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Communications Design Industry Discussion, Inspiration, & Tutorials

Dec 7, 2013

The Two-Column Resume Option

By On 06:36 In
Earlier this week, a recent graduate asked me to review her resume. It was well-laid-out and used typography quite effectively. I loved her clean, cool color palette. So, I didn't really have much to do by way of crit. Here's a draft of my2-column resume. Clickimage to see full sized. The only real issue for me was the length of her resume. The 4-5 years of professional experience that she...
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Dec 4, 2013

This Week: Website Redesign

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This week is actually a bear. I've had meetings and appointments early and for the next two days there will be 8-hour trainings. The icing promises to be a few more meetings on Friday followed by a brainstorming session with a student; who knows how that will turn out. My free time is occupied with a fun web project, that will encompass social branding as well as the redesign of two sites. This client...
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Nov 27, 2013

Top Ten Inspirational Quotes on Art & Design

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Inspirational Quotes are relevant in both work-life and life-life: 1. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication Leonardo Da Vinci 2. Less is more - Mies van der Rohe 3.   Design is a response to a specific problem. You are given a problem to solve, and then you let the problem itself tell you what your solution is. - Chip Kidd  4. The real issue is not talent as an independent element, but...
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Nov 25, 2013

Graphic Design Inspiration: Chip Kidd

By On 06:19 In
I wanted to share with you a series of graphic design quotes that have stuck with me through my design education and throughout my career. My list got to about ten quotes before it got sidetracked. I came upon a quote from one of my favorite designers, Chip Kidd. According to the autobiographical Cheese Monkeys—a book that inspired me in school, he sort of fell into the study in school. Since...
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Oct 25, 2013

Minimalist Design

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My first instinct was to make myself one of these for my cash and cards. My second instinct was to share this beautiful minimalist design with you. Nothing Fancy, minimalist wallets, are created from a single piece of leather by London-based designer Chieh Ting Huang. Check them out:...
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Oct 21, 2013

CV vs. Resume

By On 07:42 In
My company recently advertised for a graphic designer and I was tasked with vetting resumes, application, and portfolios. Several of the applicants applied with the requested documents, but one very talented designer applied using her Curriculum Vitae (CV)—a long, highly stylized document that would have worked best in application for an academic position rather than the non-profit sector. Since...
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Oct 7, 2013

Superfresh! Typography Tattoo

By On 11:03 In
This takes quite a bit more gumption than I currently have. This dude is no joke. Ouchie! ...
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Oct 2, 2013

Top 5 Online Portfolio Mistakes...

By On 10:39 In
... And How to Avoid Them You’ve picked the pieces to showcase in-person and in your online portfolio. Links to your portfolio now live on all of your identity pieces and you’re all set to get your new awesome job. So, how come employers aren’t champin’ at the bit to contact you after seeing your mad design skills? It could be that you’ve made one or more of the following mistakes on your portfolio...
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Sep 30, 2013

Living and working in MD

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Women in the US have made tremendous socio-economic strides in recent  decades, but this progress has been unequal. In a Center for American Progress report, Maryland ranks No. 1 in the United States for the state of its women. In the report, titled "The State of Women in America", all 50 states were assessed on factors contributing to women's economic security, leadership opportunities,...
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Sep 6, 2013

Robots and Resumes II

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Two Junes ago I posted an article outlining ways to get around "robots", the ATS that your online application may pass through before getting into the hands of a human being. These programs strip out the formatting and compare your resume text to that of the original job posting and then give a generic score to applications that best fit the outlined criteria. Trolling Pinterest today, I found...
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Sep 1, 2013

Farewell Summer Assistant

By On 14:50 In
Let's talk a bit about one of the benefits of completing an internship. At the end of the spring semester this year, I pushed to have either an intern or a summer assistant who hailed from an outside university. My reasoning was that I wanted to open up the opportunity to a larger pool of talented students. I got my wish and was able to hire a summer assistant from my alma mater; a young woman...
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Aug 30, 2013

Do you Sketch Before you Design?

By On 15:54 In
I just participated in a conversation on the topic with colleagues. It was a bit like preaching with a choir, but I want to share some of the commentary here. I recently had the chance to work with a newly graduated designer who habitually goes straight to the computer whenever a design project is presented. If needing to change gears or develop more design solutions, there was always the need...
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Aug 25, 2013

Inspiration: Milton Glaser Interview

By On 14:59 In
The great benefit of drawing is not to replicate reality, but to understand what is real." ...
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Aug 23, 2013

This Week: Lecture Series Update

By On 11:49 In
I just spent the majority of the day shrieking inaudibly at technology. At my disposal is a Macbook, and 2 (allegedly) high-end Windows desktops in my office that I'm to use for multi-media projects. They are all inadequate. Today saw me  spend several hours watching a 2 minute commercial render on various crappy computers in our lab. Unfortunately, there's been little time left for me to give...
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Aug 22, 2013

Freebies: Hand-Tooled Type

By On 07:19 In
My first MOOCs begin soon, I’ll be taking a photography course and a hand-tooled typography course. I’m inspired to share freebies with you. Here are a few hand drawn fonts that got me inspired this week. I’ve shared some samples to get you guys inspired as well. These lovelies have a relatively high x-height and most have built-in leading. Check them out: Created by Jusebox Created by...
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Aug 16, 2013

Professional Pet Peeve: Laziness

By On 07:39 In
I've got something to say to the lazy folk. You make me sick! There's nothing  wrong with having a relaxed attitude toward work. Being relaxed is important to being effective. However, some people just take it a bit to far; stretching the boundaries of relaxing into the realm of apathy. Now that the opinion piece is out of the way let's talk about it. Here are a few tips...
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Aug 13, 2013

How do you Want to be Remembered?

By On 11:21 In
Source: http://danielbischoff.blogspot.com/ A recent encounter with a former co-worker brought back vivid memories of an on-campus work-study job. The thing that she remembered about me was that I enjoyed doing one of our mandatory, crappy jobs early in the morning--cleaning the facilities early in the morning. Funnily enough, I hated the task. But instead of avoiding it, I got to it as quickly...
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Aug 1, 2013

This Week: Fall Lecture Series

By On 09:55 In
My job is at times trying, challenging, rewarding, and sometimes just plain fun. In the upcoming semester, I'll be presenting as part of this lunchtime lecture series, and I get to design the print and electronic promo materials. This is a monthly series and we plan to promote primarily via web contact, but there will also be a few print/ digital posters around campus. The series title and typography...
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Jul 25, 2013

Know When to say Yes

By On 03:28 In
I recently read a blog post on idealist.org about saying “No” without committing career suicide. It’s a good read. Check it out. Today I want to talk about the opposite side of that coin: When faced with the chance to say no, weigh your options and see if you have a better reason to say YES.  In a previous job I never had the choice to say yes or no to office social events; company picnics,...
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Jul 18, 2013

Book (cover) Review

By On 17:11 In
I know I should be ashamed that I'm finally getting around to reading this book. It's been on my reading list for over 15 years--no kidding. When on our honeymoon in June, we stayed at a lovely B&B in Annapolis, MD; Chez Ami. One of the decorative books placed around the room was a hardbound copy of the Oscar Wilde classic. I began reading it on our first night while trying to beat back my...
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Jul 16, 2013

This Week: Preparing a Seminar on Online / Hybrid Course Design

By On 09:28 In
I really can't go into all of the details right now, but I will make the presentation available online to the Instructional Design Group for feedback once my first draft is complete. The goal of this training is to help instructors organize their course content to keep students engaged. Too often, academics believe that online instruction is akin to in-person, and it's not. Lectures no longer...
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Jul 13, 2013

HtML5 VIdeo: Use VLC MEdia Player to Convert Video

By On 17:28 In
A recent project I built a HTML5 video player. For these players to work across all the major browsers redundant video formats must be created. There are several free online services that will convert video formats to ogg theora, mp4, and webm for you. However, once you get to long/large video files, they act up (require payment, or freeze). VLC media player is free and will convert your vids to...
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Jul 12, 2013

Where have all the Graphic Design Jobs Gone??

By On 13:29 In
For the first time in recent history--four years or so--the graphic design job market does not lead the pack in creative services job postings. A newly graduated friend sent me his portfolio to review and then wanted to talk about the fact that his job search seemed to be in limbo. He's been applying for a couple months now, with nary a nibble. I've also noticed that the number of job offerings...
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Jul 11, 2013

Mock-ups Round Up

By On 16:50 In
Photoshop Magazine Mockup When I originally put together my online portfolio and printed leave behind, I took several photographs of my samples so that my work would be well represented in both media. It was a mostly successful project. However, some of my conceptual pieces--ones that never went into production--had to be altered to fit stylistically. There were ways to get around this. I found...
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Jul 9, 2013

Three Job Search Pet Peeves

By On 08:48 In
In no particular order... First: I’ve always made the argument to soon-to-be or recent grads that they should narrow their job searches; applying only for positions in industries where they want to work, instead of casting a wide net. I usually add that folks should have some idea about where they want to work before they graduate. Then I challenge them to consider design firms, nonprofit agencies,...
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Jul 8, 2013

Dos and Do-Not-Dos: Student Portfolios

By On 13:07 In
I got a question from my former intern last week and had to share. She’s ready to graduate and is now looking for her first ‘real job’ (thanks).Her question: Do I Include Student work in My Portfolio?Were this anyone else my answer may be different. In the past four years she has built a portfolio of exceptional student work, freelance projects and a few pieces from her internships. My answer: In...
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