First Impressions

Being a designer has many different aspects to it including networking. Networking determines how many clients you get and how good of a relationship you keep with them. One of the main ways to get a client is to make a good first impression. There are many different things you can do to make sure your first impression is a good one including:

1. Arrive on time! Whether it be a meeting, an interview or a networking function, punctuality is always necessary to make a good first impression.

2. Body language. What you do says just as much about you as what you actually say. This means no arms crossed, no gum chewing, no slouching and make eye contact. As well a smile will go a long way.

3. Dress appropriately. Dress accordingly to the occasion and make sure that you are keeping up with your hygiene. On the same not don't go over board. Too much perfume or cologne could offend the person that your meeting for the first time.

4. Make conversation. Share something interesting about yourself but don't brag. Ask questions about the person you are meeting but make sure it is appropriate for the situation.

5. Remember names. Nothing says you care more than remembering the person's name, or even remembering something about them.
6. Exchange business cards. Make sure that they remember you and you have something to remember them by.

Here are a few examples of business cards that make an impression:

Pictures from: http://slodive.com/inspiration/showcase/40-cool-business-cards-to-enliven-your-creativity/
http://naldzgraphics.net/inspirations/29-creative-and-durable-wooden-business-cards/

Annual Solar Report

Click this link to see how the Annual Solar Report works
Annual Solar Report

The client Austria Solar approached the agency Serviceplan Campaign 3 with the project of creating their annual report for 2011. The solution that they arrived at, in my opinion was brilliant. At first glace the annual report looks like an empty book, at least if you are inside. Once outside, or in the sun the pages become illuminated with words because the annual report uses solar activated ink. Even the way the report is packaged, how it is comparable to a solar panel, adds to the overall feel of the report.

Pictures from:http://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Solar-Annual-Report-powered-by-the-sun/2986075

Successful Portrait

 

A successful portrait gives you insight into the captured character's personality. This is a portrait that I have taken of my friend Stephanie Kipfer. This is a successful portrait because the lighting, background and way this photo was taken all gives insight into her personality. She is a very down to earth and kind hearted person. I believe that the soft lighting of the outdoors helps to capture this. As well with the background blurred there is less competition for you to look at it instead of her face. I have also made the composition ideal so that her eyes fall where the top third and second third meet. I used a white reflector to capture the highlights of her eyes, because eyes are the window to the soul.

When I asked for feedback on this picture I was told I could have reflected even more light into her eyes.

Ithaa

5 feet below the sea sits an unforgettable experience. A restaurant called Ithaa was built in 2004, and opened in 2005 off of Conrad Maldives Rangali Island as a part of the Hilton Maldives Resort and Spa. It is built of mostly acrylic and is only expected to last 20 years, although it has already withstood a tsunami. With glass walls and a curved glass ceiling you are able to see 180 degrees of marine life in its natural habitat. Beauty comes at a price, and lunch at Ithaa will cost a minimum of $120 per person. Only 14 people can dine at Ithaa at a time and if there are no dinner reservations for the night the restaurant allows people to rent the room for the night. Building this structure was a worldwide event. It was designed in New Zealand by a company called M.J. Murphy Ltd, used materials from the United States, constructed in Singapore and then Shipped to the Maldives. Altogether this process came to a total of 5 million dollars and weighed 175 tonnes.

Beer Label Project From Beginning to End

The Project objective:
The objective is to create a new un-named beer that is smart, classy and has deep roots. The target audience is 25-50 year old, 70% male. They are the type of people that read national newspaper, watch 1.5 hours of T.V a day, subscribe to Sports Illustrated and Time and buy mid-upper class European cars.

At the beginning of the beer label project I had a hard time finding a name for a beer that wasn't already in use. My though process consisted of first making a flowchart of everything beer related. This included the beer making process, prohibition, what men like to do, where and when beer is drank, names for beer, words that stood for strength, class and courage. From that I came up with two names, Tabono, which is a symbol of paddles that stands for strength and Ansonia which is a type of clock, to go off of how most upper class men wear watches and how you lose track of time while drinking.
I also researched other beer labels that I took interest in. These are examples of some:

Both of these names didn't seem to suite beer as best as possible so I researched animals that stood for strength. From this I came up with the name "Wild Beast."
These are my roughs for the label:

 

Next I started to chose fonts and vector the cow skull which looked like this:

 

I chose colours that would give the feeling of an old Texas wanted poster. From here I was given the suggestion to try using the Texas flag colours. These were the two options, both give a very different feel:

 

I decided to go with the red white and blue and add a leather texture to the back. One of the biggest challenges was the printing. I wanted to use a shiny iridescent paper to simulate the idea of a Texas badge. The difficulty came from the paper making the label a few shades darker than I wanted it to be. After experimenting with a handful of different papers I found one that worked.

 

Greatest Strenght vs. Greatest Weakness

I believe that my greatest strength as a designer is my time management. so far, all throughout college I have been able to work at my part time job, approximately 25 hours a week, while maintaining decent grades. As well I have been able to keep strong ties to my family and friends. To add on top of that I have been able to keep my sanity by managing my time and allowing myself to go to bed at a reasonable time every night. In contrast I believe my greatest weakness is my knowledge of the Adobe Software programs. When entering this program I was told that no prior experience of the software was needed. Now looking back I wish I would have made myself familiar with Photoshop and Illustrator before college. Not being comfortable with the programs limits what I am capable of creating and adds time to how long it takes me to complete projects. To fix this problem and to benefit myself in the future i have purchased the Adobe, Classroom in a book, books to get myself more familiar with the programs.

 

Pictures From: http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/120/9/6/Adobe_Photoshop_CS4_Logo_PSD_by_iampxr.png

http://lssacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/stop-watch.jpg

My Summer Job

Not only is McDonald's going to be my summer job, but it is my job year round. Since October 2008 I have been working at McDonald's. When I started I was a cashier, then I become a Crew Trainer, showing new employees the ropes, next I become a Team Leader (manager in training) and now three and a half years later I am a manager. When I first started a lot of my high school friends worked there and it was just a part time job that made me some spending money. I took the job seriously and therefore was promoted multiple times. This, similar to the design industry shows how you start at the bottom of the food chain and little by little you work your way to the top. Secondly this is like the design industry because one of the first things you learn as a cashier is "the customer is always right." This could be translated to the client is always right. At the end of the day it's the customers that make the restaurant money and the clients that make the designer money. Next, working at McDonald's is like working in the design industry because it's all about communication. Almost every shift a customer has a complaint about the food, the store or an employee. As a manager it is my responsibility to make sure that at the end of the day the customer is satisfied. This means finding the problem, apologizing, finding a solution, making sure that it is prevented for the future and then wowing the customer. Lastly, my job is most like working  in the industry because of the people that I work with. There are roughly 110 people that are employed at my workplace, this means teens ages 15+. Some of these teenagers and I have conflicting personalities. Like in the design field, you don't get to chose who you are partnered with but are expected to work efficiently no matter what the case. Although it may seem like being a designer and a manager at McDonald's are worlds apart there are many more similarities than you would think.

Pictures from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c5/McDonalds-Brentwood.jpg
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/P1-AX445_mcinsu_G_20100929181848.jpg