1. My awesome, collaborative communications team
2. Telecommuting
3. Designing lotsa Websites
4. "treats in the lounge" emails
5. Having coffee every Monday
6. "We really love your work" emails
7. Working with printers and learning their special jargon - I can fold a piece of paper in at least 12 different ways AND name them!
8. Numerous opportunities to create logos
9. Always being busy
10. Redesigning or updating popular publications
11. I designed the cool new Website. Booyeah!!
12. Their 1-man IT team is incredible and deservers all props that staff and consultants give him!!

1. Kathy's love of using bold/red to create a feeling of urgency, and her die-hard commitment to Comic Sans as  "a great informal font," remind me why I studied so hard to become a designer
2. In nearly two years, I've had 5 lunch breaks (my bad)
3. The feeling of too-many-cooks.
4. 2-hour meetings
5. Updating powerpoint presentations (I actually learned a ton about how to create visually interesting decks by searching the Help menu, so I suppose this isn't really that negative)

This, I love! The apothecary look is gone; replaced with fresh greens, clean type, and modern lines.

I'll let you examine all the changes for yourself, but I do want to address the product description typography. "Peppermint" on the original label is rendered in a  hand-tooled script (it also says 'peppermint oil'). The new white label renders the word in a large, lower-case sans serif. This word now vertically balances with the newly redesigned logo ("now"). I think the typeface is Euphemia UCAS with lost of comfy, spacious kerning.

Overall, the new label design brings now into the 21st century. I will also mention that the label is now made of that slick plastic material where the original was coated paper.

This afternoon, we decided to catch the BSO performance entitled Robustly Russian. Maestro Marin A. led the orchestra in 3 hours of decidedly beautiful and at times haunting soviet classical music. We got to hear several pieces from Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich.

Okay! I've been telling more folks about my non-paid graphic design work. The more I mention it, the more quizzical looks I get.

So, this post is a short explanation - by no means will it answer all the questions.

I began designing, in undergrad, after I had successfully changed my major for the 5th time; I found that I had an aptitude for the business side of creativity. Conversely, I also found that I had little aptitude for pursuing the American dream (as defined: acquisition of bigger and better status symbols, up to 2.5 kids, a shiny car, an ulcer, a nine-to-five, and an addiction to talking constantly about all of the above--I really should've started with a disclaimer about my opinion before I got into this, too late).

To feed my growing love for graphic arts, I offered my services for cheap or free to anyone in need. This practice earned me a few bucks, but also a lot of practice. I began to appreciate different styles/types of design work. I also learned more about myself. The easier projects to complete always involved my creating identities/collateral for individuals or small groups who had passion, drive, ingenuity, and an undefeatable entrepreneurial spirit; you know, the little guy.

So, why pro bono? Because my passion lies with the little guy; the one with more ambition than cash, the one with a dream of a brighter future for us all, the one who takes that great blindfolded leap into uncertainty, the one led by her/his heart.

I've got the busiest weekend I've seen in months (and the busiest to come in 2011, I reckon). There are four Web projects to complete and only one more day off from the regular job. So in my hurry to create bg images for one blog project I stumbled upon the coolest tiling background image site ever...
...ava7 patterns!

I'm in love! Users choose the primary color, pattern direction, or orientation, then scroll around the page to see how the swatches fit together on the Web page. Hit 'preview' and a cool bit of PHP tiles the image across the entire page so that you can see if it's not enough, too much, or just right!

Stick it in your bag of resources, I swear--for patterned backgrounds--it's a keeper!

I just had my first look at the "Male Privilege Checklist" and it made me sick. Literally sick to my stomach. Item 45 in particular...


45. Sexual harassment on the street virtually never happens to me. I do not need to plot my movements through public space in order to avoid being sexually harassed, or to mitigate sexual harassment.(view the full checklist...)


I guess it's the bit about plotting alternate routes to avoid douchebaggery that got to me. I ride a f*cking bike. You know how inconvenient it is to bike 2 blocks out my my way to get home from the grocery store that's 2 blocks away???


 I firmly believe that we should be able to discharge pepper spray in the eyes of those cretinous bastards. Who do I talk to about making that a ballot initiative?

A fellow designer called me for advice on a logo project that he’s in the midst of tackling. The event is a film series on women’s health or some such. One solution that he’s fond of involves using a film strip--either as part of the logo or on the fact sheets.
Okay buddy, here’s a bunch of free vector film strips that can be manipulated to suit the project.

The site All-Silhouettes offers thousands of free vectors for private and commercial use, Bookmark it!

1. First, you all know my favorite color is Olive; the world would be all Olive if I had my way. However, I don’t neglect the tried and tested conventions of this company by making all of the text on our affiliate’s Websites Olive—that is wrong. So, too, is turning text Purple, Green, Salmon or any other color not found in our style guide. The guide and the Website’s CSS define body text as a tint of black, namely #2B2A2A. Please refrain from adding additional styles to individual pages of the site.
   
2. On the subject of body text, I know that there are always priority items that need to be highlighted on our informational Web pages. The agreed-upon convention is the use of hierarchical formatting (these are also outlined in the existing CSS). This means using headers and subheads and even bulleted lists for emphasis. This does not mean that three (3) full paragraphs are bolded.
   
3. Finally, page five of the guide lists our color palette and suggests different combinations of the swatches for emphasis. Nothing is ever Red.