Downtime in review (otherwise titled, Back to the grind)

My (way too short) break between semesters is over today. I did manage to do a lot of the things on my list, although I didn't get to a few important ones (see, painting/drawing on the deck and watching DVRed LOST episodes). Whether or not I slept sufficiently is also up for debate. Why must dogs pee at 2:30 in the morning?

I did, however, catch up with a few friends (combined that one with cleaning out the closet). And I went to Ocean City, NJ for part of Memorial Day weekend (I'm now convinced I need to move there and open a surf shop/art/design studio and streak my hair with purple dye. If you think I'm kidding, think again). We also bought some decent deck furniture but since it rained for most of the week, the new furniture didn't get used much. Rumor has it there's better weather on the horizon. Of course, most of these activities involved wine. Lots of wine. And a few martinis. Mojito martinis. Consumed while enjoying this view:

Downtime

So the weather this week has been abysmal and has completely foiled my plans for moving out onto my deck for the week. We even bought new deck furniture, but it's sitting forlornly in the corner, getting soaked by this incessant rain. Maybe when I get back from the beach on Sunday I'll be able to do some jewelry design, painting, drawing or something otherwise crafty/artistic on my deck.

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I haven't gotten my final grade for the semester, but since every grade I got so far was A, I believe it's safe to assume the final grade will follow suit. Allison and Stephanie had two pieces of advice, 1) Write for someone other than engineers (no kidding) and 2) Read more stuff/put more stuff in and especially stuff other than magazines like Lucky, InStyle, et al. GREAT! I wish I had recorded them saying that because the bf is not happy about my continually growing piles of magazines. Tough crap. I don't like his Bart Simpson (EAT MY SHORTS) poster hanging right inside our front door. He can deal with my magazines.

So, in an attempt to follow Stephanie and Allison's advice, I plan to subscribe to the following magazines: Ready Made, Plenty, Wired, CRAFT and Real Simple (I already read this one every month anyway, so I might as well subscribe). And, because I need to get back in touch with writing (real writing, not copywriting), I will also subscribe to either The New Yorker or The Atlantic.

As for the first part of their advice, I need to start pursuing more freelance writing opportunities. I also love creative writing (fiction, literary non-fiction, poetry, etc) and I have a ton of ideas for essays and a novel in progress. I was also a published poet in high school, but I've let too many cobwebs grow over that part of my creative self. What better time than now to dust them off and start again?

Ah, summer.

As much as I liked this class, I'm glad the semester is almost behind me. I learned a lot and have a few new portfolio pieces. However, I'm looking forward to relaxing. At least for the week and a half between the end of Words & Images and the beginning of Hypermedia.

Stuff I'll be doing between doing lots nothing:

• Sleeping
• Cracking open a bottle of good wine and reading the stack of magazines I've neglected for months
  
• Painting and drawing outside on the deck
  
• Going somewhere for Memorial Day weekend
  
• Cleaning out my closet - it's time to make room for new stuff!
• Shopping for deck furniture
• Catching up with friends
  
• Watching the entire DVRed season of LOST

That's it! I'm done. ~updated~

Here's my final layout and an image of the front cover. Honestly, if I had a ton more time, I'd make more changes, but the thing is already assembled. I just have to pick up some ribbon tomorrow to bind it. And I really wish I could have printed this professionally. My high quality paper isn't two-sided (and it's too thick to double up), so I had to print everything but the cover on regular printer paper. I'm seriously considering bringing in a non-assembled version printed on my nice paper.

Anyway, here it is. You have to read the pages in a crisscross pattern down and then back up again because of the way I laid it out so I could print it easily.

ETA: I actually did make the aforementioned layout changes, but I'm too lazy to upload the new images.

Whew

And done. Designing and writing anyway. I still have to print and assemble my booklet tomorrow, but the design part is finished. It's completely different from my comp and I think it works. It's highly stylized and I picture it being sold at Barnes and Noble where they sell their cards and stationery. I'd really like to bind it with a ribbon and some beads, but I may not have time. We shall see. Here's the cover/backcover:

Creative Writing & Graphic Design

I've been blogging a lot this week. Maybe because I feel like I hit a creative block with my last project and I had to keep myself otherwise creatively occupied.

It dawned on me this morning that over the course of the semester I remembered why I majored in magazine journalism in undergrad. It's because I love words. I love writing. More specifically, I love writing about things that mean something.

Over the past several years, writing and designing in the advertising world has left me a little disillusioned with writing and design in general. Let's face it, most copywriting isn't going to change the world, nor is the design that goes with it. It's the writing and the design behind social causes and in literary magazines and books and museums and galleries that makes a statement. That leaves a legacy. And while I love and appreciate stellar ad campaigns (Target and Apple come to mind), nothing about those campaigns really means anything in big scheme of things.

In light of these revelations, I've concluded that writing and designing in the publishing/media industry might be a better fit for me than advertising. I've always been the type of person who felt a strong need to make a difference. I fell into advertising by accident after taking a few classes and realizing I was pretty good at it. Then, I did internships in advertising because they were easier to find than those in publishing/media. Or maybe I was just lazy. Either way, I need to turn this runaway train around and get back to what I love and what matters to me.

This is why I wanted to go to grad school. This semester solidified what I already knew- I love design and it reassured me that yes, I'm good at it. But it did something more- it renewed my love of the written word and it brought me back to where I originally started. And, in this case, coming full circle is a good thing.

And one more time

I changed my booklet design (again). I started working on the rework and I felt like it was looking too much like a magazine layout rather than a booklet. So, I'm reworking the whole thing. It's much less complicated, smaller with more pages and one tip per page. I'm also added some illustrations, but they're just simple line drawings and a background (which is finished), so it shouldn't take me too long. I think this idea will serve the purpose of a how-to booklet better and I actually feel inspired with this design idea. That's the first time that's happened with this project. I was ready to shut off my brain for the semester after the Flash project.

Design dilemma solved (I think)

So I'm going to attempt to use a modified version of my original idea. The way I'm planning to do this is to make it a booklet that's a magazine supplement (probably Lucky). This will help with target audience and narrow my focus a bit. I think I'll probably tweek the copy focus to packing for a long weekend as opposed to just any vacation. I'm still including clothing, but not quite in the same way and I've found a way to incorporate at least one person into each photo spread. Now I just need to finish this, hopefully before Friday so I can relax on Friday night.

One more week

And, unfortunately, it's going to be another hellacious one. (I should probably add hellacious to my list of favorite words.)

I'm a little annoyed because I feel like I have to start from scratch with my booklet design. I'm also annoyed because I don't think there have to be people in everything. My booklet is not about people. It's about packing and what to pack and in what order. Showing someone putting something in a suitcase is a little boring to me (and anyway, if I showed one picture of a person, then I couldn't use the pictures of outfits/clothes because then there would be that little inconsistency problem we all heard about in class on Saturday).

What I was really going for was a combination of Lucky mag's "A Week's Worth of Style" feature and one of InStyle's regular articles (the name escapes me right now- Chic Simple maybe???). Lucky's article lays all the clothes and accessories out like I did and then shows the person in different outfits. Unfortunately, I can't show people unless I do a photoshoot (or a whole lot of annoying work in Photoshop). So, I opted to use the InStyle method of laying the clothes out in outfits without people. I'll be the first to admit, my comp wasn't in a finished state (probably my worst comp all semester), so maybe that's why Stephanie didn't get it (at least my text was okay other than the edits I already wanted to make), but I'm at a complete loss as to how to fix this design mess. Definitely not the way I wanted to end the semester. I thought this would be an easy week. I guess not.

For starters, I think I'm going to shrink the size of the booklet so I can print it on better quality paper. Then, I think I'm going to move to one or two steps per page. I have a slightly faint idea of what the new design will be- something with a polaroid type image (maybe). I really have no idea.

On a more positive note, I am so glad the Flash project is over. I feel like what I turned in is good enough for the grade I want.

I wish we had more time between this semester and summer classes. But, we don't. I'll be back for Hypermedia a week and a half after Words & Images ends. At least I'll have August to recuperate. Then in the fall, I'm taking Motion Graphics and Writing for the Marketplace. Yep, I changed my schedule again, but I think this one will stick. I've been meaning to get into freelance magazine writing (and go beyond just webzines) since I was an undergrad, but just never got around to it. This class might be the push I need.

Slum-burbia

I found an article that supports my case for moving into the city. I remember writing papers about this topic when I was an undergrad. I've always been interested in urban development/redevelopment and I've been equally (if not more so) disturbed by suburban sprawl and its lack of mass transportation and walkable areas. If I didn't work in design/writing, I'd be an urban planner.

The Atlantic Article

LOST theory

Here's the link to the (insanely long) theory I was talking about in class on Saturday. This person apparently, has lots of free time. I'm jealous.

LOST theory

Mission Flash: Accomplished

I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief this morning because I finished my Flash project last night. I just have to add the stop action script and publish it, but otherwise, it's finished! I really like how it turned out. Now, it's on to the design for my booklet, which I already have in my head and now I just need to get it into the computer.

My poison still has not cleared up and I'm on another round of meds for it. It migrated to my ear and now my ear is all red and swollen and itchy and painful. You know, I never got poison when I lived in the city. Nor do I remember coming inside after sitting on my deck and being cover in nasty, dusty yellow pollen, which caused me to have watery eyes and sneezing fits and sinus headaches. Based on this information, I can only draw one logical conclusion: I am allergic to suburbia.

Midweek ramblings

I just sent my comp copy for project 6 to Stephanie and Allison. It needs a ton of refining, but I'm happy I finished it. The more I work on this project, the more I like my chosen topic. So, tonight the goal is to finish (or mostly finish) the Flash movie. I'll be happy if I get it almost how I want it and then just have a few minor tweaks over the next few days.

Words, words, words. I'm one of those people who definitely has a list of favorite words. Some of them I like because of the way they sound, some of them I like because of what they mean and some I have no idea why I like them, but for whatever reason, I think they're cool. Here's a sampling:

• serendipity (my all-time favorite word, in sound and in meaning)
• collage
• kaleidoscope
• snarky (the sound is the main reason I like this one)
• anthropology
• turtle
• dulce
• loquacious

I am so ready for this semester to be over. I'm not sure what I'll do with myself once I have my weekends back. Probably sleep. And go to the beach. And sleep on the beach.

Sunday night.

I'm feeling much more on top of things this week than I did last week at this time. My Flash movie is almost finished. I just have to finish my text and drag all my keyframes out into the timeline. I may add one more illustration, too, but that shouldn't take too long.

My concept for project 6 changed again. Mostly because I don't want to do something too complicated. So, I'm going to do "How to pack for vacation without suffering wardrobe separation anxiety" (read: stop overpacking). I've been wanting to do something fashion-related all semester and I just never felt like it was right for the project. I think this one will work okay.

On the health front, the poison on my face seems to be improving, but I'm still a little itchy and swollen. I feel pretty.

Okay. Need sleep now.

Show & tell - collections

Since class on Saturday, I've realized that it's not that I'm not a collector; it's that I don't collect just one thing (ex: mugs, dolphins). Instead, my collection is souvenirs from places I've been. It's never just one kind of thing, but it's always something I find useful and beautiful and inspiring. I have a Scottish wool blanket from (duh) Scotland, a cool mug from NYC's theatre district, a blouse with an artsy pattern from a boutique in Portland, ME, paintings from the Jersey shore, etc, etc, etc. The things I buy have unique local flavor and can only be found in the area from where I buy them. I do not buy useless chotchkes and I don't like knick-knacks. What I do love are things that, every time I look at them, remind me of a different time and a different place I once visited and may never see again. So, essentially, I collect memories.

Which leads to my other collection- pictures. I have tons of scrapbooks from high school and college. I've since moved to digital scrapbooking and generally, I'll make one or two images of a trip or event into a photo collage.

I also keep an inspiration box of writing, design and art that I love. I use it when I hit a creative block, or when I just feel like looking at cool design.

And, while I'm embarrassed and hesitant to call it a collection, I do have a quite an assortment of clothes, shoes and jewelry. Most of the jewelry I own, I have made. Here's a picture of the one I brought to class.

meh.

So, I finished the (very crappy) comp for my Flash project. I would love to tweak the thing, but it seems I can't see my images when I have flash open. I hate most of the transitions- they're choppy or too fast and there's an occasional image flying across the screen. I haven't figured out the text mess, either. And I really would love to edit it, but like I said, I can't see my images, just a big, black screen with frames where the images should be. I have no idea how to fix this, so I guess I'll just redo the whole damn thing for the final. Whatever. At least I have something to show tomorrow, even if I find it embarrassingly awful. There are a few parts that turned out well; I just have to get the whole thing to look like that and I have to wrap up my ending a little better. I actually ended up having more content than I thought I would and it fits the song pretty well.

I'm officially in hell - a rant

Not only do I have to leave work early today to finish the Flash project that I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to finish (even if I stayed up all night) but I have a nasty case of poison sumac on my face and neck and zero time to visit a doctor for it. Oh, and I've had a hideous sinus headache/migraine since last Saturday. Nothing is making it go away, but I'm surprised by how functional I've been despite my head feeling like it might pop off. Depending on what time I decide to wrap up the Flash insanity tonight, I might pay a visit to the ER to get some medication for this rapidly spreading and insanely itchy poison. I'll feel like an idiot going to the ER for that, but hey, that's the only place that's open in the middle of the night and that's the only time I have to do anything at this point.

*end rant*

PS- I'm trying not to let this hideous project poison my opinion of Flash forever. I just keep telling myself, "This is not an optimal way to learn Flash. Flash isn't the problem; it's the lack of time and the fact that Flash is not a prerequisite for this class."