How I spent my Thanksgiving Vacation

It's always seemed kind of weird to me how the Thanksgiving break is much longer than other holidays, even Christmas which seems like the larger occasion (unless you are one of those people that saves up all your vacation days and asks for time off in the middle of the year for 2 weeks at Christmas before anyone else is even thinking about it and then makes all your co-workers furious. That's not you, right?) Never the less, I love the extra long weekend. Here's how I spent mine.

Air Hockey Tournament
Best 2 out of 3. I always get served but this year I actually won a few games!

Total unreserved, all out, eat with no shame or regard for the future
I probably don't need to go in to this one. The sad part is, I got so lazy and enjoyed myself so much, I kept eating that way until last night. Yikes!

Movies, movies and more movies
Sometimes just the last half of movies but I got way too into the free movie cable channels we had this weekend. The lack of sleep was worth it! Here's a quick run down on a few I saw (part of anyway):

Death Race - not nearly as good as the original but fun action

Pan's Labyrinth - why did no one warn me about how sad and disturbing this movie is?!?!? Nightmares!

Hellboy II - had already seen it, still a fun watch

Role Models - loved it when I rented it, loved it again on cable

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus - The BEST, I am obsessed with this movie now and may have to run out and buy it. I could not get enough of the super stylized 50's wardrobe, crazy apartments and Robert Downey Jr is wonderful and amazing. I almost never like anything Nicole Kidman does but this was really an awesome movie.

Still working on the re-design project, I think this is going to take a while but I am slowly making progress and feel like I'm actually coming up with ideas and breaking through the creative block that always haunts me when trying to design for myself. I will admit I keep finding myself stalling, surfing online, giving in to little distractions. Ok, no more online shopping - back to work I go!

It's Not Me, It's You

Ever have one of those days when you're just going along, minding your own business, feeling pretty good about nothing in particular and then someone comes along and completely blows you out of the water?

Here's a quick summation of a call I had last week, feel free to play along mad lib style just for fun.

Me: "hello?"

Them: "Hi, this is (insert name here) calling from (insert agency name here), I saw our resume on (popular job/career finder web site here) and wanted to talk to you about an opportunity we have right now."

Me: (deep, apprehensive breath) "ok"

Them: "Let me just pull up your portfolio here..."

Me: Really? You didn't look at my portfolio to see any of my work before you called?

Them: "These are all the sites you've designed? Hhmm...On this site, I don't like those pictures, you need to get those out of there"

Me: "I was hired to build the web site but I don't own the site or it's content."

Them: "oh" (sounding disgusted) "Well, let me just look at your resume then."

Me: Oh no, you have GOT to be kidding! You didn't read through that either? "ok"

Them: Hmm...Well, I couldn't even present this resume our client, I mean it's just too weak."

Me: Am I being Punked right now? I didn't call you - you called me! "Oh, ok, well that's it then. Bye."

Again, just a quick summation, I don't want to relive every insult received but you get the main idea. Pretty shocked but mostly angry when I hung up the phone, it was impossible to jump right back to the project I was working on (and feeling really good about!) which just made me more upset. But after much reflection and some venting, I can look at it with a little more objective and less painful point of view. I admit I may still be venting but here's what upset me the most:

- Unprofessional and Unprepared
This person had not taken the time to really read my resume or even look at the work I do. I would never have made a call like that without at least trying to find out a little about the person - especially if I have access to a resume and portfolio for them! If I'm not the right person for a job, I can completely accept that but I if that's the case, I shouldn't have been called at all.

- No Tact
The thing that really hit me was the tone and the way I was being spoken to as much as what was being said. I actually welcome constructive criticism and earlier wrote about re-doing my resume after some great suggestions I'd received but I don't think it's right to just tear someone down and rip apart their work. There's a way to say things and being contradictory and rude isn't the way. No one needs that, especially when it comes to jobs, especially with the economy and what people are going through right now. And it's too close to Christmas, I'm sure Santa was listening on on that call. Someone's getting coal for sure! Its' ok to have a little consideration for other people.


I have to take some responsibility here too, I totally let this person throw me off my game and ruin my day which really wasn't necessary. So maybe the lesson is, don't take it so personally, think about what happened instead of getting upset and carrying it around the rest of the day (and night, and next day). Maybe I need to work on some snappy come backs or just say "no thank you" and let them down with an "it's not me, it's you."

A Warm Welcome

So sorry about that last post - a post without a pin-up? Shame on me!
Here's one for the cold winter evenings coming up.
Another beautiful Gil Elvgren called "A Warm Welcome"



So far so good with the re-design - I may have actually found some good images already!

Thank you for all the good karma!

Part II - The Re-Design Challenge Continues

Already feeling the pressure of this challenge, I've been working a few things this weekend. Posting my ideas have made me at least feel accountable, like I can't let any of my usual excuses and procrastination allow me to just push this to the back burner as I have in the past, but maybe that's just the fire I needed to get on the right path. Whatever the reason, I'm already in motion!

I started my approach as I would any other client and tried to really focus on what I wanted to say with the portfolio site, what I wanted to focus on and even what I liked about the site as it is. The look needs dressing up and I think doesn't really convey any kind of message about me as a designer yet but I also felt there were some good parts I wanted to keep.

Right now, as soon as you pull up the home page, you can easily identify
-business name
-samples of my work
-how to contact me


These are important elements I feel should be right up front or at least very easy to locate and I know I don't want to lose them in the new design.

I had also been doing some browsing on my own and included looking through links on smashing magazines portfolio sites for inspiration:
30-single-page-portfolio-design-for-design-inspiration and saw some good, some bad and some really cool designs.


There were a few very visually appealing sites but they just didn't fit my functional requirements (way too much clicking to see work or find out about the person or company). Still, for style ideas, it definitely helped and the wheels were turning!

Next, I knew the right images for the site would be extremely important, especially for the background. After brainstorming, some of my key ideas were beauty, fun, feminine, strong creativity and a little vintage or retro feel mixed in if possible. Finally, I tried to keep in mind that this design had to translate well for everything I would need - business cards, post card design, blog and other social medias.

I was full enough of ideas now to start sketching and was able to get out a basic outline for the structure of the page and element placement. I didn't have my images yet but had more of an idea of what to look for and felt confident the design would work across the board (maybe with a little tweaking here and there but overall, I was satisfied for now). A lot of times, the images I find will guide or even change my original idea or direction with a site and finding the right images in the past have not been an easy task. I wasn't sure if that would happen here or not but felt fairly confident in my sketch.

Next stop - the quest for images begins!

The Great Re-Design Challenge Part I

Lately I've been thinking a lot more about what I probably consider one of my weaker points - marketing. There are some great pros to being freelance but it also means you are in charge of every single part of your business, big and small and I admit, it can get overwhelming for me at least. I also admit I tend to concentrate my time and energy on the "fun" parts which for me is working on new designs and learning about new trends, reading articles and blogs, etc. This is all fine and good but a very important part that can't be ignored is getting your name out there, letting people know what you can offer - advertising and marketing.

So I'm determined to make this more of a priority and decided to start with a simple post card design I will send out to local small businesses. Sounds good, right? But here's where I get stuck. It's embarrassing to admit although maybe other designers have this problem as well but I have an incredibly hard time designing anything for myself. I mean, it's painful and often a long and frustrating process.

When I take on a new design project, one of the first things I do is gather not only the customers requirements for the site but I try to really understand their business, their goals and the overall feeling they want to convey.
That will usually lend itself to ideas for layout, images and sometimes even color scheme and banner design. I'll also research similar business or themes for ideas or direction and start sketching. Many clients will already have a logo or specific design elements they will want included and again, that will give me a great starting point to work off of. So why is this so difficult to accomplish for myself?

And now the plot thickens, after reading the latest Sitepoint Tribune article "A Consistent Boost for Your Business" about the importance of making sure all of your business design, logos, etc on and off line show a consistent and streamlined design, I'm wondering if I should start from scratch and really think about redesigning my own site, then using that design as the basis for everything else - the postcards, my blog, even my twitter background!

It's a frightening proposal when I think about what a struggle designing for myself can be so I've decided to change my perspective. What if the owner of Pinup Designs called and asked me to re-design their web site. Maybe I need to treat this as a new client or any other design job and try to apply the same methods and thought processes.

So this is the beginning of my re-design/marketing/hope-this-turns-out-ok journey.
I'll keep you posted on my progress if you'll keep your fingers crossed for me!

Hunting for big Game - Jobs in 2009

Wow - a month?!?!? Really? I can't believe it's been so long and really apologize. Halloween was great and I am SO happy to say, Turner Classic Movie Channel did not let me down, I'm still getting caught up on all the vintage 1940's horror and suspense movies I recorded - Cat People, Before I Hang, The Devil Commands, The Grave Robber....I could not be happier!

But I think like most people, lately I've also been a little more than frazzled at the current situation with jobs and the economy. CNN recently ran a piece where they looked at current statistics of the number of unemployed people to the number of available jobs and made the association of finding a job now like trying to get into a top college. Thanks, that's what everyone needed to lighten our spirits!
(Here's the link if you want to be depressed: http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/11/06/stimulus.jobs/index.html)
because even if you have a job today, people are feeling less and less secure about tomorrow. And if you do anything freelance (like me), get ready for things to get even trickier.

Now I know there's no magic bullet but I also know it's smarter to do anything and everything possible rather than sink in to depression, turn on the t.v and do nothing about it at all.

So after a recent meeting and some professional advice, I dove deeply in to a resume makeover that lasted several days. It was difficult and frustrating (I always have a hard time with resumes) but I think I'm finally satisfied and actually received a few inquiries since the changes were posted.

I also found this little gem written about how to get hired on Craigslist, a site I regularly check. Thank you to another awesome blog called Smileycat for this one: Tips on applying to a job from Craigslist

It's honest, to the point and very good advice but also funny and made me think of some of the mistakes I've made myself (too much blah, blah, blah). Along with a few other articles I've read recently, this too had some of the same advice. Probably nothing new but still worth noting:

• Hiring managers are busy - find a way to stand out


• Get to the point


• Address their needs, why are you perfect for this job?


• Do your research


• Use lists - Make your resume/information "skimable"


• Be honest and human ( speak and be natural, not all "key words")


• Follow Up

- My personal side note on Craigslist: Yes, it's a crap shoot, you rarely hear back as posters are flooded with emails and sometimes people are not as honest and trustworthy as they claim to be but I've also had some great success with it and connected with clients that were wonderful to work with so for me, worth the risk, just be smart about your connections there.

Whatever your situation, staying positive and hopeful is probably the most important thing you can do. Good luck to all! Hope you enjoy the martini pinup.