the marketing director. After a few days, I received an e-mail informing me I was one of six “finalists” for the assignment. The message contained a list of several advertising campaigns, a rebranding of the logo, signage and billboards. It said all finalists were to do these for a presentation in two weeks. My first thought was…not fit to be printed here.


Published 3.8.2011 - Read more at Freelanceswitch